Search - 2003

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2003

Hope for Germany's recovery

The German economy, long the engine of Europe, has been sputtering of late. The nation's gross domestic product has registered little or no growth, the unemployment rate is climbing and, for the second consecutive year, the government budget deficit will top the 3 percent limit set by the European Union....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 14, 2003

Champions League to become more defensive with new format

LONDON -- The season has ground to a halt even though David Beckham's traveling circus is still touring the world, but it is time to look back on what we have learned from 2002-2003.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2003

Fund reform details to go in key report

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told his ministers Friday to ensure that the controversial issue of reforming the flow of money between the national and local governments is included in a key economic report scheduled to be finalized this month.
BUSINESS / Q&A
Jun 14, 2003

What do 'Trinity Reforms' mean for our taxes?

With Japan's public debt snowballing, the government is gearing up efforts to review national and local-level finances under what has been dubbed the "Trinity Re- forms" plan. But with differences within the government still unresolved, there is little likelihood of a conclusion in the near future.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2003

Jaguar, Fiat dealers to recall vehicles

Importers of Jaguar and Fiat cars and Harley-Davidson motorcycles said separately Thursday that they will recall some of the vehicles to repair defective parts.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2003

Quarterly GDP is revised upward

The economy grew a real 0.1 percent in the January-March quarter from the previous quarter, revised upward from the initially reported 0.006 percent rise, the government said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2003

UPS to buck economic trend and expand in Japan

Despite the current volatility of the economic climate, United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package delivery company, will actively expand operations in Japan, according to the head of UPS Asia Pacific Region.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2003

S. Korea emerges from Japan's shadow

NEW DELHI -- Despite resentment against Japan for its colonial domination of the Korean Peninsula (1910-1945), South Korea followed Japan in its model of postwar economic development. In both countries, the central government established close links between commercial banks and companies while ensuring...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jun 12, 2003

"Ned Mouse Breaks Away," "The Devil's Toenail"

"Ned Mouse Breaks Away," Tim Wynne-Jones, Groundwood Books; 2003; 192 pp. If you were caught playing with your spinach -- or worse, using long, stringy bits of it to write "I hate what Mom makes me eat" -- what would happen? You'd probably get grounded for a few days, right? But imagine if you got locked...
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2003

Tesco buys into Japan market

Major British retailer Tesco PLC announced Tuesday it will acquire Tokyo-based supermarket chain C Two-Network Co. for 32.8 billion yen, joining the growing list of foreign retail giants gaining a foothold in the world's second-largest economy.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2003

Number of people over 75 topped 10 million in 2002

The number of people aged 75 and older topped 10 million for the first time last year in another sign Japanese society is steadily aging, the government said Tuesday in an annual report.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jun 10, 2003

Security firm develops fuel-cell robot

Fuel cells that generate electricity via a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen are emerging as an environment-friendly alternative source of power.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 8, 2003

Empowered by consumerism

THE NEW JAPANESE WOMAN: Modernity, Media, and Women in Interwar Japan, by Barbara Sato. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2003, 241 pp., $19.95 (paper). Barbara Sato's excellent analysis of changes in gender discourse and women's identity in the 1920s recasts the landscape of 20th-century women's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jun 8, 2003

Synergetic possibilities at the heart

The piano trio is the heart of jazz. This core unit of piano, bass and drums pumps life into the music. All jazz groups, big or small, rely on the piano, bass and drums (called "the rhythm section") for their crucial thrust of energy. Taken out of a larger group, the piano trio contains all the essentials...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2003

Shiokawa extends tax reform olive branch

The deadlocked tax reform debate took a small step forward Friday, when Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa stated that he is ready to relinquish some national income tax revenue to give local governments room to raise residence taxes.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 6, 2003

Ongoing in Kanto: Meguro

"Digital Image 2003," till July 13.
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2003

Capital investment slides for sixth quarter in row

Capital investment dropped 3 percent in the January-March period from a year earlier, down for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to a Finance Ministry survey released Thursday.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 6, 2003

Ongoing in Kanto: Ibaraki & Gunma

Exhibition of Rosanjin Kitaoji, till June 29.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2003

SDF taps Peace Channel for PR blitz

By NAO SHIMOYACHI
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 4, 2003

'Chicago': After the movie, we had it coming

Bathed in bright lights, but almost shrouded by the haze of jazz, booze and dancing, lies a story of adultery, murder and greed. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to "Chicago."
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2003

SDF taps Peace Channel for PR blitz

By NAO SHIMOYACHI
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2003

SDF taps Peace Channel for PR blitz

By NAO SHIMOYACHI
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jun 3, 2003

Sanyo charging ahead in cell phone battery sector

Chances are if you use a mobile phone equipped with a camera, it's powered by a Sanyo battery.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 1, 2003

The flowered margin

TATTOOS OF THE FLOATING WORLD, by Takahiro Kitamura; foreword by Donald Richie. Hotei Publishing, 2003, 120 pp., 2,600 yen (cloth). In an age excessively concerned with outward appearances, official disapproval of tattoos in Japan is perhaps understandable. The Japanese are less seriously spooked by...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 1, 2003

Plagued by military politics

MILITARY POLITICS AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN INDONESIA, by Jun Honna. London: RoutedgeCurzon, 2003, 300 pp., $904 (cloth). With the collapse of a fragile ceasefire in Aceh, the Indonesian government has decided on a military solution to this long-festering problem. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has fought...
BUSINESS
May 30, 2003

Japan Post sees investment returns shrinking already

Japan Post expects returns on investments with postal savings funds over the next two years to fall 450 billion yen below expectations due to plunging long-term interest rates.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2003

Aozora sheds bad loans, ups profit

Aozora Bank said Wednesday it posted a group net profit of 23.4 billion yen in fiscal 2002, up 25 percent from the previous year, by shedding many bad loans from its portfolio and increasing its loans to good borrowers.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2003

Sony unveils massive restructuring plans

Sony Corp. said Wednesday it will place more emphasis on flat TVs and DVD recorders and spend 300 billion yen on a massive restructuring drive over the next three years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
May 29, 2003

"Power and Stone," "Rome"

"Power and Stone," Alice Leader, Puffin Books; May 2003; 249 pp. There's so much more to history than memorizing dates.

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