Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2005

Hayabusa landed on asteroid but didn't leave probe

The Japanese space probe Hayabusa successfully landed on the asteroid Itokawa, located about 290 million km away from the Earth, during its landing attempt Sunday, but did not drop the equipment for collecting surface samples, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 24, 2005

Stand-outs at TDW

With TDW taking over the city, there were plenty of chances to get lost among the abundant design goodies while exploring some of Tokyo's most noteworthy design addresses. From the massive lineup of concepts and products, here are a few that stood out:
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2005

Iraqi minister in Tokyo for talks

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari arrived Wednesday in Tokyo for a four-day visit during which he will meet with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other top officials to discuss Japan's support for Iraq's reconstruction.
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2005

Tackling juvenile crime

In 2004, adults committed 3.42 million criminal offenses, a decline for the second year in a row from the postwar record set in 2002. Still, the number of criminal incidents remains disturbingly high. The situation is similar for juvenile delinquency, as shown by the National Police Agency's white paper...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 23, 2005

Big Money warms to socially responsible investing

Environmentalists have been preaching for decades that true societal change will only happen when the really big-money players, such as multinational corporations and banks, begin to balance profit-making with social responsibility.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2005

The 'IC you' card

People are still reeling from September's LDP landslide election, realizing that Koizumi can essentially legislate whatever he wants.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2005

China far way from becoming global technology powerhouse

China has come a long way to show "pockets of excellence" in some fields of science and technology, but it still has a long way to go before it can become a full-blown innovative power, a China expert at a U.S. think tank told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 20, 2005

Inaugural Konami Cup a great way to end the 2005 season

The first Konami Cup Asia Series, held Nov. 10-13 at Tokyo Dome, gets high marks from this chair for its organization, execution and quality of play.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2005

Liquor retailer group a big political donor

The political arm of a scandal-hit association of liquor retailers made at least 210 million yen in political donations in the five years to 2004, it was learned Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2005

Chaff rains on Aussie trade

SYDNEY -- An international scandal revealing Australia's role in the Iraq food-for-oil coverup is costing good will in Washington and could affect agricultural exports to the key Japanese market.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Nov 20, 2005

Revealing times on a girls' night out

The bare back of a man shines like a beacon in a dark empty street below an expressway in Tokyo's Tamachi district. The brightly lit mural points the way inside to one of the only male strip shows in town catering to women.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 19, 2005

Play of Wigan Athletic is story of Premier League season

Here's a good trivia question -- name a Wigan Athletic player.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2005

Top court rejects wartime rape suit

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal by a group of Chinese women seeking damages from the government for having been repeatedly raped by Imperial army soldiers during Japan's wartime occupation of China.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

More arrests over mushroom claims

Seven people, including an executive of a Tokyo-based publishing company, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of advertising "meshimakobu" mushrooms as an anticancer drug in 2003 in violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, investigation sources said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 17, 2005

Passion for kabuki

After working for the Tokyo National Theater for almost 35 years, Koji Orita became director of its Department of Performing Arts in 2003.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

AC Real Estate files in year's biggest failure

AC Real Estate Corp., set up to dispose of the nonperforming real estate holdings of ailing general contractor Fujita Corp., has filed for court protection from creditors with liabilities of some 352.6 billion yen, company officials said Wednesday, making it the year's largest corporate failure.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 17, 2005

A new art center, in Kiyosumi

This week brings some good news and some bad news to Tokyo's contemporary art scene. The good news is that a group of galleries that have been sharing a building in Shinkawa since January 2003 have relocated en masse, and now all boast significantly bigger spaces. The bad news is that the galleries vacated...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

Liquor union boss held in embezzling, vows to air bribes

A former senior official of a liquor retailer union was arrested Wednesday for allegedly embezzling about 16.5 million yen from the union's pension fund.
BASKETBALL
Nov 16, 2005

Saitama Broncos used to challenges

After the win, Saitama Broncos general manager Toshihiko Narita seemed on the verge of tears, his face red with excitement.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2005

Japan boosts U.S. ties at own risk

The United States has been Japan's most important ally since World War II and the U.S. nuclear umbrella of the Cold War came to define their security alliance.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2005

Iraq, beef, bases, bird flu on agenda for Bush-Koizumi meeting

KYOTO -- U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Japan on Tuesday evening for a two-day visit that will include a summit with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on trade and regional security.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2005

Easing beef ban seen as missing chance to let consumers rule

Yoshinoya D&C Co. executives, intent on reviving the restaurant chain's trademark beef-on-rice bowls as quickly as possible, are calling U.S. meatpackers to find out how much beef they can get and at what price.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Nov 15, 2005

Gigantic spider

Dear Alice:
EDITORIALS
Nov 14, 2005

France in flames

Two weeks of rioting have raised serious questions for France. The escalating violence has forced the French to acknowledge the widening gap between their image of French society and the reality of the lives of many of its newest citizens. The temptation to dismiss the violence as a superficial phenomenon...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2005

Osaka mayor race begins with promises of reform

OSAKA -- The Osaka mayoral campaign kicked off Sunday with all four candidates promising financial reform and a cleansing of a city bureaucracy racked by a year of scandals.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2005

Probe's robot sent toward asteroid is feared lost

A Japanese space probe released a small robot Saturday toward an asteroid orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars as part of a rehearsal for its own planned descent later this month, but the robot probably missed the target, the space agency said.
EDITORIALS
Nov 13, 2005

The pop-word culture

The dictionary frowns on words it snootily labels "informal." Teachers and newspaper copy editors carry a grudge against slang. Nearly everyone recoils from jargon. But according to a new book irresistibly titled "Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 13, 2005

Nobel laureate set to be garlanded in cliche

Awarding this year's Nobel Prize in literature to British playwright Harold Pinter is giving the recipient an opportunity to mount a stage of enormous proportions, and his acceptance speech in Stockholm next month may be the most provocative, fiery and influential address ever given on this august occasion....

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