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BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

CPI declines for the fifth straight year as deflation continues to dog economy

The key gauge of consumer prices in Japan fell 0.1 percent in 2004, marking a fifth straight yearly decline and underscoring that the economy is still beset by deflation, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2005

Patriotism bill to be put on ice, say lawmakers

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc will not submit to the ongoing ordinary Diet session a contentious bill to revise the education law to include patriotism, lawmakers said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2005

Finance Ministry maintains gradual recovery assessment

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday left its overall assessment of the economy unchanged for the November-January period for the fourth straight quarter, saying the economy was making a gradual recovery despite the appearance of weak movements.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 26, 2005

Concert of 1,000 cellists looks set to raise the roof in Kobe

World-famous cellist Mstislav Rostropovich will conduct a concert for 1,000 cellos during a weeklong international cello convention in May in Kobe, which is currently commemorating the 10th anniversary of the devastating Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 26, 2005

Talkin' Bertolt

Between his return from the United States after World War II, and his death in 1956, playwright Bertolt Brecht, with his Berliner Ensemble, created one of the finest acting companies in the world -- one which became a testing-ground for his theatrical exploration and challenged the theatrical conventions...
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2005

The fewer bond issues, the better

It has been a long time since Japan's bubble in stock and land prices collapsed. Now, however, there is concern that a new kind of bubble -- a "bond bubble" -- may be forming. Financial markets are already "saturated," according to analysts, with massive amounts of bonds that the government issues each...
COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2005

Medical reform needs help

In its first report on medical reform, the council to promote deregulation -- an advisory body to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- recently recommended lifting some restrictions on "mixed medical care," easing conditions for the private operation of hospitals and reorganizing the government's Central...
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2005

JR East to safeguard tracks against quakes

East Japan Railway Co. said Monday it will spend at least 50 billion yen to 60 billion yen during four years from fiscal 2005 on antiquake measures such as reinforcing elevated lines.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2005

Elpida cuts profit forecast due to weakening digital market

Elpida Memory Inc., a major maker of computer memory chips, said Monday it has nearly halved its net profit forecast for the year through March, blaming weak digital camera and DVD recorder sales.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2005

MMC holding talks to sell luxury cars supplied by Nissan

Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. are discussing a deal in which Nissan would supply luxury cars for sale under the Mitsubishi brand, according to sources close to the matter.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2005

55% want SDF out of Iraq by March 15: poll

About 55 percent of respondents in a Kyodo News poll conducted Saturday and Sunday said the Self-Defense Forces should withdraw from Iraq by March, when Dutch troops engaged in security operations are scheduled to leave the country.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2005

Disaster meet ends with tsunami alert, preparation pledges

KOBE -- The United Nations committed itself Saturday to a broad plan of action to reduce the number of deaths caused by natural disasters over the next decade.
Japan Times
Features
Jan 23, 2005

Women to the fore in study of statues

At midday on March 29, 1914, a yacht named Mana, flying the British colors, dropped anchor in the tiny inlet of Cook's Bay, Hanga Roa. On board was an anthropologist who would carry out the first systematic survey of the Easter Island statues, and who would also record the last memories of a dying generation...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2005

Crown Princess may take in games

Crown Princess Masako may accompany Crown Prince Naruhito to attend the opening ceremony for the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games next month in Nagano Prefecture, Imperial Household Agency officials said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 22, 2005

Cotton Club's pianist records album with friends

It takes awhile to link up with Noriko Kamo, who keeps going adrift in the snowfalls of Hokkaido's Hakodate. Since her mother is now living alone, Noriko tries to come back to Japan every year to keep her company through the hardest month of the year. It helps, she says, that "it's quiet in New York...
JAPAN / 10 YEARS AFTER
Jan 21, 2005

Quake-preparedness a patchwork effort

The thicket of wood houses and small shops that line the warren of alleys just east of Tokyo's Sumida River in the Higashi-Mukojima 1-chome district has been deemed "highly dangerous" by disaster-preparedness authorities.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2005

Nissan may pass steel price to buyers

Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it might have to pass the added cost from soaring steel prices on to consumers if the current trend continues over a long period.
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2005

Unfinished tasks for Mr. Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, speaking at the Liberal Democratic Party's annual convention Tuesday, again expressed his resolve to privatize postal services, saying that "without constant efforts for reform, possibilities for Japan's development will be closed." Mr. Koizumi defines postal privatization...
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2005

Defiant Koizumi tells LDP convention he's going full-bore on postal reform

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he is determined to privatize the nation's massive postal services despite strong opposition from the Liberal Democratic Party, which he heads.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2005

Visa ban lifted to boost Aichi expo crowds

The government may temporarily lift regional restrictions for issuing visas to Chinese tour groups, allowing visitors from any part of China to enter Japan during the 2005 World Expo in Aichi Prefecture, which will run from March 25 through Sept. 25, transport minister Kazuo Kitagawa said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2005

Don't expect end to isles tiff during Putin's visit: Koizumi

issue, but it's not that easy," Koizumi told reporters. The dispute is "not an issue that can be resolved immediately if Japan becomes hasty in trying to settle it," he said.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2005

Japan moves to drill in East China Sea

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. and Teikoku Oil Co. are in talks with the government on their plans to drill for natural gas in the East China Sea near areas claimed by both Japan and China, government sources said Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 16, 2005

Zico's deal renewed

The Japan Football Association said Friday it has renewed the contract of national team coach Zico until mid-December 2005 to keep the Brazilian at the helm for the Asian final-round qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 15, 2005

Student summit: food safety a growing concern

While his two brothers followed their father into local government service, Akimi Fujimoto took a different path. "My father had two working lives, as a government official and helping my mother farm our land in Niigata. There was no way I ever wanted a desk job."

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.