Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Fuji eruption evacuation map in works

A council working on measures to be taken in the event that Mount Fuji erupts met Wednesday and received a report by experts on the creation of a map of areas that could be affected.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2002

Canon to merge two subsidiaries

Printer maker Canon Inc. said Wednesday it will merge subsidiaries Canon Aptex Inc. and Copyer Co. to create a new company specializing in office printers.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2002

Postal bills 'counterproductive': Yamato chief

The president of major courier firm Yamato Transport Co. on Tuesday criticized a set of of four postal services deregulation bills being debated in the Diet and reiterated his company's decision not to enter the mail delivery business.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Ogi hits plan to use gas tax for environmental protection

Transport minister Chikage Ogi balked Tuesday at a proposal by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to spend part of 2.8 trillion yen in gasoline tax revenues on measures to safeguard the environment.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2002

Domestic retailers brace for Seiyu-Wal-Mart impact

Japan's retail industry, suffering from a decade-long economic slump and the advance of powerful specialty discount stores, is gearing up to compete with another formidable player.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2002

Government may relax messenger-service deadline

The government may relax a requirement that any messenger service entering the mail-delivery sector deliver express parcels within three hours, posts minister Toranosuke Katayama said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Kansai airport faces struggle over funds for extra runway

The top bureaucrat in the transport ministry said Thursday the specter of weak demand for a second runway at Kansai International Airport has made the ministry wary of taking any budgetary steps to fund its construction.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jun 6, 2002

Lessons learned from E3 gathering

Few people could have been happier to see the end to this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) than Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA).
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Koizumi postal reforms draw flak from LDP vested interests

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was criticized Tuesday by a lawmaker from his own Liberal Democratic Party over his long-held goal to privatize the nation's postal services.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Food Ministry not in cards: Takebe

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe on Tuesday denied a newspaper report his ministry is considering changing its name by as early as fiscal 2003.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Hitachi, IBM to integrate their hard disk operations

Hitachi Ltd. and International Business Machines Corp. on Tuesday announced an agreement to integrate their hard disk drive businesses under a joint company to be majority-owned by Hitachi.
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2002

Listen to an ad, get a free call

Telecom venture Third Line Communications Co. said Monday it has launched a new fixed-line phone service that allows users to speak for free for about three minutes if they first listen to corporate ads for about 15 seconds.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2002

LDP panels want Koizumi to leave works spending alone

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed at a joint panel meeting Friday to urge the government to avoid cutting public works spending or using road construction-specific tax revenues for general purposes in the fiscal 2003 budget.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2002

Tax panel calls for investment and R&D breaks

The Finance Ministry's Tax Commission on Friday unveiled a reform outline that would allow corporations to write off investments and spending on research and development.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2002

Make the world a better place for children

From May 8 to 10, the streets of New York City were adorned by the presence of 60 heads of state and their bodyguards, 3,000 government officials, 3,000 nongovernmental organizations and children from 180 countries. They were delegates of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children,...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Lower House takes up postal bills

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications opened debate Thursday over a set of four postal services deregulation bills.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 31, 2002

Encouraging kids to think for themselves

"Is it really OK for school to be this much fun?"
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Civil servants face reductions in salary, benefits

A Finance Ministry advisory panel has drafted a proposal for the fiscal 2003 budget that calls for curtailing the salaries of civil servants, as well as unemployment and other welfare benefits, panel sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Fukuda nixes talk of raising consumption tax

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration is not planning to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in the near future, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday, dismissing a government panel's proposal to the contrary.
MORE SPORTS
May 27, 2002

Tongans overpower Japan 41-29

KUMAGAYA, Saitama Pref. -- Japan's build-up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup received a set back on Sunday when it lost 41-29 to Tonga at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Saitama Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 26, 2002

Waxing monstrously about the first Japanese I ever got to know

The first Japanese I fell in love with was a little taller than my wife.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2002

DIC spends 9.05 trillion yen covering bad-loan losses

The government-run Deposit Insurance Corp. spent a combined 9.05 trillion yen in the four years to March 31 to enable dozens of failed banks to fully refund depositors, the Financial Services Agency said in a report Friday.
COMMUNITY
May 25, 2002

Ocean photographer passionate over dying seas

He stands on the prow of a ship, camera ready for the perfect shot of dolphins as they leap skyward. He directs film and video for movies and TV to amaze viewers with images of whales. And he dives with underwater equipment to record the life of the oceans. Meet Bob Talbot, indisputably the most respected...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 24, 2002

Asahara's counsel begins defense

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's defense counsel began its arguments Thursday in his Tokyo District Court trial on charges of murder and other offenses related to the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack and other crimes.
JAPAN
May 24, 2002

Pesticide found in spinach at Jonathan's restaurants

Illegally high levels of pesticide residue have been found in frozen spinach imported from China and used by the Jonathan's restaurant chain, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced Thursday.
JAPAN
May 23, 2002

Panel to mull bids for 15 new colleges

The education ministry has asked an advisory panel to study applications to establish 15 new universities in fiscal 2003, according to ministry officials.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 23, 2002

Helper dogs get legal power to work in public facilities

The Diet enacted a law Wednesday that makes it mandatory for public and transportation facilities to permit the entry of helper dogs that accompany disabled people.
JAPAN
May 22, 2002

Private schools plan uniform entry exams

The Tokyo Private Junior and Senior High Schools Association has started discussions on introducing standardized high school entrance exams for accredited students in fiscal 2003, association and school sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2002

Koizumi may send observers to private German postal firm

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday proposed sending a team to a German postal firm to observe privatized postal services.
MORE SPORTS
May 21, 2002

Japan hammers Russia 59-19

Japan opened its build-up toward the 2003 World Cup with a resounding 59-19 win over Russia at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.

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