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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2005

Government bureaucrats adopt 'Cool Biz' hues

The commuter color scheme of Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district underwent a dramatic transformation Wednesday as thousands of bureaucrats took off their dark gray jackets as recommended by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ahead of the hot, humid summer.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2005

No firm picked yet for gas drilling

The government has not yet chosen a company to drill for natural gas in waters contested by Tokyo and Beijing, a top official said Wednesday, after bilateral talks this week to resolve the territorial dispute were inconclusive.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2005

Birthrate yet again falls to record

Japan's total fertility rate sank to 1.28 in calendar 2004, marking an all-time low for the fourth straight year, with the number of babies born in the year also falling to a record low 1.11 million, the government said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2005

France says no to the EU

French voters have rejected the European constitution. The results were not unexpected, but they were a shock nonetheless. France has long been a pillar and an engine of European integration. It is unclear how the European Union will deal with this setback. For French President Jacques Chirac, the outcome...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 24, 2005

Here comes the fear

Japan is following other developed countries in drafting antiterrorism laws.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2005

Ultraloose monetary policy intact, for now

The Bank of Japan will keep its ultraloose monetary policy intact -- but may be inching toward tightening as concerns over the once-shaky financial system recede.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2005

A cautiously optimistic view

On the face of it, Japan's economy appears headed for a full-fledged recovery. In the first quarter of 2005, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.3 percent from the previous quarter, or 5.3 percent in annualized terms, according to the Cabinet Office. It was the first solid quarterly growth since...
BUSINESS
May 18, 2005

BOJ expected to keep liquidity target

Despite stronger than expected economic growth in the first quarter of 2005, the Bank of Japan is expected to stick to a monetary-easing framework until it sees more evidence the economy is on route to stable recovery, BOJ watchers said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2005

Machinery orders grew 6.5% in '04

Core private-sector machinery orders grew 6.5 percent in fiscal 2004 from the previous year, marking a second straight yearly rise, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2005

Key gauge over boom-or-bust line

A key gauge of the current state of the economy rose above the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in March, the government said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2005

Caldron of simmering views

In advance of Constitution Day, on Tuesday, research commissions on constitutional reform from both houses of the Diet last month adopted final reports summarizing five years of debate. The Lower House panel focused on amending the supreme law, including revision of the war-renouncing Article 9.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2005

'Sho-ene' look always hot in summer, DPJ's Hata says

Men with qualms about attempting the no-necktie look at work this summer should take a leaf out of former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata's book.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2005

No deal made on Yasukuni visits: Nakasone

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone on Thursday denied claims that China and Japan had concluded an informal agreement in 1985 that top Japanese government leaders would not visit Yasukuni Shrine.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2005

Government plays up outcome of Koizumi-Hu talks

The government played up on Monday the importance of Saturday's meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao, where the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to salvage relations.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 24, 2005

Time for some Showa trivia and Heisei melodrama

GEISHA -- HARLOT -- STRANGLER -- STAR: A Woman, Sex & Morality in Modern Japan, by William Johnston. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004, 245 pp., $29.50, (cloth). ISOLATION, by Christopher Belton. New York: Leisure Fiction, 2003, $6.99, 372 pp., (paper). To be honest, I've never really understood...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2005

LDP plans postal reform showdown with prime minister

The Liberal Democratic Party will arrange a top-level meeting Monday with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to end the protracted bickering over his plan to privatize Japan Post, according to party executives.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2005

Koizumi to visit Russia for Allied fete

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Russia in early May to attend a ceremony to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2005

Inagaki faces prison for investor product sales

Prosecutors demanded a two-year prison sentence Thursday for former Cabinet member Jitsuo Inagaki, who is charged with illegally selling 24 million yen worth of investment products.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2005

Data show China trade is vital

Japan's customs-cleared trade with China exceeded its trade with the United States for the first time in fiscal 2004, underlining the interdependence between the two economies, Finance Ministry statistics showed Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2005

Scientists, academics urge major nuclear powers to dispose of weapons

A seven-member group of Japanese scientists and academics has urged the world's five major nuclear powers to stick to a global treaty on nuclear nonproliferation and work toward the complete abolition of nuclear arms.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 21, 2005

Matters of survival in a 'shattered world'

One of the best things about writing a newspaper column is that I get a chance to meet people whose paths I might otherwise never cross. Last weekend, at the Odaiba waterfront launch of Earth Day Tokyo 2005, I had the rare pleasure of meeting and interviewing two environmentalists I have long admired,...
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2005

Ono scrubs press tour of Samawah, discounts concern

Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono sought Tuesday to downplay concerns over security in the southern Iraq city of Samawah, after the agency said the previous day that it had canceled a tour for Japanese reporters to cover the Self-Defense Forces' activities there slated for later this month....
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2005

LDP to seek new postal-reform deal

After two days of marathon talks, executives of the Liberal Democratic Party abruptly ended a meeting Tuesday night, saying the party had allowed them to negotiate more modifications to the government's postal privatization plan.
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2005

Move cautiously on Constitution

A Lower House panel on constitutional reform last week ended five years of discussions after presenting a final report to the Speaker. An Upper House panel is due to submit a similar report later this month. It is the first time since the Constitution was promulgated in 1946 that the Diet has conducted...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2005

U.S. team to visit in bid to end beef ban

The United States will send a team of scientific experts on mad cow disease to Japan next week to discuss with their Japanese counterparts ways to resolve a 16-month import ban on U.S. beef at the earliest possible date, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2005

'Livedoor shock' reviving Japan's cross-shareholding habit

When Internet services company Livedoor Co. announced its bid to acquire Nippon Broadcasting System Inc., the vulnerabilities of Japan's capital markets were suddenly laid bare, prompting domestic companies to scramble for ways to defend themselves from hostile takeovers.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2005

Japan, China wasting time

Recent mass anti-Japanese protests in Chinese cities have plunged Sino-Japanese relations to their lowest since diplomatic ties were normalized in 1972. Stones thrown by demonstrators damaged the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on April 9. Japanese-owned businesses in other cities were likewise attacked,...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2005

Japan eyes restart to abduction talks

Japan wants to break the current impasse and resume bilateral talks with North Korea to resolve Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Friday.

Longform

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