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BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2000

Mitsui Sumitomo plans to repay public funds

Sumitomo Bank and Sakura Bank on Tuesday said the merged entity they will form in April, Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corp., aims to repay by the end of fiscal 2007 all the 1.501 trillion yen in public funds they have received.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Dec 27, 2000

Brewing up a winning formula: Starbucks hits it big in Japan

I admit it: I had a breakdown. It probably happened sometime after Starbucks Store No. 100 opened in the cavernous Tameike-Sanno subway station. My first reaction was: What, another one? How many more of these places, full of smiling, happy crowds, nursing "bold expressions" and munching on brownies...
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2000

Nippon Steel moves to improve efficiency in realty

Nippon Steel Corp. on Tuesday said it will spin off its urban development division in April 2002 and merge it with its wholly owned real estate subsidiary to improve the group's efficiency in the realty business.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2000

Debit card venture set for debut

Eleven major firms and banks -- including Sony Corp., NTT DoCoMo Inc., Sakura Bank and Toyota Motor Corp. -- announced Monday that they will set up a joint venture next month to provide a prepaid electronic money service in an effort to realize a cashless society in Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2000

Softbank to offer investor relations

Softbank Corp. said Monday it will team up with four other firms to establish a joint venture next month aimed at helping its clients promote investor relations, particularly through the Internet.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 24, 2000

Rene Lalique: the magic of design

"Siren and Frogs" carafe by Rene Lalique Some of the best window shopping this Christmas season is being enjoyed at an exhibition of jewelry and glassware by Rene Lalique (1860-1945), currently on display at Tokyo's most elegant art gallery, the Teien. Held in the Art Deco building that was once the...
LIFE / Travel
Dec 24, 2000

Do they know it's Christmas in Xian?

In the cradle of Chinese civilization, Christmas -- in all its commercial fury -- has taken Xi'an city by storm. Today, in this one-time imperial seat now famed for its terra-cotta warriors, storefronts blink Christmas red and green, Santa Claus poses for photos in supermarkets, employees don festive...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2000

'Open source' forums search for new models in post-IT era

KYOTO -- "Open source," a now familiar term on the Internet, originates from a method of developing computer software that has enabled the creation and continuous improvement of the successful Linux system.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2000

High court reverses murder acquittal

The Tokyo High Court on Friday reversed a lower court's acquittal of a 34-year-old Nepalese man and sentenced him to life in prison for the 1997 murder of a female employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2000

Kagawa folks get to bottom of their 'udon' bowls in more ways than one

TAKAMATSU, Kagawa Pref. -- As a native of a prefecture famous for Sanuki "udon" (wheat noodles), Kazutoshi Tao thought udon was a simple component of daily life -- until he visited a place where customers whip up their own variety.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 23, 2000

Freshly packaged desires on sale at Parco's "Point of Purchase"

Visually speaking, "Point of Purchase" has to be the busiest art exhibition in Tokyo at the moment. The pageantry of graffiti tags-cum-advertising signs is a lot of things: a throwback to yesterday's dorky company logos; a reminder that advertising is far more insidious these days; and a warning that...
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2000

Dentsu announces first-half profit

Dentsu Inc., Japan's largest advertising agency, on Thursday announced consolidated net profit of 14.15 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2000.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2000

'Amakudari' continues, even for disgraced cops

Some 90 percent of the government's senior bureaucrats have found postretirement jobs at state affiliates or government-related organizations despite the sluggish economy, a government survey found.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2000

Shigenobu-linked premises searched

Police said Wednesday they have searched 10 locations, including the home of a 34-year-old assemblywoman in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward, in connection with forged passports allegedly used by Fusako Shigenobu, the founder of the Japanese Red Army.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2000

Life term for double-murderer upheld

The life sentence stands for a former Fuji Bank employee who murdered a couple in Saitama Prefecture in 1998, the Tokyo High Court ruled Wednesday, upholding the lower court decision and rejecting demands by prosecutors for capital punishment.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 21, 2000

Success of discount barns should come as no surprise

" 'Tis the season," and while many a crabby gaijin points out that Japan's decidedly commercial spin on Christmas excludes its religious meaning, shopping makes a lot of people happy, so why knock it?
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2000

Korean residents demand protection in wake of credit unions' insolvency

OSAKA -- Pro-Seoul Korean residents in Japan marched to the Finance Ministry's Kinki Finance Bureau in Osaka on Tuesday, seeking protection for customers of a credit union that was declared insolvent Saturday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 20, 2000

Real democracy, anyone?

Have we learned our lesson in democracy? God forbid anyone should ever weasel out of voting again with the claim that their ballot doesn't count, that it doesn't make a difference. There is almost no way the margin in the U.S. vote could have been narrower, and with the divisions elsewhere in the country,...
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2000

Men attack bank vehicle, steal sacks

Three men attacked a bank van at around 5:20 p.m. Tuesday in Tokyo's Taito Ward, shooting and wounding a security guard, police said.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

Cultured skin next high-tech goal

First in a three series Kyodo News Professor Hisashi Aoyama is certain of the future of cultured skin.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

Shibuya attack meant to embarrass violent dad: boy

A 17-year-old high school boy arrested Saturday in the baseball bat bludgeoning of pedestrians in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward has told investigators that he carried out the attack because he had been beaten by his father and had wanted to embarrass him by attacking others, police said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

Curry recalled over package misprint

OSAKA -- Ezaki Glico Co. said Monday it has begun recalling one of its curry products because of problems regarding the print on the packages.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2000

Strong pound strangling British industry

BRUSSELS -- Britain's exclusion from the single European currency and the resulting high pound has led to a bleeding away of jobs in manufacturing. Day by day, the press publishes the casualty figures as stories of closures, amalgamations and redundancies, for in manufacturing the high pound is a weakness...
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2000

Panel urges review of tax relief

The government's Tax Commission on Wednesday proposed reforms for fiscal 2001 that, among other things, seek to facilitate corporate realignment.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2000

Bank execs to aid Daiei rehab

Compiled from wire reports The four banks that have pledged to help ailing supermarket chain Daiei Inc. regain its financial footing are considering dispatching senior managers to clarify their support for its reconstruction, informed sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2000

No money for ailing Kansai airport, ministry says

The Finance Ministry will reject the Transport Ministry's request for a 2 billion yen budget allocation for fiscal 2001 to help revamp the management of the loss-making Kansai International Airport, government sources said Wednesday.

Longform

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