Search - news

 
 
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2001

Bill adopted to help older job-seekers

The government adopted a bill Friday to help people 45 and older find jobs under an emergency package of employment measures to cushion joblessness linked to the ongoing economic slump and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic reform programs.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Asahi says markets don't understand as shares plunge

Asahi Bank President Yukio Yanase said the sharp plunge in Asahi shares Thursday was caused by the market's poor understanding of its strategy, though he failed to offer new information that would ease concerns about the major bank.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2001

DoCoMo's interim group net profit dives

Suffering from huge appraisal losses on an overseas investment, cellular operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday its group net profit in the first half of fiscal 2001 plunged to 103.8 billion yen, down 52.2 percent from a year earlier.
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2001

Better, cheaper welfare goods needed

About 18 months have passed since the introduction of long-term care insurance based on the principle of the "socialization of care." From October, elderly people aged 65 and over have been paying the full insurance premium. This is an important period for solidifying the system. The Ministry of Health,...
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2001

Shiokawa repeats budget vow

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa reiterated his view Wednesday that it would be ineffective to compile a second supplementary budget to finance pump-priming stimulus measures.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Nov 8, 2001

Dollar-may-care attitude defies bad news

Despite many unnerving reports from all corners, the dollar is managing to hold its own.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2001

DoCoMo's interim group net profit dives

Suffering from huge appraisal losses on an overseas investment, cellular operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday its group net profit in the first half of fiscal 2001 plunged to 103.8 billion yen, down 52.2 percent from a year earlier.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Former investment firm chief, 18 others arrested over fraud

OSAKA -- The former president of a failed firm here that sold mortgage-backed securities was arrested along with 18 others Tuesday on suspicion of defrauding clients of about 1.1 billion yen by misrepresenting the financial products of the firm's affiliates, police said.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2001

Hiranuma to pitch unified antiterror stand

Takeo Hiranuma, minister of economy, trade and industry, said Tuesday he plans to call for world unity to combat terrorism in a speech at the upcoming meeting of the World Trade Organization starting Friday in Qatar.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Tanaka pursues meetings as shenanigans continue

Embattled Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Tuesday that she has still not given up on attending U.N. General Assembly and Group of Eight foreign ministers' meetings in New York, despite her request again being turned down by the Diet.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2001

Sony expects rebound from resurgent mobile-phone division

Sony Corp.'s earnings will probably rebound in the second half of the business year after an anticipated improvement in the performance of its mobile phone division, Sony President Kunitake Ando said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 7, 2001

MLB contraction: Say it ain't so, Bud

Just about the time you are reading this, officials of Major League Baseball should be discussing an issue that has never come up before in our lifetime: contraction. You know the story; MLB commissioner Bud Selig has said folding two franchises, rolling back the majors from 30 to 28 teams, may be a...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Nakatani instructs SDF chiefs to dispatch 700 to East Timor

Gen Nakatani, director general of the Defense Agency, told the heads of Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces on Tuesday to send some 700 service members to East Timor in March to assist with United Nations peacekeeping operations.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2001

Hiranuma to pitch unified antiterror stand

Takeo Hiranuma, minister of economy, trade and industry, said Tuesday he plans to call for world unity to combat terrorism in a speech at the upcoming meeting of the World Trade Organization starting Friday in Qatar.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2001

Power utilities go overboard with water contract

Tokyo Electric Power Co. and another utility firm have signed a contract to buy industrial water from the Ibaraki Prefectural Government for use at two power plants they are building, but the actual amount supplied covers four power plants, company officials said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2001

For an unfettered peace role

The Diet last Monday enacted an antiterrorism bill that would allow the Self-Defense Forces to give an unprecedented level of support to U.S.-led forces overseas, along with two related bills. The main bill, which provides for rear-area support, does not let the SDF take part in combat operations. It...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2001

China's growing dilemma

Two historic transitions are beginning in China: the rise to power of its fourth generation of leaders and the economic transformation leading to membership in the World Trade Organization. They are pulling the country in different directions and creating conflicting priorities for the Beijing government....
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2001

University OKs first research in Japan to create embryonic stem cells

An ethics committee for Kyoto University on Sunday approved a professor's proposal to study the creation of embryonic stem cells from fertilized human ova, making the university the first Japanese institute to launch such research, panel members said.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2001

A new benchmark for terrorism

Peace of mind is not the only thing to have been shaken by the events of Sept. 11. Language has been, too -- or at least our casual assumption that we know what we mean by the words we use.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 4, 2001

Just cloning around

I am sitting in a pub with two other foreign husbands of Japanese women. We are about the same age and build, with the same twitchy faces of men who have lived too long as outsiders in a nation full of insiders.
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2001

LDP wants to set target for inflation

An amendment to the Bank of Japan Law endorsed Friday by a Liberal Democratic Party working group includes a provision to set an inflation target, according to LDP officials.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2001

Tokyo ready to introduce hotel tax

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Friday announced it will introduce a hotel tax of up to 200 yen per head for each overnight stay at a hotel or other lodging facility in the nation's capital.
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2001

LDP wants to set target for inflation

An amendment to the Bank of Japan Law endorsed Friday by a Liberal Democratic Party working group includes a provision to set an inflation target, according to LDP officials.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2001

'Unconstitutional' shrine visit provokes barrage of lawsuits

OSAKA -- More than 900 people filed three separate lawsuits Thursday against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, claiming his Aug. 13 visit to Yasukuni Shrine was unconstitutional.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2001

Dollar, yen both beset by negative factors

The dollar remains sensitive to ups and downs in New York share prices.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2001

Law aims at privatizing JR units

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry announced Thursday it will introduce new legislation to fully privatize East Japan Railway Co., Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and West Japan Railway Co. on Dec. 1.

Longform

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