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BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2006

E-cash floated as causing March drop in coin usage

The outstanding balance of coins in circulation fell slightly in March from a year earlier for the first year-on-year decline since the Bank of Japan started its survey in 1971, according to a report released Tuesday that prompted speculation the spread of electronic money has eaten into the use of hard...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2006

KDDI, Tepco to merge optic nets

KDDI Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. have reached a basic agreement to integrate their fiber-optic communications networks next spring, sources said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Cost of living just got more expensive as fiscal 2006 begins

The April 1 start to the new fiscal year brings with it a number of increases in the cost of living.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Japan wants to limit realignment tab to 50%: Aso

Japan wants to keep its share of the expenses for moving some 8,000 U.S. Marines to Guam from Okinawa to under half, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 28, 2006

Offi's Zumi Stool, Tadao Hoshino's dresser drawers, the 'Shadow Series' chairs, Muji's Wagon Set

With the cherry blossoms finally blooming and spring-cleaning in the air, it's a good time to think about updating your home's interior. And it isn't only a few university students who will be looking for new furnishings to go with the new digs that they move into at the start of Japan's school year...
Japan Times
Features / JAPAN FASHION WEEK FALL/WINTER 06-07
Mar 26, 2006

Virtual retailers forge fortunes with fashion

There's a revolution going on in the Japanese fashion world -- but it is nowhere near the catwalks. The revolution is happening on the web.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 18, 2006

Job of England manager becoming tougher by the day

LONDON -- Some time in the next few weeks there will be a puff of white smoke from the Football Association's headquarters in Soho Square and a new England manager will be announced. From that moment the life of Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor will never be the same.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2006

A test for Thai democracy

SINGAPORE -- One year after he was re-elected in a landslide, Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been forced to dissolve the National Assembly and call a snap election. Although his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party commands a 75 percent majority in the assembly, Thaksin is embattled.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2006

S&P move blow for Vodafone

Standard & Poor's said Monday it has put the A-plus long-term debt rating of Vodafone K.K., the Japanese unit of the British mobile phone company, on its CreditWatch with negative implications because its financial standing might weaken if Vodafone Group PLC decide to sell it to Softbank Corp.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2006

Mizuho enters cell phone credit cards

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Mizuho Bank and Credit Saison Co. will tie up on a service allowing cell phones to be used as credit cards, sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 5, 2006

Japan's social norms shaped by law

LAW IN EVERYDAY JAPAN: Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes, by Mark D. West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005, 279 pp., $19.95 (paper). This is a superb book that explores the interaction of law, society and culture over a range of intriguing topics. In seven captivating case studies, Mark West...
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2006

U.S. KC-130 relocation mulled

Japan and the United States are planning to change the relocation site for the command center for the U.S. KC-130 midair refueling aircraft unit from a Japanese base in Kagoshima Prefecture to a U.S. base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, according to Japanese government sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2006

IC-tagged produce coming to a grocer near you

Supermarkets are following department stores in introducing integrated circuit tags for their goods, believing that easing the payment process will make shopping more convenient for customers and help increase profits.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2006

Solving the energy puzzle

LONDON -- Energy security and politics do not mix well. Energy security requires huge long-term investment, freedom from political interference and social tranquillity. Politicians live in the short term, love to interfere and tend to deliver nasty surprises that economic forecasters usually fail to...
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2006

JAL boots, reseats serial e-mailer

A male passenger who refused to stop sending e-mail from his mobile phone caused a one-hour delay in a plane's departure from Kagoshima airport on Friday, Japan Airlines said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2006

Livedoor fraud made 6 billion yen: sources

Bogus share swap allegedly concocted to pad group's financial statements
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2006

Toshiba faces major hurdles with Westinghouse

Toshiba's CEO had good reason to sound a trifle defensive about his company's $5.4 billion purchase of U.S.-based nuclear power company Westinghouse.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2006

Travails of Mr. Thaksin

Thailand's prime minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, is a survivor. Since taking office five years ago, he has weathered allegations of corruption and malfeasance, charges of nepotism, an insurgency in Thailand's southern provinces and even a public rebuke by the king. Yet, he has bested every challenge...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 19, 2006

Decades of peace have yet to heal Vietnam's wounds

VIET NAM AT PEACE, by Philip Jones Griffiths. London: Trolley, 2005, 312 pp., £39.95 (cloth). This is the final volume in Philip Jones Griffiths' epoch trilogy on Vietnam spanning 40 years. His classic "Vietnam, Inc" (1971) and "Agent Orange" (2003) focus on war and its consequences. Here, we are given...
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Corporate character goods harness power of 'cute'

A traditional seasoning flies off store shelves after the bottles begin sporting a cartoon panda. A droplet-shaped character turns a little-known manufacturer into a household name.
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2006

The world according to the Pentagon

The U.S. Department of Defense has released its vision of the world, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The four-year review of U.S. military strategy provides the Pentagon's assessment of global trends and its responses to them. The QDR receives a lot of attention, but it is important to remember...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Wiretaps led to 18 arrests in 2005

Police conducted authorized wiretaps in one murder case and four drug cases leading to 18 arrests in 2005, Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura told a Cabinet meeting Friday.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?