Search - 2005

 
 
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2005

Brit, American win Blue Planet Prize

Scientists Nicholas Shackleton of Britain and Gordon Hisashi Sato of the United States have been awarded the international Blue Planet Prize for 2005 by the Tokyo-based Asahi Glass Foundation, the foundation announced Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2005

Sewing up a textile deal

China and the European Union last weekend worked out a deal that limits Chinese exports of textiles and heads off a dangerous trade confrontation between them. Both sides, as well as Beijing's other trade partners, are hailing the arrangement as a "win-win" solution to trade disputes. Ultimately, however,...
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2005

Japan seeks to fatten ODA budget

The government wants to hike the official development assistance budget to 0.7 percent of gross national income but ignore swelling social security costs, according to the final draft of its 2005 economic and fiscal policy guideline.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2005

Wisdom for an aging world

In the 21st century, the world faces a dual demographic problem. First, the world population will continue to grow, increasing from about 6 billion in 2005 to more than 9 billion in 2050. Second, by around that time, the waves of an aging society now enveloping the developed countries as a result of...
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2005

Oki Data hopes tieup lifts China sales

Oki Data Corp. said Tuesday it has tied up with a Chinese firm in a bid to expand its sales of light-emitting diode color printers in China.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

MMC suffers a 475 billion yen loss

Struggling Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday that its group net loss widened to a record 474.8 billion yen in fiscal 2004, from 215.4 billion yen posted a year earlier.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

More foreign aid cuts urged

An advisory panel to Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki drafted a proposal Monday urging more cuts in foreign aid in fiscal 2006, citing the nation's troubled finances.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2005

Jubilee breathes new life into Bandung

SINGAPORE -- Indonesia recently brought together 80 leaders of the "decolonized peoples of Asia and Africa" to celebrate the historic 1955 Bandung conference of nonaligned nations.
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 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.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2005

Invest to bolster peace in southern Sudan

KHARTOUM -- Cereal trader Said Abubaker has a simple explanation for the fast-rising price of the local staple sorghum in the town market at Warawar in southern Sudan: "Peace has been a stranger in our land for so long that now that it has come, nature does not know how to welcome it."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 11, 2005

You can lead a market to bonds, but you can't make it drink

The government budget for fiscal 2005 has been enacted, but the amount dependent on government bonds, although slightly lower than in fiscal 2004, is still above 40 percent.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 10, 2005

Early showing by Carp raises hope for repeat of 1975 glory

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Central League championship won by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. It was in 1975 when the "Aka-Heru" (Red Helmets) played in their first Japan Series.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Apr 7, 2005

"Skinny B, Skaz and Me," "Ice Drift"

"Skinny B, Skaz and Me," John Singleton, Puffin Books; 2005; 274 pp.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 23, 2005

Drawing circles is the secret to a new visual language

It is exceedingly rare for a contemporary art show to sell out at the opening reception, and especially so in Japan. It is rarer still to arrive at a vernissage to discover that the show has sold out even before it opened. But that was the case with the Keegan McHargue exhibition that debuted at the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 20, 2005

The earnestness of being important

THE HEREDITY OF TASTE, by Natsume Soseki, translated by Sammy I. Tsunematsu, introduced by Stephen W. Kohl. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2005, 201 pp., 1,300 yen (paper). MY INDIVIDUALISM and THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LITERATURE, by Natsume Soseki. Translated by Sammy I. Tsunematsu, introduced by...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2005

Toyota booming in world's No. 2 spot over U.S. rival Ford

Back in the 1970s, workers at Toyota Motor Corp. were taught to never turn down an order because good times couldn't be counted on to last forever. These days, Toyota cars are in such demand workers are exhausted just keeping up.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 5, 2005

Okada looking to conquer Japan, Asia and rest of world

YOKOHAMA -- Yokohama F. Marinos manager Takeshi Okada has set his sights on a domestic and continental title double in 2005.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 13, 2005

Iraq election exposed two faces of China

HONG KONG -- One unintended consequence of the Jan. 30 election in Iraq was that it exposed the hypocrisy and shortsightedness of China's policy toward Hong Kong and reunification with Taiwan. China not only expressed support for the rushed national election in its controlled press; it also donated $1...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 19, 2005

With spring training near, end of line for George, Peta here?

With just 13 days remaining until the start of spring training, it appears George Arias and Roberto Petagine may have reached the end of the line in their productive careers in Japanese pro baseball.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 8, 2005

Fine-feathered flock of phrases flavors Year of the Chicken

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? This year, the chicken came first since 2005 is the year of the chicken, not the year of the egg. After the disastrous year of the monkey, I think we're all hoping for a few golden eggs this year. So, out with the monkey bananas and in with the chicken feed....
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2005

Uncertain economic prospects ahead

The world's economic outlook for 2005 is uncertain at best. Pessimists may worry about worst-case scenarios, but economic disasters, unlike natural disasters, can be prevented through better planning and management. Much depends on how major economic powers -- particularly the United States, Europe,...
SUMO
Jan 1, 2005

2004 was the year of Asashoryu in sumo

When he went undefeated at the New Year meet to kick-start his 2004 campaign, the message hit home like an 18-wheeler barreling full-throttle down a highway: Move out of the way, or get squashed like a grape. The choice was simple.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2004

Laying a foundation for a new East Asia

SINGAPORE -- Optimism for East Asian integration and community building ran high at the conclusion of the 10th ASEAN Summit on Nov. 30 in Vientiane, Laos, and the back-to-back meetings between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Asia-Pacific partners -- China, Japan, South Korea,...
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 29, 2004

Cheers to contemporary art

The years are passing too quickly for this no-longer-young critic. Lest you think me embittered, let me start this year in review on a high note by trumpeting the star of 2004, a grand old dame who looks as bright and new as the day she was born -- the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Built in the Bauhaus...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 28, 2004

Boating, studying and moving to Japan

The last column of the year! Where did the weeks go?
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2004

DPJ lacks drive to take power

Many Japanese want the Democratic Party of Japan to take power in the next general election in the hope that a DPJ victory will usher in a two-party system that puts Japanese politics on a sounder footing. The party's latest annual convention, however, must have left people wondering whether the DPJ...
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2004

Seeing eye to eye with a neighbor

Grass-root ties between Japan and South Korea look better than at any time since the end of World War II. Mutual understanding and friendship have deepened visibly over the past few years, as demonstrated by the successful cohosting of the 2002 World Cup and the surge of Japanese interest in South Korean...

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