Search - 2005

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2006

Moral boost for Mr. Putin

Russia's most wanted man is dead. Shamil Basayev, the leader of Chechen rebels who has masterminded acts of terror that have claimed hundreds of lives, was killed this week in an explosion. His death is a victory for the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a blow to the cause Basayev headed;...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 14, 2006

Summer's door

"Natsu no Tobira (Door to Summer)," a play by Osaka-based theater company Ishinha, premiered at the Cervantino Arts Festival in Mexico in October 2005 before touring Brazil. Ishinha is now back in its homeland for its Japan debut -- limited to five performances in Osaka only.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

Firm pioneers dealing with belongings of departed

With more than 4 million people over 65 living alone and many dying a solitary death, a niche business has emerged in dealing with the belongings of those who pass away.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Student loan defaults hit 142,000 in '05

A record 142,000 people have failed to repay their student loans even a year after the deadline, a survey by the government-affiliated Japan Student Services Organization showed Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

Kabu.com will launch after-hours exchange

Online brokerage kabu.com Securities Co. said Wednesday it plans to start an after-hours trading system in August that will take orders from kabu.com account holders.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2006

Problems go beyond data falsification

The criminal investigation into the falsification of earthquake-resistance data for buildings, which surfaced in November 2005 and shook the nation, has ended with the indictment of disgraced structure designer Mr. Hidetsugu Aneha and several other people. The investigation's outcome shows the issue...
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Koizumi wants UNSC vote on North Korea before G8

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he hopes the U.N. Security Council votes on a resolution calling for sanctions on North Korea before the Group of Eight summit starts in St. Petersburg, Russia, this weekend.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

Porn 'anime' boasts big U.S. beachhead

recognizable among anime fans worldwide. Hentai is now used overseas to describe anime with strong sexual content. While Mandarake capitalizes on the kinky boom, other retailers are reluctant to export such products.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2006

Japanese icon to leave the field

Mr. Hidetoshi Nakata, a key playmaker for Japan's national soccer team, has announced that he will retire from the sport as a professional. This international midfielder and national superstar has contributed much to the upsurge in popularity of soccer among Japanese since the mid-1990s.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2006

Transport bureaucrats got 4.4 million yen in fund abuse

A number of transport ministry bureaucrats misappropriated a total of 4.43 million yen through abuse of business trip expense accounts in fiscal 2004, a recent ministry probe has shown.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 9, 2006

There's a price to pay for flaunting wealth in Japan

For its annual World Wealth Report, finance firm Merrill Lynch circles the globe and counts the number of millionaires. Though a million dollars -- 114 million yen, as defined by the survey -- ain't what it used to be, it's still a distant dream for the vast majority.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2006

Machinery exec held over taxes

Tokyo prosecutors on Saturday arrested an executive of Mizutani Kensetsu Co. and an executive of a firm with which the major heavy machinery and engineering firm does business, prosecution officials said.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

Mizuho to hike time deposit rates

Mizuho Bank announced Friday it will raise interest rates on three- and six-month time deposits starting Monday, marking the first hike since August 2000 on deposits held less than a year.
COMMENTARY
Jul 8, 2006

A Germany not ashamed to wave the flag

BERLIN -- It was clear from the taxi ride into town from Hamburg airport that something was different: Most buildings had a German flag hanging from a balcony. More remarkable still were the cars with small German flags protruding from windows. By the time I got to Berlin, it seemed that every third...
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

Japan, China likely to ink aviation deal next week

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said Friday he hopes Japan and China can settle their stalled aviation talks next week.
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2006

Payback time after merging

The drama triggered when the Murakami fund, managed by maverick investor Mr. Yoshiaki Murakami, purchased a large chunk of Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares came to an end last week as shareholders of both Hanshin and Hankyu Holdings Inc. voted for a merger. It is the first merger of major railway...
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

GDP forecast to be upgraded to a real 2.1%

The government plans to raise its economic growth projections in fiscal 2006 to a real 2.1 percent and nominal 2.2 percent, both up 0.2 percentage point from January's estimates, government sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2006

Boycott against civil conduct

LONDON -- "It could happen here" is the shorthand phrase frequently used for a variety of alarming hypothetical scenarios. "How could this happen here?" was the question more pertinently asked in Britain recently, as its universities witnessed the unfolding of an all-too-real and perplexing action.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 6, 2006

An animist explores old themes

Over the last few years, the traditional art form of nihonga has emerged as a player on the Japanese contemporary art scene. I can only guess why this is -- something connected to nostalgia or nationalism perhaps? Or could it be that growing social and economic uncertainty has led Japanese to regard...
BASKETBALL
Jul 5, 2006

Japan now set to take on Lebanon

Japan's opponent in a tuneup for the men's world basketball championship getting under way in August has been changed to Lebanon from Puerto Rico, the Japan Basketball Association said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

Schindler: People stuck in lifts 320 times in '04

Schindler Elevator K.K., the domestic subsidiary of the Swiss-based global elevator and escalator maker, said Tuesday that people in Japan were trapped inside its elevators 320 times in 2004.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2006

Big life insurers apologize to policyholders

Major life insurance companies, reeling from a series of misdeeds, held their annual meetings of policyholders' representatives Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Elevator death bares systemic ills

are left as they are." He also said elevator manufacturers are reluctant to sell repair parts to independent maintenance firms.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2006

July rate hike seen amid rosy 'tankan'

Business confidence among major manufacturers improved in the April-June quarter and fiscal 2006 corporate capital spending is expected to post double-digit growth, the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey showed Monday, increasing the likelihood that the central bank will raise the key short-term interest...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 4, 2006

How not to lose your cool with the kids this summer

July and August are brutally hot across most of Japan, and for parents with young children at home, the challenge is on to somehow enjoy the summer without getting bitten, burned or bummed out.
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2006

A new team in Vietnam

Vietnam has overhauled its leadership. The country's National Assembly last week affirmed the individuals selected by the congress of the Vietnam Communist Party. Members of the new team are considerably younger than their predecessors, and their common characteristic is a commitment to economic reform....

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake