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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 3, 2005

Writers ask: Are you being served?

SAYING YES TO JAPAN: How Outsiders are Reviving a Trillion Dollar Services Market, by Tim Clark and Carl Kay. New York: Vertical, 2005. 175 pp., $14.95 (paper). Readers familiar with Japan are in danger of whiplash when reading this entertaining and informative book about Japan's services sector. Some...
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2005

SMFG to repay public funds by '08, waits on Daiwa merger

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will go ahead with a plan to pay public money it received to shore up its capital base back to the government in three years, according to its top leaders.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2005

Don't put all eggs in China basket: METI

Japanese companies should seek to establish a regionwide network in East Asia to maximize their business efficiency, turning not only to China but also to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as their production bases, a government white paper on trade said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2005

'Takkyubin' founder, regulation foe, dead at 80

Former Yamato Transport Co. Chairman Masao Ogura, who in the 1970s started the first private door-to-door parcel delivery service firm in Japan, died Wednesday of kidney failure in Los Angeles, his family said. He was 80.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2005

Law passes to facilitate M&As but allow for takeover defenses

The House of Councilors on Wednesday passed into law a bill to update the corporate legal system, facilitate mergers and acquisitions and enhance defenses against hostile takeovers.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2005

UFJ shareholders challenge but give nod to merger

Shareholders of UFJ Holdings Inc. and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. approved on Wednesday their plan to merge in October, taking a big step closer to creating the world's largest banking group in terms of assets.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2005

A tidal wave of optimism

LOS ANGELES -- Talk about an ocean of optimism! Here's a positive current for you if there ever was one: A close friend -- whom I dub The Very Successful Korean-American Businessman (VSKAB), who doesn't want his name to be used (but whose last name is Kim like several million other Korean-Americans),...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 28, 2005

Visa crackdown -- don't get burned

Last year The Japan Times ran an article entitled "Students pay price in visa crackdown" about Americans put through the wringer on minor infractions.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2005

Confidence up among large firms

Business confidence among large companies in Japan improved for the first time in three quarters in the April-June period, spurred by a pickup in personal spending, the government said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2005

Sony shareholders give nod to Stringer's team

Shareholders of Sony Corp. on Wednesday approved a new management team led by Howard Stringer, who pledged to turn around the company's struggling consumer electronics business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2005

'Scandal spokesman' speaks on crisis management

The cost of scandals to business is at an all-time high. Time was when a bow held for 10 seconds by executives in a news conference, plus the resignation of a top official, would clear the air for business as usual.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2005

The real state of the economy

Japanese corporations, by and large, chalked up their biggest profit gains ever in the financial year ended March 31, breaking previous records for the third straight year. But numbers can be misleading. Earnings statistics indicate economic movements and trends but do not necessarily tell what these...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2005

Life insurers still suffer but rays of hope seen

Business volumes of Japan's six largest life insurers continued to shrink in the financial year that ended March 31 due to intensifying competition with U.S. rivals and the still feeble economy, according to earnings reports released Monday.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2005

The serious side of Britain

LONDON -- The takeover of the Manchester United soccer (ManU) club by American businessman Malcolm Glazer dominated the news in Britain for some days this month. By May 16, Glazer had managed to purchase more than 75 percent of the shares by paying £3 (£1 equals approximately 200 yen) per share, a...
BUSINESS
May 20, 2005

Japan Net Bank books first profit

Japan Net Bank said Thursday it posted a net profit of 1.1 billion yen in the business year that ended March 31, the company's first net profit since it started operating in October 2000.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2005

Are dress codes key to global warming?

Just as a 1,000-km journey begins with a single step, it seems that the arduous process of reducing Japan's greenhouse gas emissions starts with the simple removal of a few neckties.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2005

Electronics makers lost billions on price falls in '04

Major electronics makers lost hundreds of billions of yen in potential profits due to rapidly falling prices in fiscal 2004, and they expect the trend to continue in the current fiscal year.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2005

Mr. Putin's Russia

Hopes that President Vladimir Putin would use this week's state of the union address to clarify where Russia is heading were frustrated. His speech had a little something for everyone, leaving liberals and nationalists alike grasping for their favorite sound bite. It is tempting to look to the case of...
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2005

Arianespace touts partnerships

Arianespace SA said it hopes to promote its satellite launch business in Japan through its partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., the top executive of the French commercial launch service provider said Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2005

Index, KDDI move to boost mobile content

Index Corp., the leading distributor of content for mobile phones, said Monday it has formed a capital alliance with and will become the largest shareholder of toy maker Takara Co.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2005

Fuji, Livedoor set to detail alliance

Fuji Television Network Inc. and Internet service provider Livedoor Co. could hold the first meeting of their joint task force to work out details of their business alliance by the end of this month, Fuji TV President Koichi Murakami said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2005

Yahoo Japan profit soars to record high

Yahoo Japan Corp. said Wednesday that group operating revenue and net profit rose to all-time highs in fiscal 2004 due to growth in advertising and the popularity of its Net auction business.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2005

Day-laborers give way to budget tourists

OSAKA -- The Airin district in Nishinari Ward here is well known as a hub for day-laborers. It's a working-class neighborhood that is quite unlike Osaka's upscale Umeda district or the neon jungle of Shinsaibashi.
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2005

Is Asia moving forward or backward?

LOS ANGELES -- Settling old scores is the characteristic of small minds; moving forward is the stuff of vision and leadership. Despite the growing trade among China, Japan and South Korea, much political activity appears to focus on the settlement of grudges.
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.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2005

Livedoor shares drop to record low price

Market confidence in Internet company Livedoor Co. appeared to ebb Tuesday as its share price temporarily dropped to a record low of 292 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Red tape strangling deregulation efforts

Dr. Hirofumi Kawakita's plan to use the government's newly created special structural reform zones to launch a pediatric emergency medical service in Tokyo soon led him into a Kafkaesque nightmare.

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