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BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2005

Rising demand lifts life insurers

The rising demand for medical and annuity insurance by the rapidly graying population boosted revenues at many of the nation's six largest life insurers in the first half of fiscal 2005, according to earnings reports released Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2005

18 inspection firms using lax procedures

The Nara Prefectural Government said Monday that two hotels in the prefecture were built using false data from Aneha Architect Design Office. The hotels are the Sun Hotel Nara in the city of Nara, and Sun Hotel Yamato-Koriyama in Yamato-Koriyama.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2005

Seki returns as mayor of Osaka

OSAKA -- Junichi Seki was returned to office in Sunday's Osaka mayoral election after he resigned amid clashes with the city assembly and bureaucrats over reform.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2005

TBS ready to talk with Rakuten on program distribution

Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. has decided to negotiate with major Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. on a business tieup in the form of online distribution of programs via Rakuten's portal site, sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2005

Yasukuni impasse cracking

Since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took office in 2001, Japan has faced diplomatic spats with China and South Korea over his visits to Yasukuni Shrine. On Oct. 17, Koizumi made his fifth Yasukuni visit as prime minister, as Japan's relations with the two neighbors soured.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2005

Thanks for a thankless job

Most of the time, let's face it, journalists just do not get good press. The very word "reporter" is often used or interpreted as a smear. Newspaper readers and television viewers alike regularly complain to news organizations about their employees' bias, incompetence and bad grammar. And for all their...
Japan Times
Features
Nov 27, 2005

Too much of a good thing

Humans are wholly dependent on nature's cornucopia for food, clothing, shelter, many medicines, beer and wine -- to name just a few of life's essentials and pleasures.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 27, 2005

Is it so hard to see the forest for the trees?

By C.W. NICOL
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2005

Shoddy Aneha designs may spur mass eviction

The land ministry and local governments agreed Friday to ask residents of condominium complexes with quake-resistance levels found to be less than half the state standard to voluntarily vacate their homes.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2005

Individual investors being hit by suspicious stock schemes

Individual investors looking for places to invest their money are getting dragged into shady schemes that persuade them to buy unlisted stocks with the promise of getting high returns once they get listed.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2005

TBS to visit Rakuten for details of financial condition

A team from Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. will visit the headquarters of Internet portal operator Rakuten Inc. on Friday to get information on its financial condition, a senior TBS official said.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2005

FSA to slap insurers with improvement orders

The Financial Services Agency will issue business improvement orders to more than 20 nonlife insurers for failing to pay insurance claims, sources said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2005

Myanmar ranks high on Bush's radar

HONG KONG -- One significant though insufficiently noticed aspect of U.S. President George W. Bush's weeklong visit to Asia was his consistent effort to focus attention on Myanmar, and to pressure Asian allies, notably Japan, to be more forthright in their criticisms of the military junta's shortcomings....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2005

Developers wed something old, new

Central Tokyo is undergoing an office redevelopment boom that in part includes restoring structures from the Meiji to Showa eras and sometimes incorporating them into new high rises, and making replicas of historic buildings, including famous Western-style ones.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2005

LDP, at 50, goes after Constitution

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged Tuesday to put the nation on a reform path to meet the challenge of a rapidly changing world, and to this end presented his party's blueprint to amend the Constitution for the first time to bring the charter in line with global realities.
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2005

Neocons absconded with round five

BRUSSELS -- The six-party talks, which initially began in August 2003 to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, reconvened in Beijing on Nov. 9, then adjourned three days later inconclusively. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 23, 2005

Big Money warms to socially responsible investing

Environmentalists have been preaching for decades that true societal change will only happen when the really big-money players, such as multinational corporations and banks, begin to balance profit-making with social responsibility.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Putin, Koizumi bolster economic ties, skip isles

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed Monday to increase security and economic cooperation despite the 60-year territorial row over the four Russian-held islands off northern Hokkaido.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2005

Nissan picks builders for new HQ

Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it has chosen an architect and two major contractors to design and construct its new head office in Yokohama.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 22, 2005

Do you think it's necessary to fingerprint foreigners?

Mike Trees Director, 43 I disagree. I did my masters on discrimination against foreigners and fingerprinting Koreans was a big issue. I agree with the ID cards, but fingerprinting is for criminals, unless they're going to fingerprint everyone, Japanese included.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2005

Government stays upbeat on economy

The government remained upbeat on the economy in its latest monthly report released Monday, citing pickups in personal spending and capital investment and improving employment.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2005

Putin to focus on economy, avoid territorial dispute

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Sunday in Tokyo on a business-oriented visit unlikely to bring any progress in settling the 60-year territorial dispute that has prevented the two nations from formally ending World War II hostilities.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 20, 2005

Nihon TV's "Futatsu no Sokoku," Fuji TV's original dramas and more

Japan and South Korea move a little closer together on this week's "Drama Complex" (Nihon TV, Monday, 9:30 p.m.), a "full-scale detective thriller" entitled "Futatsu no Sokoku: Ai to Kanashimi no Kizuna (Two Homelands: The Bonds of Love and Sadness)."
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2005

Architect says cost-cutting was behind faked quake data

An architect facing mounting public criticism for fabricating quake-resistance data for 20 condominium buildings and a hotel in the Tokyo area has said he was only serving his clients' needs for speedy and inexpensive construction plans.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2005

Seniors, universities can help each other

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Last week a conference was held in Kyushu under the auspices of the pioneer Ritsumeikan Asia-Pacific University, whose student body and faculty are divided between Japanese and foreigners of many nationalities. The conference was original in that it also involved students representing...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005

There's no morning calm for Korean crime stories

THE DOOR TO BITTERNESS by Martin Limon. New York: Soho Press Inc., 2005, 278 pp., $23 (cloth). FADE TO CLEAR by Leonard Chang. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2004, 322 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DARK ANGEL by Geoffrey Archer. London: Arrow Books, 2005, 482 pp., £6.99 (paper). It's 1973, and Sergeants George...

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