Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2011

Insurers' disaster costs hit $60 billion

Natural disasters, including the March earthquake and tsunami, cost insurers about $60 billion in the first half of this year, almost five times the average since 2001, Munich Re said.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2011

Lebanon: another frame-up

Here we go again. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a United Nations-backed body investigating the killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, has accused four people of his murder. They all belong to Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite movement that Israel and the United States define...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2011

Debris removal, recycling daunting, piecemeal labor

Removing and disposing of the debris generated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami are crucial parts of the recovery process as the people in the devastated region move forward with rebuilding their communities.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jun 24, 2011

PL struggled at gate in interleague

The Pacific League, led by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, got the best of the Central League on the field, but couldn't keep pace in the stands.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 21, 2011

Reported epidemic of elder shoplifting may not be what it seems

Media may be missing the point when it reports on rise in crime among retirees.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2011

'13'

Being thrown in a cramped, damp room full of extremely muscular men may sound like an ideal way to spend an evening, but take it from me: There are issues. The air's so coated with testosterone it's hard to breathe, the conversation is far, far from anything resembling romantic and, worst of all, these...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2011

Thailand Inc. versus Thaksin

Thailand is preparing to go to the polls on July 3 in an election that is supposed to mark the restoration of full democracy to the country, one of the liveliest, best-endowed and most promising countries in Asia. But the way the campaign is going, the chances are that Thailand will face another coup...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 3, 2011

Abdul-Rauf opines on Aono's dismissal

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf has been in this business long enough to know that coaches face an unenviable task every time they step onto the court. In other words, they can't please everyone.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 31, 2011

English magazines run gamut from poetry to prose, Kanto to Chubu

We received several additional English-magazine suggestions in response to our May 17 column, "Print is suffering, but English readers have never had it so good."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
May 23, 2011

Sledge: PL franchises expect to top CL rivals

Since the interleague format was introduced in Japan in 2005, the Pacific League has gotten the better of the Central League.
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
May 18, 2011

Morozov once turned down chance to coach Mao

It's a story that few know, but is fascinating nonetheless, one that may have changed the course of recent skating history.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2011

Bin Laden bled U.S. of a cool trillion

Osama bin Laden must be laughing from his watery grave. In announcing a new policy of "bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," he mockingly declared in a 2004 video that "It is easy for us to provoke and bait. ... All that we have to do is to send two mujaheddin ... to raise a raise a piece of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
May 13, 2011

Wine is no game for Capcom boss

Hurricane-kicking its way onto the wine scene in 2009 was a new brand, Kenzo Estate, owned by the CEO of video-game giant Capcom. Clearly playing to win, Kenzo Tsujimoto hired California's brightest wine talents to create a wine for the Japanese market that combines value for money with excellent quality....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2011

Maestro's Tokyo Sinfonia to serenade evacuation centers

Robert Ryker, the conductor and music director of Tokyo Sinfonia, has a dream to help heal the broken hearts of tsunami survivors with music.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 29, 2011

Media should be included in voting for bj-league awards

It's time for the bj-league to get rid of its voting system — players and coaches have votes but the media doesn't — for the Best Five team and related awards. The current selection process reminds one of an elementary school popularity contest.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Apr 17, 2011

Bags of fun recycling old JTs

In Japan, English-language newspapers are great sources of news and views and such (some more than others, of course). But a new use for them has lately arisen, with patrons of mini-trucks selling baked yaki-imo (sweet potatoes) in upscale Tokyo office districts thinking it trendy to receive their hot...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2011

Yakuza don exits the big house

KOBE — The don of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the top mob syndicate, was released from a Tokyo prison Saturday morning, five years and four months after being sent up for accessory to gun possession involving an underling.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2011

Signs of disaster were there to see

On Feb. 23, 2005, Kobe University professor Katsuhiko Ishibashi appeared before the Lower House Budget Committee and pointed out the risks of operating nuclear power plants in earthquake-prone Japan.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 27, 2011

Time for JBA to give up charade on merger

Under normal circumstances things move at a snail's pace within the Japan Basketball Association. So it's anyone's guess if talks between JBA officials and their bj-league counterparts will pick up anytime soon and/or if any progress will be made in the months to come for the creation of a new "top league"...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 20, 2011

Actions of Apache, Broncos unacceptable

It's understandable that the Sendai 89ers, whose home region was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, won't continue play this season. But the Tokyo Apache and Saitama Broncos, Sendai's Eastern Conference rivals in the bj-league, appear to have not thought things through or come up with...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2011

Challenges await next Tokyo leader

While many familiar faces, among them Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa, former Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru and businessman Miki Watanabe, are likely to be seen in the April 10 Tokyo gubernatorial election, the capital's most prominent is expected to stand down.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2011

Justifying an intervention in Libya for justice' sake

MELBOURNE — The world has watched in horror as Libya's Colonel Moammar Gadhafi uses his military to attack protesters opposed to his rule, killing hundreds or possibly thousands of unarmed civilians.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 19, 2011

Monk brings global view to Buddhism

At some point or another, a child nibbles at the world of questions: "Why are we here, where did we come from, how did the world start?"
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2011

Ozawa ex-aides deny cooking funds books

Three former aides of Democratic Party of Japan heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa pleaded not guilty Monday to falsifying the records of his political fund management body Rikuzankai in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 6, 2011

Threatening media not a wise move for league needing exposure

"I may be getting older but I refuse to grow up," someone once said.
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2011

Hopes of 'South' Sudan

The public unrest across North Africa and the Middle East in recent weeks has overshadowed an extraordinary event in Sudan, where the country peacefully — and, by almost all accounts, fairly — held a referendum that backed independence for "South" Sudan. A new country looks set to be born.
BASKETBALL
Jan 31, 2011

Refs come under fire as bj-league game gets rowdy

The bj-league's ongoing problem of policing the game has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, what with the suspensions of Kyoto's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Shiga's Takamichi Fujiwara and Osaka's Lynn Washington just prior to the All-Star Game.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake