Search - jobs

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2000

Competition for civil work rises amid recession

Amid a prolonged recession, only one in 13.1 test-takers passed local government exams to become civil servants in April 1999 -- the lowest success rate on record, a Home Affairs Ministry report said Monday. According to the report, the ratio of applicants for local government screening tests to those...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 1999

Complaints of shoddy new homes on rise

Staff writers Despite the colorful sofa and classy light fixtures, it's the long crack running along the ceiling and down the west wall of the living room that catches the eye. Sodden floorboards in the hallway further dampen the fresh feel that usually accompanies a newly built home. That's what one...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 1999

Causes of Tokai disaster not so simple

In November, I visited JCO Co.'s nuclear fuel-processing plant -- a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. -- where Sept. 30 a level-5 nuclear incident took place. The plant is located 110 km from Tokyo in the small town of Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture. The plant is in an area that is a blend of residences...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 1999

Nose incinerator workers sue over dioxin

Six former workers of a garbage incineration facility in Nose, Osaka Prefecture, which is blamed for the nation's worst dioxin contamination, filed a lawsuit Friday against the central and local governments, demanding compensation for damaged health. The suit filed with the Osaka District Court is also...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 1999

Tokyo, Riyadh to sign deal on seat for Saudi Arabia at WTO

Staff writer Japan and Saudi Arabia are very likely to conclude a deal by next month on the oil-rich country's admission to the World Trade Organization, government sources said Tuesday. The agreement would be the first of its kind between Saudi Arabia and a major industrialized nation, the sources...
JAPAN
Dec 13, 1999

Century of Change: Marriage sheds its traditional shackles

Staff writer When Kumiko Nishimura wed two years ago, she thought that registering her marriage with the city office was a natural course of things. But she postponed the registration because she felt it too burdensome to go though the process of changing names on everything -- from her driver's license,...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 4, 1999

The buzz in Washington: New Millennium parties and would-be new presidents

WASHINGTON -- I experienced some interesting feelings as I typed in the date on this piece. We writers and pundits will have an emotional ride during the next few weeks as we put pen to paper -- or fingers to keyboard -- for the last time in this century and millennium. The temptations are rife: to be...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 1999

'Trade is better than aid'

In one month's time, we shall leave the 20th century behind. The first half of it saw the world almost destroyed by war -- partly as a result of its division into rival trade blocs. The second half has seen an unprecedented expansion of world trade, which has also brought unprecedented economic growth....
CULTURE / Books
Nov 24, 1999

British bulldogs in a China shop

BRITAIN IN CHINA: Community, Culture and Colonialism 1900-1949, by Robert Bickers. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1999; 276 pp., 45 pounds (hardcover), 15.99 pounds (paper). When Lord Macartney opened his British Embassy in China in 1792, he was told to ask for bit of land or,...
JAPAN
Nov 23, 1999

Foreign carmakers wedge feet in door at Toyohashi

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 1999

An eyewitness to early Meiji

REMEMBERING AIZU: The Testament of Shiba Goro, edited by Ishimitsu Mahito, translated with an introduction and notes by Teruko Craig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999; 160 pp., $37 (cloth), $19.95 (paper). A popular account of the beginnings of the Meiji Period (1868-1912) has it that the...
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 1999

A 'final push' for recovery

The government has unveiled a new economic pack age designed to pep up the frail economy and give further impetus to structural economic reforms going into the 21st century. Titled "Economic Rebirth Measures," the package, which was announced last Thursday, focuses on building social infrastructure,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 11, 1999

A toast to you, the brewers, and all the hard work you do

There are at present about 1,700 sakagura, or sake breweries, in Japan. This number is dropping somewhat quickly, with several kura going under each year. But for those 1,700-odd kura brewing again this year, just about now is when the brewing season begins.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1999

Government plans shot in arm for small companies

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 1999

The risks of getting involved

The four Japanese mining engineers and their Kyrgyz translator who had been held hostage by Islamic rebels were released Monday after 63 days of captivity. The five men, the last of 13 hostages seized in August by the militants, were healthy and in good spirits. We extend our thanks and congratulations...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 1999

Jospin rides high, blessed by luck and skill

PARIS -- When Lionel Jospin was appointed prime minister of France in June 1997, there were not many people willing to bet on his longevity in office. The "plural left" majority on which he had to rely looked too divided on most issues, from Europe to immigration, to enable him -- or so it seemed at...
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 1999

'Nissan is in bad shape'

That blunt comment says it all. At a press conference Monday, Mr. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chief operating officer, ticked off the company's failings: mismanagement, inefficient production, lack of vision, unappealing products. Their impact has been plain: Nissan, Japan's second largest carmaker, has lost...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 1999

Aum fills a spiritual need

Special to The Japan Times It has been more than four years since key members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious sect carried out sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system. With its principal facilities closed and its guru and his cohorts arrested, the cult has received a crushing blow. Reports say, however,...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1999

Queensland seeks biotech exchange with Japan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1999

Keidanren urges MITI to help ailing small firms

Top business leaders want Takashi Fukaya, new minister for international trade and industry, to take further measures to assist small and midsize firms that are struggling amid the stagnant economy, officials of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) said Thursday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Oct 13, 1999

Not just for kids anymore

I was never much of a video-game player, although I did have a brief infatuation with Missile Command. (It ended when a pal proceeded to stomp me every time we went head to head.) I must be one of the few: Video games are reckoned to be a $20 billion-a-year industry and revenues now outpace movie-ticket...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 1999

Skeletons in Yeltsin's closet

The debate over who lost Russia is intensifying as the U.S. presidential election draws near. Although the United States' policies toward post-Soviet Russia have been bipartisan, politicians sense that Vice President Al Gore is especially vulnerable because of his cochairmanship of the Gore-Chernomyrdin...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1999

Cabinet Interview: Trust in nuclear energy Nakasone's goal

Staff writer
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 1999

Blair touts 'the vision thing'

LONDON -- Watching British Prime Minister Tony Blair is like watching a religious phenomenon. He has stepped off his platform on the backs of members of the Labor Party and has ascended into the clouds, where he hopes to be borne along by the rushing winds of the future. As he lifts off, he kicks away...
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 1999

A woman's place

Mrs. Raisa Gorbachev, wife of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, died this week, succumbing to leukemia at the age of 67. The world has extended its condolences to her grieving husband, a man who transformed the world as he transformed his country. Few doubt that Mr. Gorbachev could have achieved...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 22, 1999

Where the women are

No presses need to be stopped to inform you of the growing number of women on the Internet in Japan. And the sizes of our headlines won't increase to tell you that number will continue to rise steadily, if not dramatically, over the next few years
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 1999

Young at heart, but never free of Johnny

On Aug. 30, former idol singer and tell-all autobiographer Hiromi Go staged an unannounced live show from the back of a tractor trailer parked near the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya. The five-minute performance, which featured four other dancers, stopped traffic and clogged up the area as pedestrians...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Regional Focus: Hokkaido

Otaru pins revival hopes on mega-mall complex> Staff writer
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 1, 1999

The 'S' word makes a happy marriage

The time has come in this column to finally discuss that passionate act that lies at the core of many an international romance. Yes, it's time for the "S" word.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1999

Yokomichi enters DPJ race on battle cry of constitutional debate

Takahiro Yokomichi, chairman of the Executive Council of the Democratic Party of Japan, formally announced his candidacy in the party's presidential race Tuesday, saying he will make the war-renouncing Constitution one of the main focuses of campaign debate.

Longform

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