Search - special

 
 
COMMENTARY
Sep 19, 2005

A mandate to finish the job

The Sept. 11 general election produced stunning results unprecedented in Japanese political history. Unaffiliated voters gave overwhelming support to the governing Liberal Democratic Party, handing the LDP-New Komeito coalition more than two-thirds of the 480-seat Lower House. Paradoxically, conservative...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 11, 2005

TV Tokyo's "Dawn of Gaia" tackles the 2007 problem and more

Japanese industry is now gearing up for what's being called the 2007 Problem. In that year, the huge mass of humanity known as the baby-boom generation will start to retire, and when they leave their companies they will take with them many of the skills and knowhow that built those companies and, in...
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2005

The meaning behind Koizumi's moves

On the surface, most elections are about personalities, false promises and special interests. But Japan's general election Sept. 11 is about a deeper historical reconciliation -- the effort to resolve differences between the country's cultural and behavioral preferences, and the organizational practices...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 31, 2005

Porcelain horizons, modern monoliths

There are works of art that, maybe only once in our lifetime, may define an era and capture life's boundless spirit with a beauty that both moves the heart and deepens the experience of existence.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2005

Dogs driving up niche firms' profits

As pets, especially dogs, increasingly become inseparable from their owners, companies are cashing in on what is becoming a lucrative market ranging from safety restraints in cars, motion sickness medicine and insurance, all for canines.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 29, 2005

Worst abuse: being viewed as subhuman

NEW YORK -- World War II did not end neatly upon Japan's surrender on Aug. 15, 1945. Aside from scatterings of Japanese soldiers who joined local independence movements in Southeast Asia after the surrender, at least one sizable Japanese army unit fought on in China's northeastern province of Shanxi,...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 28, 2005

TV Asahi's "Matthew's Best Hit TV" devotes whole program to Japanese dialects, and more

Advanced students of Japanese language might want to tune in to the late-night comedy show "Matthew's Best Hit TV" this week (TV Asahi, Wednesday, 11:15 p.m.). One of the show's regular features is a segment called "Namari Tei," which translates as "Dialect Theater." Guest celebrities, who in most cases...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 27, 2005

Hiroji Koide

When he was barely turned 30, Hiroji Koide became vice chairman of the International Exchange Committee of the Japan Chamber of Commerce. That marked the beginning of his active participation in public affairs, which still continues more than 46 years later. He is a jovial, outward-looking Nagano man,...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2005

2006 named Japan-China tourism year

2006 will be designated as Japan-China Tourism Exchange Year, Japanese government officials said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2005

Salary reform for public servants

has recommended that the government reduce the annual salary of central government workers for fiscal 2005 by 0.1 percent, or 4,000 yen from the previous fiscal year's level, to bring it into closer alignment with the annual salary level for private-sector workers. More importantly, it has called for...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

Asylum in Japan eludes Myanmar's close-knit Chin minority

Hundreds of asylum-seekers from Myanmar have come to Japan to escape persecution since the 1980s, including those belonging to ethnic minorities like the Rohingya and Kachin, and dozens have so far been recognized here as refugees.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2005

Bank lending braked fall to 2.4% in July

Bank lending continued its decline in July but fell at its slowest pace since September 1998, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2005

Opponent-free panel OKs thorny postal reform bills

A special committee of the House of Councilors passed a package of postal privatization bills Friday, pushing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi toward a final showdown with reform foes in his Liberal Democratic Party in Monday's plenary session.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Aug 5, 2005

Weekend trance party picks 08.05

Friday 08.05
Japan Times
Features
Jul 31, 2005

'Secret' city basks in its low-profile limelight

It's at the geographic center of Japan and has in the past been at the hub of its history. It's also the nation's fourth-largest city, with a population of 2.2 million. But despite these, and many more, claims to fame and prominence, Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture has always been outstanding for its...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2005

Meiji Yasuda's scandals likened to 'Pandora's box'

Two disclosures of payout misdeeds involving Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. in the last six months are casting a dark shadow over an industry plagued with offensives from foreign-affiliated life insurers.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2005

Shutting down business fraud

Today's communities in Japan, especially impersonal big cities, are becoming hostile places in many ways for elderly people living alone. New gangs of criminals, who often pose as kind and soft-spoken business operators, are eager to swindle the elderly out of their life savings. These con artists know...
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2005

Tokyo still weak on human-trafficking: U.N. investigator

The government will have to do much more than just revise a few laws to combat human-trafficking, the U.N. special rapporteur on the problem said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2005

A skittish reform pendulum

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills cleared the Lower House on July 5 by only five votes, demonstrating the strength of anti-Koizumi forces in the governing Liberal Democratic Party. The narrow margin reflected severe criticism of not only the legislation but also Koizumi's...
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

Balance of bank lending down for 90th straight month

The average daily balance of Japanese bank lending decreased 2.6 percent in June from a year earlier, marking a 90th straight month of year-on-year decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jul 8, 2005

Weekend trance party picks 07.08

Friday 07.08
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2005

Postal bills headed for Lower House vote

A special House of Representatives committee approved a hotly contested package of postal privatization bills Monday, setting up a showdown between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and postal privatization opponents within his Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2005

Postal bills headed for Lower House vote

A special House of Representatives committee approved a hotly contested package of postal privatization bills Monday, setting up a showdown between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and postal privatization opponents within his Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2005

Fundamentalism seen hurting AIDS effort

KOBE -- Religious fundamentalism that rejects condom use and scientific treatment of people with HIV/AIDS is threatening to reverse a quarter century of progress in battling the disease, participants at an international conference warned Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2005

AIDS time bomb is Asia: Kobe forum

KOBE — Medical professionals, scholars, community leaders and those who are HIV positive from around Asia and the Pacific gathered Friday in Kobe to begin a five-day conference on the region's growing HIV/AIDS crisis.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2005

Japan Post enters JSDA to sell trusts

Japan Post on Friday became a special member of the Japan Securities Dealers Association to launch sales of investment trusts at 575 post offices in Japan in October.
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jun 19, 2005

Only one way to get that big band sound

Forming a jazz big band in this day and age is a somewhat insane undertaking. Scheduling the right musicians, writing elaborate arrangements and hiring a studio with the right equipment to record 16 players at once are headaches big enough to hold back even the most inspired leader. The bottom line for...

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