Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2009

Suzuki sides with DPJ, sees dual polls in '10

SAPPORO — Muneo Suzuki, leader of Hokkaido's New Party Daichi, said elections for both chambers of the Diet could be held simultaneously next year if the opposition camp secures a huge win in the Aug. 30 House of Representatives poll.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2009

Relief measure falls short

On Aug. 6, the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Prime Minister Taro Aso signed an agreement with representatives of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic-bombing survivors who had filed lawsuits seeking recognition as sufferers of radiation-related illnesses. Under the agreement, plaintiffs...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2009

Third World potential seen in jute bag biz

Eriko Yamaguchi, founder of Motherhouse Co., which has manufactured and imported bags and other goods made of jute in Bangladesh since 2006, is determined to help developing countries out of poverty.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 18, 2009

TOEIC: Where does the money go?

In a country of test-takers, the Test of English for International Communication has become one of Japan's most recognized exams. In 2008, people in Japan paid ¥4,040 — or slightly less if their company or school paid a ¥100,000 membership fee — to take the TOEIC Institutional Program (IP) at their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 14, 2009

Playwright Tomohiro Maekawa finds the uncanny in the mundane

In February this year, 35-year-old Tomohiro Maekawa's reputation was given a boost when he was nominated in both the best-playwright and best-director categories of the prestigious Yomiuri Theater Awards. Although Maekawa didn't walk away with an award; the nominations, coming just six years after he...
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2009

JAL told to share more runs

Japan Airlines Corp., Asia's most indebted carrier, should expand code-sharing agreements with other airlines to boost passenger traffic without the cost of operating new routes, the civil aviation chief said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 11, 2009

TOEIC no turkey at 30

The Test of English for International Communication turns 30 this year. In three decades it has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the best-known tests in Japan. In December 1979, 3,000 people sat the first TOEIC. In 2008, people in Japan took it 1.7 million times. Many were repeat customers;...
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2009

Pariahs of Asia and their nukes

LONDON — It is generally agreed that North Korea and Burma have the two most oppressive regimes in Asia. They rule over two of the poorest countries in the continent, and that is no coincidence whatever.
JAPAN / History
Aug 9, 2009

'It is time to discuss this more frankly'

Kazuhiko Togo, Professor of International Politics at Kyoto Sangyo University, is a former Ambassador to the Netherlands and the author of 2005's "Japan's Foreign Policy 1945-2003" and 2008's "Rekishi to Gaiko" ("History and Diplomacy"). He is also a grandson of Shigenori Togo (1882-1950), who, after...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 7, 2009

'3:10 to Yuma'

Is the Western past its sell-by date? Sure, they still pop up on our screens every now and then, but when a new Western starring both Christian Bale and Russell Crowe barely limps into limited release in Japan some two years (!) after its U.S. release, well then it's clear the genre is in trouble. Just...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 4, 2009

Unlike humans, swine flu is indiscriminate

The biggest news a few months ago, now affecting every prefecture in Japan, has blipped off our radar screens. For the time being.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2009

Running around the many stages

If you want to get a sense of the sprawling possibilities at Fuji Rock, just look at Rafven's schedule. The former street band from Gothenburg, Sweden, managed to play no less than nine times during the festival, bringing their exuberant brand of gypsy-style revelry to a string of different stages both...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2009

Bugy Craxone "Cheeseburgers Diary"

Bugy Craxone, whose name is a twisted mash-up of the English words blue, easy and klaxon, formed in Sapporo in 1997, relocating a year later to Tokyo. Their pop-infused, female-fronted hardcore sound won them a deal with Victor Entertainment within a year; but whereas many Japanese rock bands start out...

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick