Search - 2004

 
 
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2006

Sony Bank to acquire brokerage

Sony Bank said Thursday it will acquire Kaiyo Securities Co. based in Okinawa to launch Internet-based securities brokerage services in the first half of fiscal 2007.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 25, 2006

Marinos' Okada calls it quits

Former Japan coach Takeshi Okada has resigned as Yokohama F. Marinos manager following a poor run of results by the J. League first-division side, soccer sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 2006

Graham Coxon

In mid-1990s Britain, Graham Coxon was the guitar hero of a generation. His band, Blur, were the epitome of Britpop, and his guitar style, fusing jagged, violent post-punk and melodic, melancholic '60s guitar pop -- along with frontman Damon Albarn's ear for a melody -- kept them ahead of their competitors....
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2006

HIV cases spike to three-month record

At least 248 people in Japan were newly infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the three months from April to June, the largest number of new infections since a tracking system was introduced in 1994, according to the government's AIDS Surveillance Committee.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2006

U.S. beef ban over but it seems otherwise at stores

It's been weeks since Japan ditched its import ban on U.S. beef and the first shipment went on sale, but American beef is nowhere to be seen at supermarkets here -- except for the five Costco stores.
BASKETBALL
Aug 23, 2006

Reserve Hermann impresses Bobcats

SENDAI -- Michael Jordan may have found his diamond in the rough.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2006

Suntory puts premium on fruity can cocktails

Suntory Ltd. said Tuesday it will debut premium canned cocktails using fresh fruit on Sept. 26, hoping to lure people who want high-end, sweet alcoholic beverages.
BASKETBALL
Aug 22, 2006

Puerto Rico recovers from U.S. loss

SAPPORO -- Energy, speed, intensity -- the Puerto Rican basketball teamhasn't disappointed at the FIBA World Championship yet.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2006

Osaka rights funds, 'buraku' kingpin, mob enjoy shady ties

OSAKA -- Calls for fundamental changes in how Osaka funds human rights activities are mounting following new allegations of fraud and discoveries of further links involving a disgraced former official representing the "burakumin" community and underworld figures.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2006

Regional logistics project kicks off

Japan launched a project Monday to create an efficient logistics network in Asia centered on the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, aiming to halve distribution costs and the lead time for cross-border shipments in the region over five to 10 years.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 20, 2006

Summertime, and the dying is easy

RENDEZVOUS AT KAMAKURA INN by Marshall Browne. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 288 pp., $23.95 (cloth). SAYONARA BAR by Susan Barker. London: Black Swan Books, 2006, 430 pp., £6.99 (paper). For Detective Inspector Hideo Aoki of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the sprinklings of misfortune have become...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2006

Ex-lawmaker's former aide questioned over Mizutani scam

Prosecutors probing alleged tax evasion by engineering firm Mizutani Kensetsu Co. have questioned a former secretary to a retired Diet member who once served as a Cabinet minister and was a top executive of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2006

Aum sarin maker's death penalty upheld

," Tsuchiya's lawyers claimed in their concluding statement. But Shiraki dismissed that argument, saying Tsuchiya surely was aware that the chemicals he was synthesizing would be used to kill.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2006

Tokyu contractor kills self following tax probe grilling

A branch office head of Tokyu Construction Co. has committed suicide after being questioned by prosecutors in connection with alleged tax evasion by engineering firm Mizutani Kensetsu Co., sources said late Thursday.
BASKETBALL
Aug 18, 2006

Final look at FIBA groups

Here's a closer look at each of the four groups in the FIBA World Championship, which gets under way Saturday in four Japanese cities:
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2006

JAL to increase fuel surcharges on overseas routes

Japan Airlines Corp., struggling to deal with soaring jet fuel prices, said Thursday it will raise fuel surcharges on international flights by 700 yen to 5,600 yen, depending on the route, starting Oct. 1.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2006

'Life insurance ladies' thrown in limbo

In Japan's still male-dominated business world, there is at least one industry in which women have long made their mark: life insurance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 17, 2006

Exploring her selves

Modern culture is deeply interested in constructed and changing identities. The mutability of the individual is an obsession that stretches from stories about Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" being a portrait of the artist in drag to Oprah Winfrey's very public weight-loss programs; from Japanese artist...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2006

Entrepreneur beats heavy odds to make comeback

When Katsumi Iizuka personally assumed in 2001 the 2.4 billion yen debt that his failed personal computer firm had accumulated, few would have expected him to make a comeback.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 17, 2006

Filtering Shakespeare with noh

Despite the variety of attempts, few productions of Shakespeare succeed in bringing new insight to the playwright's works. In May 2004, though, when director Yoshihiro Kurita presented "Macbeth" in a traditional noh theatrical style at the Ryutopia Theater in Niigata, audiences and critics alike were...
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 16, 2006

Prime ministers' Yasukuni visits

Following is a chronology of events related to prime ministers' visits to Yasukuni Shrine:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2006

Firms find niche market turning office towers into dwellings

From the outside, the apartment building Kenny Sumitani recently moved into looks exactly like an office high-rise.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2006

New envoy appointed to Brazil

Veteran diplomat Ken Shimanouchi was appointed Tuesday as ambassador to Brazil, officials said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2006

Despite Oji's likely failure, M&As catching on

Japan appears to have entered a new era of mergers and acquisitions with Oji Paper Co.'s recent takeover bid for Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd.
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2006

Heroic save in a long war

The good news is that British authorities thwarted a plot to blow up in midair around 10 airliners en route to the United States from Britain. The bad news is that the incident shows that the threat of an indiscriminate terrorist attack remains, reminding us that no nation or community can let up on...

Longform

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