Search - 2005

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2006

It's not right for the West and Israel to isolate Hamas, the Palestinians' best hope

NEW YORK -- As the son of a Lebanese pacifist, I am dismayed by the widening gap between Palestinians and Israelis that make a possible solution to the con- flict between them seem even more distant.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2006

Economy to get rosier assessment

A monthly report to be issued Wednesday will express greater optimism about the economic recovery, with the government upgrading its assessment for the first time in six months, sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2006

Shimizu got defense contracts without tenders

Major construction company Shimizu Corp., already linked to bid rigging involving the Defense Facilities Administration Agency, won contracts worth nearly 9 billion yen from the agency without undergoing public tenders, documents show.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2006

New demands, more delays

Japan and North Korea made little progress toward solving their problems in five days of bilateral talks that ended early this month in Beijing. The only agreement was to continue to talk.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2006

Travails of Mr. Thaksin

Thailand's prime minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, is a survivor. Since taking office five years ago, he has weathered allegations of corruption and malfeasance, charges of nepotism, an insurgency in Thailand's southern provinces and even a public rebuke by the king. Yet, he has bested every challenge...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 19, 2006

Closer Ishii earns 67 million yen raise

The Yakult Swallows signed closer Hirotoshi Ishii to a new one-year contract worth 150 million yen plus performance incentives three weeks after the left-hander gave up on his bid to pursue a career in the major leagues this year.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 19, 2006

Iguchi leaves to rejoin White Sox

Tadahito Iguchi left Japan on Saturday to join spring training, determined to help the Chicago White Sox win back-to-back World Series titles without a sophomore jinx.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 19, 2006

Tuffy Rhodes: the best ever foreign player in Japan

The 10-year Japan career of Tuffy Rhodes has apparently come to an end with the announcement last week he had signed a contract with his hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 19, 2006

One man's drive to clean up the Earth

Every foreigner in Japan learns one thing pretty quickly: This being the land of harmony, courtesy trumps candor. Hanging back works best, everywhere and every time.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 19, 2006

Decades of peace have yet to heal Vietnam's wounds

VIET NAM AT PEACE, by Philip Jones Griffiths. London: Trolley, 2005, 312 pp., £39.95 (cloth). This is the final volume in Philip Jones Griffiths' epoch trilogy on Vietnam spanning 40 years. His classic "Vietnam, Inc" (1971) and "Agent Orange" (2003) focus on war and its consequences. Here, we are given...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 19, 2006

Women writers opened window on Heian life

OBJECTS OF DISCOURSE: Memoirs of Women of Heian Japan, by John R. Wallace. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2005, 326 pp., with VII illustrations, $65 (cloth). The four major court memoirs written in the late 10th and early 11th century are the "Kagero nikki" (translated...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 18, 2006

All eyes on Mourinho ahead of Barcelona-Chelsea showdown

LONDON -- As Jose Mourinho has won the domestic title in Portugal and England plus the UEFA Cup and Champions League with FC Porto, there would appear few tests left for the Chelsea manager to face.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 18, 2006

Rhodes returns home

Tuffy Rhodes may have played his last game in Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Tax return season begins

Taxpayers began filing 2005 income tax returns Thursday at 524 regional tax offices across the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Feb 17, 2006

Psychedelic radar 02.17

Friday, Feb. 17
OLYMPICS
Feb 16, 2006

Okazaki misses out on medal in 500

Veteran speed skater Tomomi Okazaki was overtaken in the second run of the women's 500-meter event Tuesday, narrowly missing out on a podium finish at the Turin Olympics.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2006

From shame to governance

SINGAPORE -- Asia has been hit by three recent scandals involving a renown scientist, an upstart IT entrepreneur and a national charity in South Korea, Japan and Singapore, respectively -- Asia's three most developed economies. What lessons can one draw from them? What repercussions will they have on...
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2006

JR East makes Seino new president

East Japan Railway Co. said Wednesday it will promote Executive Vice President Satoshi Seino, 58, to president to succeed Mutsutake Otsuka, 63, who will become chairman.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2006

Answers to the questions swirling around Livedoor

Prosecutors on Monday charged Livedoor Co., its former president, Takafumi Horie, and three other Livedoor executives, along with subsidiary Livedoor Marketing Co., with violating the securities law.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2006

Four directors at JAL seek Shinmachi's ouster

Four members of the Japan Airlines Corp. board want JAL President Toshiyuki Shinmachi and two other top executives out, JAL said Wednesday, amid a revolt highlighting tensions within the nation's top air carrier.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2006

At least no new wars began

The Davos-based World Economic Forum has just published the third annual report of its Global Governance Initiative. The past year was rated slightly less dangerous than 2004 but still a long way from being safe and secure. The United Nation's 60th Anniversary World Summit in September, a once-in-a-generation...
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2006

Skirting justice in Yokohama

The Yokohama District Court last week made a disappointing ruling in a case stemming from the state's wartime suppression of freedom of speech. The court could have shed light on the dark side of modern Japanese history by delving into a variety of related issues, including the questionable conduct of...
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2006

Matsushita, Sony unveil new cameras

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sony Corp. unveiled new digital cameras Tuesday that will go on sale next month in a bid to get out in front of the pack amid intensifying competition.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2006

Nippon Steel ups stake in friendly ally

Nippon Steel Corp. will raise its equity stake in Sanyo Special Steel Co. to some 15 percent from the present 11.2 percent by the end of June as part of the two firms' business and capital alliance aimed at strengthening their competitiveness, the two steelmakers said 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