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JAPAN / TICAD IV
May 29, 2008

Africa making strides but still in need of help

African leaders said Wednesday that while their nations have a responsibility to fight poverty and improve the living conditions of millions on the continent, its partners, including Japan and other affluent nations, must also lend a hand.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 29, 2008

Global realities will make Toyako among most complex G8 summits

Global circumstances surrounding the Group of Eight summit have changed greatly, making an expanded meeting with emerging economies China and India more important than ever, according to the top Japanese coordinator for the July G8 gathering in Hokkaido.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2008

Nissan aims to up China unit sales 64%

Nissan is hoping to raise sales at its Chinese ventures at least 64 percent by 2012 as the country's surging economic growth boosts demand for cars and trucks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AFRICA LIFELINE
May 23, 2008

People being hung out to dry in aid race for resources: NGO

Africa's abundance of natural resources and the robust economic growth some of its nations are experiencing in no way indicate the continent is on the road to stability and democratization, a representative for a Tokyo-based nongovernmental group said.
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2008

The dams must go on

Tokuyama Dam in Ibikawa, Gifu Prefecture, provides the nation's biggest water reservoir. Beginning full operation May 5, it is a typical example of wasteful public works. This multipurpose dam for water utilization, flood control and power generation was first proposed in 1957. To build it, all the Tokuyama...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2008

Toshiba announces plan to double profit

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it plans to double its group operating profit to ¥500 billion in business 2010 from ¥238 billion it booked in business 2007 by expanding its NAND flash memory and nuclear power plant endeavors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2008

Inflation caused by Ukraine's peg to dollar

KIEV — Inflation in Ukraine is skyrocketing. By March, it reached 26 percent per year and continues to rise. Although prices are increasing around the world, Ukraine's is extreme, twice as much as in neighboring Russia. Amazingly, instead of dampening inflation, Ukraine's central bank is stoking it....
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 1, 2008

EC to G8: Match our ambitious carbon goals

The European Commission will push members of the Group of Eight industrialized countries to equal the European Union's commitment to fighting global warming when the G8 summit opens in July in the hot-spring resort of Toyako, Hokkaido, a senior EC official said.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2008

Food crisis endangering millions

BRUSSELS — The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the last throes of its Doha Development Round negotiations, the European Union is currently undertaking a "health check" on its Common Agricultural Policy and the whole world is opening biofuel plants as a technological fix to curb CO2 emissions and...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2008

Combating climate change

SINGAPORE — Two recent news reports have underscored China's voracious appetite for oil and the impact of unrestrained burning of coal and other fossil fuels on global climate change. Both point to the need for Japan, the United States, Canada, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — the six Asia-Pacific...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2008

NGOs rip Japan for lack of G8 leadership

KYOTO — NGO representatives clashed with officials from the Group of Eight countries at a meeting here Thursday, charging that this year's summit could be a major step backward for climate change, development and aid to Africa due to poor leadership on the part of Japan.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2008

Japan to call on WTO to outlaw food-export curbs

As the world's biggest net food importer, Japan will ask the World Trade Organization as early as next week to introduce rules to prevent countries from restricting exports of wheat, rice and other grains, according to the agriculture ministry.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2008

The world's hungry billion

COPENHAGEN — Hunger has slipped from the rich world's consciousness. Televised images of Third World children with distended bellies no longer shock viewers. Polls show that developed nations now believe that the world's biggest problems are terrorism and climate change.
JAPAN / Q&A
Apr 8, 2008

Japan must put TICAD ball in play

Japan held the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development in 1993 to get the international community to reengage with poverty-stricken Africa.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2008

LDP studying creation of sovereign wealth fund

Looking to earn better returns on Japan's massive foreign reserves, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party began studying in February the idea of creating a sovereign wealth fund, or a state-controlled investment fund, that would trade in more aggressive vehicles such as stocks and properties.
BUSINESS / ASIAN ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM
Apr 4, 2008

'Deeper' integration must go beyond Asia's borders

Asia needs to start considering ways to "deepen" its economic integration while at the same time keeping itself open to parties from outside the region, experts told the March 24 symposium.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Green plan eyes fewer disposables

Japan will urge people to carry their own chopsticks instead of using disposables and to shop with their own bags instead of using plastic ones in a bid to more than halve the garbage it produces.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2008

Denso plans new Fukushima factory

Denso Corp., the world's largest publicly traded auto-parts maker, will spend ¥16 billon to build a new air conditioning systems factory to meet growing demand in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2008

Sentimental barrier to economic growth

Protectionist sentiment and fear of globalization are on the rise. In the United States, presidential candidates appeal to anxious voters by blaming the North American Free Trade Agreement for the erosion of the country's manufacturing base. Liberal trade initiatives have run into trouble in Congress,...
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2008

Second mission for astronaut

Japanese astronaut Mr. Takao Doi, together with six other crew members, was launched into space Tuesday aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is the 53-year-old astronaut's second space mission, the first being in November-December 1997. We wish him success.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2008

Ministry preaches food self-sufficiency

The recent scare over pesticide-tainted "gyoza" dumplings made in China and the rapid price surges of flour and other food products across the world have aroused serious anxiety among millions of Japanese consumers over imported everyday foods.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 11, 2008

Solar power shines through as energy option

Solar power is in the spotlight as concerns over global warming mount. Many European countries, especially Germany, as well as Japan and others have embraced solar technologies as a green alternative to fossil fuels.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2008

Bolstering U.S.-ASEAN Cooperation

BANGKOK — The strategic presence of the United States in Southeast Asia takes two forms, both of which are interrelated: The relationship is institutionalized through the Pacific Command in Honolulu and then formalized through various hub-and-spoke agreements with member states of the 10-member Association...
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2008

Boosting self-sufficiency in food

Recent incidents caused by tainted gyoza dumplings imported from China have reminded the public not only of the importance of food safety, but also of just how dependent the country is on food imports. While it is important to avoid hysteria about imports from China, it is time to rethink our reliance...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 26, 2008

Japan needs imports to keep itself fed

After a spate of food mislabeling frauds and the recent scare over pesticide-laced "gyoza" dumplings imported from China, consumers are perhaps more conscious than ever of the origin of what they eat. Many routinely check the origins of the foods they buy, especially imported products, which Japan relies...
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2007

Suzuki to open ¥31 billion Thai plant

Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's second-largest minicar maker, will spend ¥31.4 billion to build a car factory in Thailand.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?