Search - 2000

 
 
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2002

Road traffic to peak in 2030: transport ministry

Traffic on the nation's roads will fall due to lower economic growth and automobile ownership after peaking in fiscal 2030, according to a new projection unveiled Saturday by the transport ministry.
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Professor who leaked exams loses appeal

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that imposed a suspended sentence on a former medical professor for leaking questions in a state dentistry examination in 2000.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu report huge losses

High-tech giants Toshiba Corp., NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. on Thursday reported decreased sales and huge losses for the 2001 business year, blaming the slump in global demand for semiconductors and a sharp decline in prices.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Mar 21, 2002

U.S. rebound ends spiral in Tokyo stocks

Tokyo stocks are in vogue again after being hammered for months.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Feb 14, 2002

Utah host to more than Olympics

With the 2002 Winter Olympics happening in Salt Lake City, the world will recognize that Utah is America's greatest mecca for skiing. But Utah is also an exporter of video games.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2002

Ozaki sought Kano's help for candidate

Michihiko Kano, former vice president of the Democratic Party of Japan who quit the party over his ties to a scandal-hit firm, was asked by an executive of the company to support a rookie candidate in the mayoral election in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, in fall 2000, sources close to the case said Saturday....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 6, 2002

This could be Year of the Homer in PL

At first glance, you might think the new Japanese strike zone will benefit pitchers and be a hindrance to batters this coming season. The zone has been raised more than the diameter of one baseball, but I believe it will be the hitters -- not the hurlers -- who will get the most advantage out of the...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2002

Record 0.8% CPI fall fuels deflation fears

Japan's key gauge of consumer prices dropped a record 0.8 percent in 2001, underlining fresh evidence of continuing deflationary pressure on the economy, the government said Friday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 23, 2002

'The Hawk' looks for second chance in Japan

Situation Wanted: Strong, healthy, 31-year-old left-handed pitcher seeks employment on the pitching staff of one of Japan's 12 professional baseball teams. Five years' major-league experience with the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians and two years in Japan with the Yakult Swallows....
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2002

1,513 humanly perceptible quakes shook up Japan in 2001

Japan felt 1,513 earthquakes in 2001, the sixth-highest figure in the past 10 years, according to the Meteorological Agency.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Mazda lets buyers fine-tune Roadster

If you are a fan of Mazda Motor Corp.'s Roadster, shopping for your next new car might be a little different than what you expect.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Telecom body predicts 3% annual growth through 2006

The value of domestic sales and exports of telecommunications equipment and devices is expected to grow by an average 3.3 percent annually over the next five years, the Communication Industry Association of Japan said in a recently released report.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2002

Newly noticed whiskey makers forced to diversify products

It's winter, the perfect season to sip a glass of whisky on a long, quiet night to warm up, as well as a good time to sample the variety of quality whiskeys available on the market.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2001

Management buyouts find favor as restructuring tool

Management buyouts, a form of corporate acquisition in which management teams invest in the acquisition financing, have exceeded 100 billion yen so far this year, eclipsing the record of 40 billion yen set in 2000.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Nov 15, 2001

Automakers steering toward financial markets

As the nation's banking sector continues to struggle with bad debts and falling stock prices, major automakers from Japan, Europe and the United States are seeking to expand the scale and scope of their financial businesses here.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2001

Patients, professionals slam health insurance reform

The winter after an unusually hot summer is especially risky for the elderly, whose vulnerable immune systems have been taxed by intense heat.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2001

Chugai Pharmaceutical gets first-half profits boost

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. said Monday its consolidated pretax profits increased 10.2 percent during the first half of the business year to 18.85 billion yen.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2001

Three lawmakers linked to illegal donation scam

Three lawmakers received illegal political donations from corporations and other organizations during a three-month period in 2000 before punishments for taking such donations came into effect, according to a Tokyo Metropolitan Government report released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Record number take ocean cruises

A record 226,000 holidaymakers chose overnight ship cruises in 2000, up 33.4 percent from the previous year, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2001

Less imported rice rejected last year

Of the 700,000 tons of rice imported in fiscal 2000, 0.08 percent was dumped or sent back due to decay or mold, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2001

Toyota stays top earner for second year running on strong sales, cost cuts

Toyota Motor Corp. remained the top Japanese earner for the second straight year in fiscal 2000 due to strong domestic and overseas sales of new models and cost cuts, according to a list released Monday by Teikoku Databank.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2001

Venture capitalists bank on restructuring mood

During the heady days of the information technology boom of the late 1990s through early 2000, many foreign venture-capital firms were lured to Japan in search of Internet-related business startups.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

General contractors see profits rise while cutting interest-bearing debts

General contractors recently released their much anticipated fiscal 2000 financial statements. These companies are widely believed to be among the firms most negatively affected by the prolonged economic slowdown, which is marked by falling real estate prices.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2001

Nonutilities slow to light up newly opened market

Fifteen months after the partial liberalization of the electricity retail market, new players in the industry remain scarce.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Online stores struggle for sales

Five months ago, online supermarket Olive Mart overhauled its business methods for the second time since its launch in May 1999.
CULTURE / Art
May 30, 2001

How a legend is born

Born Lenny Hilton McGurr, he first picked up a spray can in 1970, aged 15. An only child from a lower-middle class Manhattan home, graffiti provided him with "a solution to my identity crisis" -- a crisis brought on by the news he was adopted.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2001

Isuzu to cut jobs, close Kawasaki plant

Isuzu Motors Ltd. announced Monday that its group of companies will cut one-quarter of its 38,000 workforce over three years to help ease its debt burden.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2001

NTT group's pretax profits tumbled 12% in '00

Declining profits from fixed-line services -- once the mainstay of the telecom sector -- bit into the pretax profits of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group in fiscal 2000.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan