Search - 2005

 
 
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 27, 2006

Righting a wrong

In July 2005, Doudou Diene, a special representative of the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights, came to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2006

Keeping an eye on the beef

Japan agreed last week to lift its ban on imports of American beef after the United States accepted Tokyo's demand for stricter safety checks. Imports will resume only after Japanese experts have checked the 35 U.S. meatpackers authorized to process beef for export to Japan. Even after imports resume,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 25, 2006

Giants looking to bring in late comers with 'Heat Up' ticket promotion at Tokyo Dome

Discounts for tickets to Yomiuri Giants home games?
SPORTS / MULLY'S MISSIVES
Jun 25, 2006

Zico never at a loss for an excuse

DORTMUND, Germany -- Zico has come up with all manner of excuses during his four years in charge to explain away shoddy performances from Japan, and the Brazilian was trotting them out at an almost daily rate in Germany during the World Cup.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 25, 2006

Tokyo's ring of steel

Who would have thought that something that chases its tail all day for a living could be so incredibly important to the workings of a major metropolis?
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 25, 2006

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki: new realities from screen fiction

SHADOWS ON THE SCREEN: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro on Cinema and "Oriental" Aesthetics, translated and edited by Thomas LaMarre. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2005. 410 pp., photos XIX, $25 (paper). The eminent novelist Jun'ichiro Tanizaki was celebrated for his ambivalence...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2006

Dai-ichi Life failed to pay 115 million yen

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. did not pay some 115 million yen in dividends to its policyholders in a total of about 47,000 cases between fiscal 1984 and fiscal 2005, company officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2006

Schools taking anticrime steps

Over 90 percent of elementary schools have implemented measures to help protect their students from crime, including "hazard maps," according to an education ministry survey.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 23, 2006

Adilson named Iwata manager

Jubilo Iwata said Thursday they have named former defender Adilson as manager, following the resignation of Masakuni Yamamoto, who took responsibility for his side's lackluster performance this season.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2006

Downshifting in Iraq

The government announced Tuesday that Japan will withdraw its Ground Self-Defense Force troops from southern Iraq, ending their 2 1/2-year noncombat mission. It is fortunate that, so far, not a single GSDF member has been injured or killed during this time and that the GSDF troops have not had to fire...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2006

Ah, no kids afoot: Empty trains, work till you die

There has been a great deal of hand-wringing in the media and government about Japan's population implosion. A breakdown in the pension system, soaring health-care costs, slower economic growth and a looming labor shortage are just a few of the dark clouds on the horizon.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2006

Fitch keeps Hankyu ratings intact

Fitch Ratings said Wednesday it has decided to keep the credit ratings of Hankyu Holdings Inc. unchanged because the burden stemming from the tender offer for Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares has stayed within the anticipated level.
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2006

Insurer Mitsui Sumitomo faces FSA sanctions

The Financial Services Agency is considering ordering Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. to suspend sales of nonlife insurance policies as well as medical insurance products at all of its outlets for about two weeks as punishment for its nonpayment of insurance claims, FSA sources said Tuesday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 20, 2006

Japan's fate rests with Zico's countrymen

BONN -- If ever Zico needed a favor from his countrymen it would be now.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2006

Trust banks should handle assets, new BOJ member says

Newly appointed Bank of Japan Policy Board member Tadao Noda said Monday that entrusting stockholdings with trust banks is one way to boost the transparency of senior BOJ officials' financial assets.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2006

A united lobby for life

Japan has seen more than 30,000 people kill themselves annually for eight consecutive years since 1998. Last year, 32,552 people took their own lives, a total that breaks down to 89.18 suicides per day and 3.71 suicides every hour. Certainly these are grim figures.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 18, 2006

To whom it may concern:

Something exceedingly tragic is occurring in Japan today, something it falls to me to reveal now on these pages. It is, simply, that the Japanese people are becoming invisible before our very eyes. At the present rate, by my rough estimate, not one single identifiable Japanese individual will be living...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 18, 2006

NHK's public service is to take your money and run . . . bad TV

Fans of baseball star Ichiro Suzuki had reason to be mad at NHK two weeks ago. The Seattle Mariners outfielder was on the verge of his 2,500th career hit, one of the game's rare milestones, which was predicted to happen some time between June 6 and 9. However, the public broadcaster, whose BS-1 satellite...
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2006

Fukui may have made millions off Murakami investment

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui revealed Friday he may have earned several million yen a year from his investment in a fund set up by now-arrested financier Yoshiaki Murakami.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2006

Zarqawi myth proved useful

LONDON -- The convenient emergence and sudden disappearance of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi signals the end of an era. Although Washington and London insist on telling us that the "good news" of his death doesn't necessary mean an end to Iraq's bloodshed, the giddiness in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2006

Panel asks for student-teacher screening rules

A government advisory panel has drawn up a report urging universities to send only students with a genuine desire to teach to elementary, junior high and high schools for training, because unmotivated students cause problems for school staff, panel members said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2006

Breaking the Iran stalemate

NEW YORK -- The conclusions of a study led by former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix are important to overcome the present stalemate with Iran. According to the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, "the first line of defense against the spread of nuclear weapons is to make states...
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2006

Government still upbeat on economy, points to improvement in price trends

The government Tuesday upgraded its view on price trends and maintained its upbeat assessment on the overall economy for the fourth straight month.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2006

Supreme Court to issue ruling June 23 on Yasukuni visit

capacity as prime minister." In July 2005, the Osaka High Court turned down the plaintiffs' appeal of the district court decision, issuing no opinion on the constitutionality of the shrine visit. The high court also refrained from ruling on whether the visit was official in nature.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Economy grew 3.1% in January-March

The economy expanded an annualized real 3.1 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, revised sharply upward from a 1.9 percent increase in the initial report on strong capital investment data, the government said Monday.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.