Search - 2002

 
 
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

Panel hopes to spur reform with deregulation zones

A government advisory panel on deregulation has proposed creating special deregulation zones and compiling an interim report as early as June.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Mar 14, 2002

Rally has put 12,000 in Nikkei's cross hairs

During the recent rally on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the 225-issue Nikkei average broke the 11,000 resistance line.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

Firms stand hard against pay-scale hikes

Most companies in the nation's four major industrial sectors on Wednesday offered no pay-scale increases beyond standard yearly hikes in spring wage talks with their labor unions, highlighting the severity of the economic slump.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

S&P downplays drug price cuts

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Wednesday that the Japanese government's planned cuts in drug reimbursement prices will have a limited impact on its ratings for seven Japanese pharmaceuticals.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2002

Nissan to sell factory site to Buddhists

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it will sell most of the site of a former auto plant in western Tokyo to a Buddhist organization for 73.9 billion yen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 13, 2002

I take it back, gladly

When writing recently about Seiji Ozawa's very successful "New Year's Concert 2002" album, I made a passing reference to his "nasally voiced" nephew, Kenji Ozawa.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2002

Machinery orders dive 15.6%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 15.6 percent in January to 763.8 billion yen, due to a sharp fall in orders from nonmanufacturers, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2002

JR Freight expects revenues to fall

JR Freight Co., the cargo operator of the JR group, unveiled Monday its business plan for 2002, predicting the economic slump will continue and push down the firm's overall revenues by 7.1 billion yen from the previous year to 159.3 billion yen.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Mar 12, 2002

Unswayed by GDP fall, Nikkei rally sets in

The Tokyo stock market has turned bullish and an unexpectedly strong rally has kicked off.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2002

Time to fasten the seat belt

The Lower House passage of the fiscal 2002 government budget on Wednesday represents a sort of victory for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration. The vote ensures, by virtue of a constitutional provision giving priority to Lower House budget decisions, that the 81-trillion yen package clears...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 11, 2002

Sluggish Jubilo goes top

Jubilo Iwata overcame a sluggish performance to rally over shorthanded Tokyo Verdy 1969 3-2, thanks to Toshiya Fujita's 85th-minute penalty on Sunday at Tokyo Stadium.
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

One nation under a hip-hop groove

Downtown West Shinjuku. The company workers have all gone home, leaving the streets quiet except for the sound of traffic.
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

The state of trance

Trance: It has seeped deep into this city's ambience. Aside from the clubs, where you'll likely find four or five trance events every weekend, and the massive summertime outdoor festivals, it's always in the air, and unmistakable. Wander into any Roppongi watering hole or strip club; pop into any funky...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 10, 2002

'Genji': the long and the shorter of it

The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Royall Tyler. Viking, 2001, 1,174 pp., $60 (cloth) In the February 2002 issue of the monthly journal Eureka, Fusae Kawazoe gives a rundown of translations of Murasaki Shikibu's "The Tale of Genji" -- not only into foreign languages, but into modern...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 10, 2002

A few blooming good wines

The month of March moves us toward spring and the brilliant profusion of cherry trees in bloom. During the gray, damp days on the late edge of winter, we daydream of hanami parties. In Tokyo, we'll play a guitar on a blanket in Inokashira Park, eat sushi rolls under the tunnel of blossoms in Aoyama Cemetery,...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

Can stock market continue its rebound?

Tokyo stocks have rebounded strongly in recent days, reflecting an increase in optimism among investors.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

Panel urges NTT units to cut access charges

A telecom ministry panel on Friday finalized a report that calls on NTT's regional carriers to cut access charges by more than 10 percent.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

Business heads call for reforms

Business leaders on Friday called on the government to promptly carry out tax reforms and take other steps to bolster economic activity after the latest key data confirmed that Japan is in a dire recession.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Mar 7, 2002

Enron mania and other diversions

www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,50688,00.htmThe Spudmeister feels like he's cheating a bit here, directing you to a mere article, but it may foretell the next step in digital piracy. The tool tomorrow's pirates are using today is the iPod.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2002

Tobishima to speed up debt cut

Construction company Tobishima Corp. said Tuesday it has devised a new rehabilitation plan to cut its group interest-bearing debts of 135 billion yen by 50 billion yen over three years.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Mar 5, 2002

2002 on hold as JAWOC ponders making a decision

My Korean girlfriend has come to the conclusion that the Japanese couldn't organize a bun fight in a bakery, let alone a World Cup.
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2002

Tepco plans 7% rate cut

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday it will cut electricity rates by an average of 7.02 percent in April under a three-year business plan aimed at bolstering its competitiveness.
SOCCER / J. League / TALK OF THE TIMES
Mar 4, 2002

Cerezo hopes to take Kashima to third J. League title

Kashima Antlers boss Toninho Cerezo has had a remarkable two seasons with his J. League Division One club despite his short coaching experience.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2002

Bush suffers economic jet lag

What is it about a trip to East Asia that turns the minds of shrewd politicians like President George W. Bush and his national security advisers into mush? Once again, an American president and his entourage have traveled to Asia. And once again, jet lag, inadequate oxygen in Air Force One or something...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2002

Apologies to Seoul and Beijing

SAN DIEGO -- When it comes to the histories and cultures of the countries of the Pacific, the U.S. president either received a lousy education at Andover and Yale or else failed to study.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 3, 2002

Wolves in wolves' clothing

How Guitar Wolf is still going after 15 years of unadulterated sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll madness is a miracle. It's not like they're cashed-up like Keith Richards and can hit an exclusive Swiss clinic to have their blood replaced with that of fresh virgins every other week.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.