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BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 13, 2007

NPB needs major reform, vision to prosper like MLB

This is the third installment in a four-part series.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2007

Pentax board stops Hoya merger

Pentax Corp. said Tuesday that its board of directors scrapped a planned merger with leading optical glass maker Hoya Corp. and replaced its president.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 29, 2007

A haven of hedonism's days are numbered

As any good street tout will tell you, high foot-traffic is the key to success. Sure, he might toss out his chest, flash his best smile and smoothly sell you an explanation for the apparent contradiction between the shapely, high-class ladies he promises and the remarkably low entry price to his establishment,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2007

Strengthen U.S. trade ties

Japan is gearing up to conclude more free trade or economic partnership agreements with foreign governments. So far, Japan has been less enthusiastic about FTAs and EPAs than Western countries but is changing its tack due to difficulties expected in the new round of multilateral trade talks under the...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2007

Mazda aims for 27% profit rise to 200 billion yen by '10

Mazda Motor Corp. announced its new midterm business plan Thursday, aiming to raise its operating profit to 200 billion yen in its 2010 business year, up 26.5 percent from its projection for fiscal 2006.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2007

Good and bad seen from Livedoor fallout

Just over a year ago, 29-year-old Masanobu Kimura was one of the many eager Japanese individual investors rushing to put their savings in dozens of small venture businesses, including a fast-rising Internet portal named Livedoor Co.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2007

Sony aims to break even despite PS3 price cuts

Price cuts for the PlayStation 3 are among the factors Sony is studying as it seeks to break even in its money-losing gaming segment in the next business year, a company executive said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CONSUMER LOAN CRACKDOWN
Dec 14, 2006

Lending legislation reforms spell industry shakeout

It was early last month at moneylender Aiful Corp.'s midterm earnings news conference, and the mood at the Tokyo venue was grim.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 12, 2006

Students spread their wings

Ever since Japan opened its doors to the West, English has been zealously studied in Japan's high schools, night schools, universities and companies.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2006

Big banks see high profits in first half

Most major banks posted big profits in the April-September first half as brighter business activities led to a reduction in bad loans, allowing them to shift money from loan-loss reserves to the profit section.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2006

Nintendo hopes for console comeback with wand-wielding Wii

Nintendo brought the world the mustachioed plumber Super Mario and has sold nearly 200 million Game Boy hand-held machines over the years. It's also been coaxing the elderly and other video-game novices to try out puzzles and virtual pets on its DS portables instead of the standard shoot-em-up and sports...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 11, 2006

Mary Ishin Sung Katayama

Educated in Japan and the U.S., and each year making frequent official trips to Europe, Mary Ishin Sung Katayama says that she thinks of herself as borderless. "I love to travel and feel a need to be on the go every month or two," she said.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2006

JAL return to real profitability still up in air

Japan Airlines Corp.'s flight to profitability is running out of both time and fuel, and the passengers are catching on.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 5, 2006

Joi Ito: Master of multitasking

Joichi Ito, better known as Joi Ito, defies any one simple label.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2006

Businesses welcome Chinese thaw but remain cautious

The business community greeted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Sunday summit in Beijing with Chinese President Hu Jintao, billed as a fence-mending effort by the two countries, with a sigh of relief.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 8, 2006

Getting real in the way you dress with grass-roots fashion in Japan

In the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," which opens in Japan next month, an imperious fashion magazine editor played by Meryl Streep upbraids her new assistant, who has dared to snicker at a cerulean belt that the editor is considering for an ensemble. With withering condenscension, the editor somehow...
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2006

JAL flying through stormy skies

The international and domestic operations units of Japan Airlines Corp., the nation's flag carrier, merged Oct. 1. The merger means the complete reorganization of JAL and a new start for the airline. But the new JAL faces rough times ahead.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2006

Being an insider is best way to sway Europe's shifting rules

Japanese companies need to act as insiders -- not outsiders -- in Europe as they try to cope with the increasingly tough environmental, safety and other laws of the European Union, whose regulatory power extends beyond the region, experts told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2006

Mizuho Corporate Bank to ally with two major S. Korean banks

Mizuho Corporate Bank plans to sign separate accords with two major South Korean financial institutions later this month to tie up in investment banking, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 19, 2006

Robert Neff

Think public spirit, think Robert Neff.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 8, 2006

Setsuko Hashimoto

Setsuko Hashimoto, PhD, 52, is Director of Marketing at Biacore K.K., a global supplier of instruments for academic, pharmaceutical and biotechnology research. A top class scientist with keen business sense, she formed the Swedish company's Japanese subsidiary, and has been the driving force behind it's...
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2006

A generation removed from scandal

Thirty years have passed since former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was arrested July 27, 1976, on suspicion of having received a bribe of 500 million yen that originated from Lockheed Corp., an American aircraft manufacturer. The Lockheed affair, in which 15 people were indicted, became the largest postwar...
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2006

Firms' confidence takes a dive

Slumping stock prices, a rising yen and higher oil prices dampened the business confidence of major companies in the April-June period, sending the key confidence index to the lowest level in four quarters, according to a government survey released Wednesday.

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