Search - 2000

 
 
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.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2001

Mitsui posts 55% gain in group pretax profits

Major trading house Mitsui & Co. said Thursday its consolidated pretax profits for fiscal 2000 expanded 54.7 percent from the previous year to 79.63 billion yen, helped by securities sales.
JAPAN
May 17, 2001

Softbank chief No. 3 taxpayer

Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son ranked as Japan's third-largest individual taxpayer in 2000, up from 16th in 1999, the National Tax Administration said Wednesday in an annual report listing the top 100 taxpayers.
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Think you're safe? Think again

Japan has long enjoyed a reputation for being one of the safest countries in the world. It's said that you can trust your neighbors here. That there's little need to be constantly worried about your belongings. That you can walk the streets safely at night.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

Aiwa posts huge net loss in fiscal '00

Ailing audio and video equipment maker Aiwa Co. said Thursday its group net loss more than tripled in fiscal 2000 due to sluggish personal consumption in Japan and unfavorable overseas factors, including the rapid slowdown in the U.S. economy.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Apr 19, 2001

Top foreign fashion brands take direct approach

As consumer spending woes continue to weigh on Japan's sluggish economy, foreign apparel makers have expanded their business by taking a more direct approach.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2001

Mori-Putin summit expectations low

After failing to meet the end-of-2000 target for resolving a territorial dispute and signing a peace treaty, Japan and Russia will hold their first summit this year in Russia's Irkutsk on Sunday, during which Japan hopes to set a future direction for resolving the decades-old row.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2001

Straining under their weight, bank behemoths strive to survive

All-out competition will break out among Japan's four major banking groups next month in an arena that will host some of the world's largest banks in terms of aggregate assets.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 17, 2001

Taking the Watanabe optional tour

Few of us can understand why the Taliban in Afghanistan is destroying the awe-inspiring giant Buddhist statues at Bamiyan instead of turning them into profitable tourist sites generating millions of dollars in T-shirt and other souvenir sales. Someone who might, however, is Satoshi Watanabe, whose own...
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

LDP policy chief calls for extra budget

Shizuka Kamei, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Tuesday that a supplementary budget should be compiled to boost the economy.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2001

JR firms see stagnant sales growth

The seven Japan Railway companies on Friday unveiled their business management plans for fiscal 2001, with four of them projecting sales of almost the same level as that of the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2001

First trade deficit since '97 registered

Japan posted a global merchandise trade deficit of 95.3 billion yen in January, the first time its trade balance has plunged into the red since January 1997, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?