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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2002

A vital role for Japan in Asia

SINGAPORE -- As Japan becomes mired in its own political, economic and financial problems and grapples with serious geostrategic concerns on the Korean Peninsula, there is great temptation for it to look inward. Such a shift, however, is to the detriment of the region, which is experiencing one of its...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 23, 2002

Marketing Cardiff as cultural capital of Europe

This is quite a month for Bet (Elizabeth) Davies. On Nov. 28, she will receive an award from the Japanese ambassador in London on behalf of the government for services rendered to to the Japanese community in Wales, and her work in bridging Japan and the U.K. in general.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2002

Yoshimoto Kogyo profit up 111%

Entertainment house Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. said Friday its half-year group net profit soared 111.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.21 billion yen, despite its group pretax profit and revenues being almost flat.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2002

Snow sees 45 billion yen loss in first half

Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Friday it posted a group net loss of 45.36 billion yen for the first half of this business year, due largely to hefty restructuring charges aimed at reviving the ailing dairy giant.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

More and more homes going with solar power

Solar panels on roofs and verandas are becoming a more familiar sight in Japan as people acquire the systems with help from subsidies amid government efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions and combat global warming.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

Matsumotokiyoshi profit up 22%

Matsumotokiyoshi Co., the nation's largest drug store chain, said Thursday its group pretax profit for the first half to Sept. 30 rose 21.9 percent from a year earlier to 6.8 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

Plunging ad revenues hit Nippon Television profit

Nippon Television Network Corp. said Thursday its group net profit for the first half to Sept. 30 plunged 45.3 percent from a year earlier to 10.87 billion yen. Group pretax profit fell 35.9 percent to 23.1 billion yen on a 9.3 percent drop in operating revenues to 170.37 billion yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Prince dies after collapse on embassy squash court

Prince Takamado died Thursday night at a Tokyo hospital after collapsing during a squash lesson at the Canadian Embassy in the afternoon, the Imperial Household Agency said. He was 47.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2002

Japanese movies eyed for makeover

With "The Ring," the horror film based on the 1998 Hideo Nakata hit "Ringu," sailing past the $100 million mark in the United States, remakes of Japanese and other Asian films are suddenly hot in Hollywood.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

Daiei kicks off crucial nationwide sale with help from Oh

Struggling supermarket chain Daiei Inc. started Thursday a crucial yearend sale at its 271 stores across the country.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Japan-U.S. ties better, but are they genuinely the best ever?

Since the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the subsequent war on terrorism, a number of American political leaders and experts have observed that Japan-U.S. relations have "never been better."
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Starbucks sees interim profit fall 55% in fiscal first half

Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. said Wednesday its net profit for the first half dropped 54.9 percent year-on-year to 220 million yen, battered by the declining popularity of its coffee shops.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Racecourse chief held over bribe

Tokyo police on Wednesday arrested the former head of the Kyoto Racecourse, operated by the Japan Racing Association, on suspicion of accepting 1.6 million yen in bribes from the former president of a company that makes promotional cards.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Oji Paper profit soars on cost cuts

Oji Paper Co. said Wednesday its group net profit for the first half to Sept. 30 soared 926.9 percent from a year earlier to 5.97 billion yen, due largely to cost cuts.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Citizen Watch has healthy first half

Citizen Watch Co. said Wednesday its group net profit for the first half to Sept. 30 surged 229.9 percent from a year earlier to 2.87 billion yen despite a 7.4 percent decline in sales to 154.79 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2002

UFJ may integrate bank operations

The UFJ financial group may integrate the banking operations of UFJ Bank and UFJ Trust Bank by around January 2005, group officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2002

Lower House OKs privatization bills

The House of Representatives passed bills Tuesday to turn 49 special-purpose public corporations into independent or privatized entities.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2002

Nicos president quits consumer credit group

Yoji Yamada, president of Nippon Shinpan Co., resigned Tuesday as chairman of the Japan Federation of Consumer Credit Companies to take responsibility for a racketeer-related scandal at his company.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2002

Asia Global Crossing selects buyer

Financially troubled Asia Global Crossing Ltd. will sell its business and assets to Asia Netcom Corp., a planned joint venture to be set up by a group of investors, Asia Global Crossing's Japanese unit said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2002

Mr. Hu at the pinnacle of power

Now that the Chinese Communist Party has completed a smooth leadership transition, the world is watching how Mr. Hu Jintao, the new party chief, will navigate his one-party socialist state of 1.3 billion people through the treacherous waters of globalization. Predicting his future course is complicated...
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2002

Nicos failed to sever 'sokaiya' ties

Nippon Shinpan Co., mired in allegations that its executives paid off a racketeer to expedite proceedings at the firm's general shareholders' meetings, had failed to sever ties with a number of racketeers in the late 1980s, a former company executive said Monday.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2002

British law firm capitalizes on thirst for global tools, investment advice

Despite Japan's much-publicized economic problems, independent financial advisers Towry Law are "very pleased" with the performance of their Japan operations, according to John Simmonds, managing director of the Britain-based company.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

Year of the dragon

DRAGON DANCE, by Peter Tasker. Kodansha International, 2002, 272 pp., $22.95 (cloth) After beating Tokyo's mean streets in "Silent Thunder" (1992) and "Buddha Kiss" (1997), Peter Tasker's Tokyo gumshoe Kazuo Mori finally hit his literary stride in 1999 with "Samurai Boogie" -- one of the most entertaining...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Shinsei Bank faces fine over tax on bond interest

Shinsei Bank failed to withhold 3 billion yen in the late 1990s for income tax payments on interest paid to clients overseas, sources close to the case said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2002

A green light for ivory merchants

Japan said nothing in the runup to the 12th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the 160-nation forum that met in Chile last week to reconsider, among other things, the 13-year-old ban on ivory sales. It didn't have to, really. Everyone...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Nov 16, 2002

'Oden' is secret weapon in 24-hour stores' war for customers

For many modern urban residents, the typical harbinger of winter is the smell of "oden" steaming on the convenience store counter.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

JAL group operating profit dropped 26.7% in first half

Japan Airlines Co. said Friday its group operating profit for the first half of the business year fell 26.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to 28.55 billion yen.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2002

A shadow over the U.S. economy

Prospects for the U.S. economy look increasingly uncertain, and not only for cyclical reasons. Although third-quarter GDP increased at an annual rate of over 3 percent, posting four straight quarters of expansion, there are signs that consumers are beginning to tighten their purse strings. In October,...

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