Search - 2005

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2006

Working women still battle bias

Setsuko Honma was dismayed when she learned of the contents of a bill to revise the Equal Employment Opportunity Law that was submitted Tuesday to the Diet.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 8, 2006

Central League to add playoffs

Japan's Central League decided Tuesday to introduce postseason playoffs next year to help boost sagging attendance, following the success of the Pacific League.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2006

Can Do chain pulls jewelry over lead risk

The operator of the Can Do 100-yen discount store chain pulled imported metal accessories from its shelves because they may contain high levels of lead, as announced by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government the previous day.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2006

Car thefts nationwide dip under 50,000 for first time in six years

The number of car thefts reported to police during 2005 across Japan went down 20.4 percent from the previous year to 46,728, dipping below the 50,000 line for the first time since 1999, according to the National Police Agency.
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2006

Party to a lack of maturity

In a statement issued last week, the Democratic Party of Japan acknowledged that a fellow lawmaker used a fake e-mail to cook up a scandal implicating a senior official of the governing Liberal Democratic Party with the disgraced former president of Internet startup Livedoor Co.
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2006

Softbank looks to acquire Japan unit of Vodafone

Softbank Corp. said Saturday it is in talks with Vodafone Group PLC of Britain about buying a controlling stake in Japanese subsidiary Vodafone K.K.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2006

Japan may hire controversial firm to dismantle camp in Iraq

The Defense Agency is considering hiring a U.S. firm to dismantle the Ground Self-Defense Force's camp in Samawah, Iraq, after the troops pull out by late May, informed sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 5, 2006

Evolution of Japanese cinema and the design of its creators

A HUNDRED YEARS OF JAPANESE FILM, by Donald Richie. Kodansha International, 2005, 320 pp., $22 (paper). Among Japanophiles, Donald Richie doesn't need an introduction, having written over 40 books on Japan, including the definitive works on directors Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu, and the first-ever...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 5, 2006

Japan's social norms shaped by law

LAW IN EVERYDAY JAPAN: Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes, by Mark D. West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005, 279 pp., $19.95 (paper). This is a superb book that explores the interaction of law, society and culture over a range of intriguing topics. In seven captivating case studies, Mark West...
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2006

FSA penalizes KEB for illegal remittances

The Financial Services Agency took disciplinary action Friday against the Japanese branches of the Seoul-based Korea Exchange Bank for its involvement in illegal remittances.
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2006

The black hole for U.S. aid

NEW DELHI -- Despite making the spread of freedom the rallying cry of his second term, U.S. President George W. Bush has found it difficult to visit the world's largest democracy, India, without also stopping to meet the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Mar 3, 2006

Psychedelic radar 03.03

Saturday, March 4
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2006

Lower House approves 80 trillion yen fiscal budget

The 79.69 trillion yen fiscal 2006 budget cleared the House of Representatives on Thursday, paving the way for Diet approval by the March 31 fiscal yearend.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2006

DPJ figures e-mail fiasco is over; LDP begs to differ

The Democratic Party of Japan hopes to pick a new Diet affairs chief soon because it believes the uproar over the e-mail allegation has been settled with the apology by lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata and executives of the main opposition party, members said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2006

Burned Livedoor investors huddle to weigh options

Takashi Shimokawa, 56, is a staunch believer in digital technology and the potential of multimedia.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2006

Mexican envoy praises fruits of FTA

Japan's second free-trade agreement, the one with Mexico that is approaching its first anniversary, has been a big success with a 30 percent jump in bilateral trade, Mexican Ambassador Miguel Ruiz-Cabanas said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 2, 2006

TIF pushes theater's borders

With guest productions from as far afield as Kuwait, Israel, Germany and the United States, this year's 12th annual Tokyo International Arts Festival (TIF) is delivering a challenging program of theater and dance from some of the world's leading dramatists. In doing so, TIF -- held for the first time...
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2006

E-mail wasn't from Horie: DPJ

The e-mail that raised a ruckus in the Diet when the Democratic Party of Japan alleged it proved shady financial links between Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie and a top ruling party figure was in fact the work of a freelance journalist, DPJ sources have admitted.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2006

Convenience stores go gimmicky to hold appeal

Major convenience store chains, which have seen sluggish sales amid severe competition in a highly saturated market, are trying to diversify in a bid to mine more promising market segments.
SUMO
Feb 27, 2006

NHK Sumo - Yea or Nay?

NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, is this week expected to make an announcement that will, in part, give either a thumbs up or a thumbs down to the continuation of their English language coverage of sumo tournaments.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 26, 2006

Will Barry Bonds play his last game at Tokyo Dome?

News came last week that San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2006 season. The next day, he said he may play several more years. Typical for a guy who often changes his mind, but there's nothing wrong with that.

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.