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JAPAN
Jun 20, 2002

Look for Japan to narrow gap in IT race

Can Japan catch up with the United States in information technology? The mere suggestion sounds preposterous, given the current climate of American triumphalism and Japanese gloom. Yet we should recall that not too long ago the U.S. and Japan were both declaring Japan's victory in the high-technology...
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2002

Milk sales may be sour but yogurt's on a roll

Yogurt is enjoying brisk sales as makers and the media tout its efficacy as a health and beauty food, despite the sluggishness in business surrounding milk products, according to market sources.
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2002

Mizuho president to take 50% pay cut

Terunobu Maeda, president of Mizuho Holdings Inc., plans to take a 50 percent pay cut over a six-month period to take responsibility for the computer fiasco that threw the group's operations into chaos during its April relaunch, informed sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2002

Spending cuts will finance tax reduction, Shiokawa says

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that proposed tax cuts for the current fiscal year will be carried out boldly and will be financed by spending cuts.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2002

Suzuki concession eyed in bid to end Diet boycott

Opposition parties on Monday indicated they might be ready to discuss an end to their Diet boycott following a request by prosecutors to strip lawmaker Muneo Suzuki of his parliamentary immunity from arrest.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2002

Mexico pushes Japan to move forward on FTA

Visiting Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda proposed Monday that Japan and Mexico launch official negotiations on concluding a bilateral free-trade agreement in October, when Mexico hosts the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2002

Economy still bottoming out, government says

The economy has bottomed out, the government said Monday, maintaining its basic assessment of the economy in its report for June.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jun 17, 2002

How to avert the risk of war with China

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In the rolling green countryside of West Sussex in South England, there is an estate called Wilton Park. Some readers of this column may be familiar with the place and the institution it has become: "Wilton Park conferences" occur throughout the year bringing together politicians,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2002

Key to corporate survival

Recent revelations about the mislabeling of foods and the use of illegal food additives by Japanese companies suggest a collapse of corporate ethics. The latest incident -- mislabeling of chicken by Zen-Noh Chicken Foods, an affiliate of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 16, 2002

Nodaiwa: Why put off eel you can eat today?

Who says you have to wait till the dog days of midsummer to enjoy unagi? Ignore the media hype: There are no rules that say when you should (or should not) eat your eel. But if you are only going to dine on unagi once a year, then make it somewhere special. And you will not find anywhere in Tokyo that...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Report to put heavy pressure on airport execs

OSAKA — The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry's downward revision Friday of the projected number of takeoffs and landings at Kansai International Airport is likely to increase pressure on officials here to postpone the completion date for the second runway beyond 2007.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Ecuador minister to explore family history in Japan

Ecuador trade chief Richard Moss' eight-day visit to Japan beginning June 23 will be a sentimental journey.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2002

Will new responsibility make farm ministry act responsibly?

Will too many cooks spoil the broth?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2002

Okinawa airline plots cheap flights to Haneda

A new low-cost airline hopes to capitalize on recent changes in the government's aviation policies and give Okinawans a cheaper option of getting to and from the mainland.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 14, 2002

'Allez Nippon!' -- how Japan learned to love M. Troussier

Watched any World Cup matches in the past few weeks? Yelled your heart out? Ready to slit your wrists -- or, more to the point, to strangle a shinpan (referee) or two? Predictably, a few of my friends have sworn never to touch coffee made from Costa Rican beans ever again (what was that referee thinking...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 13, 2002

'Dark Side' proved a lightning rod for readers' ire

Being a columnist can be lonely. Apart from doing interviews, researching and writing are pretty solitary activities and feedback is limited. Getting a handful of e-mails, be they cranky, critical or supportive, marks a successful column.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Ex-SDF officer held over cash scam

OSAKA — A 44-year-old former Self-Defense Forces officer has been arrested for allegedly bilking a woman out of some 9.5 million yen by posing as a trading house president, it was learned Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2002

Canon to merge two subsidiaries

Printer maker Canon Inc. said Wednesday it will merge subsidiaries Canon Aptex Inc. and Copyer Co. to create a new company specializing in office printers.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Mitsubishi elevator firm given sabotage warning

The Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday warned Mitsubishi Electric Building Techno-Service Co. to stop sabotaging its competitors.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Builders launch recycling venture

Construction firms Kajima Corp., Taisei Corp. and Shimizu Corp. said Tuesday they have formed a joint venture to develop and sell recycled building materials.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2002

Who's winning the 'coca war'?

LA PAZ, Bolivia — On a hot December afternoon last year, 150 farmers in Chimore, a town in the Chapare region of central Bolivia, unloaded bananas and pineapples onto the Santa Cruz-Cochabamba highway. There was no market in sight and even if there was, the goods were not for sale. Rather, they were...
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2002

Loya Jirga gets down to business

A fghanistan takes a crucial step toward building a viable future this week with the convening of a grand assembly of tribal elders. The Loya Jirga will pick a government that will rule the country until general elections are held. While the conclave has been long anticipated, and is critical to the...
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2002

Peculiarities that give pause

More than a year after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi debuted under the "structural reform" slogan, its real meaning remains vague. The pivotal question is, what aspects of the Japanese structure (systems and practices) should be changed, and how?
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2002

Scientific analysis should come first

The government's decision to host an international project to build the next-generation thermonuclear experimental reactor in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, lacks a critical element: public understanding. The decision, prompted by a group of Liberal Democratic Party legislators promoting nuclear fusion...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2002

Japan, Cuba quietly hail century of state relations

HISANE MASAKI Staff writer Quietly and with little fanfare, Japan is celebrating the 100th anniversary this year of state-to-state contact with Cuba.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2002

In step with the real Japan

We both confess to complete and utter madness, but we've been having a whale of a time -- and not only down in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the International Whaling Commission had its recent roughhouse, and where we completely pigged out on kujira no niku (whale meat) before heading on to...
COMMUNITY
Jun 9, 2002

Seeing Japan from top to bottom

We both confess to complete and utter madness, but we've been having a whale of a time -- and not only down in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the International Whaling Commission had its recent roughhouse, and where we completely pigged out on kujira no niku (whale meat) before heading on to...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2002

In step with the real Japan

We both confess to complete and utter madness, but we've been having a whale of a time -- and not only down in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the International Whaling Commission had its recent roughhouse, and where we completely pigged out on kujira no niku (whale meat) before heading on to...

Longform

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