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BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

BOJ not mulling foreign bonds, Shiokawa reckons

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Monday he does not think the Bank of Japan is considering purchasing foreign bonds as a means of boosting liquidity in the money market.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2001

Beware quick fix for Japan

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania -- Beware of economists promising easy solutions for complex problems, in this case, Japan's painful and protracted slump following the collapse of inflated asset prices in 1989. Princeton economist Paul Krugman advises Japan's government to combat deflation by announcing official...
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Koga says deal on public bodies was predictable

A leading conservative within the Liberal Democratic Party has given a public corporation reform deal reached last week between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and LDP elders a lukewarm reception.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 27, 2001

A divided isle's dramatic past

KYRENIA, Cyprus -- The wail of the muezzin drones from the high balcony of the minaret, down through the cobbled streets to the harbor and out across the water to the massive ramparts of the castle.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2001

Japan set to jump the gun with SDF

Since the Diet enacted antiterrorism legislation enabling the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to the U.S.-led war efforts in Afghanistan, there have been mounting calls in Japan for expansion of the SDF's activities abroad. These moves defy Japan's war-renouncing Constitution.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2001

Imperial family in readiness for arrival of baby

As the birth of the Crown Princess's baby approaches, preparations for its delivery as well as ceremonies following the birth were nearly complete as of Saturday, Imperial Household Agency sources said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 25, 2001

Only the garbage knows

One of the things all single-episode TV mysteries have in common besides being single-episode TV mysteries is ridiculous titles. The title of this week's "Monday Mystery Theatre" (TBS, 9 p.m.) is "Obasan Kaicho Murasaki no Hanzai Seiso Nikki: Gomi wa Koroshi wo Shitte Iru," which translates as "Middle-aged...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2001

Income disparity vs. growth

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan reminded the world recently that the battle against terrorism might have displaced front-page news, but it has not solved pressing problems such as poverty and HIV/AIDS. The international community remains formally committed to the goal of reducing the level of poverty...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 25, 2001

Failed chemistry experiments in the media lab

Two weeks ago, a friend faxed me an article from the weekly news magazine Aera about a new advertising trend called "collaboration CF," which is the selling of two different companies' products in one TV commercial. I had already read about collaborations two days earlier in advertising critic Yukichi...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 25, 2001

Book Bites

TOKYO CONFIDENTIAL: Titillating Tales From Japan's Wild Weeklies, edited by Mark Schreiber. The East Publications, 2001, 257 pp., 1,400 yen (paper) Grown men in diapers? Couples going all the way in the back seats of Tokyo taxi cabs? Mothers stalking their daughters? Companies that rent out wedding guests?...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 24, 2001

Macchinesti: the accidental Ferrari of coffee shops

After the Japanese "kissaten," where coffee was coffee and not a lot more, came Doutor. Then came that all-conquering import, Starbucks, and a stream of similar lifestyle-focused camp followers of both American and Japanese descent. Now, suddenly, we have Macchinesti.
BUSINESS
Nov 24, 2001

BOJ urges banks to clarify outlooks

Banks should promptly clarify their business outlooks for the financial market to help them pull out of their bad-loan straits, a senior Bank of Japan official said during a recent interview with Kyodo News.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Nov 24, 2001

Putin seizes the moment

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a very lucky man. Instead of running a Russian spy network in some sleepy Central European country, as his training and career once suggested he would, he skyrocketed to the top position in the Kremlin. There, inexperienced and vulnerable, he faced not the consolidated...
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2001

Jichiro chapters stop paying dues to headquarters

At least 10 prefectural chapters of Jichiro, the nationwide union of local government employees, have stopped paying membership dues to protest allegations of shady financial dealings at the head office.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2001

Government to seek swift CJD settlement

Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Thursday the government will try to reach a quick settlement in two damages suits over Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease contracted from transplants of infected dura mater imported from Germany.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2001

China-Japan trade discussions fail once again

Japan and China, in their government-level meeting, failed again Thursday to settle a trade row over Japan's emergency import curbs, according to officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2001

Sumitomo Mitsui sees 150 billion yen loss

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. announced Wednesday a sharp increase in loan-loss charges and large losses in its shareholdings, prompting it to revise its 2001 earnings forecast from a consolidated net profit of 180 billion yen to a 150 billion yen net loss.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2001

Second Holstein confirmed with mad cow disease

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday it has discovered a second case of mad cow disease in its ongoing inspections, and a panel of experts convened by the ministry formally confirmed the case later in the day.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Second extra budget 'being considered': Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he is considering compiling a second supplementary budget for this fiscal year, indicating the government has started discussions on its size and contents.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Minister favors tobacco 'health tax'

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Tuesday he is in favor of introducing a "health tax" on tobacco, an idea being considered by the government and the three-party ruling coalition.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Thai leader urges more investment, trade

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on Japanese business leaders Tuesday to increase long-term investment and trade in Thailand.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Securitize home loans: panel

A framework for the securitization of housing loans should be created before Government Housing Loan Corp. is privatized, the head of an advisory panel to the land minister proposed Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Asahi Bank forecasts net loss of 520 billion yen

Asahi Bank on Tuesday said it projects a 520 billion yen unconsolidated net loss for this business year as it sets aside a hefty 400 billion yen in loan loss reserves to rein in its ballooning bad-loan problem.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Second extra budget 'being considered': Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he is considering compiling a second supplementary budget for this fiscal year, indicating the government has started discussions on its size and contents.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Minister favors tobacco 'health tax'

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Tuesday he is in favor of introducing a "health tax" on tobacco, an idea being considered by the government and the three-party ruling coalition.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Thai leader urges more investment, trade

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on Japanese business leaders Tuesday to increase long-term investment and trade in Thailand.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2001

Criticism of Pakistan is off the mark

The Nov. 10 article by Brahma Chellaney, "Pakistan's uncertain future," gives a bleak picture of Pakistan that I am afraid does not exist in reality. Allow me to rectify this false image so that The Japan Times readers have a clear and balanced view of my country, which is so much in the news these days....

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?