Search - 2004

 
 
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Waiting for Japan to change -- or can it?

LOS ANGELES -- For as long as I write this column on Asia, which enters into its 10th year next month, I doubt I'll ever witness anything as amusing or telling as the flareup that took place at the close of the University of Southern California's Asia Conference last month.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2004

Government eyes medical teams for disaster victims

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will form about 200 medical teams and assign them to hospitals nationwide to bolster earthquake- and other disaster-response measures, ministry officials said Thursday.
SUMO
Dec 24, 2004

Asashoryu remains in charge in east spot at New Year Basho

Lone yokozuna Asashoryu, who won five Emperor's Cup titles in 2004, will occupy the prestigious east slot as the Japan Sumo Association released the rankings on Thursday for the upcoming New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
Dec 24, 2004

Government eyes medical teams for disaster victims

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will form about 200 medical teams and assign them to hospitals nationwide to bolster earthquake- and other disaster-response measures, ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2004

Gangland power vacuum leaves Kobe residents gasping

KOBE -- Nada Ward is one of Kobe's better neighborhoods, home to senior business executives and foreign diplomats, and known for its good schools and small, trendy shops and cafes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2004

The sound of 2004

Rock and blues Animal Collective, "Sung Tongs" (Fat Cat): An acoustic hootenany reinvented for the electronic era. Exhilarating, innocent of any apparent influence, and completely unlike anything else released this year (or maybe ever). (S.T.)
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 22, 2004

Newly formed Golden Eagles ink two major leaguers

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles said Tuesday they have signed infielder Luis Lopez and right-hander Aaron Myette to provisional single-year deals worth 50 million yen each.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2004

Honda hopes to boost worldwide sales by 8%

Honda Motor Co. said Monday it hopes to boost its worldwide sales by 8 percent to 3.4 million vehicles in 2005 by fully remodeling the popular Civic series and introducing new models.
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2004

Seeing eye to eye with a neighbor

Grass-root ties between Japan and South Korea look better than at any time since the end of World War II. Mutual understanding and friendship have deepened visibly over the past few years, as demonstrated by the successful cohosting of the 2002 World Cup and the surge of Japanese interest in South Korean...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 19, 2004

Wheeler-dealers can always go home if the going gets dicey

UGLY AMERICANS: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions, by Ben Mezrich. William Morrow, 2004, $24.95 (cloth). The financial tycoons depicted in "Ugly Americans" were once dubbed Masters of the Universe, but they emerge here as hedonistic clowns. Their story...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 18, 2004

Julia Carabias Lillo

The Osaka 1990 International Exposition prominently proclaimed as its theme "The Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind." Since 1993 the Commemorative Foundation of that exposition has awarded its Cosmos International Prize to 11 scientists from different countries, recognizing them as important...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2004

Japanese firms wake up to wonders of fair trade

Japanese corporations have begun to sell fair trade-certified products in a belated effort to catch up with an international movement that has existed for nearly two decades.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2004

Fraud sweeping nation amid rise in scam artists, police say

Fraud jumped 41.9 percent to 75,427 cases in the 11 months through November compared with a year ago, the National Police Agency said.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 17, 2004

Germany whips Japan

YOKOHAMA -- Bayern Munich midfielder Michael Ballack gave the 61,805 fans who braved the cold at Yokohama International Stadium on Thursday, something to remember as Germany beat Japan 3-0 in the home team's last game of a busy 2004.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2004

FIBA likes Japan's plan for 2006 world championships

Top executives from FIBA, basketball's world governing body, recently visited Japan for a site inspection tour of the five cities and venues that will host games here during the 2006 world championships.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2004

More gridlock in the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian had a disappointing weekend. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was unable to win a majority in parliamentary elections held Saturday. The result is likely to be continuing gridlock in Taiwanese politics, as different parties control the presidency and the legislature....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 15, 2004

2005 schedule reflects big changes in Japanese baseball

The 2005 Japan pro baseball schedule was released last week, and one look at the table gives you an idea there will be a whole new ball game next season. Three separate slates were unveiled, one for each of the Central and Pacific Leagues as usual, with Japan's first-ever interleague calendar tacked...
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2004

Signs of an economy losing steam

Japan's economy last entered an expansionary phase in February 2002. Thirty-three months later, in October 2004, it was losing steam. It would not be surprising if the recovery ended that month, as upswings in Japan's business cycles since the end of World War II have lasted, on average, about the same...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Brewing emotions and desires

GREEN TEA TO GO: Stories from Tokyo, by Leza Lowitz. Printed Matter Press/SARU Press international, 177 pp., 2004, 1,500 yen (paper). Is there such a thing as women's literature -- books that authorize a unique take on life, as opposed simply to literature penned by women, work tinged with female sensibilities?...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Wrapping things up in time for Christmas

Tokyo bibliophiles will no doubt look back at 2004 as the year in which a revered Tokyo institution -- the Maruzen book store -- moved from its original location in Nihombashi, where it had operated since 1870, to a new home on the first through fourth floors of the OAZO Building in Marunouchi. While...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

The short and the sweet of popular Japanese theater

A GUIDE TO THE JAPANESE STAGE: From Traditional to Cutting Edge, by Ronald Cavaye, Paul Griffith and Akihiko Senda. Foreword by Nomura Mansai. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 388 pp., many illustrations. 2,310 yen (paper). A convenient, pocket-size volume, this entertainment guide recommends "plays...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Nostalgia is a green monster

GODZILLA ON MY MIND: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters, by William Tsutsui. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 240 pp., $12.95 (paper).
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2004

At last, Asia is taking shape

HONOLULU -- For generations, East Asia has been identified as a geographical entity -- it was a region on a map -- but it lacked a coherent identity beyond that. That is changing. East Asia is laying the foundation for an international presence that will rival that of the European Union. Last month's...

Longform

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