Search - 2004

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2005

Communal individuals

World-famous sculptor Antony Gormley has spent the last 25 years "infecting" public spaces with sculptures that transform viewers' imagination and challenge their preconceptions. In "Children's Field," a Gormley-inspired community art project produced by the American School in Japan (ASIJ) and A.R.T....
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

Full-time pay drops for seventh year

Annual pay for full-time company employees in 2004 averaged 4,388,000 yen, down 51,000 yen or 1.1 percent from the previous year for the seventh straight year of contraction, according to a survey by the National Tax Agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Desertification in China, Mongolia a problem for Japan

The spreading desertification in China and Mongolia is no longer just someone else's concern; it's posing a health risk in this country and affecting Japanese businesses, a senior U.N. official in charge of efforts to curb the problem said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2005

Top court drops appeal over '03 vote disparity

The Supreme Court dismissed appeals Tuesday filed by lawyers seeking to invalidate the results in several constituencies in the November 2003 House of Representatives election.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2005

Now for some bold reforms

With the resounding victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the general election, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi can now boldly kick-start the stagnant process of structural reform. Utilizing the strong leadership consolidated in the triumph, Mr. Koizumi must set about breaking up the LDP cliques...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 28, 2005

Multi-multiethnic Holland grows old together

Growing old can be difficult, especially if you are in an alien land.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2005

Merkel too weak to derail Turkey's bid

LONDON -- The near-tie in the Sept. 18 German poll, in which Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came from 13 percentage points behind conservative challenger Angela Merkel in late August to less than one point behind her by election day, has thrown German politics into turmoil.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2005

Big firms' confidence up again

Business confidence at large companies rose in the July-September period for the second straight quarterly improvement, reflecting the economic recovery and the completion of inventory adjustments in the information technology sector, the government said Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2005

Zama to be Nissan global design hub

Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will build a 5.1 billion yen facility near Tokyo to consolidate its global production engineering functions at one site.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2005

Japan, U.S. plan joint command center

Japan and the United States plan to establish a joint air-defense command center at the U.S. Air Force's Yokota base in western Tokyo by fiscal 2009, Japanese and U.S. government sources said.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 25, 2005

Storm surge of deficit spending forecast

WASHINGTON -- When things go wrong, they all go wrong for U.S. President George W. Bush. We have watched his approval ratings sag through the summer as his policies in Iraq and elsewhere have begun to unravel. Then came Hurricane Katrina nearly four weeks ago, and it appears that the bottom has fallen...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 25, 2005

Corruption and intrigue in high places

THE ASSASSIN'S TOUCH, by Laura Joh Rowland. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2005, 312 pp., $24.95 (cloth). BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS, by Eliot Pattison. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 360 pp., 2004, $24.95 (cloth). A day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, I fired off an e-mail message...
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2005

Birthrate fall bigger worry than ever, poll shows

The country is more concerned than ever about the falling birthrate, according to a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 25, 2005

Women of poetic substance

PATHWAYS, by Edith Shiffert, New York: White Pine Press, 2005, 115 pp., $14 (paper). A WOMAN'S LIFE, by Harue Aoki, Tokyo: Shichigatsudo, 2004, 120 pp., 1,200 yen (paper).
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 24, 2005

Despite popularity of Premier League, fans have complaints

LONDON -- Appropriately enough for the country that pioneered football hooliganism during the 1970s and 1980s, English supporters are revolting, though, this time in a more positive way.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2005

Sting units making dent in narcotics trade on Internet

The health ministry set up special units in January to crack down on illegal drug trade on the Internet, with investigators arresting about 60 people in the seven-month period through July, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2005

Kanebo will sell off core fashion division

Kanebo Ltd., undergoing state-backed rehabilitation, plans to sell its fashion division, company officials said Thursday night.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2005

Expecting the 'obvious,' killer axes gallows appeal

A 38-year-old man sentenced to death for the murder of two pachinko parlor employees in 2003 has retracted his Tokyo High Court appeal, it was learned Friday.
Sep 24, 2005

North Korea may have mineral bounty

North Korea may be considered a country with few natural resources, but the United States and Europe are eyeing possible large deposits of minerals there that could be used in the high-tech and weapons industries.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2005

MTFG, UFJ target farming

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc. said Thursday they will enter a business and capital tieup with Norinchukin Bank to tap retail banking for farmers -- a large but closed market considered potentially lucrative.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2005

Honda hopes revamped Civic wins over drivers with sophisticated taste

Honda Motor Co. on Thursday unveiled its remodeled Civic -- the first major revamp of the car in five years -- hoping to take one of its mainstays more upmarket.
Sep 23, 2005

Violence by kids in elementary schools hit record in '04

The number of reported violent acts by children at public elementary schools reached a record high of 1,890 in the 2004 academic year through March, an education ministry survey showed Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2005

Breast cancer threat ignored

Japanese women must bring about radical change in their country's health-care culture to stem a worrisome increase in breast cancer, a prominent cancer-awareness advocate said ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2005

Small but vital step for man

HONOLULU -- The agreement on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula reached Monday in Beijing was "one small step for man." It is, however, premature to call it a "giant leap for mankind." The agreement provides a template for working toward a solution to the denuclearization problem; it is not yet a road...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2005

Outlays for welfare set new record at 84 trillion yen

Social security spending rose to a record high 84.27 trillion yen in fiscal 2003, up 700.2 billion, yen or 0.8 percent, from the previous year due mainly to snowballing outlays for the aging population, a government research institute said Wednesday.

Longform

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