Search - 2002

 
 
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 29, 2004

Eagles hope to soar in first year with acquisition of Iwakuma

Here is my final column of 2004, the most tumultuous year in the history of Japanese pro baseball.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2004

Cabinet OKs Foreign Ministry staff shuffle

The Cabinet endorsed Tuesday a major reshuffle of key Foreign Ministry officials, including the vice foreign minister and chiefs of bureaus handling issues related to North Korea and the United States, effective Jan. 4, the Foreign Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

Tokyo consumer prices fall for sixth consecutive year

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo dropped 0.2 percent in 2004 from the previous year for the sixth straight year of decline, due mainly to falls in prices of personal computers and durable home appliances, the government said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2004

Turkey's long march to an EU wedding

PARIS -- Although a wedding date has yet to be set between the European Union and Turkey, the two parties managed to conclude what several participants at the Dec. 17 European summit have called a formal "engagement."
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Government panel to debate letting woman ascend throne

The government said Monday it will set up an advisory panel next month to discuss revising the Imperial Household Law with an eye to allowing a female ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Trading house Mitsui probed over fake diesel filter data, subsidy scam

Tokyo police launched a criminal investigation Monday into Mitsui & Co. and one of its subsidiaries, suspecting that the giant trading house fabricated test data to obtain official approval for a diesel particulate filter.
Dec 28, 2004

Government panel to debate letting woman ascend throne

The government said Monday it will set up an advisory panel next month to discuss revising the Imperial Household Law with an eye to allowing a female ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2004

Nonperforming loans down 7.6%

Nonperforming loans at 130 banks at the end of September were down 7.6 percent from the end of March to 22.56 trillion yen on a parent-only basis, the Japanese Bankers Association said Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2004

Tax return raises Mizuho profit

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. on Monday raised its group net profit estimate to 720 billion yen for the current fiscal year from 440 billion yen following a Supreme Court ruling last week.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2004

Dalai Lama planning to come to Japan in April

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, is planning to come to Japan in April and the government is expected to allow the visit, sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2004

Fukuoka by-election seen as test for party leaders Koizumi, Okada

A House of Representatives by-election this April in the Fukuoka No. 2 district will be a bellwether, not only for the future of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government but also the Democratic Party of Japan, the biggest opposition force.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

State to push for child-care leave at all companies

In the latest effort to arrest the nation's falling birthrate, a government task force Friday approved a new five-year plan that includes numerical targets and the introduction of child-care leave at all companies.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Court nixes IBJ back-taxes ruling over bad-loan writeoffs to lender

The Supreme Court on Friday invalidated a decision to impose back taxes on the former Industrial Bank of Japan for writing off nonperforming loans it made to an insolvent "jusen" mortgage lender.
COMMUNITY
Dec 25, 2004

Shades of capella, Yale sabbatical and key-lime pie

Peter Hasegawa is on the Tokyo run . . . conducting postgraduate research, studying at Keio University, tutoring Japanese students at international schools in English, and trying to organize a visit by the Yale capella group, Shades. But only until Dec. 23, when he flies home to Connecticut for the Christmas...
Dec 25, 2004

State to push for child-care leave at all companies

In the latest effort to arrest the nation's falling birthrate, a government task force Friday approved a new five-year plan that includes numerical targets and the introduction of child-care leave at all companies.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 25, 2004

Robert Morton

When he speaks of Queen Victoria, British monarch from 1837 to 1901, young Englishman Robert Morton becomes impassioned. He said: "England would have had a revolution if it weren't for Victoria. Her route to the throne was very tenuous, then she became the first monarch of the people, supported by the...
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Strained Japan-China ties bode ill for region's future

HONG KONG -- Beijing's relations with Tokyo, already strained by the intrusion of a Chinese nuclear submarine into Japanese territorial waters last month, have been worsened by Japan's release on Dec. 10 of a new National Defense Program Outline that for the first time names China as a potential threat....
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Waiting for Japan to change -- or can it?

LOS ANGELES -- For as long as I write this column on Asia, which enters into its 10th year next month, I doubt I'll ever witness anything as amusing or telling as the flareup that took place at the close of the University of Southern California's Asia Conference last month.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

Mitsui to fire employees for fabricating diesel filter test data

Mitsui & Co. said Friday two employees at the trading house and another at a subsidiary will be fired for fabricating test data to obtain official approval for a diesel particulate filter.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Princess' funeral to cost 131 million yen

The Cabinet said Friday it will spend 131 million yen in taxpayer money on the funeral of Princess Takamatsu, an aunt of Emperor Akihito.
Dec 25, 2004

Court nixes IBJ back-taxes ruling over bad-loan writeoffs to lender

The Supreme Court on Friday invalidated a decision to impose back taxes on the former Industrial Bank of Japan for writing off nonperforming loans it made to an insolvent "jusen" mortgage lender.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2004

Tale of Yokota's abduction by North now recounted in comic-book form

Megumi Yokota's status as an abduction victim means that her photos have been staple fare for Japanese newspapers, magazines and television stations for some time.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2004

MMC vows to listen to defect gripes

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will heed input from customers in deciding on vehicle recalls, according to a business improvement plan it submitted to the transport ministry Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 23, 2004

Spending the planet into eco-bankruptcy

When I was a teenager, my uncle would joke, "When all else fails, read the instructions." About the same time I also learned that the most important things don't come with directions for use. Our planet is a good example.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat