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BUSINESS
May 19, 2012

Resona vows early bailout payback

Resona Holdings Inc., recipient of a ¥1.96 trillion bailout in 2003, plans to pay back most of the money still owed to taxpayers earlier than scheduled thanks to growing profit reserves.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2012

Myanmar business leader woos investors

At a symposium in Tokyo Saturday, a Myanmar business leader encouraged Japanese companies to keep pace with their Chinese and South Korean rivals who are investing in the newly democratizing country or risk missing out on prime opportunities before the 2015 elections.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2012

Hirai announces Sony's turnaround strategy

Sony Corp., which expects to suffer a record loss for the latest business year, announced Thursday it is considering tying up with rivals to get its money-losing TV business back into the black by the end of March 2014.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 9, 2012

Consumption tax increase: Fairness is in the eye of the beholder

How will the proposed sales tax increase really affect the average household?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2012

Japan-like fertility rate, aging population pose threats to China

The rapid aging of China's population poses a serious threat to the country's future growth and social security, and policy actions need to be taken now to deal with the repercussions in the coming decades, said a senior Chinese scholar from Shanghai.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 31, 2012

Passage hinges on Ozawa, opposition

Despite the Cabinet's approval Friday of a sales tax hike bill that sparked months of dissent and resistance from the ruling party's ranks, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda may find that in the deadlocked Diet, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2012

Cabinet OKs bill to double sales tax by '15

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his ruling Democratic Party of Japan-led government managed to submit the contentious bill to the Diet on Friday to double the consumption tax to 10 percent by 2015, while junior coalition partner Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) was on the verge of collapsing over...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2012

Experts: 10% tax too minor to dent deficit

The Cabinet on Friday made good on its vow and moved forward on doubling the consumption tax by 2015, but some experts and lawmakers already see it as only a tiny step in cutting the ever-expanding fiscal deficit.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2012

Japan's sovereign credit rating has yet to reach downgrade point: Moody's

Japan's sovereign rating has yet to reach the point at which it should be downgraded, a senior vice president at Moody's Investors Service said.
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2012

Support for child-rearing families

Actualization panel has proposed a new set of support measures for children and child-rearing families. A main pillar of the proposal is to create a new type of preschool facility by integrating the two existing types of preschools: yochi-en (kindergartens), which are for the education of preschoolers,...
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 18, 2012

Fiscal ills not DPJ's doing but it's holding the bag

The tax and social security reform outline adopted by the Cabinet on Friday indicate the government has run out of options and must finally address welfare costs and public finances that have been spiralling out of control for years.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2012

Bond yields could soar if Noda's tax hike plan stalls

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says doubling the consumption tax is a necessary remedy to address soaring debt and social welfare costs, and while his opponents don't disagree, they're still not going to let him do it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 24, 2012

Nadeshiko Japan eyes London Olympic gold

Japan's overtime defeat of the United States in the 2011 women's World Cup soccer finals inspired a nation suffering from the March 11 disaster and ensuing nuclear crisis. This year will see the club dubbed Nadeshiko Japan attempt to repeat their success at the Summer Olympics in London. Following are...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2012

FamilyMart to add 600 Southeast Asia stores

FamilyMart Co. plans to open 600 stores in Indonesia and the Philippines, tapping demand from young people as an aging population saps growth at home.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2012

Cabinet defies opposition, OKs draft for sales tax hike

The Cabinet officially approved a draft proposal Friday to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent by October 2015 to cover swelling social security costs and restore Japan's fiscal health.
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2011

Year of revolution and crisis

Every year brings changes, but some years really are turning points: 1492, 1789, 1914, and 1989, for example. Does 2011 belong in the august company of such Really Important Years? Probably not, but it definitely qualifies for membership in the second tier of Quite Important Years.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 18, 2011

Don't expect Japanese basketball to embrace a real, workable plan

Every few months a false sense of hope surfaces on the blogosphere and in the mainstream media, where optimists peddle the message that Japan's basketball "leaders" finally have their act together, that a new men's pro league will, ahem, finally replace the outdated, increasingly irrelevant JBL and the...
COMMENTARY / World / 50 years of ASEAN
Dec 13, 2011

Japan should play co-anchor role in helping ASEAN Connectivity Plus realize grand vision

With its intent for a people-oriented as well as a physically and institutionally well-connected ASEAN Community poised for realization in 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations affirms its commitment to fulfill a long-cherished dream.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 13, 2011

Will trickle-down class discrimination rob Britain of what's so great?

Britain may be broken, but London is hot. A recent trip to the city exhilarated me.
COMMENTARY
Oct 4, 2011

Saudi Arabia's balancing act

It's amazing how much subtext you can pack into a single word. Consider this recent announcement by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: "Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal elections and will even have the right to vote."

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat