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BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2008

Housing agency seeks new biz model

The Japan Housing Finance Agency, with $429 billion in assets, said it needs a new business model after copying the failed practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2008

Emerging strategic ties in Asia

LONDON — Before visiting Beijing to attend the Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Beijing in October, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stopped over in Tokyo. It was his second visit to Japan since assuming office in 2004 and underlined the rapidly evolving strategic realities in Asia.
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2008

Obama and the vets: caring for a generation

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When Eric K. Shinseki, the first four-star U.S. Army general of Japanese- American ethnicity, was still his service branch's chief of staff, he became a symbol of doubt about official competence in pursuit of the Iraq war.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 10, 2008

Sony brings home the convenience of FeliCa

Smart money: Japan's old-fashioned notions about money are evaporating one innovation at a time. Although people are getting used to carrying around cash that they can't see, managing those funds often involves a trip to a convenience store or a bank. Sony Corp. will relieve some of that hassle next...
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2008

Nomura to cut 100 Asia jobs, step up Japan layoffs

Nomura Holdings Inc., on course for a second straight full-year loss, plans to eliminate more than 100 positions in Asia and is stepping up job cuts in Japan, according to two people familiar with the situation.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2008

The needy, human face of a warming planet

PRAGUE — A clever new gadget was described in a newspaper a few weeks ago. It pulls water out of the atmosphere and delivers you a glass of clean, chilled H2O. It's wonderful what technology can offer for the wealthy.
EDITORIALS
Dec 4, 2008

Stellar U.S. security team

Whatever doubts may have existed about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy should be put to rest since he announced his national security team. The group is notable for its experience and levelheadedness. Perhaps most significant is the self-confidence the selections reveal: Mr. Obama...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 4, 2008

An audience with Miyazaki, Japan's animation king

Hayao Miyazaki says he doesn't like giving interviews, but the Oscar-winning, megahit-making animator has strong opinions he isn't shy about sharing, as a packed room of reporters learned when he appeared at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo on Nov. 20.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 4, 2008

Pink thrills: Japanese sex movies go global

As the last wave of vengeful female ghosts inspired by "Ring' "s Sadako fade from cinema screens worldwide, either in their original J-horror manifestations or the obligatory Hollywood remakes, more adventurous foreign-film fans have begun turning their heads Eastward in search of a new frisson. Their...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2008

Mumbai terrorist attacks are a wakeup call

LONDON — India was a victim of terrorism long before the twin towers in New York collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. But as the global "war on terror" continues, India has experienced increasingly lethal terrorism. The sheer scale, scope and audacity of the latest attacks in Mumbai put them in a different...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

Toshiba speeds up chip unit makeover

Toshiba Corp., Japan's largest chip maker, said it will speed up reorganization of its semiconductor business amid a harsh business environment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 3, 2008

Preholiday offerings speak of sensibility

Ahead to basics: Pentel is not ready to write the eulogy for the humble pen. Rather than killing off the ages-old device, it is intent on bringing it into the digital age. Its latest effort is the airpenMini digital pen.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2008

End the violence against women and girls

NEW YORK — The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was commemorated Nov. 25, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is spearheading a global campaign, "UNiTE to end violence against women."
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2008

Building a curative response to sea banditry

KUALA LUMPUR — Although the conditions for piracy and terrorism to thrive are similar, their objectives are different. The motivation for piracy is old-fashioned greed while terrorists are predominantly driven by political and religious ideology. Moreover, pirates usually want to grab their booty and...
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2008

J-Power, Marubeni ink China deals

J-Power, Marubeni Corp. and JGC Corp. are among Japanese companies that signed agreements Friday to develop water and power projects in China and gain from increased demand in the fastest-growing major economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2008

Rokkasho plant too dangerous, costly: expert

Japan's plan to reprocess and recycle spent nuclear fuel in a reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, will be a huge waste of electricity users' money and an environmental threat, according to a French atomic power expert.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat