Search - 2003

 
 
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2004

Set to resume political donations

Nippon Keidanren, or the Japan Business Federation, is moving toward the resumption of donations to political parties. As a preliminary step, the organization has published a report evaluating key policies of the two largest parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan. The...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

G7 communique unlikely to touch on dollar's fall: 'Mr. Yen'

Japan will probably not gain support from the European Union in raising concerns over the dollar's recent decline during an upcoming meeting of Group of Seven finance chiefs, the man known as "Mr. Yen" said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 4, 2004

UNESCO top honor for bunraku puppet theater

On Nov. 7, 2003, bunraku was recognized by UNESCO as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage. The award cited the unique nature of Japan's indigenous puppet theater, and praised the realism with which it portrays human emotions.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

Digital goods boost Casio profit

Casio Computer Co. said Tuesday it posted a group net profit of 7.58 billion yen in the April-December period, reflecting brisk sales of digital consumer electronics products such as digital cameras and mobile phones.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

Mitsubishi group, DaimlerChrysler plan MMC rescue

The Mitsubishi group and DaimlerChrysler AG of Germany are devising a 300 billion yen rescue package for Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

Pioneer to buy NEC's plasma unit

Pioneer Corp. announced Tuesday it will acquire NEC Corp.'s plasma display panel business in a bid to remain a leading player within the increasingly competitive flat-panel TV sector.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Opposition boycotts Upper House

The opposition parties continued Monday their boycott of all Diet debate following the ruling coalition's approval of the Self-Defense Forces dispatch to Iraq, effectively putting House of Councilors deliberations on hold.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2004

Kao to pay 400 billion yen for Kanebo's business

Kao Corp. and Kanebo Ltd. said Saturday they are in talks on Kao's purchase of Kanebo's cosmetics operations in what would be Japan's biggest nonfinancial corporate buyout.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2004

Key figure in Sagawa Express scandal dies

Hiroyasu Watanabe, former president of Tokyo Sagawa Express Co. and a central figure in the 1992 political donation scandal involving its parent firm, Sagawa Express Co., died Jan. 11, sources said Saturday. He was 69.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 1, 2004

Japanese Mafia struggles

THE JAPANESE MAFIA: Yakuza, Law and the State, by Peter B.E. Hill. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, 323 pp., $35 (cloth). In this superb book Peter Hill challenges prevailing interpretations of the yakuza and, in doing so, explores the pathology and dynamism of contemporary Japan. He dismisses...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 1, 2004

A testament to the love of Gainsbourg

A week before her concert appearance in Tokyo, I call Jane Birkin. That's Jane -- heavy breathing on the raunchy 1969 Serge Gainsbourg classic, "Je t'aime . . . moi non plus" -- Birkin.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 1, 2004

The answers without the questions

ZEN SAND: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, by Victor Sogen Hori. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003, 764 pp., $37.00 (cloth). Back in 1947 when I was sitting with Dr. Suzuki Daisetsu, he gave me my first and last koan -- the one about Nansen Fugan's cat. The eminent Zen master Nansen...
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 1, 2004

Tough opener for Marinos

Defending league champion Yokohama F. Marinos will entertain Nabisco Cup holders Urawa Reds in the pick of opening-day matches on March 13 as the J. League released the fixture list for the first stage of the 2004 season on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2004

China-Southeast Asia relations blossom

SINGAPORE -- Chinese worldwide ushered in the Year of the Monkey on Jan. 22. The outgoing Year of the Goat had been excellent for China -- despite the outbreak of SARS last winter -- and a relatively good year for Southeast Asia.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2004

Lower House panel OKs Iraq dispatch

The special Lower House committee on Iraq issues on Friday approved the contentious dispatch of Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, despite last-ditch resistance from opposition parties.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2004

Jobless rate slides under 5% threshold

Japan's unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in December, falling below the 5 percent threshold for the first time since June 2001, the government said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 31, 2004

Sasaki clears waivers; Giants not interested

The Yomiuri Giants on Friday said the team is not interested in acquiring right-handed closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who cleared waivers Thursday and was released by the Seattle Mariners.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2004

Bad-loan balance of 129 banks falls by 3.7 trillion yen

The combined balance of bad loans at Japan's 129 banks dropped by a net 3.7 trillion yen to 31.6 trillion yen during the April-September period, the Financial Services Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2004

Diet business resumes with apology by Koizumi

Diet business reopened Thursday after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi retracted an earlier remark about the security situation in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah.
SUMO
Jan 30, 2004

Maru: Sumo needs Japanese yokozuna

Former yokozuna Musashimaru believes the absence of a Japanese wrestler at sumo's highest rank of grand champion is contributing to the continuing slide in popularity of the national sport.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 30, 2004

If it's got eight legs, eat it

TOTTORI -- Ever felt like traveling just to gratify your tastebuds? To Italy for real pizza, for example, or to India for authentic curry. Well, if your craving is for crustaceans, then you can look rather closer to home. Delicious snow crabs are now in season, and there's no better place to sample them...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2004

Movie revenues hit record high

Movie revenues in Japan hit a record 203.2 billion yen in 2003, the Motion Pictures Producers Association of Japan said Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 29, 2004

Nishiguchi to start camp on farm

Seibu Lions right-hander Fumiya Nishiguchi, who spent most of last season on the disabled list with an injured leg, will start spring training on the club's farm team, officials of the Pacific League team said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

Wholesalers' sales up 0.1%

Wholesaler sales edged up 0.1 percent in 2003 from the previous year to 452.14 trillion yen, marking the first rise in three years, the government said Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 29, 2004

Scott's sacking by Nets was no shock

NEW YORK -- For a while there, I thought the Nets' latest farce would never end.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Stablemaster payout overturned

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court ruling ordering the master of the Tatsunami sumo stable in Tokyo to pay his father-in-law 175 million yen for the inheritance of the stablemaster title.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2004

Two Tokyo teens held for dealing Ecstasy

Police said Tuesday they have arrested two teenage boys for allegedly selling Ecstasy to a female high school student in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2004

FSA to launch probe into major bank loans

The Financial Services Agency will conduct special inspections of major banks to assess their loans to big borrowers, Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said Tuesday.

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