Search - 2003

 
 
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 7, 2004

Yankees tickets and the foreign player 'scrap heap'

Happy New Year, and expect announcement real soon of details concerning the New York Yankees-Tampa Bay Devil Rays American League openers at Tokyo Dome on March 30-31. You know, who will be the sponsor? How much will the ticket prices be? Stuff like that.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 26, 2003

Tuffy inks two-year, $10 million pact with Giants

Reigning Pacific League home run king Tuffy Rhodes signed a two-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants carrying an annual salary of $5 million (about 543 million yen), officials of the Central League club said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jun 20, 2003

Solstice Music Festival off the calendar; Shared honors for 2002; new releases

It's like watching the lights go out at the stadium. You know, that low metallic "Klung!" "Klung!" "Klung!" as the off switches are hit in succession.
BUSINESS
May 27, 2003

Japan carmakers' banner year not likely to repeat

Restructuring efforts and strong sales in the United States helped the five major Japanese automakers record drastically higher profits in the year through March 31.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Feb 1, 2003

Crystal Skulls: 'hatsumode' for the groove generation; Yokosuka joins the party

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- We plowed our way into the mass of humanity packing the Makuhari Messe event hall moments after the cheers rose to ring in the new year.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2002

Who will limit the U.S. defense budget?

WASHINGTON -- Earlier last month, the Bush administration requested a $46 billion defense budget increase for 2003. That would come on top of a combined $45 billion increase in the annual budget from 2000 to 2002, and be followed by a further increase of $75 billion after 2003. Even factoring out the...
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

Hike in workers' share of medical bills delayed

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and LDP lawmakers reached a compromise Thursday over medical expenses borne by salaried workers, removing the final obstacle to completing a health-care reform program.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2020

The geopolitical consequences of the coronavirus outbreak

Will China be forced into 'hibernation' amid the epidemic?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

Parliaments need a say on war

Democracies urgently need to modernize procedures and structures for going to war with parliamentary debate and sanction, instead of by government fiat based on the instincts of a strong-willed prime minister or president.
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2012

Let posterity see how the Iraq war was created

When the Iraq War Inquiry Group (of which I am a member) issued a public call for an inquiry into the decision-making that lay behind Australia's participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, members of the then-Howard government dismissed it in effect as yesterday's news.
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2010

Kokusai sees Japan yields diving

Kokusai Asset Management Co., which runs the world's second-largest bond fund, said Japanese government bond yields may drop to a record, even as larger fund supervisor Pacific Investment Management Co. expressed concern about the nation's rising debt levels.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2007

MSDF knew of oil error since '03

The Defense Ministry admitted Monday that some Maritime Self-Defense Force officers were aware of an underreporting "mistake" concerning the amount of fuel Japan provided to the U.S. in 2003 but failed to report it to their seniors for more than four years.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2006

Can regional integration save Africa?

PRAGUE -- During the last quarter-century, global economic growth has soared, but Africa continued to lose ground. Indeed, the Continent's share of world exports fell from 4.6 percent in 1980 to 1.8 percent in 2000, and its share of world imports declined from 3.6 percent to 1.6 percent over the same...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2005

Toyota booming in world's No. 2 spot over U.S. rival Ford

Back in the 1970s, workers at Toyota Motor Corp. were taught to never turn down an order because good times couldn't be counted on to last forever. These days, Toyota cars are in such demand workers are exhausted just keeping up.
COMMENTARY
Jul 26, 2004

Beijing entering Hong Kong cul-de-sac

HONG KONG -- On July 1, Hong Kong, figuratively speaking, stuck to its democratic guns. It was just as well since China, naturally, has stuck to its antidemocratic guns.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2004

Record 34,427 took own lives last year

A record 34,427 people committed suicide in Japan last year.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Banking giants log black ink as stocks rise, bad loans fall

All but one of the nation's four major banking groups returned to the black in fiscal 2003, according to their financial reports released Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Chronology of Aum developments

Chronology of Aum developments
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2004

New 'happoshu' brew earns Asahi record profits

Industry leader Asahi Breweries Ltd. reported Friday a record net profit for 2003, buoyed by strong sales of a newly introduced "happoshu" beerlike beverage.
EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2004

Ten words that mirror a year

It's the time of year when people try to make sense of the past 12 months by coming up with lists -- the best this and the worst that, what was in and what was out and, above all, Top 10 Everything. Some of the latter lists are so familiar and expected that New Year's wouldn't be the same without them:...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2003

Draft 2004 budget relies heavily on bond issuance

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki submitted on Saturday a draft budget for fiscal 2004 worth 82.11 trillion yen -- but is reliant on bond issuance as Japan faces growing social welfare costs due to the rapidly aging population.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 16, 2003

On the summertime stages

Reggae Japansplash '03
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Shiokawa set to bolster budget review

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he wants to strengthen the government's review of the use of budget money in fiscal 2003 as a Cabinet-wide initiative.
COMMENTARY
Jan 4, 2003

Pluses and minuses of 2002

LONDON -- "It could have been worse!" say the pundits. There was no repeat of Sept. 11, and there has not been a major conflict. Nor has there been a world-shaking financial crisis. But 2002 was not a good year for many people, and 2003 may not be any better. The balance sheet is not easy to calculate,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2002

Tapping into the future of wireless communication

In late 2001, domestic heavyweight NTT DoCoMo, flying high on the popularity of its i-mode mobile Web service, launched the world's first ultrahigh-speed, "third-generation" wireless network.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2002

World Bank slightly more upbeat about East Asia

East Asia is expected to stage a stronger economic rebound in 2002 than was anticipated six months ago, the World Bank said Wednesday. However, the Washington-based institution remained cautious about whether the recovery, based on brisk exports, will be sustained.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2002

Initial budget requests up 3.4% on 2002 but likely to be cut

General account budget requests for fiscal 2003 will total 84.02 trillion yen, up 2.79 trillion yen, or 3.4 percent, from the initial budget for the current fiscal year, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2002

Cut company taxes, key council urges

Private-sector members of a key economic panel said Friday the government should slash taxes, primarily those affecting companies, to the tune of 1 trillion yen in fiscal 2003.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2000

Resurgent Honda sticks to the high road

As a global wave of consolidation sweeps through the automotive industry, Honda Motor Co. is taking the road less traveled in its search for greater market share.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 13, 2023

Pain and faint hopes as Iraqis look back at U.S. invasion

Reflecting on past horrors and dashed hopes, some Iraqis note signs of progress over the intervening two decades, but few voice any real optimism about the future.

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