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JAPAN
Apr 18, 2008

To survive, companies need a conscience

It's time for Japanese companies to review their profit-driven culture and think about the meaning of being truly accepted by consumers and society, according to a public policy expert and former vice governor of Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2008

Japan Inc. is on a stock buyback spree

The good news about Japanese stocks is that corporations are buying back more of their shares than ever before. The bad news is everyone outside of Japan is selling the same equity, spurring concern that the market's world-beating rally may fizzle.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2008

JFE, IHI to form top shipbuilder in Japan

JFE Holdings Inc. and IHI Corp. will discuss combining their shipbuilding operations to create Japan's biggest shipyard, challenging South Korean and Chinese rivals.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Apr 7, 2008

Economic dependency makes Japan a silent ally of China

On March 5, Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to Japan, was invited to speak to members of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) for the first time in the organization's history.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 31, 2008

The vacancy at the BOJ and the merits of emptiness

Nature abhors a vacuum. So said Aristotle. Human beings also abhor a vacuum. Especially when they are LDP politicians in search of a new governor for the Bank of Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 29, 2008

Eco designs and the power of beans

Anand Mehta, who lives four stops out of Kamakura on the Enoden Line, quotes his hero when called to ask when we might meet: "Gandhi said, 'What can be done tomorrow can be done today. What can be done today can be done right now.' So, jump on the train."
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 26, 2008

Can three experts all be wrong on looming disaster?

If you ask British scientist James Lovelock about the future of humanity, be prepared for a shock.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Q&A
Mar 25, 2008

Is it throwing good money after bad to keep Shinginko Tokyo afloat?

Shinginko Tokyo, Japan's first bank created by a local government, was set up by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in April 2004 and started operations a year later to realize Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's pet idea of supporting struggling small and medium-size companies in the capital. With many of...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 16, 2008

A purrfect place for fanciers of felines

The 20th of this month marks the first anniversary of Cat Cafe Calico's opening to the public.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2008

Merchant confidence stayed low in February

Japanese merchant sentiments held near a six-year low in February as soaring oil and food prices sapped consumer spending power, the government said Monday.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Mar 10, 2008

Isolationist tendencies threatening to turn Japan into a 'subprime state'

Although the word "subprime" may have been understood only by a few industry insiders a few months ago, it is certainly entering the global lexicon with some force these days. Governments around the world have been deploring the state of their economies, usually invoking the dreaded problem as a key...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2008

JR Tokai generates friction with costly maglev train

Concerns about huge estimated costs and future profitability are casting a shadow over Central Japan Railway Co.'s long-term project to build a magnetically levitating train system.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2008

Security beefed up for visit by Israeli leader

Japan is deploying maximum-level security for the Israeli prime minister's visit this week, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday, amid intensifying tension in the Middle East since the assassination of a terror mastermind.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2008

Horie's appeal starts at Tokyo High Court

The counsel for Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie pleaded not guilty to charges of accounting fraud Friday as Horie's Tokyo High Court appeal trial began.
EDITORIALS
Feb 21, 2008

Improving the day laborer's lot

The labor ministry has meted out administrative punishment against major employment agency Goodwill Inc. This case and other incidents point to the need for the government and lawmakers to move quickly to improve conditions for temporary day laborers, including revising the manpower dispatching business...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2008

Bangladesh ready to rival Asia's mighty manufacturing hubs

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh — Sure, the shipping distance from Japan to this sprawling industrial park might be great, and his trucks must sometimes compete with rickshaws and livestock on the crowded roads outside its walls.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008

Japanese slurping up U.S. chef's ramen

Tucked away in a quiet shopping district in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, an American is fulfilling an unlikely ambition.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2008

Konica Minolta net profit soars 39%

Konica Minolta net profit r earlier to ¥55.71 billion in the nine months through December on brisk sales, the yen's weakness against the euro and cost-cutting.

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