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BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2002

Penta-Ocean picks new president

Penta-Ocean Construction Co. said Monday it has appointed Senior Managing Director Hideaki Kato as its president, replacing Renpei Mizuno, who will become chairman.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 17, 2002

Last wills and testaments to peace

One of the more interesting economic realities of Japan is that, despite having one of the largest per capita savings rates in the world and the fact that more than 60 percent of the nation's assets are in the hands of people over the age of 60, almost no one writes wills.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2002

Wal-Mart to enter Japan through alliance with ailing Seiyu

U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and struggling supermarket operator Seiyu Ltd. said Thursday they are forming a capital alliance that will enable the world's largest retailer to stride into Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Mar 15, 2002

There ain't no mountains high enough

During Golden Week of 1999, 26-year-old Tom Fearnehough and six friends skied down Mount Fuji. A Japanese man had attempted the same feat the year before and plummeted 2,000 meters to his death. Fearnehough and his friends, however, were better prepared.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

Panel hopes to spur reform with deregulation zones

A government advisory panel on deregulation has proposed creating special deregulation zones and compiling an interim report as early as June.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2002

Moody's downgrades life insurers

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Monday it has downgraded the insurance financial strength ratings of eight Japanese life insurance companies.
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2002

Japan, Russia set to resume talks

Japan and Russia are set to resume the territorial talks under a precedent-breaking formula that may lead to the phased return of the Northern Territories, the group of islands off Hokkaido that the Russians have occupied since the end of World War II. A new round is expected to begin at a vice ministerial...
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2002

Reform takes back seat to economic values

HONOLULU -- Despite the hype, Japan's antideflation package has failed once again to impress the critics. This failure is remarkable given the international attention that has focused on the proposal, the vote of no-confidence that had been delivered by the markets and the pressure applied by the U.S....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2002

Bush-league diplomacy mars Asian tour

They have taken the Stars and Strips down in Tiananmen Square. Meanwhile, in the Great Hall of the People, U.S. President George W. Bush's visit is almost forgotten as the last meeting of China's National People's Congress before the 16th Party Congress in November has begun.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Mar 11, 2002

Business schools buck international trend

Seventh in a series
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

Swing your (same sex) partner round and round

The shouts of the caller are heard continuously over the country and western music on the sound system. His words, like magic, control the movements of the dancers on the floor. The dancers are arranged in groups of four couples -- leads and their partners, just as in all square-dancing groups. But in...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

S&P sees little impact from U.S. tariffs

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Friday the U.S. government's decision to place tariffs on steel imports will not immediately affect the agency's ratings on Japanese steelmakers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 9, 2002

Kasit Piromya

It is still early days for the public to note the Thai Food Festival on May 11 and 12. For organizers Team Thailand, however, time is getting short, especially as this year's festival will be double the size of those of the last two years. The festival aims to strengthen the ties between the peoples...
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2002

S&P places Matsushita Electric ratings on CreditWatch

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s A-plus long-term and A-1 plus short-term ratings have been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications, Standard & Poor's Corp. said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

Aoki identifies rehab sponsors

Bankrupt second-tier general contractor Aoki Corp. said Wednesday it has persuaded midsize general contractors Takamatsu Corp. and Komatsu Construction Co. to sponsor its court-led rehabilitation plan.
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2002

Hazama shrugs off rumor of Sato Kogyo linkup

Construction firm Hazama Corp. rejected suggestions Monday that it is considering integrating its management with Sato Kogyo Co. or other companies, or that it is seeking additional financial aid from its creditor banks.
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2002

Nikkei soars above 11,000

Tokyo stocks surged Monday, lifting the 225-issue Nikkei average to its highest closing since Aug. 16 on Friday's jump in U.S. stocks and the failure of midsize contractor Sato Kogyo Co., which spurred hope banks are seriously tackling their bad loans.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / TALK OF THE TIMES
Mar 4, 2002

Cerezo hopes to take Kashima to third J. League title

Kashima Antlers boss Toninho Cerezo has had a remarkable two seasons with his J. League Division One club despite his short coaching experience.
EDITORIALS
Mar 4, 2002

Creating new demand is the key

An antideflation package put together last Thursday by the government and the Bank of Japan has disappointed everyone. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi himself has acknowledged that it includes "no quick remedies." A key policymaker in the ruling coalition has described it as a "patchwork of stopgap...
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2002

Sato Kogyo to commence bankruptcy proceedings

Sato Kogyo Co., a midsize construction contractor with group liabilities estimated at more than 500 billion yen, has given up efforts to rehabilitate itself and will resort to legal bankruptcy proceedings, company sources said Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2002

Bush puts U.S.-China ties back on track

U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Beijing on Feb. 21-22 signals clearly that Sino-U.S. relations are back on track toward a constructive, cooperative relationship. Bush met Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his successor, Vice President Hu Jintao. Bush re-assured China on the Taiwan issue. He...
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2002

Toshiba and Mitsubishi to set up power venture

Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Friday that they have agreed to set up a joint venture in April to integrate their electric power transmission and distribution businesses.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2002

Tempest over headscarves ruffles Singapore's multiracial calm

SINGAPORE -- As the controversy over the prohibition of wearing the Muslim headscarf, the tudung, in public schools in Singapore moves on to the next stage, a cardinal doctrine of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- noninterference in the domestic affairs of member countries -- looks set to...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 28, 2002

Japanese teams treat Guam to rugby spectacle

For many Japanese people, the island of Guam conjures up images of duty-free shopping, cheap golf courses and unequaled diving around the reefs that surround this Pacific island.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2002

Ministry drawing up strict auto emission standards

An Environment Ministry panel has come up with a plan that would force auto makers to reduce the diesel particulate matter their vehicles spew by up to 85 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 28, 2002

Bush fiddles figures as the globe warms up

Last June, in the Rose Garden of the White House, President George W. Bush declared the Kyoto Protocol "fatally flawed in fundamental ways," and dubyaed it "unrealistic, arbitrary and not based on science."
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2002

Australia: a 'lucky' country no longer

The debate over Canberra's handling of several thousand Afghan and other boat people from Indonesia claiming to be political refugees says a lot about Australia. Holding the refugees in barbed-wire desert camps or dumping them on remote Pacific Islands may have upset the rest of the world, but in Australia...
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2002

Soil pollution cases on the increase

Soil contamination incidents rose in fiscal 2000, marking the third straight yearly increase, the Environment Ministry said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2002

Beware the axis of hubris

WASHINGTON -- As U.S. President George W. Bush wandered across Northeast Asia, it appeared that he thought it was 1942, not 2002. He seemed to believe that the world was engaged in a twilight struggle between good and evil, and only overwhelming American military involvement everywhere could prevent...

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat