Search - 2005

 
 
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2004

Funding deal reached for new Kansai runway

The finance and transport ministries agreed Saturday to construct a second runway at debt-ridden Kansai International Airport to be operational by 2007, transport minister Kazuo Kitagawa said.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2004

JR asked to foot bill for bullet train projects

The government and ruling bloc Thursday urged Japan Railway group to shoulder some of the construction costs for new bullet train projects, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2004

Billions eyed for drilling near China

The government plans to spend some 23 billion yen in fiscal 2005 to prepare for exploratory gas drilling in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, government officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Dec 15, 2004

We mix you a Merry Christmas; stocking stuffers & party plans

"Drape the Messe in day-glo deco,
Dec 14, 2004

Terrorist tracking center planned

The Justice Ministry will set up an intelligence center to track the movements of suspected terrorists and identify weaknesses in immigration controls at airports, according to ministry sources.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 9, 2004

Sasaki's deal with BayStars is the richest ever in NPB

Yokohama BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki confirmed the terms of his final contract year with the Yokohama BayStars on Wednesday and revealed that he earned 650 million yen in the 2004 season, making him the highest-paid Japanese ballplayer in history.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2004

Tax and spend no better than borrow and spend

UBUD, Bali -- For most politicians and bureaucrats, so-called tax reform is a cover for them to raise taxes. And so it is not surprising that Japan's Tax Commission insists it is impossible to avoid tax increases to sort out Tokyo's fiscal problems. But it turns out that this assertion is based on logic...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2004

Canberra's free trade polka

SYDNEY -- The convening of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations with Australia and New Zealand at ASEAN's meeting in the Laotian capital last week was a landmark for the region's push toward greater security and economic growth. It also started a move toward a free trade area that will...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2004

Income tax cuts considered to balance negative effect of possible end to breaks

The government and the ruling coalition on Thursday began studying the idea of fresh income tax cuts as an economic stimulus to compensate for the reduction or abolition of personal income tax cuts that have been in place since 1999, government officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2004

Mexican ambassador says he's happy with Japan relations

Mexican Ambassador Miguel Ruiz-Cabanas said Thursday that he is lucky and because the relationship between Japan and his country has never been better.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 1, 2004

Dodgers coach Colborn feels right at home in Japan

Thrilled to be back in Japan last month as the pitching coach on the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Japan Tour was Jim Colborn, former pitching instructor for the Orix BlueWave and currently mentor to the mound staff of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2004

Iraq troop level may remain at 600 if mission is extended, Hosoda says

If the government extends the Ground Self-Defense Force humanitarian mission in Iraq beyond the current Dec. 14 deadline, it would aim to maintain the present deployment level of about 600 troops, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda indicated Monday.
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2004

Four Hollywood studios back Toshiba's HD DVD

In what could be a major coup in a fierce format war, Toshiba Corp. and its partners said Monday they have won support from four major Hollywood movie studios for their next-generation DVD.
EDITORIALS
Nov 29, 2004

Heading for higher taxes

The latest report from the government's Tax Commission has a sobering message: In the long run, taxes in Japan have nowhere to go but up. As the commission's chairman, Mr. Hiromitsu Ishi, points out, there is no way to avoid tax increases in order to put the nation's fiscal house in order.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 24, 2004

Lonely days in Fukuoka

The imminent sale of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks baseball team to the Softbank Internet company may yield great results down the road but, right now, the elimination of the "Daiei" name seems to have cast an atmosphere of sabishisa (loneliness) over the city and the entire northern Kyushu area.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2004

Banks looking to cash in on end of brokering ban

Japanese mega-banking groups are stepping up efforts to launch one-stop financial shops that provide financial services across the board, ranging from banking services to sales of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and insurance policies.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 17, 2004

Mound relief almost backfired for MLB pitchers

The visiting Major League Baseball All-Stars left Japan Nov. 14 with a 5-3 series victory over their All-Japan opponents but, ironically, a change in the pitching mounds designed to help the big leaguers for the final three games of the tour almost resulted in disaster for the visitors. Let me explain....
Japan Times
Features
Nov 14, 2004

'Supercasual' Tokyo at odds with fashion elite

The Spring/Summer 2005 Tokyo Collections -- the autumnal tranche of the biannual extravaganza of fashion shows presented by the Council of Fashion Designers, Tokyo, along with their vernal offering in April -- has just wound up giving the press and buyers a preview of what more than 30 Tokyo-based designers...
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2004

New bullet train lines near green light

Prospects look good for a ruling coalition proposal to begin constructing three shinkansen lines in fiscal 2005.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 10, 2004

Ishii, Otsuka do their best to fill shoes of Japan's biggest stars

The organizers of the Major League Baseball All-Star show currently touring Japan were not able to convince Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners or Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees to play in this year's Nichibei yakyu, but the appearance of Japanese pitchers Kazuhisa Ishii and Akinori Otsuka has...
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2004

Get ready for rising prices

For the first time in eight years, Japan's consumer prices (excluding those of perishable food) are forecast to rise on an annual basis, albeit only slightly. A 0.1 percent increase in consumer prices is expected for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2005, according to an economic and price outlook released...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 3, 2004

Stocking of new Sendai team just part of busy NPB offseason

Get ready, fans, for what promises to be a whirlwind, action-packed offseason with an extra-hot hot stove league or, as they say here in Japan, the "hot hibachi" league. Going to be a heckuva offseason.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 3, 2004

Rakuten awarded pro baseball team

Rakuten was one of two Japanese Internet companies applying to enter Japanese professional baseball next season after the merger of the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes led to a reduction in the number of teams in the Pacific League from six to five.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2004

Citigroup CEO says trust bank to be shut down

The CEO of U.S. banking giant Citigroup Inc. apologized Monday for the bank's misconduct in Japan and said it will terminate its private banking business here for wealthy customers by Sept. 30, 2005.
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2004

Income tax cuts may be scaled back: Tanigaki

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Tuesday the government will consider scaling back income tax cuts that have been in place since 1999 because economic recovery has taken root.

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