search

 
 
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

Correction cloud has bargain silver lining

Major factors driving the corrections last month on the Tokyo stock market were steep reactionary price falls in the information technology sector and foreign investors' sales following tumbles in New York stock prices.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

M2 indicator grew 2.9% in April

Japan's key indicator of money supply grew 2.9 percent in April from a year before, an acceleration from the 1.9 percent gain in March, the Bank of Japan said Monday in a preliminary report.
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2000

Asia's storm clouds haven't dispersed

ASIAN STORM: The Economic Crisis Examined, by Philippe Ries. Translated by Peter Starr. Tokyo: Tuttle, 2000, 2,800 yen. The economic typhoons that swept though Asia in 1997 capsized regional economies, sent the misery index skyrocketing, wiped out colossal amounts of wealth, swept away an aging dictator...
JAPAN
May 16, 2000

Medics add doubts to Aoki takeover

Remarks made by the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's doctors since his death Sunday are increasing suspicions among opposition parties concerning Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki's claim, reiterated Monday, that Obuchi asked him to step in as acting prime minister.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 16, 2000

Enchi's made-up 'monogatari'

A TALE OF FALSE FORTUNES, By Fumiko Enchi. Translated by Roger K. Thomas. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000. Unpriced. The late Fumiko Enchi was, besides being a well-known novelist, a major scholar of Japanese literature. Like her father, Kazutoshi Ueda, she was a classicist. Her 1972-3...
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

Current account surplus declined 16.8% in 1999

The nation's current account surplus in fiscal 1999 fell 16.8 percent from the previous year, its first decline in three years, as imports from the rest of Asia showed particularly high growth.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 16, 2000

Nagashima wins 900th

The Yomiuri Giants forged a two-run rally out of a walk and a pair of doubles in the eighth inning Sunday at Koshien Stadium to snare a 3-2 win from the Hanshin Tigers and climb into first place in the Central League standings.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

Economy hit bottom in early '99: EPA

The head of a study panel of economists for the Economic Planning Agency on Monday said that the Japanese economy hit bottom in spring 1999.
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2000

A natural woman, yes, but a soul singer?

One of the more thought-provoking critical observations I've come across lately (Amy Linden's, to be exact) is the claim that the current crop of young black singers could learn something from the 22-year-old singer-songwriter Fiona Apple about soul. That's "soul" as in Soul, as in Gladys and Nina, as...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
May 16, 2000

Blood and gore all over the floor

"Everyone thought I'd fallen on some broken glass by accident. But . . . I just couldn't stand myself anymore, so I went behind the amps with this piece of broken glass, having decided to cut my jugular vein. I just didn't have the guts, though . . . I was aiming for the vein, but I just couldn't make...
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2000

Japan still has its strengths

PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT: How Japanese Enterprises Meet the Challenge, by Hirotoshi Shibuya and Hideyuki Kamiryo. The Japan Times, 2000, 209 pp., 3,000 yen (cloth). While corporate philosophies and principles may change from country to country, the basics of finance are constants. "Productivity Improvement"...
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

APEC urged to promote e-commerce

Member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum must endeavor to promote cross-border e-commerce and solve problems such as infringement of Internet security, International Trade and Industry Minister Takashi Fukaya said Monday.
JAPAN
May 16, 2000

New ministry targets quality of life

The new ministry to be created in January by a merger of the Construction and Transport ministries and the National Land and Hokkaido Development agencies will strive for public safety, environmental preservation and economic health, according to a draft policy.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Business leaders hail Obuchi's achievements

Japan's business leaders on Sunday praised the efforts of late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to revitalize the country's economy and lift it out of the worst economic downturn since World War II.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Obuchi dies 43 days after stroke

Former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, credited with helping pull Japan out of its worst economic downturn since the war, died Sunday at a Tokyo hospital, six weeks after suffering a stroke and falling into a coma, government officials said. He was 62.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2000

Mr. Putin takes command

Russia made history last week. With the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin, that country marked its first truly democratic transition of leaders in over a millennium. It was a remarkable moment for the nation, as well as for the once-obscure former KGB functionary who took the oath of office as...
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Japan, U.S. to cap host-nation support

Japan and the United States are poised to agree on measures to keep upper limits intact when they renew a treaty on host-nation financial support for U.S. military facilities in Japan, Japanese government sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Probe demanded of Korean activist's killing

OSAKA -- A Japan-based citizens' group that aids North Koreans is demanding a full police investigation into the slaying of a 51-year-old Korean activist for human rights in North Korea at his home in Hyogo Prefecture, the group said Sunday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Obuchi's 20 months as leader

The following is a chronology of the major events that took place during former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's 20 months in office.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2000

Constructive advice for launching multilateral talks with the WTO

the summit of major industrialized countries kicks off in July, one of the things the world will be waiting to see is whether the leaders of these nations will be able to launch a new round of multilateral trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2000

Manufacturers dying for new blood

Japan's manufacturers have a staunch ally in Tokai University Professor Hajime Karatsu.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Obuchi conscious for Aoki visit on April 2

Former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was conscious during an April 2 visit by Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki to Juntendo University Hospital, shortly after his collapse, hospital doctors confirmed Sunday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Foreign leaders express their condolences

World leaders expressed their condolences Sunday at the death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, but heaped praise on his achievement of getting Japan's faltering economy back on track and helping Asian neighbors out of their acute financial crisis.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Future of transport just round the corner

It's a sunny morning in the spring of 2013. As you ride a commuter train, an information panel on the wall announces a 30-minute delay caused by an accident. With your cellular phone, you search for an alternative route and make a reservation to get to your destination.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2000

Fix the mood, fix the economy

The United States has been urging Japan to expand domestic demand, as if that was the only policy Japan could implement to help promote recovery of the global economy. Washington repeated that demand at the recent Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and cen- tral bankers.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2000

China: an emerging partner or threat?

Is China a rising colossus that intends to bully its neighbors and dominate Asia? Should Washington adopt a more hardline policy toward China on trade, human rights and national security issues? Or is China a country that has already moved far along the road to a market economy and a more open society...

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep