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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 11, 2003

Changes in consumer concerns

CONSUMER POLITICS IN POSTWAR JAPAN: The Institutional Boundaries of Citizen Activism, by Patricia Maclachlan. Columbia University Press, New York, 2002, 270 pp., $18.50 (cloth) This excellent study richly evokes the struggle and frustrations of Japanese consumer organizations in the post-World War II...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Gaming industry revolution falls through

A potential revolution within the gaming industry fell apart Thursday, with Sega Corp. announcing it has scrapped integration talks with Sammy Corp. and video game maker Namco Ltd. saying it has dropped a merger proposal submitted to Sega.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2003

Positioning for the next crisis

In my last column in late April, I treated critically the transformation of America's foreign policy between the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war against Iraq, focusing on the unilateralist policy of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. At the end of that column, I gave...
EDITORIALS
May 7, 2003

Ease lending to small firms

Small businesses in Japan continue to languish in the midst of a protracted economic slump. Compounding their predicament is the tight lending policy of private banks, which are said to be more selective toward smaller borrowers than larger ones. Banks may have their own reasons to restrict lending,...
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Qualified IT staff still thin on ground

At least one in four major Japanese companies lack qualified information-technology staff despite the high unemployment rate amid the sluggish economy, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2003

Rudderless world economy

From 1993 to 2001, the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton based its policies on the Democratic Party's platform of compassion toward the underprivileged and tolerance toward dissent. In the past, this ideology had prompted Democratic administrations to try to legislate an end to racial discrimination....
BUSINESS
May 5, 2003

Japanese government committed to promoting foreign investment

On April 22nd, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry selected five regions in Japan that are making special efforts to attract foreign direct investment.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2003

Wireless broadband market to hit 92 trillion yen in 10 years: panel

The market for wireless broadband services in Japan is projected to reach 92 trillion yen in a decade, according to projections released Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2003

Hong Kong's blurred sense of identity had a role in SARS fiasco

HONG KNG -- In the end, it took the Chinese Communist Party's nine-member Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) 5 1/2 months to take a public stand on handling the current atypical pneumonia crisis with much greater openness. Guangdong Province experienced the first outbreak of the previously unknown disease...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 1, 2003

Flailing Japanese companies, government turn to U.S. recovery 'guru'

Japan, still struggling to find a way out of its bad-loan quagmire, is looking for salvation from a "guru" credited with turning around whole sectors of U.S. industry.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2003

Reform is key to keeping Asia on top

MANILA -- Asia's future is bright, but it is not preordained. Policy reforms that augment investment, lead to the adoption of new technologies and enhance productivity must be pursued to increase the growth potential of developing economies in Asia. The urgency of these reforms is accentuated by the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2003

Now (and forever) a girl's best friend

Once the home of a prince, the Teien Art Museum is now playing host to a king's ransom in jewelry comprising a truly sparkling survey of the bijoutier's art in the four centuries spanning 1540-1940.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2003

Tokyo Station a mecca for outlying colleges

Hoping to ensure their survival, better meet students' needs and enhance ties with the business community, universities are increasingly opening offices and satellite campuses around Tokyo Station.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2003

Little light seen at end of job search

Job prospects for those leaving universities next spring appear nearly unchanged from this year, according to a Kyodo News poll.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2003

A silver lining to the SARS epidemic

SINGAPORE -- The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is sending shivers down the spines of Asian governments and citizens alike. China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam have been the most affected by this scourge, while other Asian countries are desperately trying to prevent the disease...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 27, 2003

University exam pressure

JAPANESE HIGHER EDUCATION AS MYTH, by Brian J. McVeigh. M.E. Sharpe: Armonk, NY, 2002, 301 pp., $25.95 (cloth) In this withering critique, Japanese universities are portrayed as an educational Potemkin village. McVeigh's excellent analysis of institutional dysfunction focuses on how learning is sacrificed...
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Japan divided over how to respond

Government officials were divided Friday over how to deal with Pyongyang's reported admission that it possesses nuclear weapons, with some calling for the imposition of economic sanctions.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Costs for bad loans climb 1.3 trillion yen

The Financial Services Agency reported Friday that the nation's 11 largest banks incurred additional bad loan disposal costs of 1.3 trillion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended in March.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 26, 2003

Jiro Hirano

When he was poised between high school and university in the late 1950s, Jiro Hirano had a vague idea that in life he wanted to do "something international." He knew he didn't want to study at the University of Tokyo, as his father and brother and cousins had before him. "I wanted to have a way of my...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 26, 2003

How to tell if your neighbor is a yakuza

Several years ago as I was taking a taxi to work, the taxi driver took a shortcut down a small side street through an old neighborhood. When we rounded a corner, we were met by about 50 men dressed in suits lining both sides of the street and making deep bows. The taxi driver stopped behind a large black...
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2003

An opportunity for APEC

HONOLULU -- The rapid spread of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is a compelling demonstration of the need for a truly global health network to fight future epidemics. The particulars of this outbreak also highlight the role that the Asia-Pacific region will have to play in this effort. The...
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

NEC failed to post a profit again in 2002

NEC Corp. said Thursday it stayed in the red in fiscal 2002 for the second consecutive year, with a consolidated net loss of 24.56 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2003

Work to be done in Kansai to attract cash

OSAKA -- Kansai offers great potential for foreign direct investment -- but numerous problems are deterring foreign firms from doing business in the region, according to American and Japanese participants at a seminar Wednesday in Osaka.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2003

Getting serious about tourism -- finally

Japan is finally getting serious about attracting some foreign visitors to its shores.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2003

SARS, trade on agenda for APEC execs

Some 50 business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region will meet next month in Tokyo to discuss trade and investment issues, Japanese business leaders said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

Governor urges more talks on dam plan

Thorough and open discussions are the most important way of approaching a controversial dam project on the Kawabe River in Kumamoto Prefecture, Gov. Yoshiko Shiotani said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 23, 2003

Looking history straight in the face

"I want to live, I do not want to perish gracefully in battle," declares Yamato (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the young hero of Hideki Noda's "Oil."

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?