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Oct 8, 2003

Experts tip All Blacks or England for World Cup

Former All Black legend Colin Meads recently caused a stir when he said that he thought England would beat New Zealand in the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. For a New Zealander to admit such a thing was considered by some in the land of the silver fern to be treasonous!
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 8, 2003

The future's so pink ...

In preparation for the arrival of Junichiro Koizumi, George Bush, Vladamir Putin and 18 other world leaders for the Oct. 20-21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, Thai authorities have swooped down on the city. They have rounded up and shipped out hundreds of Cambodian beggars, thousands...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2003

Sony shows game machine-DVD recorder

CHIBA -- Sony Corp. announced Tuesday it will introduce its "crossover" game console and home entertainment unit on the domestic market for the yearend shopping season.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2003

Japan's priority: offsetting pull toward jobless recovery

U.S. President George W. Bush's military unilateralism has destabilized the world order to such an extent that, facing a dearth of low-risk, high-return investments, Western investors have descended on the Japanese stock market.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 5, 2003

Reviewing reviews of Richie

JAPANESE LITERATURE REVIEWED, by Donald Richie. ICG Muse Inc, 2003, 490 pp., 2,800 yen (cloth). Like photographers, writers who stick at their trade long enough may find themselves in possession, without having realized it, of a substantial body of work, one that has accumulated silently like a snowdrift....
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2003

A checkered economic recovery

During an economic recovery, it often happens that disparities in business performance between companies that are doing better and those that are not become more apparent. That is the case with Japanese companies today, as shown clearly by the Bank of Japan's latest survey of business sentiment. While...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 1, 2003

Hawks finally secure PL flag

Like their famous manager, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks let their bats do the talking.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2003

Nissan Diesel restructuring plan calls for bailout worth 106 billion yen

Struggling truck maker Nissan Diesel Motor Co. announced Tuesday a new restructuring plan that calls on Nissan Motor Co. and its three main banks to provide a 106 billion yen bailout.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 1, 2003

The fine arts of craftsmanship, then and now

Among the various styles of art born in the former capital of Kyoto is the highly cultured style known as Rimpa that flowered early in the 17th century. The pioneers of the style were Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637) and Tawaraya Sotatsu (?-1643?), and the art form didn't become known as Rimpa until it was...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2003

Japan's streets grow meaner

Japanese criminal organizations are increasingly penetrating a variety of economic fields and strengthening their links with foreign organized-crime groups, posing a threat to the nation's public order. The National Police Agency's 2003 white paper highlights "The Fight Against Organized Crime," focusing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Sep 30, 2003

Drugmakers use jargon to market Chinese herbal remedies

Like the Japanese language, herbal medicines originating in China have been adapted into something peculiarly Japanese.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2003

DBJ to give ailing airlines more cash

In light of revenue losses triggered by the SARS outbreak, the state-run Development Bank of Japan has loaned 70 billion yen to Japan Airlines System Corp. and is planning to lend about 15 billion yen to All Nippon Airways Co., government officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2003

METI to punish exec players

The vice minister of economy, trade and industry said Monday that METI will punish two officials who allegedly obtained unlisted shares from a Hong Kong firm and earned dividends on them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 30, 2003

A level playing field?

Sports are seen as a catalyst for international communication. Even the Olympic Games were established a century ago to promote world peace -- through people meeting and competing on level playing fields.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 28, 2003

Taisho Sophisticates

EXPLOITING PATENT RIGHTS AND A NEW CLIMATE FOR INNOVATION IN JAPAN, edited by Ruth Taplin. London: Intellectual Property Institute, 2003, 124 pp., £35 (paper). Intellectual property rights (IPR) is a hot issue in Japan. The government has implemented a series of related legal and institutional reforms...
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2003

JETRO admits stock irregularity

The Japan External Trade Organization said Saturday that a former director as well as four of its employees in Hong Kong obtained unlisted shares from a local firm and earned dividends on them.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 27, 2003

Hara takes responsibility for Giants' poor season and resigns as boss

Tatsunori Hara took responsibility Friday for his team's dismal showing this year, stepping down as manager of the Yomiuri Giants.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2003

Huge games show launched in Chiba

The biggest electronic games show in Japan opened Friday for a three-day run, with online games figuring prominently, organizers said.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 26, 2003

Documenting a continental crisis

One hundred documentaries, animations and movies dealing with the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa will be shown in an event called African Documentary 2003, Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 26, 2003

Tanigaki pledges tight fiscal policy, efficiency

Facing a ballooning government debt and a still-fragile economy, newly appointed Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki hopes to pursue a tight fiscal policy and allocate the budget effectively.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2003

Bridgestone cuts earnings outlook after fire

Tire manufacturer Bridgestone Corp. released a revised earnings outlook Wednesday that includes the impact of a fire at its Tochigi factory earlier this month, lowering net and pretax profit forecasts for the year ending Dec. 31.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 24, 2003

Ito's embroidered art has got it all stitched up

The Watari-Um Museum of Contemporary Art in Shibuya is one of Japan's most respected private museums. Now, it seems, the beautiful, Mario Botta-designed art space has also become one of the country's leading supporters of young artists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2003

The dark, radiant world of Rembrandt van Rijn

It doesn't look like the face of a man who paints religious scenes. Fleshy, with that famously crumpled nose, he sports a jaunty hat and a look of shabby dandyism. In his later years -- more than two decades after he engraved this 1631 self-portrait -- the artist would be forced into bankruptcy, unable...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2003

Shizuoka pulls out all the stops in bid to woo foreign investors

Shizuoka wants you badly -- if your company is considering building a base in the prefecture or doing business with any of the 100 or so local firms.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 21, 2003

Kabuki: the opera of Japan

KABUKI PLAYS ON STAGE: Volume IV -- Restoration and Reform, 1872-1905, edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003, 430 pp. with illustrations, $50, (cloth). This is the final volume in a monumental series that contains the texts of 52 plays, all of them...
COMMUNITY
Sep 21, 2003

I don't like cricket, oh no . . . I love it

It is often said that the future of a nation lies with its youth. If that is also true of sport, then Gunma could soon end up being the Barbados of Asia, producing cricketers on a par with the great Caribbean production line.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 21, 2003

The role of politics and religion in the history of art

DISCOVERING THE ARTS OF JAPAN: A historical overview, by Tsuneko S. Sadao and Stephanie Wada. Kodansha International, 2003, 284 pp., 3,000 yen (cloth). According to this new publication from Kodansha International, "The insular culture of Japan can best be understood as a process whereby successive waves...
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2003

Universities expand campuses in central Tokyo

Private universities are upping their efforts to create thriving campuses in central Tokyo, hoping this will draw more students as competition for survival intensifies amid the shrinking population.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2003

Mizuho, nine others cut back projections

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and nine other banks responded to business-improvement orders Friday by cutting their projected fiscal 2003 earnings.

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