Search - 2000

 
 
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2001

Moody's lowers Sega's debt rating

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Thursday that it has lowered Sega Corp.'s debt rating to B3 from B2, reflecting the computer game company's weaker-than-expected performance and eroding financial flexibility.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 2, 2001

Shimoyanagi makes final appeal

Disgruntled Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi made a final appeal in his fight over a pay increase Wednesday when a salary arbitration committee of Japanese baseball held a hearing from both sides.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2001

New French plant aims to build up Toyota's Europe presence

VALENCIENNES, France -- Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, started manufacturing the Yaris compact model at its first plant in France here on Wednesday, part of the company's efforts to increase its presence in Europe.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Clothing firm called for tax evasion

Tax authorities have filed a criminal complaint against Tokyo-based apparel maker/wholesaler Cocue Co. on suspicion of hiding about 280 million yen in taxable income and evading some 90 million yen in corporate taxes.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2001

New French plant aims to build up Toyota's Europe presence

VALENCIENNES, France -- Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, started manufacturing the Yaris compact model at its first plant in France here on Wednesday, part of the company's efforts to increase its presence in Europe.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Clothing firm called for tax evasion

Tax authorities have filed a criminal complaint against Tokyo-based apparel maker/wholesaler Cocue Co. on suspicion of hiding about 280 million yen in taxable income and evading some 90 million yen in corporate taxes.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Mori highlights reform, recovery, IT

Introduction At the opening of the 151st session of the Diet, as the prime minister of Japan charged with the affairs of state as we mark the turn of the century, I would like to state my views as I once again brace myself to bear forward the burden of responsibility in this historical era.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Mori highlights reform, recovery, IT

Introduction At the opening of the 151st session of the Diet, as the prime minister of Japan charged with the affairs of state as we mark the turn of the century, I would like to state my views as I once again brace myself to bear forward the burden of responsibility in this historical era.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2001

Scandals tipped to rock coming Diet proceedings

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opens the 150-day regular Diet session today amid a series of scandals involving members of his Liberal Democratic Party and a Foreign Ministry bureaucrat.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2001

Ajinomoto to dissolve investment unit in Singapore

Ajinomoto Co. said Monday it will dissolve A.I.F. Investment Pte. Ltd., its wholly owned Singaporean subsidiary, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2001

Mayors want end to night landing exercises

Mayors of cities hosting military bases where the U.S. Navy practices night landings gathered Monday in Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, and agreed that they will jointly call for an end to the exercises on mainland Japan.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2001

Industrial activity on the decline

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry downgraded its assessment of the nation's industrial activity Monday for the first time since September 1998, despite modest growth seen in the October-December quarter.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2001

Auto exports break losing streak

Japanese automobile exports in 2000 inched up 1 percent from the previous year to 4,454,887 units, the first increase in three years, an industry group said Monday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 30, 2001

The brocaded body beautiful

PEAU DE BROCART: Le Corps Tatoue au Japon, by Philippe Pons. Paris: Seuil, 2000, 142 pp., plates (color, b/w) 60, FFr 230 (cloth). Rene Magritte has spoken of someone clad "only in the robe of her skin," and this concept of surface as substance is observed by the tattooing tradition of Japan, the...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 30, 2001

When does a faith become a cult?

FALUN GONG'S CHALLENGE TO CHINA: Spiritual Practice or "Evil Cult," by Danny Schechter. Akashic Books, 2000, 225 pp., $24 (cloth). Last year about this time, I visited Tiananmen Square, mingling with tourists and day-trippers enjoying the warmth of the midday sun. As I reminisced about this historic...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 30, 2001

Eminently sensible remediesfor Japan's economic woes

CAN JAPAN COMPETE?, by Michael Porter, Hirotaka Takeuchi and Mariko Sakakibara. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Publishing, 2000, 208 pp., $27.50 (cloth). The title has got to go. "Can Japan Compete?" What sort of question is that? Of course Japan can compete. No one disputes that the country has world-beating...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2001

Japan may avert winter flu epidemic

Japan may be spared from a winter influenza epidemic like the one that claimed nearly 600 lives in the 1999-2000 season, health ministry officials said Monday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 29, 2001

Was Pearl Harbor really a surprise?

My young colleague at work, Donald Howard, comes to me and wryly asks: Why is this Japanese office having a Christmas party on Dec. 7? Impressed by his historical acuity, I only manage: Well, from the Japanese perspective, the Pearl Harbor assault didn't take place on Dec. 7, but on Dec. 8 in the predawn...
COMMUNITY
Jan 28, 2001

Rip'em up, tear 'em up

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you've ever had the pleasure of watching a U.S. college or pro football game on television, you'll notice one thing invariably. Just before the commercial they'll pan to a too-cute-to-be-true cheerleader.
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 28, 2001

Playing 'The Mikado' in the 'Town of Titipu'

At a handsome old farmhouse turned coffee shop in Chichibu, western Saitama Prefecture, Yasuichi Tsukagoshi, 58, anxiously awaits March 10 when his cherished dream will come true.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2001

Corruption in China: business as usual?

Hardly a week goes by in China now without some leader being executed or arraigned for corruption. And the level of the officials being charged and convicted (much the same thing in China) is rising.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2001

Mori plans to visit U.S. in February

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori plans to visit the United States for three days starting Feb. 10 to meet U.S. President George W. Bush, Japanese government officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2001

Third-quarter profits at Sony tumble 19.6%

Sony Corp. recorded consolidated pretax profits of 133.42 billion yen for the third quarter of fiscal 2000, down 19.6 percent from the corresponding period the previous year, company officials said Thursday.

Longform

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