Search - 2003

 
 
BUSINESS
May 21, 2004

Isuzu Motors back in black on record profit

Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Thursday its group net balance swung into the black in fiscal 2003 on brisk sales of trucks in domestic and Asian markets.
JAPAN
May 21, 2004

Dental group bribery probe widens

Tokyo prosecutors have questioned two senior health ministry officials in connection with a bribery probe involving the Japan Dental Association, sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2004

UFJ to sack top three execs over dismal result

The UFJ financial group said Wednesday its three top managers will be ousted because the group failed to achieve its profit goals, company officials said.
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2004

A Kerry victory would curtail spending

WASHINGTON -- Republicans control both the White House and Congress, but Washington, D.C. remains a fiscal sinkhole. The best hope for budget probity is to turn over one branch of government to the Democrats.
JAPAN
May 19, 2004

Japan's greenhouse gas emissions up 2% in '02; first rise in two years

The nation's emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to global warming increased 2.2 percent in fiscal 2002 from the previous year, marking the first rise in two years, the government said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2004

Sega, Sammy set to integrate under holding firm on Oct. 1

Game maker Sega Corp. said Tuesday it will merge with pachinko machine maker Sammy Corp. on Oct. 1, thereby creating the nation's largest video game maker.
JAPAN
May 19, 2004

Japan's greenhouse gas emissions up 2% in '02; first rise in two years

The nation's emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to global warming increased 2.2 percent in fiscal 2002 from the previous year, marking the first rise in two years, the government said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 19, 2004

The sorrows of superficiality

On Oct. 31, 1999, race driver Mika Hakkinen finished first at the Suzuka Speedway to win the Japan GP and that year's F-1 Driver's Championship. It was a close and dramatic victory for the likeable Finn, and among his delirious fans on that day was the French artist Sylvie Fleury. Soon afterward, when...
BUSINESS
May 19, 2004

Business leaders express concern about deflation despite GDP growth

Business leaders voiced concern Tuesday about the deflationary state of the economy, despite the government's announcement earlier in the day that it grew for the eighth straight quarter in the January-March period.
JAPAN
May 19, 2004

Exports, consumer spending spur 1.4% growth in GDP

The economy expanded at a better-than-expected 1.4 percent in real terms in the January-March quarter, extending its growth streak to an eighth straight quarter, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2004

Beer, 'happoshu' shipments slipped 9.1% in April

Combined shipments of beer and "happoshu," its low-malt cousin, among the nation's five top brewers slipped 9.1 percent in April from a year ago, according to reports released Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 18, 2004

Students pay price in visa crackdown

When American students Angela Luna and Richard Nishizawa tried to board a plane bound for San Francisco in March, airport authorities threw them in a small holding cell and held them incommunicado for several days before banishing them from Japan for five years.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2004

Tsutaya operator sees profit soar

Culture Convenience Club Co., operator of the Tsutaya video rental chain, said Monday its fiscal 2003 net profit soared 90 percent to a record 2.39 billion yen, powered by aggressive franchise expansion.
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2004

China's influence soars in Asia

HONOLULU -- A battle for the hearts and minds of Asians has begun. While there has been considerable attention on "the rise of China," we're only slowly beginning to appreciate the meaning of that overused phrase. China's economic influence is well apparent. It has become Southeast Asia's leading trade...
JAPAN
May 16, 2004

SDF vs. NGO -- an Iraqi tale of cost-effectiveness

Self-Defense Forces troops are not the only ones using Japanese cash to provide humanitarian aid in southern Iraq.
JAPAN
May 16, 2004

SDF vs. NGO -- an Iraqi tale of cost-effectiveness

Self-Defense Forces troops are not the only ones using Japanese cash to provide humanitarian aid in southern Iraq.
Features
May 16, 2004

On the trail of manifest destiny

Two hundred years ago this week, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their Corps of Discovery set out to explore the American West. Sunday TIMEOUT asks what the expedition, its leaders and the Shoshone woman who was their guide still mean to us today
BASEBALL / MLB
May 16, 2004

Hawks shell Komiyama, crush Marines 21-0

Catcher Kenji Jojima drove in five runs Saturday afternoon as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks cruised to a 21-0 pounding of the struggling Chiba Lotte Marines.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2004

A reprieve on interest rates

As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board last week decided to keep short-term interest rates at a 46-year low. Concerns about the fragility of the U.S. economic recovery prevailed over fears of a new bout of inflation. But the Fed signaled its readiness to raise interest rates soon if prices appear...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2004

If it's cricket, it's TV Masala's Club Masala

What luck to pick up a promotional flier for Club Masala -- the first Indian subcontinent cable TV network operating in Japan -- in a branch of the curry chain Samrat. Interesting, I thought, and zipped off an e-mail. Now here I am with its president, Nofil Iqbal, who, it transpires, was born in Pakistan....
BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

NTT logs record profit; outlook seems less rosy

NTT Corp. said Friday its net profit jumped 2.8-fold to a record 643.86 billion yen for the year through March, helped by strong earnings at its mobile phone unit, NTT DoCoMo Inc.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

Nuke power will remain nation's key energy source

Japan will continue to use nuclear power as its main energy source while trying to expand other energy sources to diversify risks, according to an annual report on national energy policy released Friday.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2004

Machinery orders down 3.2% in March

Core private-sector machinery orders dropped a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent in March from February, the government said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
May 14, 2004

Can U.N. take the handoff?

LONDON -- Everyone is now looking to the United Nations to step into Iraq and somehow stabilize the situation as the country enters its most critical postwar stage. But is the U.N. capable of performing this role and willing to do so?
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2004

Controversies stoke Chinese nationalism

SINGAPORE -- Controversy in Taiwan over the March 20 presidential poll as well as political stirrings in Hong Kong over China's "final" say in deciding reforms have probably contributed to rising nationalism in China. These three trends could affect the future development of China and the stability of...

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go