search

 
 
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2005

SMFG, Daiwa units to merge

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Friday their venture capital units will merge Oct. 1.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2005

Takenaka envisions loan business for privatized Japan Post

The company that will take over the state-backed Japan Post's postal savings operations when the system is privatized is expected to enter the loan business, according to postal privatization minister Heizo Takenaka.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2005

Missile defense and civilian control

The Cabinet earlier this week approved a bill that would provide a legal framework for a missile defense (MD) system. During the current regular session of the Diet, the government is seeking approval of the proposed amendment to the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) Law plus a bill for creating an integrated...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 19, 2005

Lesser of two evils: squat or tourist tush?

One common complaint I hear about Japanese youth these days is that "they sit anywhere." This statement refers to young people sitting on the ground. One reason for this phenomenon is that young people in Japan never used to loiter because they were in school six days a week and even spent Sundays participating...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 19, 2005

Cosmopolitan stands for cultural understanding

A gaggle of students leaving Cosmopolitan Consultancy in Kawasaki's Shin-Yurigaoka point the way to the front door. "Up, up," they urge, to the third floor, where Suzan Matkin awaits with slippers and English tea.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 18, 2005

Sakamoto earns worlds berth

Ryusuke Sakamoto, who partnered Ai Fukuhara to a mixed doubles victory at the national championships last month, has earned a singles berth for this spring's World Table Tennis Championships through the men's qualifying meet on Thursday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 18, 2005

Outcry over Arsenal's all-foreign squad is misguided

LONDON -- Arsenal became L'Arsenal or El Arsenal last Monday after Arsene Wenger chose an all-foreign squad of 16 for the 5-1 win over Crystal Palace.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2005

Unity crucial for the model to work

Now that the religious political bloc of the Islamic Shiites has triumphed in the Iraqi National Assembly election, it can take the initiative in the transitional administration that follows the present interim government. The U.S. strategy of turning Iraq into a model of democratization for the Middle...
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

Ad spending up 3% in 2004: Dentsu

Japan's advertising expenditures amounted to 5.86 trillion yen in 2004, up 3 percent from the previous year for the first rise in four years, Dentsu Inc. said Thursday.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 18, 2005

Jubilo inks K-League's Kim

Jubilo Iwata has signed South Korea defender Kim Jin Kyu to a two-year deal, officials of the J. League club said on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

Aeon wants to skip beer wholesalers

Supermarket chain Aeon Co. is calling on beer makers to deliver their products directly to the retailer and skip wholesalers, sources said.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2005

Blinders on a vital interest

In relation to Iran, Japan needs to get its priorities straight. Currently, Japan is spending only 1 percent of its gross domestic product on defense while living in a dangerous region. It is critical for Japan's economic and strategic security that the United States remain willing to protect Japan's...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 18, 2005

Athens medalist Yokosawa warned over doping

Athens Olympic 52-kg silver medalist Yuki Yokosawa received a strict reprimand from the International Judo Federation for allegedly violating doping rules during a French International meet last February, judo sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 18, 2005

Pristine paradise an hour from Tokyo

Thanks to the newly opened Noto International Airport, Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture is now just a one-hour flight from Tokyo, making one of the Hokuriku region's most popular tourist spots -- famed for its hot springs, local festivals, beaches and mountain scenery -- far more accessible.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

BOJ leaves monetary policy alone amid new uncertainties

The Bank of Japan said Thursday its policy-setting panel has left its ultraloose monetary policy unchanged.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

Japan Post deliveries hit record high

The number of parcels Japan Post delivered between last April and early this month has reached a record 184.97 million, according to the governmental postal service agency.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

BTM to cover cash-card theft

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi is preparing to compensate customers whose accounts were compromised by counterfeit cash cards to the tune of about 300 million yen, sources said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 18, 2005

Restaurant t.r: A 't.r iffic' little diner

One of Tokyo's unique pleasures is being able to eat out in restaurants that are no bigger -- and often considerably smaller -- than your own living room. There are thousands of places around the city with kitchens the size of closets and counters that seat less than a dozen, but which nonetheless serve...
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

Protect Japan firms from foreigners: JCCI

The chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry called on the government Thursday to implement measures to protect domestic companies from takeover bids by foreign firms.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

Cell phone firms losing battle against junk mail

Cell phone users in Japan are being swamped with junk e-mail despite all-out efforts by telephone companies to combat the nuisance.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 17, 2005

Giants force Uehara to put MLB dreams on hold -- for now

Yomiuri Giants right-hander Koji Uehara has given up on his plans to move to the major leagues this season through the posting system and is set to sign a new deal with the Central League club, it was learned Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 17, 2005

Q-chan likely to skip world championships

Sydney Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi, who is trying to make a comeback after a fractured right ankle, is unlikely to compete at the world championships in Helsinki this August after deciding to extend a scheduled one-month training camp.
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2005

Pyongyang ups the ante

North Korea has announced that it has nuclear weapons and that it is abandoning multilateral talks designed to keep the Korean Peninsula free of them. Still, there is less to Pyongyang's declaration than meets the eye. North Korea has indicated in the past that it possessed nuclear arms, and its disdain...
COMMENTARY
Feb 17, 2005

Racist banner looks frayed

Understanding Japan and the Japanese was never meant to be easy. This is especially true for the Japanese attitude to foreigners -- at times exclusivist and at other times extremely open. There is an answer to the seeming contradiction, but it requires outsiders to accept that the Japanese might have...
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Fuji TV kicks Livedoor's Horie off quiz show in latest takeover salvo

Fuji Television Network Inc. said Wednesday it has dropped Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie as a regular participant on one of its weekly quiz shows, citing the two firms' battle for control of a radio broadcaster.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

LDP panel endorses U.S. cow test

The Liberal Democratic Party has approved a decision by the health and agriculture ministries to accept a U.S.-proposed cattle age verification method, LDP lawmakers said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Vstone leader Yamato gears up for RoboCup

OSAKA -- Members of Team OSAKA bubbled over with excitement after their teammate scored a goal in a penalty-kick shootout, leading the team to victory in a sort of world soccer championship. The little goal-scorer is a 39-cm humanoid robot named VisiON.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Mazda opens hydrogen gas station

Mazda Motor Corp. said Wednesday it recently opened a hydrogen filling station near its headquarters in Hiroshima Prefecture for the development of hydrogen rotary vehicles.

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?