Search - 2002

 
 
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2001

Deregulation measures target health and labor

Japan should seek early deregulation in six priority areas, including health care, to build a consumer-friendly society and revive the faltering economy, a government advisory panel on deregulation said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2001

State likely to cut stake in Japan Tobacco

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's special committee on the tobacco and salt industry endorsed a Finance Ministry proposal Tuesday to cut the government's mandatory stake in Japan Tobacco Inc. to 50 percent from the current 66.7 percent in fiscal 2002 or later, LDP officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2001

Aid in works for hibakusha living abroad

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering earmarking about 500 million yen from the budget to help hibakusha living overseas come to Japan for treatment beginning in fiscal 2002, ministry officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2001

Japan, Mexico to hold FTA talks

Japan and Mexico will hold a two-day meeting in Mexico City to study details of a proposed bilateral free trade agreement, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2001

Swiss drug giant Roche to get control of Chugai

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. announced Monday that they will enter a strategic tieup that will place the Japanese drug maker under the umbrella of its Swiss partner but retain the Chugai name.
JAPAN / LAST CALL FOR SAKE
Dec 11, 2001

Bell tolls on last sake class

NIIGATA -- Yoshikawa High School in Niigata Prefecture is the only high school left that teaches students how to brew sake. But the current class will be the last to learn this ancient art.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Dec 11, 2001

Nikkei set to test 11,500

Share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange have begun rebounding since the key Nikkei average confirmed its second bottom at 10,030 on Nov. 12 following its fall to 9,504 on Sept. 17.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 7, 2001

Hara for FC Tokyo

FC Tokyo has named former Urawa Reds boss Hiromi Hara as the team's new manager for next season, officials of the J. League first-division side said Wednesday.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 6, 2001

World Cup ticket numbers drawn

The Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee held a draw Wednesday to pick the "lucky" numbers for second-round World Cup ticket applications from residents of Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Koizumi says he stands by pledge to shift road funds

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he stands by his pledge to shift national auto tax revenues from road construction to more general usage starting next fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Not all auto industry restructuring drives get same mileage

As Japanese companies in almost all sectors carry out large-scale restructuring, the auto industry can offer them a number of case studies that reflect varying measures of success.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 6, 2001

Is FIFA manipulating its balls correctly?

With 13 pots to pick the balls out of, you can probably say one of two things about last Saturday's World Cup draw in Korea: it was either potty or a load of balls.
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2001

Koizumi and LDP square off

With the government's decision to scrap or privatize seven key public corporations, including four highway corporations, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has cleared a major hurdle on the road to "structural reform with no sanctuary." Now his battle against the "resistance forces" -- the old guard of...
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2001

Hotel tax aired at Tokyo assembly

A bill that would add a tax of up to 200 yen per stay at Tokyo hotels was presented to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on the first day of its regular session Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 5, 2001

New-look Giants to lose M&M combo

The Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, besides the big change in managers from Shigeo Nagashima to Tatsunori Hara, will also take on a new look with regard to the teams foreign player roster next season. The M&M combo of pitcher Darrell May and first baseman-outfielder Domingo Martinez are not returning, and it appears...
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Dec 4, 2001

Bouncy market searches for clues

With stocks locked in a crosscurrent between optimism and fears over events in store for the rest of the year, activity on the Tokyo stock market has been subdued.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2001

Device to aid recycling of plastics

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Monday it and Shimadzu Corp. have jointly developed a high-accuracy plastics identification device to enable easier recycling of parts in household appliances.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2001

Uptick noticed in N. Korean economy

LONDON -- There is a bustle on the streets of Pyongyang that has been sorely missing for at least five years. The shops -- never consumers' havens -- have some goods on the shelves. Restaurants on Changgwang Street, North Korea's pale equivalent of Tokyo's Ginza, are open and serving. Even street vendors...
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2001

No change in stormy economic outlook

Political and economic conditions at the end of November seem to be in a lull or stalemate both in Japan and abroad. But this is only a passing phenomenon. It may be the case that signs of turmoil and instability are only temporarily receding below the surface as the yearend and New Year approach.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2001

Fujitsu to halt U.S. output of flash chips

Fujitsu Ltd. said Friday that it will stop producing flash memory semiconductors in the United States early next year due to cooling demand for the product worldwide amid falling prices.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

Plan to scrap highway project has local interests up in arms

Having decided to dismantle and privatize Japan Highway Public Corp., the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is now focusing on which road construction projects to cancel.
COMMENTARY
Nov 30, 2001

Pyongyang's missed chances

HONOLULU -- North Korea never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The latest example occurred last week when Pyongyang precipitated yet another breakdown in the North-South dialogue process, thus dealing a staggering blow to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's beleaguered "sunshine policy"...
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

Plan to scrap highway project has local interests up in arms

Having decided to dismantle and privatize Japan Highway Public Corp., the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is now focusing on which road construction projects to cancel.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 29, 2001

The battle is for second

The door to the haunted house creeks open and a terrified man with a mustache and chattering teeth peers in.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2001

Consolidated tax may debut after all

Facing pressure from within the government, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that the April deadline for introducing a consolidated taxation system can still be met.

Longform

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