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BUSINESS
May 20, 2006

Forum to help China conserve energy

A May 29-31 Japan-China ministerial forum will be held in Tokyo to promote the introduction to China of advanced energy and environmental conservation technologies, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 20, 2006

New car-nav units show high-def TV

Makers of car navigation systems plan to release new products this summer that will show high-definition television broadcasts and provide more accurate traffic forecasts.
JAPAN
May 19, 2006

Japan fishes for skilled foreign workers

Japan hopes to import more foreign white-collar workers by adopting more flexible immigration policies, the government said Thursday in a bid to spruce up its international leadership.
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2006

HIV toll rising in Japan

In the 23 years since the HIV virus was discovered, AIDS has become recognized as a "disease of the poor," one that is "incurable" but "100 percent preventable," in the words of its co-discoverer, Professor Luc Montagnier, president of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention. While over...
LIFE / Language
May 16, 2006

Baseball scoreless in language bout with sumo

When describing efforts by foreigners to gain a foothold in Japan, author/commentator and former president of ASI Market Research (Japan), Inc., George Fields, liked to apply the analogy of pro baseball players and sumo wrestlers. The former, for reasons we shall see, were held up as outsiders who forever...
MORE SPORTS
May 14, 2006

Arakawa urges JSF to be transparent

Turin Olympic gold medalist Shizuka Arakawa, who recently decided to turn professional, said Saturday she hopes the Japan Skating Federation will build a more transparent organization for the sake of its skaters.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 14, 2006

Bewitching tales of when a foreign woman takes a Japanese man

Though it boasts one of the highest living standards in the world and a crime rate that is low compared to other developed countries, many of its citizens believe that Japan is a very difficult place to live for non-Japanese. The most commonly held reason for this belief is that the language and social...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 12, 2006

Raunchy blues-rock duo takes audiences on a trip

If music writers were more creative, the term "garage band" wouldn't be used in so cavalier a fashion.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2006

JAL suffers 47.2 billion yen loss for 2005

Japan Airlines Corp. fell into the red in fiscal 2005 due to falling passenger numbers and high fuel prices, marking a stark contrast to archrival All Nippon Airways Co., which had record profits and sales.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 11, 2006

Japan grads go apolitical

With its current exhibition, "Index #2 -- Life Styles," Tokyo Wonder Site in Ochanomizu has mounted a worthwhile survey of recent Japanese art-school graduates. Prolific critic Kentaro Ichihara, in association with Kyoto University of Art and Design, selected five Kanto- and five Kansai-region artists...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 10, 2006

Kawachi has bj-league heading in right direction

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2006

North-South fault line in global politics

On April 28 developing countries voted as a group at the United Nations to shelve management reforms proposed by Secretary General Kofi Annan in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal. Annan had requested more discretion and latitude in hiring, shifting and firing his staff, and controlling the organization's...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2006

EU to enforce chemical safety rules next spring

In a move expected to hit Japan's exporters in the pocketbook, the European Union is likely to begin enforcing a new environmental directive next spring that requires manufacturers and importers to ensure the safety of the chemicals they use and to assess their environmental effects, an EU official said...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
May 7, 2006

Not such a wild conservation idea?

It is late afternoon, and over sundowner drinks in the hunting lodge the talk around the table is of lions. Or, to be more specific, one particular lion -- "Old Black Mane," the night raider, cattle killer, and terror of the local tribesmen. Man eater!
CULTURE / Books
May 7, 2006

Following the great haiku poet on the road

BASHO'S JOURNEY: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Basho, translated with an introduction by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2005, 191 pp., $19.95 (paper). The great haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was first represented to the West just over a century ago. This was in W.G. Aston's...
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2006

Committing to U.S. strategy

Japan and the United States have finalized a plan to realign U.S. military bases in Japan by 2014. The plan, adopted at a "two-plus-two" meeting in Washington D.C. of the two countries' ministers in charge of foreign affairs and defense, has two objectives: One is to reduce the burden on local citizens...
JAPAN
May 4, 2006

Japanese least willing to have more kids: five-nation survey

Japanese parents are less likely to have more children than parents in other countries because they are expensive to raise and educate, an international survey conducted by the government says.
BUSINESS
May 3, 2006

New Corporate Law to foster additional M&As

In the weeks before the Corporate Law took effect Monday, Izumiya Co. announced measures to prevent hostile takeovers, expecting the law's provisions to encourage mergers and acquisitions.
BUSINESS
May 3, 2006

P&G, Shiseido head top 10 list as women-friendly

The Japan unit of U.S. consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. and Shiseido Co., the market leader in Japan's cosmetics industry, ranked first and second in terms of the work environment they offer female employees, according to a magazine survey published Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2006

Memorial service marks Minamata tragedy's 50th year

MINAMATA, Kumamoto Pref. -- Japan marked on Monday the 50th anniversary of the recognition of Minamata disease, a malady caused by pollution that officials were slow to confront and whose sufferers include thousands still seeking recognition and compensation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 2, 2006

A long life on the island

Reaching 100 has long fascinated societies. The century mark is regarded as an almost supernatural seal of hardiness and good health.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 30, 2006

Recalling lady umpire Perry Barber and Cooperstown cookies

Reader Dennis McCormick from Hyogo Prefecture recently wrote to ask, "Do you remember about 15 years ago an American woman umpire came to Japan and worked a few Japanese games in the Kansai area? I don't recall her name, but I was surprised when I found out she was not a regular umpire in one of the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2006

Responsible decision on relief

Kubota Corp., a major machinery maker, has established its own relief system for sufferers of asbestos-linked diseases who were not employees. This system, which offers "relief money" ranging from 25 million yen to 46 million yen each, covers residents around the company's asbestos-contaminated factory...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2006

Tokyo submits bid for 2016 Olympics

Mindful of the boom created by the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Friday submitted to the Japan Olympic Committee its candidacy to host the 2016 Games.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 29, 2006

Nisei bears witness to 'looking like the enemy'

Mary Matsuda Gruenewald was 17 when her life fell to pieces, shattered by the U.S. policy of interning Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 28, 2006

Crafts collective opens up studio

The artisans of the Akeppiroge crafts collective will open up their homes and studios for the only time this year to visitors for an exhibition event to be held May 12-14 in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture -- a small scenic city on the western shore of Lake Biwa. Visitors are welcome from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 27, 2006

A permanent-collection show that impresses

The modern city envelops modern man so completely that he inhabits it even in his dreams -- even in his best dreams. That's the message weaving through the current exhibition at the Watari-Um Museum of Art in Tokyo's Aoyama district. "Beautiful Cities in Dreams" is the eighth incarnation in Watari's...

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