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COMMENTARY
Mar 29, 2004

Environment tax can work

On Nov. 18 the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Nippon Keidanren) issued a statement opposing a proposed environment tax. Keidanren noted that it had set its own fiscal 2010 targets for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions generated by the industrial and energy-conversion sectors below 1990 levels,...
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2004

JR East aims for faster conventional bullet trains

East Japan Railway Co. will build two prototype bullet trains capable of a top speed of 400 kph and test them from 2005 to 2008 in northeastern Japan, the railway operator said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2004

Defuse the debt bomb

Japan's public debt continues to swell ominously, yet there is no reassuring long-term scenario for deficit reduction. The government's latest medium-term outlook for economic and fiscal reform amounts to a tacit admission that the balanced budget is, at best, a distant goal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2004

Raising retirement age eases, adds strains

Isomi Suzuki believes he is one of the lucky few to be able to continue his career even after reaching age 60, the common retirement age in Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2003

Government to clarify fiscal surplus goal

The government is ready to clarify the fiscal policy goal of achieving a surplus in the primary balance by fiscal 2013, moving a step forward from the vague target of early in the next decade, government sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2003

Phased consumption-tax hike eyed

The government may first raise the consumption tax to around 8 percent before implementing a double-digit figure as suggested by a recent tax panel report, the head of the panel said Monday.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jun 23, 2003

U.S. deficit skyrocketing to new heights

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush cheered millions of American fathers last week by enabling them to contemplate how to spend a tax bonus of $400 per child that will be arriving just in time for their late summer vacation this year. They should be happy with that.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2003

Lifetime of missed chances

LONDON -- On Jan. 22, two of the world's leading powers celebrated the 40th anniversary of a remarkable reconciliation. At the historic Palace of Versailles, France's President Jacques Chirac and Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder toasted a treaty signed in 1963 by their visionary predecessors, Charles...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 8, 2002

Alejandro Zaera-Polo

The Yokohama International Ferry Terminal opened to festive acclaim last Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

U.S. open to possible return to fusion project: minister

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham responded favorably earlier this month to the possibility of the United States returning to an international project on developing fusion energy, state minister Koji Omi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2001

Diet enacts pension-benefits law

The Diet passed into law Friday a new defined-contribution pension bill that will go into effect Oct. 1, introducing a scheme modeled on the U.S. 401(k) plan, the benefits of which hinge on the performance of investments.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2001

Upper House approves bill to reform pension

The House of Councilors on Friday approved a pension reform bill designed to revamp the corporate pension system, paving the way for its enforcement next April 1.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

Kumagai Gumi to restructure

Kumagai Gumi Co. unveiled a restructuring plan Monday under which the debt-ridden construction firm will ask 15 creditors to forgive debts totaling 450 billion yen.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Future of transport just round the corner

It's a sunny morning in the spring of 2013. As you ride a commuter train, an information panel on the wall announces a 30-minute delay caused by an accident. With your cellular phone, you search for an alternative route and make a reservation to get to your destination.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 28, 2000

The marvelous paradox of Ise

ISE -- JAPAN'S ISE SHRINES: Ancient but New, by Svend Hvass. Holte: Aristo Press, 146 pp., profusely illustrated, 6,000 yen. Ise holds one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. Enshrining the ancestral gods of the Imperial family, it has a long and varied political career. Such was its power...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

LDP forces pension bills further

Ignoring protests from the opposition bloc and pensioners, the ruling triumvirate on Tuesday rammed through an Upper House committee a package of bills that is supposed to save the nation's nearly bankrupt pension system.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 1999

This pension reform slights Japan

When a Lower House committee voted late in November in an attempt to enact a bill to reform the nation's pension system, many Japanese must have been pained to see politicians play games with a national issue that will affect the livelihood of almost every one of us in our old age. The bill passed the...
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Mitsuzuka urges pension reform

The public pension system needs to be reformed -- through such steps as cuts in payments to high-income earners -- if it is to withstand the effects of a rapidly aging population, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said April 15.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2023

Dysfunction and dissonance define U.S.-China relations

The bad news of spiraling U.S.-China relations is that it has the potential to descend into a kinetic conflict that could have negative ramifications for Japan and the broader Indo-Pacific.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 19, 2023

Sexual assault claims cast light on Australia's macho politics

The macho nature of Australian politics was highlighted in late 2021 when a scathing review found Parliament House rife with heavy drinking, bullying and sexual harassment.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2023

Sweden’s 2030 Winter Olympics bid a setback for Sapporo

Sapporo is expected to face pressure to consider officially dropping its bid amid lackluster local support.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 19, 2023

Interest in Japan spilling into its startups, VC investor says

Fears of sudden tech crackdowns in China have prompted investors to re-evaluate Tokyo’s slower pace of change.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 18, 2023

How Japan's top soccer league is striving to become a climate leader

As the league continues to grow, and as climate change wreaks havoc on operations, its quest to bring healthier lifestyles to the Japanese public has expanded into environmental issues.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2023

Japan's top court holds hearing on transgender woman’s bathroom restrictions

The resulting ruling on the case, which will mark the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on the working environment for sexual minorities, is expected on July 11.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2023

Shareholder ire takes shine off stock rally for Toyota chairman

Akio Toyoda’s reappointment to the board this week with 85% of voted shares marked a decline from 96% last year and the lowest on record for him since 2013.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2023

It’s finally time to start buying into Japan again

Japanese stocks have been cheap for a long time, but they’re set to get less cheap from now on.

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.