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COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

From pinholes to pixels, photgraphy keeps evolving

The camera on a tripod outside Edward Levinson's countryside home in Chiba Prefecture is deceptive in its simplicity. It has no lens or viewfinder, no focusing dial, and no shutter-release button.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2001

Nissho Iwai to spin off administrators

Major trading house Nissho Iwai Corp. will set up a new company in April by spinning off the administrative division at its corporate headquarters in Tokyo to streamline operations, company officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2001

Nissho Iwai to spin off administrators

Major trading house Nissho Iwai Corp. will set up a new company in April by spinning off the administrative division at its corporate headquarters in Tokyo to streamline operations, company officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2001

Execs lament poor English of Japanese

Selecting English as its official language was not easy for Nissan Motor Co., but it helped facilitate a smooth tieup with Renault SA of France, Nissan Chairman Yoshikazu Hanawa said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

More workers embrace early retirement

As economic woes prompt companies to pare down workforces and job-security anxiety grows amid widening cracks in Japan's storied lifetime employment system, at least one new breed is rising from the ashes -- older workers who are eager to pocket a payoff and branch out in a new direction.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2001

Starbucks perks on Nasdaq debut

OSAKA -- Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. made a superb debut Wednesday on the Nasdaq Japan stock market as investors scooped up shares of the high-profile firm.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2001

Hitachi plans to spin off two divisions by April

Hitachi Ltd. said Thursday it will spin off its home appliance group and industrial components and equipment group in an effort to speed up management decisions.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2001

Arabian Oil reaches basic agreement with Kuwait

Japan's largest oil producer, Arabian Oil Co., has reached a basic agreement with Kuwait on extending its drilling rights in the Khafji oil field, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 9, 2001

For your regular viewing pleasure

Those who believe young people don't have proper peer models should check out TBS's "Sekai Ururun Taizai (World Sojourn)," which, every Sunday at 10 p.m., features a young celebrity traveling to a distant corner of the globe and living with a local family while learning a local skill or craft.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2001

Lens maker shines brightly in economic gloom

When Yasuo Ikuta saw the light focused by his unique lens erupt in a streak of smoke on a paved road about a decade ago, he was stunned by its potential.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2001

Uniqlo to open first U.K. stores

Uniqlo casual clothing will open four of its first overseas stores in and around London on Sept. 28, the operator of the chain said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2001

Sanyo revises downward its first-half forecast

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. said Friday it has revised downward its group earnings forecast for the first half of the business year, projecting sales of 1.04 trillion yen, down 1.9 percent from previous expectations.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

Kyocera to shed 20% of workforce amid IT slump

The Kyocera Corp. group will cut about 10,000 jobs from its global workforce of 51,000, possibly within this year, to deal with the worldwide slump in the information technology sector, company officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mycal to unveil revised restructuring program

OSAKA -- Ailing supermarket-chain operator Mycal Corp. will announce a revised restructuring plan by the end of the week aimed at slashing its debts, company officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Toshiba to slash 20,000 jobs worldwide amid IT slump

Toshiba Corp. will slash 20,000 jobs from its group workforce of 190,000 to cope with deteriorating earnings in its semiconductor business amid the worldwide slump in the information technology sector, company officials said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2001

J-Phone regional operators to merge

Japan Telecom Co. and its British parent Vodafone Group PLC on Friday announced that their four J-Phone cellular group companies will merge Nov. 1.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2001

Suntory profits decline 24% in first half of year

OSAKA -- Beverage company Suntory Ltd. said Friday its group net profit in the first half of 2001 fell 24.1 percent from a year earlier to 5.65 billion yen.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2001

Playing chicken with telecommunication big boys

To some he is a hero. To others an anathema. For this writer, who lives in trepidation of meeting with Japanese CEOs because (sorry guys) they tend to be so predictable, Sachio Semmoto is a breath of fresh air.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2001

Smokers sue as Japan Tobacco denies causal links

Matao Yamamoto, a 67-year-old former Kyoto cab driver, is one of a large number of smokers in Japan who deeply regrets acquiring the hard-to-quit habit.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 25, 2001

All the world's Miyagi's 'logos & pathos' stage

In the world of Japanese contemporary theater, the Ku Na'uka company is famed for its unique "logos & pathos" method, in which each role on stage is performed by one narrator/speaker (in the "logos" role) and one performer/mover (in the "pathos" role).
JAPAN
May 27, 2001

Roland creator follows his own tune to international success

OSAKA -- From its humble beginnings almost 30 years ago, Roland Corp. today is one of the world's top electronic musical instrument manufacturers. In fact, nearly any musical performance features the ubiquitous brand name somewhere on stage.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Sumitomo Heavy posts 28.6 billion yen net loss

Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday its group net loss swelled to 28.61 billion yen in fiscal 2000 from the previous year's 6.33 billion yen, remaining in the red for three years in a row on sluggish revenues and heavy restructuring costs.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2001

TTNet back in the black to the tune of 3.66 billion yen

Tokyo Telecommunication Network Co. posted 3.66 billion yen in pretax profits for the year to March 31, marking a recovery from 635 million yen in losses the previous year, according to the firm's earnings report released Monday.
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 3, 2001

Missing Dutchman turns up in Chiba

A Dutch salesman who went missing after failing to meet up with an official from a company in Chiba Prefecture on his arrival at Narita airport has shown up at the company after almost a month of wandering, the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2001

Ito to be promoted to IHI president

Mototsugu Ito, senior managing director of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., has been nominated to assume the company's presidency, replacing Toshifumi Takei, company sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2001

Chemical giants set merger target for 2004

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc., which last year announced plans to merge under a joint holding company in October 2003, have agreed to let the holding firm absorb all entities in their groups by April 2004 to become a single company, company officials said Wednesday. The merger will...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

Japan Inc. moves toward true accounting of books

The true standing of Japanese firms in relation to their foreign rivals is slowly becoming clear.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat