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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 24, 2002

I want my DVD: The word is out on the small screen

Now that our shelves contain a lot more than books -- CD-ROMs, VHS tapes, DVDs -- it is worth reconsidering a question that occasionally interests the resident foreigner: How do you find Japanese films with English subtitles?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 24, 2002

Going places depends on where you're from

Two thirtyish Japanese junior execs both applied for an opening at "Worldbeater Tech," a subsidiary of an offshoot of a spinoff of a fat-cat blue-chip company.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2002

'Spy ship' sunk after fight set to be filmed for clues

The government will use an underwater camera next week to investigate an unidentified ship that sank in December in the East China Sea after exchanging fire with Japan Coast Guard vessels, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2002

Toshiba unit cuts earnings forecast

Toshiba Machine Co. said Thursday it has revised downward its earnings forecast for fiscal 2001 due to weak demand in the information technology sector.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2002

Asian officials to study counterterrorism export controls

Senior officials from 14 Asian countries and territories will attend a seminar in Tokyo next week to learn more about enhancing export controls in an effort to counter terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
LIFE / Language / FOR KIDS
Feb 22, 2002

Don't let big economic words daunt you

It's never too early to get your facts straight about the economy. Many people, even the leaders of powerful countries, still get them mixed up. Using the wrong terms, like U.S. President George W. Bush did this week, can create a lot of confusion for everyone.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Feb 21, 2002

Japanese companies begin to build their brands

In October 1999, Nissan Motor Co. chief Carlos Ghosn said he planned to boost Nissan's brand power as part of a turnaround plan for the then ailing automaker. Many Nissan workers were initially confused.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2002

So little to celebrate

Last Saturday, North Korea celebrated the 60th birthday of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il, which marked the beginning of four months of festivities. It is hard to imagine what the country is celebrating, apart from survival: The economy is in a mess and shows no sign of improving, and the North Korean government...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2002

Fence-mending with Megawati trumps failure by Howard to meet with Bush

SYDNEY -- Two weeks of hard-sell diplomacy in New York and Jakarta have left Australian Prime Minister John Howard feeling a little cheesed off. Back home, his wins are being downplayed. And as Parliament opens its autumn sitting in Canberra, his mind is strictly on urgent domestic problems.
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2002

Japanese firms study fiber-optic e-commerce system

Leading Japanese telecom and technology companies said Tuesday they have begun joint research on a new electronic commerce system using high-speed fiber-optic networks.
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2002

Officials say Bush gave tacit warning on economy

Economic ministers said Tuesday they understood U.S. President George W. Bush had issued "tacit" calls for Japan to revive its economy during his summit with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2002

Advertising spending down 0.9% in 2001

Advertising expenditures fell 0.9 percent in 2001 to 6.06 trillion yen as the anemic economy and the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States prompted firms to cut spending, Dentsu Inc. said Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2002

Decision on bank bailouts to be delayed until April

The government will wait to receive the results of ongoing bank inspections, due in late March, before deciding whether to recapitalize shaky banks, a top official said Friday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 17, 2002

Great sake only a hop, skip and a jump away

There are a plethora of pubs in Tokyo where you can enjoy good sake, but all too often we only read about those in the center of town. The truth, of course, is that there are plenty of great venues outside the Yamanote loop and beyond. Here are a few worth the short or midrange trip:
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2002

Worker spies on NASDA secrets

An employee of a satellite maker illegally accessed a National Space Development Agency computer system and spied on classified data about a rival firm's technology, NASDA officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2002

Surplus saw first fall in two years in 2001

Japan's current account surplus fell in 2001 for the first time in two years, dropping 12 percent from a year earlier to 11.06 trillion yen, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the Finance Ministry.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2002

Court rules for companies on short-term transactions

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that a provision in the Securities Exchange Law under which firms can order major shareholders to return profits earned during short-term stock transactions is constitutional.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 14, 2002

Call for a 'paradigm shift' to eco-economy

As Japan's economy sputters to a halt, the rest of the world looks on incredulously, wondering if this nation is up to the task of an overhaul.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2002

North Korea: signs of trouble but no evil

CAMBRIDGE, England -- I have just returned from a week visit to North Korea, one of the countries on U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil." I was one of three British academics running a workshop under a new technical assistance program inaugurated when the two countries opened diplomatic relations...
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2002

Fujitsu, Accenture to join hands

Fujitsu Ltd. and Accenture Corp. said Tuesday they will jointly provide information technology-based solutions to firms seeking to improve their business strategies.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2002

BOJ still sees economy as deteriorating

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday left its overall assessment of the nation's moribund economy unchanged in its February economic report, but made slight upgrades its views on exports and inventory conditions.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2002

Space business still awaiting liftoff

The second H-2A rocket, which is touted as the leading player in Japan's space development at the beginning of the 21st century, was successfully launched last Monday, deploying one of the two probes it was carrying into orbit. Following the successful launching of the first H-2A rocket in August 2001,...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2002

Shonan merger plan races clock, though some balk

With its gently arching coastline overlooking Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay and a distant view of Mount Fuji and the Hakone mountain range, the Shonan area in Kanagawa Prefecture triggers memories of songs and movies about the picturesque area.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2002

Transplant expert rues cadaveric donor, social charity dearth

Surgery is an art founded on science, or so says University of Tokyo professor Masatoshi Makuuchi, who specializes in transplants and is one of the nation's leading liver surgeons.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 10, 2002

The name of the man is David Byrne

It says something about David Byrne's current position in popular music that two of the records released in 2001 on his Luaka Bop label -- Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Information" and Jim White's "No Such Place" -- received more press than Byrne's own solo album, "Look Into the Eyeball."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2002

Hire women, aged before foreigners, expert says

While Japan's unemployment rate is hovering at its worst level in the postwar era and manufacturers are shifting production abroad for cheaper labor, foreign workers seem to be enjoying their share of demand.

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?