Search - 2005

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

Fewer visiting blood banks to receive HIV tests

Fewer blood donors tested positive for HIV in 2005 as the number of people who gave blood mainly to check if they were infected with the virus fell, a health ministry survey indicated Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2006

Toyota No. 2 in sales for third year

The Toyota Motor Corp. group increased its combined global vehicle sales by 8.0 percent in 2005 to a record high of 8.11 million units, the automaker said Thursday as the industry released its sales, production and export numbers for last year.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 22, 2006

Yokohama: model city for the nation?

'Change Japan -- from Yokohama."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 22, 2006

When notoriety helps sell books

TOPPAMONO: Outlaw. Radical. Suspect. My Life in Japan's Underworld, by Manabu Miyazaki. Tokyo: Kotan Publishing, 2005, 460 pp., $26.95 (cloth). THE APPRENTICE by Lewis Libby. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, St. Martin edition, 2005, 265 pp., $12.95 (paper). Japan's student movement ended with a whimper...
SUMO
Jan 21, 2006

Asa suffers another setback

Tochiazuma dismantled Bulgarian fellow ozeki Kotooshu to take sole possession of the lead at 12-1 on Friday while Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu was slammed to a third defeat by countryman Ama with two days remaining at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2006

Failures below 13,000 for first time since '92

The number of corporate bankruptcies fell below 13,000 in 2005 for the first time in 14 years, helped partly by a recovery in major companies' business sentiment, a credit research agency said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2006

Wholesale prices rose again in '05 as oil surged

Wholesale prices jumped 1.7 percent in 2005 from the previous year for the second straight yearly rise and marking the biggest increase since 1989, due mainly to higher crude oil prices, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 15, 2006

Two writers, two very different North Koreas

NORTH KOREA: The Struggle Against American Power, by Tim Beal. Pluto, 2005, 352 pp., £18.99 (paper). NORTH KOREA: The Paranoid Peninsula, by Paul French. Zed Books Ltd., 2005, 352 pp.,£17.95 (paper). The subtitles of these books reveal the sharply differing points of departure on North Korea for writers...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 13, 2006

Aichi Prefecture shows the glory of culture, industry -- past and present

Aichi Prefecture, internationally better known as the venue of the 2005 Aichi World Expo, which was successfully held for six months last year, is located near the center of Japan and has prospered as a corridor between the east, west, north and south with a long history.
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2006

Corolla top seller for third year

The Toyota Corolla was the best-selling car in Japan for the third consecutive year in 2005, although its sales slumped 13.6 percent to 149,810 vehicles, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 11, 2006

I.D. 'revolution' gets its comeuppance

The year 2005 was when, shockingly, "intelligent design" almost got on the syllabuses of American science classes. But then 11 rational parents in Pennsylvania took their school board to court, and, just before Christmas, the presiding judge delivered a crushing verdict.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2006

Foreign visitors hit record number

The number of foreign visitors in 2005 hit a record 7.45 million, up 10.3 percent from the previous record of 6.76 million in 2004 and topping the 7 million mark for the first time ever, according to preliminary Justice Ministry figures.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2006

Japan's economic upturn

Last year saw a gradual upswing in the Japanese economy. The stock market revived and many Japanese corporations earned record profits. The average stock price at the Tokyo Stock Exchange has risen by about 40 percent in the past year. Toward the end of 2005, it topped 16,000 for the first time in more...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 5, 2006

Franco stays, Serafini goes

Following a test of the open market, Matt Franco and Dan Serafini will wind up on different teams after helping the Chiba Lotte Marines win their first Japan Series in 31 years in 2005, said agent Myles Kahn.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 3, 2006

Fearless Japan ready for date with destiny

Japan coach Zico and his charges are under no illusions as to the scale of the task that awaits them at this year's World Cup finals.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2006

Road deaths drop to 49-year low

The death toll from traffic accidents dropped to 6,871 last year, down by 487 from the previous year and less than 7,000 for the first time since 1956, the National Police Agency said Monday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 3, 2006

Lawsuit-free land a myth

Japan is not renowned for its courtroom dramas. But occasionally a landmark ruling does make the front pages.
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 1, 2006

Lack of firepower a worry for Zico ahead of World Cup

Coach Zico has admitted Japan must demonstrate more of a killer instinct in front of goal ahead of the World Cup finals and is hoping the return of injury-weary striker Tatsuhiko Kubo will provide a solution to his side's problems in attack.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 1, 2006

A poetic Irish conversation

SIXTY INSTANT MESSAGES TO TOM MOORE by Paul Muldoon, Illinois: Modern Haiku Press, 2005, 32 pp., 20 dollars (paper). HARBOUR LIGHTS by Derek Mahon, Ireland: Gallery Press, 2005, 78 pp., 11.50 dollars (paper). Unlike the visual arts, which were transmitted to the West quite quickly, the literary arts...
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Dec 30, 2005

Psychedelic radar 12.30

The question of where to be for Countdown 2006 is proving drastically tough to answer with no major venue booked by any large trance organizer in Tokyo. There are plenty of choices, just no "one place to be," and unfamiliar limits on crowd sizes.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2005

China slammed over diplomat's suicide

Tokyo has lodged protests with Beijing four times since last year over the 2004 suicide of a diplomat at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai, claiming China violated an international treaty by trying to blackmail him for intelligence, government sources admitted Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 29, 2005

Reasons for smiles after the disasters

I participated last Sunday in a thing called the "Dean Martin Memorial Stop Misery Outreach Action." This is a public happening that goes back some 10 years in Japan, and involves distributing one hundred martinis -- shaken on the spot, with uncommonly good gin and vermouth, garnished with pimento-stuffed...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2005

Local bureaucrat numbers shrink 11th straight year

The number of local government employees dropped by a record 41,475 in fiscal 2004 to 3.04 million as of April 1, declining for the 11th consecutive year, a government survey showed Monday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005

Creators, not hacks

OUTLAW MASTERS OF JAPANESE FILM by Chris Desjardins. London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005, 262 pp., $19.95 (paper). IRON MAN: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto, by Tom Mes. FAB Press, 2005. 237 pp., $24.95 (paper) Foreign critics used to worship at the altars of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005

Cabinet approves austere 2006 budget worth 79.7 trillion yen

The Cabinet formally approved on Saturday a 79.686 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 2006 that would help slow down growth of the nation's debt.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2005

Government plans first budget cut in four years

The government plans to set the budget for the next fiscal year at around 80 trillion yen, down from 82.1 trillion yen this year for the first contraction in four years, Finance Ministry officials said Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2005

Population may have already started falling

2005 may be the year in which Japan's population began to decline, according to preliminary government data.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2005

2 trillion yen in tax increases to take effect in fiscal 2006

The ruling coalition approved over 2 trillion yen worth of tax increases Thursday to be implemented in fiscal 2006. The hikes include the elimina tion or reduction of tax breaks, a cigarette levy increase and higher tax rates on wine and so-called third-category beers.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake