Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

State may scrap bar exam

A government panel on judicial reform plans to urge the government to abolish national bar examinations and introduce new tests for graduates of law schools modeled on those in the U.S. and scheduled to be established in Japan, according to panel members.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

Kyodo begins work on new offices

Kyodo News, Japan's leading news agency, held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday to commemorate the start of construction of its new 34-story headquarters in the Shiodome district of Tokyo's Minato Ward.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2000

NHK film to be available at archive

on Friday divulged a plan to store all the films and video footage of its 50 years in television broadcasting in an archive that can be accessed by personal computers via fiber-optic wires. The public broadcaster said it will index 1.56 million films and videotapes that it has aired since its foundation...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2000

Japan still No. 1 ODA donor

Japan's official development assistance of $15.32 billion in 1999 made it the world's top donor to developing countries for the ninth consecutive year, according to an annual report on ODA endorsed Friday by Cabinet.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2000

Ministries at odds on greenhouse gas

The Environment Agency and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry are at odds on how to handle junked automobile air conditioners and the ozone-depleting greenhouse gases they contain, sources said.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2000

Commercial Code to undergo sweeping decontrols

The government on Thursday unveiled a package of structural reforms, including frontloading some proposed revisions to the Commercial Code.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2000

No rush to grant foreigners voting rights

A major domestic political debate is brewing over whether non-Japanese permanent residents should be granted the right to vote in local elections of prefectural governors, prefectural legislators, and chiefs and council members of lower local administrative entities. Those foreigners will still be ineligible...
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2000

Don't shortchange young readers

Despite all the talk about the need for educational reforms, little serious attention is being paid to a fundamental way in which Japan's schoolchildren are being shortchanged. Except among the educators directly involved, few have expressed concern over the Education Ministry's announcement that libraries...
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2000

Honda's updated fuel cell-powered vehicle unveiled

Honda Motor Co. on Thursday unveiled a new fuel cell-powered vehicle that has a quicker startup time, more sophisticated control systems and a smaller drive motor -- improvements that take the high-tech car one step closer to commercial viability.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2000

Chemical firms Mitsui, Takeda tie up

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Wednesday that they have agreed to set up a joint venture by integrating their urethane chemicals and urethane composite materials businesses.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2000

Medical insurance scheme bankrupt by 2002: ministry

The government's medical insurance scheme for smaller firms, which covers nearly 20 million salaried workers, will be effectively bankrupt by the end of fiscal 2002, the Ministry of Health and Welfare revealed Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2000

Honda revamp cuts production time 30%

Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it has completed rationalization of its auto production at its plant in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, which will shorten by more than 30 percent the average time it takes to assemble automobiles.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2000

Leaders agree to coordinate Pyongyang policies

ATAMI, Shizuoka Pref. -- Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung reaffirmed the importance of coordinating their North Korea policies in their talks here Saturday, the first since the two Koreas' historic meeting in June.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Korean to be part of college test

The government is to add Korean to the list of foreign languages that applicants can be tested in when taking entrance examinations for state-run universities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Crown Princess' dad named as possible U.N. ICJ judge

The government will field former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations and the Crown Princess' father, Hisashi Owada, in an election for the post of a U.N. International Court of Justice judge, scheduled for late 2002, government sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

Kumagai Gumi to restructure

Kumagai Gumi Co. unveiled a restructuring plan Monday under which the debt-ridden construction firm will ask 15 creditors to forgive debts totaling 450 billion yen.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

School libraries short 66 million books

Libraries at the nation's elementary schools and junior high schools are a combined 65.79 million books short of government standards for class sizes, the Education Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2000

Regional banks seek 95 billion yen injection

Chiba Kogyo Bank and Yachiyo Bank on Monday asked the government for a combined 95 billion yen in taxpayers' money to bolster their fragile capital bases.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

Agency to unveil stricter requirements for diesels

As part of efforts to improve the dismal air quality in Japan's major cities, the Environment Agency will announce today that diesel automobiles will have to meet stricter standards beginning in 2002, Agency officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2000

Elevated dioxin, PCB found in fish

Elevated levels of dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls were found in the livers of squid, cod and bottom-dwelling sharks off the coast of Japan, according to interim results from an Environment Agency survey released Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2000

MITI to abolish subsidy for solar power in homes

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry plans to scrap government subsidies for solar power generation equipment for household use at the end of fiscal 2002 in order to boost competition in the industry, ministry sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

Panel approves new reactor

An advisory panel on Monday endorsed a plan by Chugoku Electric Power Co. to build a new nuclear reactor in Shimane Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2000

More places to go on license plates

The Transport Ministry plans to allow local authorities to put the geographical names of their choice on automobile license plates.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2000

Plan for spy-satellite system is finalized

Japan's plan to set up a system of four reconnaissance satellites has been finalized, with Kagoshima Prefecture chosen as the second of two sites for the system's ground antennas, according to a government source.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Motorcycle makers gear up to tackle domestic slump

Despite brisk business in the global market, Japanese motorcycle makers have for years watched their domestic sales slide.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Agreement signed in 'Nishi-Tokyo'

Faced with a declining birthrate and falling tax revenues, officials of the cities of Hoya and Tanashi in western Tokyo signed an agreement Thursday to launch the merger of the two municipalities.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2000

Tokyo government to seize land for dump site

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to break a 6-year-old impasse with environmentalists by expropriating two plots of land to expand a municipal landfill in the town of Hinode, western Tokyo, officials announced Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2000

If Europe can unify currency, why can't Southeast Asia?

The Southeast Asian economy has reportedly found the path to recovery after being crippled by the regional financial crisis of 1997.

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