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JAPAN
Jan 31, 2003

Standing by policies remains elusive ideal

It was a humiliating blow for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2003

Volkswagen aims for sales boost

The Japanese unit of German carmaker Volkswagen AG said Thursday it hopes to increase sales to 62,000 units in Japan in 2003 by introducing attractive new models and reinforcing its sales network in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Snow Brand vows to restore image with safety steps

Snow Brand Milk Products Co., which has recently revamped its corporate structure, restated its pledge Wednesday to restore its image by ensuring safety and ethical conduct.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Misawa to change group structure

Misawa Homes Co. said Wednesday it will reorganize its group structure under a new holding firm to be launched in August.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Niigata Engineering units get new financial backing

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it and the governmental Development Bank of Japan will jointly set up two companies to take over failed Niigata Engineering Co.'s mainstay operations.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Sony posts record quarterly sales

Sony Corp. said Wednesday its group sales and net profit for the October-December period each hit record quarterly highs, bolstered by strong performance in its film, electronics and game businesses.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2003

An improved privacy bill

The new privacy legislation prepared by the government -- a replacement for a similar measure that died in last year's Diet session -- represents a step forward. The improved version leaves out, among other things, rules that would unreasonably restrict the media handling of personal information. It...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2003

Prosecutors given case against USJ

OSAKA -- Police turned over to prosecutors Tuesday their case against the operator of movie theme park Universal Studios Japan and two park employees in connection with the suspected use of an illegal amount of explosives for fireworks.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Cost cuts shrink Fujitsu group losses

Fujitsu Ltd. said Tuesday its group losses shrank considerably in the October-December quarter on a year-on-year basis, primarily due to cost-cutting and restructuring efforts.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

LDP mulls letting insurers cut yields

A group of legislators in the Liberal Democratic Party has started considering ways to enable life insurers to cut guaranteed yields to policyholders, including a proposal for the Financial Services Agency to order financially troubled firms to make the cuts, it was reported Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Sony executive Ohga decides to retire

Norio Ohga, Sony Corp.'s chairman of the board, said Tuesday he will step down for health reasons.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Okuda pushes yield cuts by insurers

Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), said Monday he may tolerate a cut in the guaranteed yields offered by life insurers to their policyholders.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2003

Former NTT president Shinto dies at 92

Hisashi Shinto, who was president of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. when it was privatized in 1985, died of pneumonia Sunday morning, NTT officials said. He was 92.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2003

U.S. pursuit of a second ASEAN track

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Analysts tend to classify U.S. policies toward Asia -- and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in particular -- according to two irreconcilable stereotypes: the "unchangeable pattern," in which administrations come and go while fundamental American perceptions remain the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2003

Bananas on the brink

Bananas don't usually figure much in the news. True, there were a few occasions in recent years when the ubiquitous yellow fruit slipped off the health and food pages and onto Page 1. Mostly those stories concerned the long-running dispute between the United States and the European Union over barriers...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Gangster held over 'loan shark' operation

Police arrested a gangster and an accomplice Saturday for allegedly lending money at exorbitant interest rates.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Reasoning against Iraq 'catastrophe'

Few were the world leaders who, in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, withheld moral support for the United States. Longtime friends and onetime foes, Christians, Jews and many Muslims alike sang as in one chorus: They would root out terrorism where it lurked. It seemed the birth of a new world...
SUMO
Jan 26, 2003

Asashoryu bags New Year basho

Ozeki Asashoryu pulled out all the stops against Kotomitsuki on Saturday to claim his second consecutive Emperor's Cup by winning the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament and virtually secure promotion to yokozuna.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Should zoos become extinct?

Though I prefer seeing animals in the wild, I confess to being intrigued by zoos. I'm certainly not alone in my interest, as the long and varied history of zoological institutions shows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Replica habitats aim to create more natural animal displays

Spending the day at the zoo isn't one of the first things families think of any more when they're looking for weekend recreation. As both new alternatives -- from the recent upsurge of interest in soccer to the rash of flashy theme parks -- as well as more familiar ones -- like the movies -- vie for...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 26, 2003

First, dump the zombie debtors

JAPANESE PHOENIX: The Long Road to Economic Revival, by Richard Katz. M.E. Sharpe: Armonk, NY, 2003, 351 pp., $24.95 (paper) As Japan limps further into a second decade of recession, optimists about its future economic prospects are thin on the ground. In this provocative and thoughtful study, Richard...
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2003

Bank tax may be frozen for extra year in Osaka

OSAKA -- The Osaka prefectural government told the assembly Friday of its intention to freeze for another year the imposition of a planned local bank tax if the Tokyo metropolitan government loses an appeal over the legality of a similar levy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Trendy teas try to give soda, coffee a run for their money

With a couple of Starbucks and at least one other big-name coffee shop within easy walking distance, not long ago Tomohiro Tsuchiya would have been better off opening his little cafe somewhere else.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Garbage amount hits record level

Households and businesses nationwide produced a record 52.36 million tons of general waste in fiscal 2000, the Environment Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2003

Resona turns to Asian bank for help in recapitalization

OSAKA -- Resona Holdings Inc., the holding firm for Daiwa Bank and Asahi Bank, has asked the Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia to help it recapitalize, company officials said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2003

The next BOJ governor

The Bank of Japan's governor, Mr. Masaru Hayami, is to retire in late March when his five-year term expires. At the moment, who will succeed him is a matter of speculation. There is no question, however, that the next governor will face the same difficult challenge that has confronted the outgoing governor:...
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2003

Inflation-targeting: facts behind the hyperbole

Academics, central bankers and politicians are divided over the issue currently occupying the center stage of public debate: a monetary policy tool known as inflation-targeting.

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