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  • Majority reject Japan mayor on comfort women poll

    TOKYO (AFP) - A large majority of Japanese people disagree with a high-profile politician who said women forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity, polls issued on Monday said.Up to 200,000 "comfort women" from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during WWII, according to mainstream ...

  • Bank of Japan raises economic outlook

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- The Bank of Japan said in its May report issued Monday that the nation's economy was slowly improving, marking an upgrade from its views in the April update, according to reports. The previous outlook had mentioned signs of recovery but with weak spots, a Reuters report said, while Dow Jones Newswires said the upgrade was the first in two months. Japanese stocks ...

  • Nikkei hits fresh 5 12-year high on weak yen

    yen and as the Japanese government raised its assessment of the economy in May for the first time in two months. Signs of an improving economy and Wall Street's record closing high on Friday cemented the positive mood in markets. By the midday break, the Nikkei had climbed 1.4 percent to 15,347.01 after rising as high as 15,356.31, the highest since December 2007. The Nikkei has gained 48 ...

  • Russia Japan try to bridge gaps on thorny issues

    MOSCOW, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Japan managed to move their positions closer on certain issues, pledging to speed up talks on reaching a peace treaty for the first time since the end of WWII, as leaders of the two countries met here on Monday. Following his talks with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that they have instructed ...

  • Japanese Market Trades Higher On Wall Street Lead Weaker Yen

    The Japanese stock market hit a new five-and-a-half year high on Monday, buoyed by Wall Street's gains on Friday and a weaker yen.In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is trading at 15,323.49, up 185.37 or 1.22 percent, after climbing to 15,297.73, the highest intraday level since December 28, 2007.In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) is adding 0.29 percent ...

Movie Review

Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) [DVD]

Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) [DVD]

At its core, Akira Kurosawas Seven Samurai is little more than a great yarn extremely well spun. Its story is so simple, it can be summarized in a single sentence: Small Japanese farming village is threatened by bandits and hires seven ronin (masterless samurai) to protect them ... ...

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  • Japans 3 Arrows May Run Into German Wall

    It will take more time to see the impact of all that on the real economy. The policy change is much too recent. The new leadership took over at the Bank of Japan on March 20, 2013, and the 10.3 trillion yen ($100 billion) stimulus package, announced on January 11, 2013, is unlikely to have led to instant, "shovel-ready," infrastructure projects. It follows, then, that the ...

  • Nikkei bounces by break

    (2 mins ago) Stocks in Tokyo gained 1.38 percent with investors encouraged by strong US data and the weaker yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index soared 208.89 points to 15,347.01 by the break while the Topix index of all first-section issues climbed 1.38 percent or 17.29 points to ...

  • Japan fleets to visit Myanmar in October

    A fleet of three training ships carrying young officers of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force will visit Myanmar in early October, Japan's Jiji press quoted informed sources as saying Monday. They will be the first MSDF ships to make a port visit in the Southeast Asian country, according to the sources. Myanmar is located in a strategically important area near a key sea lane leading ...

  • Japan to outperform Korea in GDP growth

    Japan's economic growth rate is expected to surpass that of Korea for the first time in 15 years as the world's third-largest economy gains momentum based on the yen's rapid depreciation. Japan's economy has been recording unexpected growth over the last couple of years, while Korea has been performing below market expectations, according to data from central banks in Korea ...

  • Japan Raises Economic View in May

    --Japan government upgrades economic assessment in May for first time in two months --Government raises views on exports, industrial production --Says economy picking up slowly TOKYO--The Japanese government upgraded its assessment of the domestic economy for the first time in two months in its May report, as a pick-up in exports fueled by the weak yen helped improve confidence in ...

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