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JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Ex-Sogo chief denies firm managed badly

Hiroo Mizushima, the longtime chairman of failed department store chain Sogo Co., on Thursday flatly denied that he sloppily managed the firm, although he said he is deeply aware of his responsibility as chief executive.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

'I never worry about getting lost. I can feel the roads.'

Idid not start my education until I was 17. There are simply too few chances for blind kids to get an education in China, let alone a poor country boy like me. Only about 5 percent of blind Chinese have any schooling. Still, my childhood was a happy one. I did almost all the things a country boy does,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 1, 2000

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has changed most of all?

When I look in the mirror each morning, I pretty much see what I expect . . .
CULTURE / Books
Oct 31, 2000

Hard lessons Japan failed to learn

JAPAN'S FINANCIAL CRISIS AND ITS PARALLELS TO U.S. EXPERIENCE, edited by Ryoichi Mikitani and Adam S. Posen. Washington: Institute for International Economics, Special Report 13, Sept. 2000, 228 pp., $20. There's an old joke about a politician's plea for a one-handed economist, one who can't say, "but...
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2000

Glamour in a good cause

There was a gathering at the United Nations in New York last Monday that nobody paid much attention to. The World Series and a high-wattage Senate race were distracting New Yorkers. A murderous flareup in the Middle East and a surreal encounter in Pyongyang were distracting the rest of the world.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

Nine stores to close in Sogo revival plan

The Sogo department store group unveiled a comprehensive revival plan Wednesday that includes the closure of nine of its 22 existing stores and the slashing of the group's workforce by 3,100 employees to 6,000.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

FTC investigates NTT East access tactics

The Fair Trade Commission is investigating a regional telephone unit of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. for allegedly blocking other companies from starting digital Internet services, a violation of the Antimonopoly Law, commission sources said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 24, 2000

Portrait of Laos, Asia's 'forgotten country'

LAOS: Culture and Society, edited by Grant Evans. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2000, 313 pp., $24.95 The colorful volumes of anthropology produced in the past by gifted amateurs, lady travelers of independent means, colonial officers and the like, have been replaced by the works of highly trained...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 22, 2000

ZERI student volunteer recalls Expo experience

Agreeing to be interviewed but only 18, Ikuko Sato brought along her elder sister Kyoko for support. Actually, Kyoko had her own motive for joining us. Soon to visit a Filipino friend in England, she wanted information on traveling in the U.K.: "Is there a special rail pass for tourists? And what do...
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2000

Reform starts with big business

Two of Japan's four largest business organizations, Keidanren (Federation of Economic Organizations) and Nikkeiren (Federation of Employers Associations), have decided to merge by May 2002. A task force will be working out details by the end of the year, including the proposed name and articles of association...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 18, 2000

Rootless, wandering nomads on the shifting sands of time

Of all the things I have given my children (bicycles, braces and bald chromosomes) and of all the things I would like to give them (resilience, compassion and an early introduction to Rogaine) nothing seems farther beyond my meager means than the one gift I care to bestow the most:
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2000

Accounting practices blamed for slump in Japanese films

The chief executive of a Tokyo financial management company launched in late September hopes her new business saves Japanese films from a long slump.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 8, 2000

Plenty to get antsy about at your local bank

Today we will examine something I refer to as Anthill Economics. The other day when I entered the local anthill, i.e., the bank, the usual staff of 33 employees greeted me. The most customers I've ever seen inside the bank is 10, but that's not the point. The anthill employs as many ants as possible...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2000

Britain's future is at the heart of Europe

Britain is still on course to join the euro despite the narrow rejection of formal membership by Denmark in last week's referendum. Denmark is Europe's second-smallest country, represents only 2 percent of European gross national product, and anyway has already tied its currency, the krone, to the euro....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2000

Singapore media monopolies break into rival's turf

SINGAPORE -- Competition in Singapore's expanding media industry is growing more intense as the two rival main players prepare to slug it out, having pumped in millions of dollars to upgrade existing projects and invest in new ones.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2000

Today's Luddites go global

LONDON -- The Seattle protesters who fought the World Trade Organization and those in Prague who demonstrated recently against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are a mixed crew: anarchists, anticapitalist thugs and groups anxious to help the poorer people of the world. None of them...
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2000

Firms continue to be optimistic: 'tankan'

The outlook of the nation's corporations -- particularly large manufacturers -- continued to improve over the past three months, according to the latest quarterly "tankan" business sentiment survey, released Tuesday by the Bank of Japan.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2000

Suspect cop handed to prosecutors

Police on Sunday handed to prosecutors a 52-year-old Tokyo policeman suspected of passing confidential information, including criminal records, to a detective agency run by his former chief.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Shelter plan for park's homeless hit

OSAKA -- A municipal government plan to build temporary shelters for homeless people living in a park that will host next year's East Asian Games has received heated criticism from area residents, who have gathered over 22,000 signatures in protest.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2000

Mizuho has big goals -- and hurdles

The Mizuho Financial Group, the world's biggest financial empire in terms of assets, takes shape today, integrating Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan under a newly created holding company.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2000

Japan's nonprofits carve out a space of their own

When the Nature Conservancy's Lori Forman addressed the College Women's Association of Japan at a luncheon earlier this year, the topic was supposed to be nongovernmental organizations in Japan. But instead of providing a nuanced description of Japan's not-for-profit movement, Forman seemed more interested...
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.
COMMENTARY
Sep 25, 2000

Weak unions, weak economy

The collapse of the department store operator Sogo Co. came as a shock to Japan's recovering economy. Even more shocking are reports that the company's union leader has been fired for disrupting "order" in the organization.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Snow Brand to ax subcontractor

OSAKA -- Snow Brand Milk Products Co. will cancel part of its outsourcing contract with an Osaka-based warehouse company by the end of September in the wake of the recent food-poisoning scandal involving the dairy firm, Snow Brand sources said.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

Workers less optimistic on economy

The Economic Planning Agency said Monday that its index measuring workers' views on the current status of the economy showed they were more pessimistic in August than three months ago.
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.

Longform

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