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JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Kansai in dire need of airport guidance

OSAKA -- With Kobe airport due to open next year, joining Kansai International Airport and the domestic hub in Itami, Kansai's business and government leaders have formed a committee to figure out how to effectively operate the region's three airports.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2004

Revise the antimonopoly law

Experts agree that Japan must strengthen its Antimonopoly Act, push deregulation to promote economic reform, reactivate its sluggish economy and protect consumer interests.
EDITORIALS
Feb 21, 2004

Shinsei Bank's impressive revival

Thursday's listing of Shinsei Bank on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is good news. It is proof of how a failed and nationalized bank can reinvent itself as a going concern through efficient and innovative private management. The downside is that it took trillions of yen in taxpayer money to revive the bank,...
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2004

New 'happoshu' brew earns Asahi record profits

Industry leader Asahi Breweries Ltd. reported Friday a record net profit for 2003, buoyed by strong sales of a newly introduced "happoshu" beerlike beverage.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2004

Shinsei Bank share price surges on TSE debut

Shinsei Bank shares debuted Thursday on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, marking a dramatic revival from the collapse of Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan five years ago.
JAPAN / TALKING SHOP
Feb 16, 2004

Karaoke learning curve put telecom executive on right line

For Eric Gan, chief financial officer of broadband service firm eAccess Ltd., keeping up with the latest telecom technology terms in Japanese is not difficult. Coping with business customs here is.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2004

Firms catch on to potential of booming IC recorder market

Overshadowed by the red-hot sales of digital cameras and DVD recorders, another digital product has been stealthily making its way into shirt pockets and briefcases.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2004

Russian chocolatier steeped in tradition

St. Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and chocolate is occupying the thoughts of many people across the nation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2004

'Bank account brokers' find robust trade

"Bank Accounts for Sale."
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2004

Hitachi profit jumps in third quarter

Hitachi Ltd. said Wednesday it chalked up a group net profit of 2.52 billion yen in the October-December quarter, marking a turnaround from a loss of 2.26 billion yen posted a year ago.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

Nippon Express to launch special delivery service

Transport company Nippon Express Co. plans to launch a special mail delivery service, possibly this year, informed sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2003

Mobile commerce market taking off

Taking the 15-minute walk from her home to her office in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, every morning, Noriko Kato, 29, looks at the tiny screen on her DoCoMo 505i mobile phone to check her e-mail and sometimes access her favorite shopping site, run by Netprice Ltd.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 29, 2003

Enough monkey biz for year of the sheep

The new year approaches, and according to the Chinese zodiac sign calendar it will be the year of the monkey. Just what kind of monkey business awaits the animal in its namesake year is anybody's guess. The hunch is there will be no lack of such activity.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2003

Japan Highway chief pitches autonomy

Japan Highway Public Corp. must be legally empowered to make its own decisions on expressway construction and stand on a par with the government when it is privatized in fiscal 2005, new Japan Highway President Takeshi Kondo said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 14, 2003

Bento pioneers stay the course of time

As the hub of the Gokaido, the five roads radiating from old Edo to major centers around the country, the Nihonbashi district of the capital was long one of its most bustling areas.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2003

New Zealand seeks bigger splash in Asia

WELLINGTON -- It's clear that New Zealand's size is both a curse and a blessing. The curse is easy to see: New Zealand is so small that it's hard to get the attention of other governments. New Zealand is responsible for 0.22 percent of world trade. There are more Indonesian civil servants than New Zealanders....
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2003

Sammy to purchase 22.4% stake in Sega

Pachinko machine maker Sammy Corp. said Monday it will acquire a 22.4 percent stake in Sega Corp., becoming the largest shareholder in the game maker.
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2003

Wiretap charges clip highflier

Takefuji Corp., Japan's largest consumer finance company, is at the center of an unfolding wiretap scandal. Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested the company's founding chairman, Mr. Yasuo Takei, on charges of ordering his employees to wiretap a freelance journalist who had criticized...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Daiei signs deal on stadium, hotel

Struggling retailer Daiei Inc. announced Tuesday it has agreed to sell a baseball stadium/hotel complex to U.S. investment fund Colony Capital LLC, offloading a chunk of mounting debts as it struggles to stay afloat.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2003

Financial Services chief vows to avert bank crisis

Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka tried to offer assurances Sunday that the government would do everything it can to avert a financial crisis if some banks are found to have serious problems after releasing their midterm business results.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2003

Race is on to get into world's most prestigious MBA programs

Some liken it to an event as pivotal as marriage. Others say it's a ticket to a super white-collar job, or even the ultimate test of one's being.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Nov 18, 2003

Shiseido positions itself for China cosmetics boom

Faced with a maturing market in Japan, the nation's largest cosmetics company has turned its attention to China.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2003

Only 30% of firms in the black

Only three out of every 10 corporations that filed taxes in the 2002 business year were in the black, according to a National Tax Agency survey released Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2003

Fostering the will for a better way

MYSORE -- On the outskirts of historic Mysore -- city seat of maharajas until Indian independence in 1947 -- is a settlement called Kuduremala. A community of just 800 people, its name is testament to the former rulers of Mysore -- which occupies about a third of present-day Karnataka State -- who took...
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Oct 25, 2003

Narita airport prepares for battle with Asian hubs

NARITA, Chiba Pref. -- When Masatoshi Uchida joined New Tokyo International Airport Authority, the quasi-governmental organ that operates Narita airport, in 1977, he never dreamed he'd end up selling Hermes goods.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Keidanren to hold parties to campaign pledges

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) plans to keep tabs on the pledges made by major political parties and hold them accountable to the promises they make, according to its president, Hiroshi Okuda.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 9, 2003

Regional economies earn upgrade

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday upgraded its quarterly assessment of regional economies for the first time in a year, noting sporadic signs of recovery in production backed by exports of digital gadgets and cars.

Longform

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