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BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2005

Insurer Meiji Yasuda punishes 69 for fraudulent sales tactics

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. said Wednesday it has punished 69 executives and employees in connection with illegal sales practices and nonpayment of insurance money.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2005

Kanebo exits textiles after 116-year run

Kanebo Ltd., struggling under a state-backed rehabilitation program, will spin off its textile business and transfer it to a joint company to be established by Kanebo and dyeing and finishing company Seiren Co., the two companies said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2005

FSA may scrap exemptions on stock sale reporting rules

The Financial Services Agency is mulling another change to the Securities and Exchange Law that would yank exemptions on the reporting of major share transactions, FSA officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2005

Campaign to shut off idling vehicles to expand to cars

The government is planning to spread the so-called idling-stop campaign from buses, taxis and other commercial vehicles to the general car-owning population to save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2005

Willcom to offer first flat-rate PHS service

Willcom Inc., Japan's largest personal handy-phone system company, said Tuesday it will introduce a flat rate for voice communication starting May 1, becoming the first domestic wireless carrier to provide such service.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2005

Nireco to be first to use 'poison pill'

Nireco Corp., a maker of high-tech measuring devices and controllers, has said its board has approved a motion to introduce a "poison pill" scheme to fend off hostile takeovers, becoming Japan's first company to do so.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2005

Annual wage talks heat up amid scandal, success

Industry officials say there will be a contrast in the imminent results of labor-management talks on wages and bonuses for 2005 between high-performance firms like Toyota Motor Corp. and other companies affected by high-profile scandals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2005

More companies join annual job fair

Around 200 companies participated in a job fair for college juniors Monday in Tokyo, up 40 percent from last year.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2005

New leadership in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's chief executive, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, resigned last week. His departure was in keeping with his entire term as chief executive: confused, messy and ultimately damaging to his office and Hong Kong itself. His replacement must break that tradition and restore the luster to Hong Kong's image....
EDITORIALS
Mar 13, 2005

From Pretoria to Tshwane

Last week the city council of South Africa's capital, Pretoria, decided it was time the place had a name change. If the South African Geographic Names Council approves, as expected, the city as a whole will henceforth be known as Tshwane, which according to its Web site means "We are the same" or "We...
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2005

Opium again driving Afghan economy

ISLAMABAD -- This month's warning by the United Nations' main drug-monitoring watchdog that Afghanistan is in danger of becoming a narcotics-driven state should hardly come as a surprise.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2005

Skymark begins Haneda-Kansai runs

Skymark Airlines Co. started flights Friday between Tokyo's Haneda airport and Kansai International Airport.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2005

Injunction a landmark decision for capital market

The Tokyo District Court's decision Friday to stop Fuji Television Network Inc. from issuing share warrants as a method to take control of Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. is being seen as propelling Japan's capital market into the future.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2005

End to deposit guarantee symbolic more than strategic: economist

The upcoming removal of the government's decade-long unlimited guarantee on bank deposits is not expected to drastically change the financial portfolio of the average household, said Paul Sheard, chief economist for Asia at Lehman Brothers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Mar 11, 2005

Omotesando goes one step beyond

Omotesando has seen a flurry of buildings for up-market fashion brands open in recent years, most notably Jun Aoki's Louis Vuitton flagship store and Herzog & de Meuron's Prada tower. Now, the thoroughfare lined with trashcans inscribed with "the Champs Elysees of Tokyo" is blessed with another architectural...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 11, 2005

Wines of Washington State

Every state in America now lays claim to indigenous winemaking attempts -- from Alaskans experimenting with Salmonberry wine to alcoholic beverage conglomerates setting their sights on fallow potato patches in Idaho in a quest for inexpensive, "undiscovered" potential vineyards. The results of these...
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2005

SMFG to issue shares to up capital

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said Thursday it will effect a much-needed capital boost worth some 210 billion yen by issuing preferred shares.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2005

Foreign CEO signifies a more globalized Japan

First it was Mazda, then Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. Now it's Sony.
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 2005

Avoiding sham democracy

LONDON -- There is all the difference in the world between democracy and constitutional democracy.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2005

How diplomacy can defuse the North Korean crisis

WASHINGTON -- "The sure way to miss success is to miss the opportunity," a wise man once observed. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura asked U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit Japan "at the earliest possible opportunity" during a bilateral security meeting in Washington on Feb. 19. When...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2005

NBS clients threaten to pull ads

Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. said Tuesday that many advertisers have threatened to withdraw sponsorship of baseball and soccer game broadcasts if Internet company Livedoor Co. takes over its management.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 8, 2005

Creating laws out of thin air

With terrorists striking fear into governments worldwide, Japan too is currently considering its own version of America's Patriot Act, to be passed in a year or two.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2005

Risk-free deposit era nears dusk

With Japanese banks regaining financial health, the ad hoc regime of full-deposit insurance is about to end. Beginning April 1, deposits will be protected only up to 10 million yen in principal plus interest -- the same limit that was in force until 1996 when it was removed temporarily amid growing instability...
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2005

Let taxes spur carbon cuts

On Feb. 16, the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at curbing the air pollution blamed for global warming, took effect. To become valid, the accord had to be ratified by at least 55 countries, including developed countries that accounted for at least 55 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions...
Japan Times
Features
Mar 6, 2005

Issey Ogata: Comic chameleon

Issey Ogata is nothing if not versatile. Alone on an empty stage, he has audiences in fits as he performs his seriously funny one-man shows portraying characters as diverse as a classic sarariman (office worker) and a folk-song diva -- one after another.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 5, 2005

Marinos face major threat from rejuvenated Jubilo

Here is a team-by-team preview of the 18 clubs in the J. League's first division this season:

Longform

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