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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2005

Have music, will travel

Shugo Tokumaru is one of those unfairly talented types who seem to be able to turn their hand to anything. He wrote, played and sang every note on his two albums of "bedroom music" and produced them both too. The 25-year-old also finds time to play guitar and occasionally sing in lo-fi indie pop band...
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2005

Major insurers profit thanks to fewer disasters

The nation's six major nonlife insurers reported higher first-half net profits from a year ago thanks to a decline in natural disasters, according to parent-only earnings reports released Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2005

Braking illicit drug use

Police statistics show that the number of people taken into police custody on narcotics-related charges is on the decrease. Still, optimism about drug use in Japan is not warranted, as recent arrests or indictments have involved a former lawmaker and members of the Self-Defense Forces.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2005

Reining in medical expenditures

The Japanese spent 31.4 trillion yen for medical services in fiscal 2004, or about 246,000 yen per person, an increase of 2 percent from the previous year. The figure of 2 percent may be a small and acceptable growth, requiring no stricter lid on the rise of the nation's medical spending. But Japan's...
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2005

Winning doesn't make him right

The Osaka High Court on Friday found unconstitutional Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's three visits to Yasukuni Shrine from 2001 to 2003. The court said the visits violated Article 20, Section 3, of the Constitution, which prohibits religious education and any other "religious" activity by the state...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 25, 2005

Carp may bring in ex-player Brown to try and revive club

Hiroshima Carp manager Koji Yamamoto has announced he will be stepping down at the end of this season, and press reports have indicated the leading candidate to replace him is former Carp infielder-outfielder Marty Brown.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2005

Local version of wedding magazine teaches men how to tie the knot

While brides-to-be may complain that their future spouses do nothing to help them prepare for the big day, it's often the case that men just don't have a clue about what to do to help.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2005

Vote on Koizumi's record, not postal reform, scholar says

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may want to make his postal privatization quest the focal point of the Sept. 11 election, but economics professor Masaru Kaneko argues voters should instead cast their ballots based on how he has steered the economy and society.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2005

Nikkei has highest close since April '04 on economy restart announcement

The key Nikkei stock index ended Wednesday at its highest level since late April 2004, racking up the second-largest single-day gain this year after the government said the day before that economic recovery had ended its pause.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2005

Japan Highway vice president held over bid-rigging

Prosecutors on Monday arrested Michio Uchida, vice president of Japan Highway Public Corp., for allegedly helping to rig bids for bridge projects ordered by the highway body.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2005

1,182 'retraining sessions' at JR West

West Japan Railway Co. conducted 1,182 employee retraining sessions during a two-year period from April 2003, the longest lasting 51 days, the transport ministry's accident investigation commission said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2005

Crude oil price spike dents trade surplus

Japan's merchandise trade surplus for the first half of 2005 shrank 26.4 percent from the previous year to 4.53 trillion, yen the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2005

Pension program invested into black

The public pension program cleared its books of red ink in fiscal 2004, with a weak yen helping it offload foreign stocks and bonds for a profit, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2005

Meiji Yasuda president to resign

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. President Ryotaro Kaneko announced his intention to resign at a representative members' meeting Tuesday because new cases of the company illegally withholding policy payouts have been discovered.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2005

'04 tax revenue up 5.3% as jobs, dividends grow

In a sign the economy is growing stronger, tax revenues in fiscal 2004 rose 5.3 percent from the previous year to 45.59 trillion yen for the first increase in four years, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

METI official embezzles 24 million yen for stock, repays it, apologizes, quits

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday that a senior official misappropriated 24 million yen in public funds for personal stock trading.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2005

Politicos feeding off turmoil

MANILA -- These days the political class in the Philippines is preoccupied with other things besides governing. Attention is focused on what one commentator has termed "the worst crisis any administration" has ever experienced. The opposition is orchestrating turmoil and openly calling for the ouster...
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Poor losers fan Filipino disenchantment

MANILA -- To characterize the public mood in the Philippines as depressed is no exaggeration. According to recent surveys, pessimism about economic prospects is on the rise, and a majority of Filipinos believe their quality of life has deteriorated in the past year. A recent Asian Development Bank survey...
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2005

MMC hit sales target -- by selling to own dealers

Scandal-ridden automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. inflated its new vehicle sales figures in Japan in the last business year by selling about 10 percent to dealers instead of consumers, industry sources said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2005

Health experts alarmed by surge in AIDS

The rapid spread of AIDS in the past decade has reached a level that has confounded and alarmed the health establishment in Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Narita offers to cut landing fees by 20% but add new charges

Narita International Airport Corp. said Thursday that it has submitted a proposal to the International Air Transport Association to cut its landing fees by an average of more than 20 percent.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Suicides top 30,000 for seventh year

Suicides in Japan topped 30,000 for the seventh straight year in 2004, with men accounting for more than two-thirds of the number, according to a report released by the National Police Agency on Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

Mizuho profit up 54.2% on improved bad debts

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the nation's biggest banking group by assets, said Monday its group net profit for the last business year rose 54.2 percent from a year earlier amid the economic recovery and strong corporate earnings.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2005

A cautiously optimistic view

On the face of it, Japan's economy appears headed for a full-fledged recovery. In the first quarter of 2005, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.3 percent from the previous quarter, or 5.3 percent in annualized terms, according to the Cabinet Office. It was the first solid quarterly growth since...

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan