Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2006

FamilyMart, Ryohin revive ties

Convenience store chain FamilyMart Co. and Ryohin Keikaku Co., which runs stores selling Mujirushi Ryohin brand goods, said Thursday they will take an equity stake in each other, reviving cross-shareholding ties they had until three years ago.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2006

New yen loans to China are put on hold for now

Amid continued strained bilateral ties, the government has put on hold its decision to provide fresh yen loans to China for fiscal 2005, Foreign Ministry officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 24, 2006

Lovin' tribute to jug band legend Fritz

"If you believe in magic, don't bother to choose / If it's jug band music, or rhythm and blues / Just go and listen, it'll start with a smile / It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try," sang John Sebastian in the mid-'60s hit "Do You Believe in Magic," a song he performed with his folk-pop...
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2006

Man with cancer can't sell policy for cash

Man with cancer can't sell policy for cash
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2006

Visit Japan, sure, but info centers closing

Ah, the friendly tourist information center -- often the first place travelers visit when trying to acquaint themselves with an unfamiliar city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 23, 2006

A sense of van Meene

Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene, accompanied by her husband Frank, is visiting Japan for the fifth time. Sipping on an orange juice inside the smoked glass walls of Montauk cafe on Omotesando's busy shopping strip, she tells how the Japan Foundation invited her to contribute to the nation's pavilion...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2006

LDP offers deficit-trimming tips

Japan can cut its deficit by more than 100 trillion yen in five years by allowing firms to put their names on landmarks like the Rainbow Bridge, selling off prime land and securitizing state loans, a Liberal Democratic Party fiscal reform subpanel said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 22, 2006

Self-interest and those Greenland pigs

Why do some societies last for hundreds, even thousands, of years, while others soar, dazzle but then fizzle like short-lived summer fireworks?
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Demand beat supply by end of '05

Excess in supply was eliminated in Japan's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2005 for the first time in about eight years, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 20, 2006

Cubans down Dominicans

SAN DIEGO -- Team Cuba didn't come all the way to Petco Park to get smoked.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2006

Half of big firms to hire more grads in '07: survey

Nearly half of major firms surveyed plan to increase hiring of recruits fresh out of school next spring, according to a Kyodo News survey released Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2006

Unfinished business for women

Twenty years after the much heralded gender-equality law went into effect in Japan, women still face discrimination in the workplace -- in ways less apparent but just as effective in limiting their promotional opportunities and so also widening the wage gap with male colleagues.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 19, 2006

LaRocca provides even more punch to lineup of Swallows

The Hanshin Tigers have their "JFK" pitching relay, but now the Tokyo Yakult Swallows can counter with their "LIRR" quartet of sluggers. No, it's not the Long Island Railroad, but second baseman Greg LaRocca, third sacker Akinori Iwamura, left fielder Alex Ramirez and first baseman Adam Riggs.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 19, 2006

Wrapping paper that influenced l'art japonais of Paris

HOTEI ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS; edited by Amy Reigle Newland; specialist advisers: Julie Nelson Davis, Oikawa Shigeru, Ellis Tinios, Chris Uhlenbeck; foreword by Suzuki Juzo. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, two volumes in slipcase, 528 pp., 140 color and 140 b/w illustrations, $249...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 19, 2006

Creative expression is the need of their souls

Reciting in a rap rhythm, a young man read his poem in a low, strong voice as 10 others around him listened intently.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

Tree frost acidity laid to China mills

The silver frost on the trees of the Zao mountains in Yamagata Prefecture has become dangerously acidic, partly due to air pollution from steel plants in China's Shanxi Province, research by environment experts showed Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2006

A test for Thai democracy

SINGAPORE -- One year after he was re-elected in a landslide, Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been forced to dissolve the National Assembly and call a snap election. Although his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party commands a 75 percent majority in the assembly, Thaksin is embattled.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

Absentee counsel chided in triple-jeopardy appeal

The Supreme Court has ordered two defense lawyers to attend an April 18 session on an appeal by prosecutors seeking the death penalty for a man sentenced a man to life for killing a woman and her 11-month-old daughter in 1999, court sources said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 18, 2006

Speaking Circles sets natural tone for open arms

It is Saturday afternoon, and we are in a pleasantly peaceful meeting room in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2006

Oil firms adjust footing amid Iran's nuclear follies

As tension mounts worldwide over the standoff concerning Iran's nuclear ambitions, Japanese oil companies are starting to take precautions as uncertainties surrounding the situation may force them to stop importing oil from the Islamic state.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2006

Usen chief to buy Fuji's Livedoor stake

Usen Corp. President Yasuhide Uno said Thursday he will personally purchase Fuji Television Network Inc.'s entire 12.75 percent stake in Livedoor Co. for 9.5 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2006

Japan halts Dutch poultry imports

Japan suspended poultry imports from the Netherlands on Thursday following an outbreak of bird flu in France and other European countries, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2006

Toyota launches first Lexus hybrid engine-equipped

Toyota Motor Corp. on Thursday unveiled the Lexus GS450h, the first hybrid in the luxury sedan's lineup.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 17, 2006

It's time to get healthy

The mirror does not lie, and nor do the bathroom scales. All that rich, stick-to-the-ribs winter food has inevitably stuck to the waistline too, leaving us sluggish and out of balance. So now, with the ume (plum) in bloom and spring nigh, it seems like the right moment to take stock, lighten up the diet and shed a few kilos. Time to get back in balance.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2006

NHK to take on global broadcast giants?

Can NHK become an internationally known broadcaster like the BBC or CNN?
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2006

Asahara's right-hand man Niimi loses death penalty appeal

The Tokyo High Court upheld the death penalty Wednesday for Tomomitsu Niimi, Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's right-hand man.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 15, 2006

K. Ishii dominant in Yakult preseason win

Kazuhisa Ishii struck out five in five scoreless innings in his second preseason outing as the Yakult Swallows blanked the Orix Buffaloes 8-0 on Tuesday.

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