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BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2012

Copper producers eye boost in exports

Japan's copper producers may increase exports in the coming years to make up for shrinking domestic demand as manufacturers head overseas to avoid higher costs and the impact on sales of a stronger yen, according to Pan Pacific Copper Co.
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.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 9, 2012

Deeper cooperation urged for key East Asian powers to sustain growth

China, with its increasingly assertive diplomacy and rapid military buildup, is a common security threat for Japan and South Korea, but the two countries also need to work with China as a partner in East Asia's economic growth, veteran journalists from South Korea said in a recent symposium in Tokyo....
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2012

How to push reform forward

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has stated he would stake his political life on realizing integrated reform of the tax and social security systems. Japan's financial structure is worse than those of other advanced countries and even that of Greece, which was responsible for the euro crisis. Therefore it...
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2012

Support for child-rearing families

Actualization panel has proposed a new set of support measures for children and child-rearing families. A main pillar of the proposal is to create a new type of preschool facility by integrating the two existing types of preschools: yochi-en (kindergartens), which are for the education of preschoolers,...
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2012

Relief over another Greek deal

Greece and the European Union have reached another deal. A second bailout will avert a Greek bankruptcy, although the reprieve is likely to be only temporary. The harsh austerity measures that the EU is demanding as a condition of its aid, ironically, are likely to make it even harder for Athens to reach...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2012

A 'stewpid' time to raise VAT

The International Monetary Fund has joined Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and leading politicians and bureaucrats in laying down a remorseless softening up barrage of facts, figures, argument and just plain determination that the country's consumption tax should rise as quickly as possible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2012

S&P affirms AA- rating, says downgrade likely

Standard and Poor's on Monday affirmed Japan's sovereign-debt rating at AA- while maintaining a negative outlook and warning that a downgrade is likely if medium-term growth prospects weaken.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 18, 2012

Fiscal ills not DPJ's doing but it's holding the bag

The tax and social security reform outline adopted by the Cabinet on Friday indicate the government has run out of options and must finally address welfare costs and public finances that have been spiralling out of control for years.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2012

BOJ takes aim at deflation

The Bank of Japan on Feb. 14 announced that it would adopt a "price stability goal" of 1 percent for the time being — a virtual introduction of an explicit inflation target of 1 percent. The central bank also decided to increase its financial asset purchase program by ¥10 trillion, raising its total...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2012

Behind Obama's Mideast policy of capitulation

No sooner did U.S. President Barack Obama welcome home American troops from Iraq and laud that country's stability and democracy than an unprecedented wave of violence — across Baghdad and elsewhere — revealed the severity of Iraq's political crisis. Is that crisis an unfortunate exception or, rather,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2012

Mitsubishi hints first MRJ flight could be delayed

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., building Japan's first passenger jet, said it will announce a new schedule for the maiden flight because the company is facing "challenges" in its development.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 16, 2012

49ers' stadium gets final approval

The city council in Santa Clara, California, voted 5-1 in favor of an $878.6 million contract Tuesday that should allow the San Francisco 49ers to move into a new stadium there by the 2014 season.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2012

Kao plans new factory in Indonesia

Kao Corp. will add a factory in Indonesia to expand capacity and meet rising demand.

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.