Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2006

Foreign states can be sued, top court rules

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that suits involving foreign governments are within the jurisdiction of Japan's judicial authorities, changing a 78-year-old legal precedent.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2006

Hirohito visits to Yasukuni stopped over war criminals

Emperor Hirohito expressed strong displeasure in 1988 over Yasukuni Shrine's decision in the late 1970s to include Class-A war criminals on the list of people honored there, sources said Thursday, citing a memorandum by a former Imperial Household Agency official.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2006

Bombings demonstrate what Bombay is made of

MADRAS, India -- A day after maximum terror struck India's financial capital, Bombay, the city of 17 million people was back on its feet. Even London took four days after last July's explosions to get over the shock and trauma.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 16, 2006

And now for some good news -- on tap for everyone

We have become so used to environmental portents that whenever we hear good news we blink in disbelief, so blink away: It appears that the various concerted efforts to get people in Japan to save water has paid off.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2006

Matchmaker looks to cash in on population woes

For the government, the declining birthrate and delayed marriages are its biggest headaches as the graying of Japan accelerates.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2006

Bridge bid-riggers face fines, prison

Prosecutors on Friday asked the Tokyo High Court to fine 23 bridge builders and imprison eight former senior officials accused of rigging bids for bridge construction projects financed by the now-defunct Japan Highway Public Corp. and by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2006

Abe denies upholding pre-emptive strike as defensive right

is being attacked with missiles" from that base. He added that an overseas first strike would fall within the legal parameters of self-defense "if there is no way to defend against an attack on Japan." Those comments, which followed North Korea's test-launching of seven ballistic missiles that fell into...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Osaka activist's arrest lays bare yakuza ties with 'burakumin'

On the night of Jan. 26, 1985, four hit men from the Ichiwa-kai crime syndicate drove up to an apartment complex in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Officials try to defuse fallout from pre-emption issue

Monday's inflammatory remarks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe in the wake of North Korea's missile tests have touched off a controversy over Japan's interpretation of "pre-emptive attacks."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

BOJ will face flak over rate action -- or inaction

The Bank of Japan faces a tough decision at its Policy Board meeting later this week. Should it declare a formal end to its near-zero interest rate policy, adopting a more conventional monetary stance, or should it hold off until it is clear the economic stagnation that has haunted the country over the...
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Mizutani gave millions to North-linked NGO

." In spring 2003, the secretary general introduced the ex-chairman to a man identified as a member of a North Korean panel on foreign economic cooperation, the sources said.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

Mizutani in 2 billion yen tax dodge

Mizutani Kensetsu Co., an engineering company suspected of tax evasion, is believed to have hidden some 2 billion yen in income in the two business years to the end of August 2004, sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

First strike permitted if attack imminent: Abe

Japan has the right to strike a foreign missile base if the country is under imminent threat of attack, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2006

Independent judgment in doubt

The public controversy over Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's 10 million yen investment in a fund led by maverick fund manager Mr. Yoshiaki Murakami, revealed in mid-June, has yet to die down. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party take the position that Mr. Fukui...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2006

Public finally gets to see long-lost Okamoto mural

A long-lost mural by the late painter Taro Okamoto was shown to the public for the first time ever Saturday in Tokyo, following a yearlong restoration.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2006

Machinery exec held over taxes

Tokyo prosecutors on Saturday arrested an executive of Mizutani Kensetsu Co. and an executive of a firm with which the major heavy machinery and engineering firm does business, prosecution officials said.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

Japan, China likely to ink aviation deal next week

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said Friday he hopes Japan and China can settle their stalled aviation talks next week.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

New BOJ rules ban its execs from most types of investment

The Bank of Japan adopted new rules Friday banning its executives from engaging in most types of investment, including stocks and private equity funds, in response to the public furor over personal investments BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui made before he became chief of the central bank.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 7, 2006

Puffy "Splurge"

It's been 10 years since Ami and Yumi shot to fame with the million-selling debut single "Ajia no Junshin," and it's almost unthinkable that a manufactured pop duo should last so long. But Puffy's strength has always been in embracing the unpredictable, and "Splurge" is a confident, mature pop album...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2006

Pyongyang fires seven missiles into Sea of Japan

North Korea fired six ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan early Wednesday and another one in the evening, drawing economic sanctions from Japan and intensifying international concern about its nuclear weapons and diplomacy with the United States.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2006

Panel to suggest BOJ asset disclosure

A Bank of Japan panel will recommend that the central bank draw up new rules requiring Policy Board members to disclose their personal assets, panel sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 6, 2006

Three artists piece together contemporary Japanese art

Art since the 1960s has reveled in a directional pluralism devoid of dominant mediums or movements, with no consensus on how the range of artists and styles might add up to a more significant whole.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

Kajima faces taxes on contract rebates

Kajima Corp. and other companies paid a combined 900 million yen in rebates to construction firms linked to a former executive of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. for contracts to build a pharmaceutical plant in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, according to a tax audit obtained Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2006

July rate hike seen amid rosy 'tankan'

Business confidence among major manufacturers improved in the April-June quarter and fiscal 2006 corporate capital spending is expected to post double-digit growth, the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey showed Monday, increasing the likelihood that the central bank will raise the key short-term interest...
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2006

A new team in Vietnam

Vietnam has overhauled its leadership. The country's National Assembly last week affirmed the individuals selected by the congress of the Vietnam Communist Party. Members of the new team are considerably younger than their predecessors, and their common characteristic is a commitment to economic reform....

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go