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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 24, 2009

Sake goes abroad, brings back fans

Times are tough for the sake industry. Gone are the days when Japan's once-beloved national beverage held a place at every table; now, in a market flooded with beer, wine and shochu, sake struggles to compete. Domestic consumption has fallen every year since 1995, hitting a record low of 700,000 kiloliters...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 24, 2009

Wishing Chong: from barbecue to demons

2008 was undoubtedly the year of "Yakiniku Dragon" ("Korean Barbecue Dragon"), a realistic, autobiographical work by the Korean-Japanese playwright Wishing Chong that premiered April 17 in the New National Theatre's Pit. When the curtain came down that night on the NNT/Seoul Arts Center collaboration...
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2009

Freescale to shutter Sendai plant

Freescale Semiconductor Inc., the computer chip maker owned by private equity firms led by Blackstone Group LP, will cut jobs and shut some manufacturing operations, including a facility in Sendai.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2009

JCP basks in discontent as faith in capitalism crumbles

Under a big red flag, the Japanese Communist Party's headquarters stand as the center of a vibrant grassroots movement.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2009

Chiba's governor may soon be whisked away to his home planet

In the latest installment of Suntory's series of TV commericals for Boss canned coffee, the extraterrestrial Tommy Lee Jones, who has been sent to Earth to study the human race, runs for governor of an unnamed prefecture and wins by a landslide. The excitement is short-lived, though, as his inappropriate...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2009

Japan, EU agree wealth gaps must be closed

NIIGATA, Japan and Europe need to address a common problem: the gap between an overconcentration of wealth, and amenities, in large urban areas compared with their rural communities, experts and journalists agreed at a recent conference.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2009

Shinsei to swing ax at ex-GE financing unit

Shinsei Bank Ltd. plans to cut "hundreds" of jobs at the consumer lending unit it bought from General Electric Co. last year as the industry contracts, the head of the division said Thursday.
Reader Mail
Apr 16, 2009

Way to victory in Afghanistan

While I was reading Ted Rall's April 4 article "U.S. can't afford Afghan war," I had an epiphany of what was needed to be done for Afghanistan. The United States needs to provide the people of Afghanistan with something that the "insurgents" cannot provide: a way out of poverty (40 percent unemployment...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2009

JTA still upbeat about reaching 2020 target

Despite the strong yen, the government remains optimistic about achieving its target of attracting 20 million annual foreign visitors by 2020, the head of the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2009

Recession and suicides

The National Police Agency has announced that 32,249 people killed themselves in 2008, making it the 11th consecutive year that the annual suicide rate has topped 30,000. The NPA added that 2,645 people killed themselves in January and 2,470 in February this year. The January figure is 340 more than...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Apr 14, 2009

Job firing launched labor activist on career

You may have seen him on TV, commenting on Nova teachers who lost their income and housing when the language school went bankrupt in November 2007. Or you may have seen him marching through Shibuya, leading a chant of "Tatakau zo! (We'll fight!)" and calling for solidarity and action among workers. Or...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 12, 2009

Entertainment as a fun family soap

Last weekend, actor Shunta Nakamura was arrested for possession of hashish while sitting in a parked car in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. The suspect's father, veteran actor Masatoshi Nakamura, quickly obliged the showbiz media by performing one of those tearful apologies that everyone looks forward to under...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2009

Slow train coming in Shizuoka

Standing on the platform at Kanaya Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, the enthusiastic crowd — myself included — watches with fascination as the train pulls in. Because this train is different. It's not a sleek, aerodynamic bullet train; nor is it one of the ubiquitous, striped JR jobs. Rather, the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2009

Slow train coming in Shizuoka

Standing on the platform at Kanaya Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, the enthusiastic crowd — myself included — watches with fascination as the train pulls in. Because this train is different. It's not a sleek, aerodynamic bullet train; nor is it one of the ubiquitous, striped JR jobs. Rather, the...
Reader Mail
Apr 9, 2009

Playing the fool in hard times

On April 1, I combed The Japan Times hoping to find an April Fools' Day story to match the one two years ago about "Hachiko." I think I found it in the April 2 article "Axed Brazilians, Peruvians to be paid to leave Japan."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 7, 2009

'Golden parachutes' mark failure of race-based policy

Japan's employment situation has gotten pretty dire, especially for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that between last November and January, more than 9,000 foreigners asked the Hello Work unemployment agency for assistance — 11 times the figure for the same period...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 3, 2009

Managers beware: Herren hits Japan

"That's always been their therapy: to bring it together, at least for themselves, in their own environment and their own space. You know, like flowers and rainbows, beautiful people everywhere, and everything's nice."
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2009

Incentives help Toyota fare better than expected in U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales fell less than analysts predicted last month, as the world's largest carmaker offered near-record incentives to spur demand.
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2009

Sudden cut seen in summer bonuses

Summer bonuses for workers may fall at the fastest pace in seven years, according to Mizuho Securities Co.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2009

Pioneer persuades 773 to leave

Pioneer Corp. said Wednesday that 773 employees have accepted offers to quit at two factories.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2009

K-Line cuts number of car carriers

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., a transporter of cars for Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., will scrap six of its car carriers and return another 11 to owners as it slashes its fleet amid a slump in auto demand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2009

Will pay gap at Nomura go toxic?

Nomura Holdings Inc. is paying college graduates originally recruited by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. more than twice as much as those it hired on its own, two sources said.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2009

Economists applaud Aso's stimulus proposal

Economists on Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Taro Aso's bid to pass an extra budget, and called on the government to act quickly to hammer out and implement additional stimulus measures.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2009

Poor economy impacts land prices

A survey of land prices by the land and infrastructure ministry made public March 23 shows that the global recession has caused a general decline in demand for land throughout Japan. As of Jan. 1, commercial land prices fell by an average 4.7 percent and residential land prices by an average 3.2 percent...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?