Search - 2004

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2005

Japan Highway vice president held over bid-rigging

Prosecutors on Monday arrested Michio Uchida, vice president of Japan Highway Public Corp., for allegedly helping to rig bids for bridge projects ordered by the highway body.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2005

1,182 'retraining sessions' at JR West

West Japan Railway Co. conducted 1,182 employee retraining sessions during a two-year period from April 2003, the longest lasting 51 days, the transport ministry's accident investigation commission said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2005

Crude oil price spike dents trade surplus

Japan's merchandise trade surplus for the first half of 2005 shrank 26.4 percent from the previous year to 4.53 trillion, yen the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2005

Pension program invested into black

The public pension program cleared its books of red ink in fiscal 2004, with a weak yen helping it offload foreign stocks and bonds for a profit, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2005

Meiji Yasuda president to resign

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. President Ryotaro Kaneko announced his intention to resign at a representative members' meeting Tuesday because new cases of the company illegally withholding policy payouts have been discovered.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2005

'04 tax revenue up 5.3% as jobs, dividends grow

In a sign the economy is growing stronger, tax revenues in fiscal 2004 rose 5.3 percent from the previous year to 45.59 trillion yen for the first increase in four years, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

METI official embezzles 24 million yen for stock, repays it, apologizes, quits

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday that a senior official misappropriated 24 million yen in public funds for personal stock trading.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2005

Politicos feeding off turmoil

MANILA -- These days the political class in the Philippines is preoccupied with other things besides governing. Attention is focused on what one commentator has termed "the worst crisis any administration" has ever experienced. The opposition is orchestrating turmoil and openly calling for the ouster...
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Poor losers fan Filipino disenchantment

MANILA -- To characterize the public mood in the Philippines as depressed is no exaggeration. According to recent surveys, pessimism about economic prospects is on the rise, and a majority of Filipinos believe their quality of life has deteriorated in the past year. A recent Asian Development Bank survey...
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2005

MMC hit sales target -- by selling to own dealers

Scandal-ridden automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. inflated its new vehicle sales figures in Japan in the last business year by selling about 10 percent to dealers instead of consumers, industry sources said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2005

Health experts alarmed by surge in AIDS

The rapid spread of AIDS in the past decade has reached a level that has confounded and alarmed the health establishment in Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Narita offers to cut landing fees by 20% but add new charges

Narita International Airport Corp. said Thursday that it has submitted a proposal to the International Air Transport Association to cut its landing fees by an average of more than 20 percent.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Suicides top 30,000 for seventh year

Suicides in Japan topped 30,000 for the seventh straight year in 2004, with men accounting for more than two-thirds of the number, according to a report released by the National Police Agency on Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

Mizuho profit up 54.2% on improved bad debts

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the nation's biggest banking group by assets, said Monday its group net profit for the last business year rose 54.2 percent from a year earlier amid the economic recovery and strong corporate earnings.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2005

A cautiously optimistic view

On the face of it, Japan's economy appears headed for a full-fledged recovery. In the first quarter of 2005, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.3 percent from the previous quarter, or 5.3 percent in annualized terms, according to the Cabinet Office. It was the first solid quarterly growth since...
BUSINESS
May 17, 2005

Eisai again scores record profit

Eisai Co. said Monday it posted record group pretax and net profits for the fifth straight year in fiscal 2004 due to strong demand for drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease and peptic ulcers, its two major products in Japan and abroad.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2005

Current account surplus hits record high of 18.29 trillion yen

Japan's current account surplus hit a record high 18.29 trillion yen in fiscal 2004, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier for a second consecutive record high, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2005

Steelmakers make hay as demand keeps rising

Strong global demand offset rising materials prices in fiscal 2004, allowing Japan's major steelmakers to log record earnings, according to earnings reports released through Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 3, 2005

Shakeup in the lending business

O Kobayashi was stunned last year when he found that his mortgage applications had been rejected by two banks.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2005

Cooked books seen at 29 police forces

The National Police Agency has discovered accounting irregularities tied to investigative expenses at 29 prefectural police forces, agency officials said Thursday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 17, 2005

Peace of mind for Japanese inventors

VALUING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN JAPAN, BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES, edited by Ruth Taplin. London: Routledge, 2004, 163 pp., $97 (cloth). On April 1, Japan's first court dedicated to cases concerning patents and other intellectual property rights (IPR) was established as part of a far-ranging renovation...
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2005

Lawson, FamilyMart post robust growth in earnings

Lawson Inc. said Wednesday its net profit for the year that ended in February rose 10 percent to a record 20.44 billion yen, buoyed by strong sales and aggressive store-openings.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 10, 2005

Early showing by Carp raises hope for repeat of 1975 glory

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Central League championship won by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. It was in 1975 when the "Aka-Heru" (Red Helmets) played in their first Japan Series.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2005

Vodafone sees subscription growth slow

Vodafone K.K. has fallen further behind its two rivals in the mobile phone market as it had a steep decrease in subscription growth in fiscal 2004, according to data released Thursday by the Telecommunications Carriers Association.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2005

How to stabilize China, according to Hu

SINGAPORE -- China needs stability as it faces one of its most radical economic, social, cultural and political transforma- tions in history. This message was clearly delivered during the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing three weeks ago. President Hu Jintao needs stability to consolidate his...
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 26, 2005

Iwakuma determined to help Eagles soar in Sendai

Hisashi Iwakuma started playing baseball as an elementary school first grader at the age of 6, by throwing a ball against a wall in a game of catch with himself and dreaming of becoming a professional. Now, at age 24, he is arguably the best pitcher in Japanese pro baseball.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2005

Carmaker pushes hybrids as key environmental technology

The launch Tuesday of two sport utility vehicles featuring hybrid engines highlights Toyota Motor Corp.'s keenness to spread the hybrid system as a core environmental technology.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 20, 2005

Who says you can't teach old baseball teams new tricks?

"New" is the watchword for Japanese baseball in 2005.

Longform

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