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JAPAN
May 1, 2008

Pandas added to summit agenda

Japan will ask China to provide new panda bears to Ueno Zoo during the summit between President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda next week in Tokyo, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2008

Plant closure sends Tepco to first group loss in 28 years

Hurt by the closure of an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant and higher oil and gas prices, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it posted a group loss of ¥150.1 billion for fiscal 2007 — its first annual group loss in 28 years.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Why fix what's not broken?

Why fix what's not broken?
BUSINESS
May 1, 2008

J-Power ups dividend just ¥10, braces for fight with TCI

Electric Power Development Co., the country's biggest electricity wholesaler, said Wednesday it will raise its annual dividend by ¥10 — to a total of ¥70 per share — for fiscal 2007, spurning repeated calls by a U.K.-based hedge fund that it double the annual payout to shareholders.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Short and to the point

One thing I like about The Japan Times is that it is short and to the point, with a satisfactory cross section of news and views from home and abroad. With just 22 pages it is easy to carry around and over the course of the day I read most of it. Well, not the ridiculous wastage of sports which, properly...
BUSINESS
May 1, 2008

Hotel sale propels ANA profit up 96.4%

All Nippon Airways Co. said Wednesday its group net profit rose 96.4 percent from a year earlier to a record ¥64.14 billion for the business year ended in March, due to special profit earned from sales of a hotel asset to streamline its business.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2008

DPJ victory in Yamaguchi

The victory of a candidate of the Democratic Party of Japan over a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 constituency has raised a question mark over Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's political leadership. The DPJ candidate trounced the LDP candidate...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 29, 2008

Posada's first trip to disabled list overshadows Wang's four-hit gem

An April win with all the texture of one in October was quickly chilled for the New York Yankees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 29, 2008

Judiciary's 'snake legs' exposed

On April 17 the Nagoya High Court ruled that the dispatch of Air Self-Defense Force personnel to Iraq was unconstitutional. While the ruling made news, it will probably not make much difference to Japan's foreign policy. Its significance may be nothing more than academic — after all, despite the headlines...
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2008

MHI's profit rises 25.6% on power plants

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Monday its group net profit for the business year that ended in March jumped by 25.6 percent to ¥61.3 billion, helped by orders to build overseas power plants amid globally rising energy demand.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 29, 2008

Pension system obligations and benefits

As the social welfare system grows in complexity, non-Japanese in particular are likely feeling a sense of frustration at the lack of information available in their native language.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2008

By-election loss adds to Fukuda's troubles

The Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in the Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday is yet another blow to the already reeling Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2008

Surging cost of fuel, food drives 1.1% jump in retail sales

Retail sales rose in March as households paid more for gasoline and food, leaving them less to spend on clothing and furniture, government statistics showed Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2008

Combating climate change

SINGAPORE — Two recent news reports have underscored China's voracious appetite for oil and the impact of unrestrained burning of coal and other fossil fuels on global climate change. Both point to the need for Japan, the United States, Canada, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — the six Asia-Pacific...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 27, 2008

Hail and farewell to the world's greatest 'Good Gringo' U.S. president

On April 1, the widely read History News Network (HNN) Web site announced the results of a survey it conducted among historians.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2008

Activist offers to halt Games protests for talks

The secretary general of nongovernmental organization Reporters Without Borders said Friday that his group will halt all protests against the Beijing Olympic Games if China agrees to hold talks with Tibetan leaders.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2008

TCI defies Japan's request to drop attempt to expand J-Power stake

The Children's Investment Fund (TCI) defied a government request Friday to drop its bid to raise its 9.9 percent stake in Electric Power Development Co., known as J-Power, to 20 percent.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2008

Subprime woes send Nomura to ¥67.8 billion loss

Nomura Holdings Inc. said Friday it booked a group net loss of ¥67.8 billion in the business year ended in March due to losses related to U.S. subprime mortgage loans and falling stock prices.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2008

Core inflation rose 1.2% in March

Japan's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in a decade in March as companies foisted higher costs of energy and grains onto households to protect profits.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2008

KDDI posts 16% profit rise for '07 but looks vulnerable

KDDI Corp., Japan's second-biggest mobile phone operator, said Thursday that operating profit for the year ended March 31 rose 16.2 percent to ¥400.5 billion as it continued to add new subscribers.

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