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EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2012

Approach tax hike with caution

The Noda Cabinet on Friday endorsed and submitted to the Diet a bill aimed at raising the consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent from April in 2014 and to 10 percent from October 2015. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is so obsessed with a tax hike that he seems oblivious to the possible...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Mar 28, 2012

Analysts: 'Tankan' rebound to cap stimulus

The Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey is likely to show large manufacturers have become less pessimistic, adding to signs of an economic revival that will bolster the case for capping stimulus measures this year.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 26, 2012

Tapping into oceanic energy

The serious physical damage caused by the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster, following the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, has reminded Japan all the more of its acute shortage of natural energy sources and the need for developing alternative sources. This has led scientists and private corporations...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2012

Promoting Tohoku tourism

"Destination Tohoku," the tourism campaign to help promote and revive tourism in the Tohoku region, started March 18. The Japan Tourism Agency and the local governments and tourism industry in the region hope that the campaign will bring tourists back to the region, which was devastated by the 3/11 earthquake...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 20, 2012

Fukushima not just about nuke crisis

The Tohoku region continues to struggle beyond the first anniversary of the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, particularly Fukushima Prefecture, whose recovery is being greatly hampered by the triple-meltdown crisis at a coastal nuclear plant.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2012

More than meets the eye in Beijing

While many dismiss China's National People's Congress (NPC) as a "rubber stamp," its annual meeting provides valuable insight into the thinking in Beijing. This year's 10-day conclave, which concluded earlier this week, was scrutinized particularly closely since China is set for a leadership transition...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 16, 2012

Female knuckleballer Baker makes mark on diamond

When she was 7 years old, Chelsea Baker switched from playing softball to baseball because her older brother, Gary, was playing the latter.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2012

BOJ to beef up loan supply for prospective growth sectors

The Bank of Japan said Tuesday it will maintain its zero interest rate policy while enhancing its loan scheme for prospective growth industries to ¥5.5 trillion, up from ¥3.5 trillion.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2012

A wakeup call Japan ignored

At 2:46 p.m. Sunday, March 11, my family and I joined millions of Japanese standing silently at a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine. With heads bowed, we remembered the events of one year earlier, when our house swayed for nearly three minutes and the power died. In the Tohoku region, several hundred...
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 2012

Greece could learn from Argentina's experience

To understand Greece's recent travails and how the country got there, it is useful to quote what Mikis Theodorakis, the famous Greek songwriter and composer, wrote about it recently on his homepage:
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2012

Fear and consequences of defense budget cuts

It turns out that "budget sequestration," portrayed as an evenhanded way to spur bipartisan negotiations over budget deficits, is actually a dagger aimed at defense spending. The president and other top administration officials have said the automatic spending cuts required by sequestration are "bad...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 11, 2012

Disaster had major impact on NPB

Here we are, exactly one year after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011. Japanese baseball has been greatly affected by the quake, the tsunami triggered by it and the subsequent radiation threats from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 10, 2012

Chubu reactor safety improvements mixed bag

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis prompted the government to ask untilities nationwide to draw up mid- and long-term countermeasures against future earthquakes and tsunami.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 10, 2012

Chelsea's revolving door won't stop

In any other business Roman Abramovich would be fired.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2012

Currency reserve gains to repay debt

The government plans to use money earned from investing the nation's currency reserves to repay short-term debt tied to foreign exchange operations, according to a bill OK'd Friday by the Cabinet.

Longform

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