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EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2005

Pyongyang ups the ante

North Korea has announced that it has nuclear weapons and that it is abandoning multilateral talks designed to keep the Korean Peninsula free of them. Still, there is less to Pyongyang's declaration than meets the eye. North Korea has indicated in the past that it possessed nuclear arms, and its disdain...
COMMENTARY
Feb 17, 2005

Racist banner looks frayed

Understanding Japan and the Japanese was never meant to be easy. This is especially true for the Japanese attitude to foreigners -- at times exclusivist and at other times extremely open. There is an answer to the seeming contradiction, but it requires outsiders to accept that the Japanese might have...
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Tax offices start accepting '04 returns

Regional tax offices nationwide began accepting 2004 income tax returns Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2005

Bankruptcies decrease for 25th month

January saw 1,039 corporate bankruptcies filed nationwide, down 13.8 percent from a year earlier for the 25th straight month of decline, a private-sector corporate credit research agency said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2005

With ANA back in black, next chief eyes new overseas routes

Chicago, Delhi, Bombay and Moscow.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 13, 2005

Go! Go! Kingyo!

If you go down to Roppongi tonight, you're sure of a few surprises. Not least, in Tokyo's favorite party zone renowned for its glitz and sleaze, you're guaranteed a world tour of ethnic restaurants, along with enough bars, dance clubs and strip joints to satisfy every taste.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2005

FamilyMart to introduce 'konbini' to Americans

When FamilyMart Co. opens a store in Hollywood, Calif., in July, the first Japanese convenience store in the U.S. might not be perceived as such by locals.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2005

Middle East truce opens a door

How many times has the world observed an Israeli-Palestinian handshake and breathed a sigh of relief that hostilities in that sliver of the Middle East finally appeared to be ending? The answer, of course, is far too often for the latest declaration of peace to promise much. Camp David, the Rose Garden,...
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2005

Livedoor logs 283.4% sales jump

Internet service provider Livedoor Co. said Wednesday it posted 12.11 billion yen in group sales in the October-December first quarter of the current business year, up 283.4 percent over a year earlier, a result the company attributed to the rapid growth of the market for Internet-related services.
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2005

LDP missing the big picture

How to privatize postal services is the biggest issue in the regular Diet session. The government plans to introduce a privatization package in mid-March, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has vowed to "get it through the current session at all costs." But with many members of the Liberal Democratic...
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2005

Vodafone K.K. inserts Morrow as president as subscribers fall

The Japanese unit of global mobile-phone carrier Vodafone Group Plc. said Monday that Bill Morrow, head of the group's British operations, will replace Shiro Tsuda as president just two months after Tsuda assumed the position.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 8, 2005

Foreign teachers have lucky escape

When news of the tsunami disaster in south Asia began to filter through on Dec. 26, there was good reason for friends and employers of the many English-language teachers in Japan to fear the worst.
Rugby
Feb 7, 2005

Brave Lupus add name to rugby Cup

The second name to be inscribed onto the Microsoft Cup will be Toshiba Brave Lupus following Sunday's final at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 7, 2005

Amendment must be made easier to ensure prosperity for Japan

On Jan. 18, Keidanren released a report on basic national issues including constitutional revision and diplomatic and national security policies. It was the first time this business lobby had put together a set of proposals on these matters.
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2005

Matsushita upgrades '04 profit forecast

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday it had revised upward its full-year operating profit forecast by 7 percent to 300 billion yen, in stark contrast to Sony and Toshiba, which have cut their outlooks.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 5, 2005

Kerel Zebrakovsky

Karel Zebrakovsky, ambassador of the Czech Republic to Japan, came late to the role of diplomat. A man of enthusiasm and wide, cultivated tastes, he finds delight in everything he does, and in the different appointments he has held. He has the right attitude to be representative of his country. "I am...
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2005

IRCJ names three innkeepers as last firms to receive bailout

The state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan said Thursday it will help rehabilitate three lodging companies and indicated they would be the last bailouts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2005

Bank card crimes fuel rush to biometric systems

The growing number of bank account thefts involving stolen or forged bank cards is forcing financial institutions to adopt costly biometric technology to verify that only bona fide customers are using automated teller machines.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2005

FSA mulling life insurance deregulation

The Financial Services Agency might partially deregulate the life insurance sector in fiscal 2005, including expanding the range of insurance products with discounted premiums, according to agency sources.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2005

Sharp logs strong quarter on LCDs

Sharp Corp. on Tuesday reported an 18 percent gain in profit for the third fiscal quarter on healthy demand for liquid crystal display television sets and mobile phones with digital cameras.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 2, 2005

Miracles of the moment in Saburo Teshigawara's dance

Dancer, choreographer and artist Saburo Teshigawara works in a time zone of his own. In the 24 years since he came on the dance scene, Teshigawara has transformed the definition of movement. His work with his group Karas and major international companies, including the Frankfurt Ballet and the Opera...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2005

All the glory that was Florence

Before the 15th century in Florence, the guilds had their own highly developed hierarchy with artisans fairly near the top. Visual artists were higher-grade craftsmen, and their work was considered a kind of manual labor. As religious and secular demand for art increased, and conscious reflection on...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 2, 2005

Seduction twice over by Cooper

How lucky we are in Tokyo, to be graced with the world premiere of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by one of the leading dancers of our time, the former Royal Ballet principal, Adam Cooper.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2005

Hokkaido gets new commuter airline

New airline Air Transse Co. said Monday it will begin flight operations on March 13, starting with round-trip service between Hakodate airport and Tokachi Obihiro airport in Hokkaido.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2005

Toshiba outlook cut as chips plunge

Toshiba Corp. said Monday it has slashed its projected operating profit for the full year to March by 30 billion yen to 160 billion yen, joining a growing list of technology firms that are revising their outlooks due to a slowdown in the sector.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2005

Japan, Chile launch FTA study

Japan and Chile began the first meeting in Tokyo on Monday of a joint study group to explore the feasibility of launching formal free-trade negotiations, government officials said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 1, 2005

'I want to make Japan a better place to live'

Chong Hyang Gyun has just written herself into the history books, but not for the reason she wanted.

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