Search - news

 
 
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Details of Iraq's reconstruction seen unlikely to be broached at G7 meet

When finance chiefs and central bankers from major industrialized countries meet in Washington later this week, they probably won't discuss specifics of the rebuilding of Iraq, senior Japanese officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

NEC expects to book loss for second straight year

NEC Corp. has lowered its group earnings forecast to an expected group net loss of 25 billion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended March 31, the firm said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2003

Astro 'birthday' Boy is staging a comeback

Astro Boy, the futuristic robot who was the focus of a television cartoon boom in the 1960s and who just had his "birthday," is making a comeback on film and television screens and in new and reproduced comic books.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2003

Airline unions seek SARS freeze

Three bodies representing airline unions in Japan called Monday for a suspension of flights to countries and regions affected by the deadly epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Japan, Vietnam concur on investment accord

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his visiting Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Khai, agreed Monday on the basics of a bilateral investment treaty that would give each country most- favored nation status.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 8, 2003

Society fiddles as young get burned

The vernacular media frequently goes tsk-tsk over crimes by juveniles. These days, people's concerns tend to be reflected through two terms: "kyoaku-ka" and "teinenrei-ka," which refer, respectively, to more violent crimes by increasingly younger perpetrators
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2003

Embedded in war's twilight zone

One of the most unusual things about the quite unusual war going on in Iraq is the presence of so-called embedded reporters, or "embeds," assigned to British and U.S. ground units, aviation units, ships and headquarters throughout the combat zone. The only difficulty is trying to figure out the significance...
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Chinese towels safe from tariffs

Japan will not impose safeguard tariffs on towels imported from China for the time being, trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

IRC execs implore banks to sell bad loans

Newly appointed executives of the government's planned industrial revival body delivered a zealous sales pitch Friday, urging banks to sell to the entity loans extended to debt-laden firms as soon as possible.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Kumagai Gumi seeks 300 billion yen bailout, merger

Ailing construction firm Kumagai Gumi Co. announced Friday it will ask its main creditor banks for a bailout of 300 billion yen under a new three-year restructuring plan while seeking a merger with Tobishima Corp.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2003

Probe reopens into problematic '95 death

Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said Friday her ministry will reopen the case of a 49-year-old male prisoner who died under dubious circumstances in 1995 after being placed in a leather restraint at a juvenile prison in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Pack of Marlboros and a JGB, please

The government is trying to make it easier for you to buy its bonds and finance its deficits.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Combat SARS with emergency loans: Ogi

Transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday her ministry is considering having governmental financial institutions extend special emergency loans to airlines, travel agencies and other industries that face fallout from the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome that apparently started in China....
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2003

Ishiba won't rule out upgrade for Patriot defense system

Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba refused Friday to rule out the possibility of Japan deploying the Patriot PAC-3, the latest version of the U.S.-developed air-defense missile system.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2003

Don't bargain Taiwan away

U.S. policy toward China underwent a major change in 2001. The new president, George W. Bush, viewed China as a rising power, intent on changing the Asian balance of power in its favor, and a threat to U.S. interests. In marked contrast to former President Bill Clinton, who called China "a strategic...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2003

Mark-to-market suspension sought

The mark-to-market accounting method for corporate securities holdings should be suspended amid the plunging stock market, the head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2003

Diet turbulence likely in second half

As the Diet moves into the second half of its 150-day regular session, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration appears headed for more difficult times, politically and economically. The first half ended without a major hitch. The fiscal 2003 government budget -- the most important legislative...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2003

Kumagai to integrate with Tobishima

Ailing construction firm Kumagai Gumi Co. is planning to integrate operations with Tobishima Corp. next April under a revamped restructuring program in which it will spin off its loss-making real estate business into a new company, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 3, 2003

An egg's just a sniff away from the battling sperm

Not many of us have won a marathon . . . hell, most of us would struggle to even finish one. But even the least competitive, most couch potato-like among us are the result of winning the most difficult of races in the most appalling of conditions: the race between sperm in an ejaculate to fertilize a...
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2003

Economic effects of war concern China

HONG KONG -- The war in Iraq has brought to the surface strains in the Chinese-American relationship that had been papered over because of the two countries' common stand in the war on terrorism.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

Triumvirate to top Diet agenda with data bills

In prioritizing their legislative goals, the secretaries general of the three ruling parties agreed Wednesday to push a controversial set of personal-data protection bills through the House of Representatives by the end of the month.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2003

Two Japan medical teams in Iraq to leave due to deteriorating security

Japan decided Monday to expedite the pullout of two medical teams in Iraq due to deteriorating security, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2003

South Korea food, culture site to open in Osaka in '05

OSAKA -- A South Korean food and cultural complex will open in the Rinku area near Kansai International Airport in February 2005 to promote friendship between Japan and South Korea, it was announced Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2003

ANA to raise discount fares on domestic flights

All Nippon Airways said Monday it will raise its discount fares for domestic flights beginning in June to offset a deteriorating business environment amid the war on Iraq.
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 2003

Brave Tama-chan takes fame in his stride

If ever an amphibious mammal was catapulted to the forefront of a nation's consciousness, Tama-chan, the bearded seal who has taken up residence in Yokohama's Katabira River, is that animal.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2003

Official refuses to use postal savings to aid market

A key postal ministry official on Monday brushed aside calls by a senior ruling party lawmaker that the government use postal savings and insurance funds to prop up the slumping stock market.

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