Search - 2004

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 7, 2005

Health boom jazzing up production of bottled water

The current health boom in Japan is having a ripple effect on the bottled water industry and sending many beverage makers scrambling to offer products with added health benefits.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2005

Abe, central figure in HIV-tainted blood products scandal, dies

Hemophilia expert Takeshi Abe, who was facing an appeals trial over his acquittal in a professional negligence case, died of heart failure Monday evening at a Tokyo hospital, his family said. He was 88.
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Apr 28, 2005

"The Mermaid's Manual," "Frozen Billy"

"The Mermaid's Manual," Dawn Applerley, Bloomsbury; 2004; 14 pp. "The Mermaid's Manual" should be a dream come true for many little girls out there. Its vibrant, glittery jacket has a neat press-button on it, which makes this picture-book look like a handy kit for wannabe mermaids.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2005

JVC targets 500 jobs in accelerated structural reform

Victor Co. of Japan Ltd. plans to cull 500 people from its 7,400-strong workforce during fiscal 2005 in an effort to accelerate structural reform, company officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2005

Sony net profit skyrockets 85%

Sony Corp. said Wednesday its consolidated net profit for fiscal 2004 surged 85.1 percent to 163.84 billion yen, thanks to a strong performance by its movie unit.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2005

Jobless rate hits six-year low of 4.6%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate averaged 4.6 percent in fiscal 2004, down 0.5 percentage point from fiscal 2003 for the best reading in six years, the government said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2005

TVs, phones give Sharp record profit

Sharp Corp. said Tuesday its net profit for fiscal 2004 jumped 27 percent to a record 76.85 billion yen, driven by brisk sales of liquid crystal display TVs and mobile phones.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 26, 2005

The show's over

Marietta was with some Filipino friends in their local station when they were approached by a group of men they didn't know. One took her arm, and asked to see her alien registration card and passport. His badge showed he was from the Immigration Office. "Now they are checking everybody," she says. ...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2005

Students improve in standardized tests

Elementary and junior high school students showed improvements in the government's scholastic achievement tests conducted in January and February 2004 from those in 2002, according to the education ministry.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 22, 2005

Colts, Falcons to battle in Japan

Following a one-year absence, NFL action will return to Tokyo this summer.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2005

Japan settles for 'low-risk, low-return' FTA goals

Prudish about bilateral free-trade agreements just five years ago, Tokyo is now fielding partnership requests from 25 economies and regional blocs.
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 Times
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2005

Japan tour firms catering to disabled foreigners

English-language tours may be increasingly commonplace in Japan, but programs for disabled foreign tourists are still few and far between.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2005

Tepco head replaces scandal-hit peer

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan will appoint Tsunehisa Katsumata, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., as its new chairman, federation sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2005

Cost-cutting a safety threat: JAL unions

Unions at Japan Airlines Corp. are taking the opportunity of JAL being reprimanded by the government over recent safety shortcomings to fault the policies of management, especially its drastic cost-reduction efforts.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2005

Wholesale prices post first rise in seven years

Wholesale prices for fiscal 2004 rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier for the first increase since fiscal 1997.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2005

Schiavo case deepens America's divide

ONTARIO, Calif. -- Seldom can I recall any issue in America producing as much emotion and division as the case of Terri Schiavo. The Iraq war has not come close to reaching this level of emotional expression. After being denied food and water for 13 days, her death on March 31, at 41 years of age, brings...
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Import auto sales off 3.8% in '04; first fall in three years

Sales of new imported vehicles in Japan fell 3.8 percent in fiscal 2004 from the previous year to 268,703 units for the first decline in three years.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2005

Domestic auto sales off 2.2% in '04

Sales of new domestic cars, trucks and buses in Japan fell 2.2 percent in fiscal 2004 from a year earlier to 3,939,734 units, marking the second consecutive yearly decline, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 9, 2005

Legal action gives new definition to 'The Meaning of Ichiro'

Well, I must say, this one really takes the cake.
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2005

Beijing putting ball in Chen's court

HONOLULU -- The unprecedented direct flights between Taiwan and China during the Chinese New Year holiday period and Beijing's dispatch of two senior Chinese representatives to Taiwan for the memorial service of Koo Chen-fu -- who conducted breakthrough cross-strait dialogue a decade ago under the now...
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2005

Weak link in nuclear safety

The government's nuclear energy report for 2004 is a dismal reminder that public confidence in nuclear safety remains low. The report, prepared by the Atomic Energy Commission, follows the accident last August in which five workers died because of exposure to bursts of superheated steam from a ruptured...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 6, 2005

New Western poetry from an old Japanese tradition

THE TANKA ANTHOLOGY, edited by Michael McClintock, Pamela Miller Ness & Jim Kacian. Red Moon Press, 2003, 231 pp., $24.95 (cloth). EDGE OF LIGHT: The Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku, edited by Jim Kacian et al., Red Moon Press, 2004, 175 pp., $16.95 (paper). The haiku, already well established...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2005

Waking up to China's threat

NEW YORK -- On Feb. 19, Japan and the United States issued a joint statement that maintaining peace and security in the Taiwan Strait is a common strategic objective. This was nothing extraordinary except for the fact that Japan, for the first time, joined the U.S. in voicing public concern about China's...
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2005

Japan Post to shut down 28 unprofitable leisure units

Japan Post will close 28 of its 120 leisure accommodation facilities nationwide before its privatization process begins in April 2007, sources said Wednesday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 27, 2005

New truths from broken conventions: travel writing outside Japan

MUSASHINO IN TUSCANY: Japanese Overseas Travel Literature, 1860-1912, by Susanna Fessler. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2004, 297 pp., + xii pp., 29 b/w illustrations, 2004, $65.00 (cloth). Japan has a long history of travel literature. From the 10th-century "Tosa...
SUMO
Feb 24, 2005

Futagoyama waging battle against cancer

Sumo stablemaster Futagoyama is waging a battle with mouth cancer, his son and former grand champion Takanohana revealed Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2005

FSA to discipline Meiji Yasuda

The Financial Services Agency plans to order Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. later this month to suspend part of its business activities for about two weeks over alleged illegal sales practices, FSA sources 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?