Search - 2000

 
 
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

Auto output continues downhill ride

Auto production skidded 5.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 820,841 vehicles, falling for the third consecutive month, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

Long margin positions tumble below 1 trillion yen

The balance of long margin positions fell below 1 trillion yen for the first time in nearly three years last week, reflecting a wholesale collapse in investor confidence.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Antismoking steps seen failing to deter youths

Twenty-six percent of graduating high school males smoke every day, indicating that restrictions placed on vending machines and minors in 1996 are failing to deter youth from smoking, according to a health ministry poll.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

WTO panel decides to hear global steel dispute in February

A major steel-trade row that has sharply pitted the United States against Japan, the European Union and nine other steel exporters is entering a new phase amid the global economic slowdown.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Pair of multiple killers are executed

Two death-row inmates were hanged Thursday morning, the first executions in 13 months, according to information that reached their acquaintances.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2001

Reduce the vote-value disparity

One long-standing problem in the nation's Lower House electoral system is that the "representative value" of a vote varies considerably between rural and urban districts. In a move to reduce the disparity, a government advisory council last week submitted a report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2001

Japan, South Korea to bury the hatchet for year of World Cup Soccer Finals

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung will exchange televised messages on New Year's Day, kicking off a series of Japan-South Korea exchange projects, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2001

Argentina debt default to hit Japanese investors

Japanese investors are set to suffer losses on part of the 191.5 billion yen worth of yen-denominated "samurai" bonds issued by the Argentine government due to its declaration of a default on its $132 billion debt, according to industry officials.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2001

Regional banks post combined pretax loss

Second-tier regional banks incurred their first combined pretax loss in three years in the April-September first half of fiscal 2001, according to a banking association report.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2001

Green tax on carmakers proposed

A tax policy advisory panel to Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara proposed Tuesday that the metropolitan government introduce a new tax on automakers reflecting the environmental impact of their products.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 26, 2001

At last, Congress tackles election reform

WASHINGTON -- It was just a year ago last week that the Supreme Court elected George W. Bush our 43rd president. The mess of the elections in 2000, from the faulty voting machines in Florida to the long counts in western states (remember it took almost a month to declare a winner in the Senate election...
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2001

Octopus tax evasion probe entangles Kanbe

Tokyo Customs on Tuesday filed criminal complaints with prosecutors against an Osaka-based seafood company and two senior officials of the firm's Tokyo branch office on suspicion of evading duties on imported octopus.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 25, 2001

Forward Takeda says bye to soccer fans

Tokyo Verdy 1969 and former Japan forward Nobuhiro Takeda gave a farewell speech to the fans after his team's 3-0 Emperor's Cup quarterfinal defeat to Kawasaki Frontale at Tokyo Stadium on Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2001

Manhattan Cafe wins Arima Memorial

FUNABASHI, Chiba Pref. -- Manhattan Cafe and American Boss turned the tables on top picks T.M. Opera O and Meisho Doto as they wrapped up the Arima Memorial race Sunday with a 1-2 finish that capped the Japanese racing year with a decidely un-Japanese ring.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2001

Government admits rejecting report that warned of BSE

Japan rejected a report by the European Union that warned of a high risk of mad cow disease in Japan, before the discovery of the country's first case, officials of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has acknowledged.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2001

Penal Code violations leap to record high 2.5 million

The number of Penal Code violations reported between January and November hit a record high 2,508,983, the National Police Agency said in a report.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2001

UFJ Financial Group pulls a switch on choice for new Sanwa chief

Masashi Teranishi, senior managing director at Sanwa Bank, will become president of UFJ Bank when it is launched Jan. 15, instead of Sanwa Bank President Kaneo Muromachi, as had been earlier decided, a Sanwa Bank spokesman said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2001

Automakers happy, farmers angry

The domestic auto industry welcomed the compromise Friday between Japan and China on a trade dispute.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2001

NKK and Kawasaki Steel to team up as JFE Group

NKK Corp. and Kawasaki Steel Corp. plan to rename themselves JFE Group when they merge under a joint holding company in October, the firms announced Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2001

How do you say Glay in Chinese?

Charismatic rock group Glay is embarking on a mission that even the gray generation of Japanese leaders think very difficult, if not impossible: to fine-tune the country's often rocky ties with China and keep them humming along.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Thailand's FTA idea has bureaucrats troubled

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent unexpected proposal for a free-trade agreement has Japanese policymakers tearing their hair out.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Hitachi to sell off monorail service

The Hitachi group announced Thursday it will sell off a controlling share of its stock in a monorail subsidiary that links central Tokyo and Haneda airport to East Japan Railway Co. for 7 billion yen.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2001

Police toughen measures against drunken driving

The National Police Agency has drafted tougher measures to crack down on drunken driving, including plans to lower the minimum amount of alcohol that can be consumed before driving and to make it impossible to get a license again if a driver kills someone while under its influence.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2001

Up to three years sought for former LTCB execs

Prosecutors sought on Wednesday prison terms of up to three years for three former top executives of the failed Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, the predecessor of Shinsei Bank, for falsifying financial statements for the 1997 business year to conceal 313 billion yen in bad loans.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2001

Sanyo to introduce work-share system

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. plans to introduce a work-sharing system in April in the first such move by a major consumer electronics maker in Japan, company officials said Wednesday.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?