Search - 2002

 
 
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 5, 2003

Japanese referees adhere to a different set of laws

There are those that will say that last week's 37-31 win by Waseda University over the touring New Zealand Universities side on April 27 was a sign that there is nothing wrong with the local rugby scene.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2003

Sales of new cars, trucks and buses register first decline in eight months

April sales of new cars, trucks and buses fell 6.5 percent from the same month last year to 248,302 units, the first year-on-year decline in eight months, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2003

Hitachi swings back into the black

Hitachi Ltd. said Monday it returned to profitability in fiscal 2002, thanks to cost-cutting measures.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Costs for bad loans climb 1.3 trillion yen

The Financial Services Agency reported Friday that the nation's 11 largest banks incurred additional bad loan disposal costs of 1.3 trillion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended in March.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Sony group profit soars sevenfold

Sony Corp. said Thursday its group net profit in fiscal 2002 skyrocketed to 115.52 billion yen -- more than 7.5 times its 15.3 billion yen profit the previous year -- on strong movie sales and cost cutting.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2003

North Korea policy hijacked

Tokyo's never-ending capacity for emotional overreaction, irrational group-think and back-to-front foreign policies has reached new heights over North Korea. Somehow Pyongyang's remarkable willingness to admit and apologize for former abductions of Japanese citizens has been turned around 180 degrees...
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2003

Seven-Eleven earnings up 23rd straight year

Convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co. said Thursday it racked up its 23rd consecutive year of record earnings in the year through Feb. 28, thanks to aggressive store openings.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2003

More firms turn to 401(k) programs

The slump in the stock market and other unfavorable investment conditions prompted 291 companies to adopt 401(k)-style pension plans in fiscal 2002 to reduce their financial burden, up from 70 the previous year, according to a government report compiled Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2003

Record 5.77 million visitors in '02

The number of foreigners entering Japan hit a record 5.77 million in 2002, up 9.2 percent from the previous year, the Immigration Bureau said Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 26, 2003

Life: the home movie, Japan: the video game

Two very different female video artists have brought pleasantly complementary exhibitions of their recent work to the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. Elija-Liisa Ahtila, 43, from Finland, and Japanese artist Tabaimo, 27, both opened with impressive solo efforts at the spacious Shinjuku gallery Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2003

Overall sales off 14.2% from '99

The combined sales of retailers and wholesalers in 2002 were off 14.2 percent from 1999, coming in at 548.58 trillion yen, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2003

Business failures down, liabilities up

Corporate bankruptcies were off 7.4 percent in February for the second straight month of decline on a year-on-year basis, but liabilities left by the failed firms jumped 20.6 percent, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 5, 2003

Yokohama's Furuki ready for stardom

The start of the season may be four weeks away, but there's one player everyone should keep an eye on.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2003

Bridgestone's profits surge 161%

Bridgestone Corp., Japan's biggest maker of automobile tires, said Friday that its group net profit in the business year through December 2002 surged 161 percent to 45.38 billion yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2003

Pollen set to make hay fever while the sun shines

Some people don't have to witness the days getting longer to know spring is just around the corner. Their sneezing and runny noses are proof enough.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2003

Tax, welfare burden to ease: ministry

The burden of taxes and social welfare costs on individuals will probably fall slightly in fiscal 2003, mainly due to tax cuts designed to boost the economy, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 7, 2003

Woodgate latest casualty in ongoing fire sale by Leeds

LONDON -- Little over a year ago Jonathan Woodgate was public enemy No. 1 in English football following his conviction for affray after an attack on a student, Sarfraz Najeib.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

Record number of individuals file for bankruptcy

A record 214,634 individuals filed for bankruptcy in 2002 as Japan continued to struggle with its now chronic economic slump, the Supreme Court said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Feb 2, 2003

Getting a word in edgewise with Howling Guitar

"This is my 1958 Gibson LP-Jr. You know that Johnny Thunders played the same model. This guitar is my life and if it dies I would like to give it an honorable burial. But . . . I hope we get buried together."
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Mizuho told to boost loans to small firms

The Financial Services Agency on Friday ordered Mizuho Holdings Inc., the world's largest banking group in terms of assets, to increase loans to smaller companies and submit guidelines for doing so by the end of this month.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Extra budget makes it out of key panel

The House of Representatives on Monday passed a fiscal 2002 extra budget aimed at countering the negative effects of an accelerated cleanup of the banking sector.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2003

MMC may expand production in North America

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. President Rolf Eckrodt said Thursday the carmaker is considering expanding its production capacity in North America and will come up with a plan in the next few weeks.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2003

New price index shows the same decline -- but steeper

The domestic corporate goods price index stood at 95.8 on a yearly average for 2002 against a base of 100 for 2000, down 1.9 percent from 2001 for the second consecutive yearly decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2003

Tokyo condominium supply, prices slip further

There were 88,516 new condominiums put up for sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area in 2002, topping 80,000 for the fourth consecutive year, the Real Estate Economic Institute said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Asahi Mutual cans Millea tieup plans

Struggling Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. announced Friday it has scrapped plans to team up with the Millea Insurance Group, saying it may look for another partner.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Malpractice suits up sharply since 2000

In the last 10 years, 210 lawsuits and arbitration cases were brought against the government over incidents of malpractice at national hospitals and sanitariums, according to a health ministry report released Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 1, 2003

So you thought '02 was good? Well, there's Mori to come

It looks, at first glance, like a refreshing case of "out with the old, and in with the new": In late 2002 the Tokyo art community bade a teary goodbye to its Mecca, when the falling-down old Sagacho building, home for years to some of Japan's most progressive gallery spaces, finally closed its doors...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Dec 20, 2002

The yearend holidays are groovin'; Big news for Empress "D"; party picks

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.

Longform

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