Search - 2000

 
 
BUSINESS
May 14, 2001

Koizumi's chance to change privileged corporate entities

Now that Mr. Junichiro Koizumi has been elected Prime Minister on his campaign to "Change Japan," one issue that should not be overlooked is how Japan approaches its government-run special corporate entities, or "SPEs."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 13, 2001

A passion for Japan

SIEBOLD AND JAPAN: His Life and Work, by Arlette Kouwenhouven, with Matthi Forrer. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2000, 112 pp., with 87 plates, 3,200 yen. Shortly after arriving in Japan in 1823, Philipp Franz von Siebold wrote to a relative back in Holland, "I do not intend to leave Japan until I have...
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2001

Portrait of California's nisei generation brings out diversity

GROWING UP NISEI: Race, Generation, and Culture among Japanese Americans of California, 1924-49, by David K. Yoo. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000, 180 pp., no price. The experiences of second-generation Japanese Americans -- the Great Depression, world war, postwar prosperity and Cold War...
JAPAN
May 11, 2001

Sumitomo settles copper trading suit

Sumitomo Corp. said Thursday it will pay an out-of-court settlement of $87.5 million to 51 companies that sued the firm in the United States in October 1999 over unauthorized copper trading by a former employee who is now in prison.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2001

Net profit at Bandai soars 906.7%

Bandai Co., Japan's largest toy maker, said Thursday its group net profit skyrocketed 906.7 percent in fiscal 2000 to 12.9 billion yen on strong sales of its character goods and one-off gains from the sale of some of its shareholdings in affiliates.
SOCCER / J. League
May 11, 2001

Japan side, coach Troussier honored with AFC awards

Japan's national soccer team and its coach Philippe Troussier were honored as the Asian Football Confederation's National Team of the Year and the Coach of the Year, while the Player of the Year award went to Saudi Arabia and Al-Hilal midfielder Nawaf Al Temyat, the Japan Football Association announced...
BUSINESS
May 10, 2001

Foreigners beat 1 trillion yen

Foreign investors' net purchases of Japanese stocks last month topped 1 trillion yen for the first time in 22 months.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2001

Shiseido posts first loss since 1945

Shiseido Co., the nation's largest cosmetics maker, said Tuesday that it posted its first loss in 55 years in fiscal 2000 ended March 31, 2001, due to shortfalls in its pension and retirement reserves.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
May 10, 2001

High marks for Bush at home

It's 100 days and counting for U.S. President George W. Bush. So far, so good. His approval ratings are better than those of most of his predecessors at this stage. He survived his first international crisis nicely, achieving the return of the American aircrew who ditched their EP-3 surveillance plane...
JAPAN
May 10, 2001

State eyes stricter rules to make boating safer

The Transport Ministry launched an initiative Wednesday to revise safety rules and regulations to stem the rising tide of accidents involving motorboats, yachts, ski jets and other recreational vessels.
MORE SPORTS
May 10, 2001

Beach Volleyball's Ishizaka aiming to become golf pro

Former beach volleyball player Yukiko Ishizaka, who competed for Japan in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, announced plans Tuesday to try and join the women's professional golf ranks. Revealing her long-held ambition, the 33-year-old Ishizaka said "I would like to win a tournament on the Japan Tour...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

Pioneer earnings up in '00

Japanese audio equipment maker Pioneer Corp. said Tuesday its group net profit in fiscal 2000 rose 39.9 percent to 18.30 billion yen thanks to brisk sales of its plasma display panels.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

Fuji Photo Film announces increased group net profit

Fuji Photo Film Co. announced Tuesday a 38.9 percent jump in group net profit in fiscal 2000 from the preceding year to 117.90 billion yen, boosted mainly by appraisal profit in stockholdings that it transferred to its pension fund. The group's pretax profit rose 45.8 percent to 197.33 billion yen in...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

Takefuji reports 10th straight year of record profits

Takefuji Corp., the nation's largest consumer finance company, on Tuesday reported a record group net profit for fiscal 2000 for the 10th straight year on the strength of ultralow interest rates that have dramatically reduced its fundraising costs.
JAPAN
May 9, 2001

Patient approach advocated

Japan will continue to "patiently" pursue normalization talks with North Korea, although the two countries remain at odds on key issues, the Foreign Ministry said in its annual report released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

DoCoMo to cut phone fees by offering free calls

NTT DoCoMo Inc. will effectively cut its monthly mobile phone fees by adding free calls worth up to 400 yen starting in June, company officials said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2001

Links in a chain of ambiguity

As the spring exhibition season hits its stride, the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art has come up with an accessible and quite interesting show in the diffusely titled "Chain of Visions -- Family, Politics and Religion in the Last Generation of Italian Contemporary Art." The exhibition features about...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 9, 2001

Daiei's pitching shuttle service

What in the world are they thinking? That's the question many Japanese baseball observers were asking when the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks announced the signing of left-handed American pitcher Chris Haney in mid-April.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2001

Bush could kill Kyoto treaty

U.S. President George W. Bush announced in late March that his administration did not support the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that requires industrialized countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a way to prevent global warming.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Holiday road deaths down from 2000

Some 47 vacationers were killed in traffic accidents during the Golden Week holiday period, which fell between April 28 and May 6, police said Monday.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Widow's appeal over stocks rejected

The Tokyo High Court has thrown out an appeal by the widow of a supporter of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi demanding the return of shares in NTT DoCoMo Inc. from the late prime minister's chief secretary, her lawyer said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2001

The politics of land and race

The Western consensus about Zimbabwe holds that having inherited a country that was as beautiful as it was prosperous, and with the goodwill of the world behind him, President Robert Mugabe has outstayed his welcome at home, outlived his usefulness to his country and exhausted the patience and goodwill...
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Insurers reach out to women at risk

"Korobanu saki no tsue," goes an old Japanese saying. Literally "a cane before stumbling," the maxim holds that preparedness can soften, if not prevent, a fall. Today, insurance is often the cane people keep in hand.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Deportation move decried

The government's decision to deport the man claiming to be the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il without officially confirming his identity is apparently a diplomatic consideration aimed at steadying Japan's troubled relations with Pyongyang.

Longform

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