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BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2000

BOJ chief reiterates desire to abandon 'zero-rate' policy

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Tuesday reiterated his desire to abandon the current "zero-interest-rate" policy, describing it as "unnatural."
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Sogo could be sold to U.S. equity fund

The Cerberus Group, a private U.S. equity fund that has already made an offer to buy the collapsed retail chain Nagasakiya, may also be interested in the failed department store chain Sogo Co.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2000

Whalers come out on top in IWC meeting

SYDNEY -- Once again Japanese whale-meat eaters have outwitted the world's whale lovers. Though those diners need not raise too many self-congratulatory cups of sake. Within a year or two the Tokyo whale restaurant tables could be overturned.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

DoCoMo joins investors in U.K. 3G cellphones

NTT DoCoMo Inc. will join forces with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. of Hong Kong and KPN Mobile N.V. of Holland to jointly invest in Hutchison 3G UK Holding Ltd., one of the five licensees for next-generation cellular operations in Britain, the three companies announced Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

Sogo files for rehabilitation with Tokyo District Court

Amid mounting public criticism, ailing department chain operator Sogo Co. and its group companies have filed for court-mandated rehabilitation with the Tokyo District Court, top officials of the firm announced Wednesday evening.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2000

Embattled Sogo sets up panel to share out managers' blame

Department store operator Sogo Co. said Monday that it will set up a panel to examine management responsibility as a way to obtain public understanding for a controversial government bailout plan.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2000

Government set to issue report on Sogo bailout

In response to public concern, the government will draft a statement explaining the bailout of department store operator Sogo Co. with taxpayers' money, officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2000

Diet to meet on taxpayer Sogo bailout

Diet committees will hold extraordinary sessions July 17-18 to scrutinize the planned public-funded bailout of ailing department store operator Sogo Co., legislators said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2000

Shinsei Bank joins bids to buy failed Life

Shinsei Bank, formerly the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, recently offered to buy failed consumer credit company Life Co., even though the bank refused to bail it out, Life sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2000

Hankyu to support Dai-Ichi Hotel rehabilitation

The Tokyo District Court decided Tuesday to launch rehabilitation proceedings for the failed Dai-Ichi Hotel Ltd. and four affiliated companies under the auspices of Hankyu Corp., an Osaka-based railway operator.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 5, 2000

The tyranny of the square

When talking to Ted Nelson, strap in tight. It's quite a ride. Trained as a philosopher and film director, he is equal parts visionary and crank. Many consider him to be one of the fathers of the World Wide Web. He coined the word "hypertext" in 1965, but he has become a scathing critic of the Web and...
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2000

U.S. fund to purchase Tokyo Sowa

Administrators of Tokyo Sowa Bank, a collapsed regional bank now under state control, announced Tuesday that they have signed a basic agreement to sell the bank to an investor group led by U.S. financier Wilbur Ross.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2000

Softbank's Son says stocks not in 'Net share bubble'

Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son on Thursday rejected criticism that Internet companies' share prices have been inflated as part of what industry analysts have termed a "Net share bubble."
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2000

Bankruptcy declared for realtor, unit

Real estate developer EIE International Corp. and its affiliate General Lease Co. have been declared bankrupt by the Tokyo District Court, a private credit research agency said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 19, 2000

Chromosome 21: new hope for Down's

The second human chromosome sequence to be mapped, chromosome 21, was published in the science journal Nature May 18, and is available free on the Internet.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Banks infused with public funds lend more

The 15 Japanese banks that received injections of public funds increased their lending to small and midsize firms by a total of 4.25 trillion yen in fiscal 1999, exceeding the 2.99 trillion yen increase previously pledged, the Financial Reconstruction Commission said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2000

NCB deficit grows 50.7 billion yen to 3.24 trillion yen

The capital deficit of Nippon Credit Bank, which is currently under state control, for the year that ended in March increased by some 50.7 billion yen over levels reported in September, the bank's earnings report showed Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 28, 2000

Gaj Singh

JODHPUR, India -- Mehrangarh Fort dominates the skyline of this walled, gated, desert city in Rajasthan, India. Five hundred years ago a hermit chose this imposing site for the fort, which commands the wide stretch of land below. Huge spikes were erected on massive barrier gates to counter the charges...
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2000

Rockets under review

There is no humor to be found in Japan's recent disappointing -- and expensive -- rocket failures. Nevertheless, the news that the spectacular crash of an H-II rocket last November may have been caused by design and planning errors does more than suggest that the nation's rocket scientists should go...
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

North Korea seen emerging

Japan, South Korea and the United States in a joint statement Friday praised North Korea for opening bilateral dialogue with all three nations following the Stalinist state's agreement to hold the first-ever inter-Korean summit in June.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Apr 12, 2000

Just browsing?

It used to be so simple. You had Eudora for your e-mail and your tiny Mosaic browser for trolling through text-only university archives and contemplating the bright future of the World! Wide! Web!
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2000

Coordination needed on North Korea

Japan, the United States and South Korea reaffirmed their commitment Thursday to closely coordinate policies toward North Korea in an effort to draw positive steps from Pyongyang for improving its relations with the three countries.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2000

Competition spurs flurry of mergers

The world's second largest telecommunications market is undergoing a rapid and radical transformation as deregulation, the Internet and mobile phones alter the way that Japanese people work and communicate.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Osaka convention center ready to open

The long-awaited Osaka International Convention Center has now been completed in the Kansai capital's Nakanoshima area and will open April 1.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

New LTCB boss details his vision for the future

The chief executive officer of the newly privatized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan has vowed that he will strive to transform the institution into a highly profitable commercial bank, utilizing high-level expertise from western financial institutions.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Feb 9, 2000

Enemy of the corporate state

A few months ago while shopping for an iMac DV, I faced a dilemma. It wasn't the matter of sticking with Apple, but about whether I should buy it locally. Aside from issues of availability, price and OS language, there was the DVD bugaboo.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2000

KEDO ready to begin construction on nuclear reactors

Staff writer Full-scale construction of two light-water reactors in North Korea is set to begin by mid-February, Desaix Anderson, executive director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, said in an interview. On Monday in Tokyo, Japan signed a loan agreement with KEDO to provide up...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Japan signs pact for North Korea reactors

Japan signed an agreement Monday to finance the construction of two light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea, completing the funding of the project under an 1994 accord between the United States and North Korea on Pyongyang's abandonment of its nuclear development program. The loan agreement was...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 1999

A diplomatic 'paper tiger'?

In recent years, we have seen active debate on Japan's sanctions-based diplomacy. Discussions focused on the justifications for and effects of sanctions, as well as changes in the balance of power resulting from the lifting of such measures. The lifting of sanctions against North Korea Dec. 14 renewed...

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan