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BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2012

Olympus to cut 2,700 workers, restructure

Olympus Corp. said Friday it will cut 2,700 jobs and restructure plants as it seeks to recover after writing down assets following an accounting-fraud scandal involving more than ¥100 billion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 25, 2012

Play reveals manzai's U.S. roots

Watching the fast-paced, two-person manzai routines that characterize much of Japanese TV comedy these days, it's difficult to imagine that two key influences on that genre's birth were stars of cinema's silent era: Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2012

DoCoMo targets 50% stake in smartphones

NTT DoCoMo Inc., the nation's biggest mobile-phone company, expects to increase its smartphone sales to more than half of the national total this fiscal year as it introduces new models, the company's finance chief said.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 20, 2012

The sky's the limit

After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 last year, the performance of the spectacularly tall Tokyo Sky Tree going up in the capital's downtown Sumida Ward became a subject of heightened interest to experts, residents and the general public alike.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2012

Cancer survivors tell of workplace prejudice

Seven years ago, Naomi Sakurai was diagnosed with breast cancer and told she had only a 60 percent chance of surviving another five years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 9, 2012

Youngest billionaire extends losses as Gree plunges

Gree Inc. extended losses in Tokyo trading a day after founder Yoshikazu Tanaka, Japan's youngest billionaire, lost $702 million as his social-gaming company plunged on concerns one of its sales methods may be illegal.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2012

Mitsubishi Estate profit falls 12%

Mitsubishi Estate Co., Japan's second-biggest developer, said full-year profit fell 12 percent because of declining rental income and a drop in apartment sales. Shares retreated to a three-month low.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 6, 2012

Japan's women are increasingly taking the future into their own hands

Sara Blakely's story is inspirational. The 41-year-old Floridian began her working life as a door-to-door fax-machine salesperson. Then one day she looked in the mirror — but not at her face.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2012

Mistakes that line a successful road

An Unprogrammed Life: Adventures of an Incurable Entrepreneur, by William H. Saito. John Wiley & Sons, 2012, 241 pp., $24.95 (paperback) William H. Saito has enjoyed many successes in his short career as an information technology entrepreneur, but he is keen to stress the importance of failure.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 1, 2012

Who you buy a home from can make a big difference in price

We met the real estate agent at Honda Station on the Sotobo Line in Chiba Prefecture. As we drove to the property we talked about the area. Though a typically cramped Japanese bedroom community, it's a bit older than most, so the houses were more varied in shape and size, with wider spaces between them,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2012

Tepco should accept woodchips

After a disaster, most Japanese companies apologize, make reparations and make changes to ensure the same problem does not recur. Tokyo Electric Power Co. appears to be the exception. Most recently, Tepco has declined a request from the timber industry in Fukushima Prefecture to accept 25,000 tons of...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 20, 2012

Comic plays mark anniversary

While the most prominent of entertainment company Yoshimoto Kogyo's myriad business interests are the near endless TV appearances by its contracted comedians, the real heart of its operation lies not in the studio but on the stage.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2012

Autos boost Nippon Yusen

Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's largest shipping line, expects its car-carrying vessels to transport more vehicles in fiscal 2012 than it has in five years as demand surges in North America and factories in Thailand recover from last year's floods.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2012

Woodford book chronicles story of coverup

Last summer, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the CEO of Olympus Corp., instructed the firm's executives to keep then-President Michael C. Woodford from finding out about a magazine article that exposed the company's dubious transactions, a newly published book by Woodford reveals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2012

Sony to use commercial products to bolster consumer unit

Sony Corp. will use the technology of its business-use products to help revive its consumer-products unit, Kazuo Hirai said in his first public address as company president on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2012

Display alliance launches operations

Japan Display Inc., an alliance of three major electronics manufacturers, opened for business Monday with the aim of becoming the world's leader in small and midsize displays.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2012

Toshiba mulling investment in select segments of bankrupt Elpida: exec

A senior Toshiba Corp. executive said the company may invest in chip-maker Elpida Memory Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in February.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2012

Sakura: Soul of Japan

"If I were asked to explain the Japanese spirit, I would say it is wild cherry blossoms glowing in the morning sun!" — Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), nativist thinker and poet
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2012

Quake insurance is but a token offering

As the government continues to push for an increase in the consumption tax, a question related to last year's disaster is still being debated: How much of the burden for rebuilding should be shouldered by taxpayers? We live in a resolutely capitalist country that stresses personal responsibility, and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2012

Uniqlo opens top flagship in Ginza

Fast Retailing Co. launched its biggest Uniqlo flagship store yet Friday, aiming for it to rake in ¥10 billion a year in sales and reinforce the company's global competitiveness.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 12, 2012

Power reform now or never

Taking advantage of the serious difficulties besetting Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) since the catastrophe at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Democratic Party of Japan government is pushing a series of measures to restructure the outdated way in which the electric power industry operates....
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2012

AIJ client to pursue compensation

Human Holdings Co., the school and health care company that has plunged 10 percent since disclosing it was a client of suspended AIJ Investment Advisors Co., pledged to seek compensation for losses from the asset manager.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2012

Hitachi dumps Elpida as chip-maker dives

Hitachi Ltd. has sold its entire 4.7 percent stake in Elpida Memory Inc., whose stock will be delisted in less than a month after it filed for bankruptcy last week, spokesman Yuichi Izumisawa said Tuesday.

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