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BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2001

Asahi Mutual may sell off unit to Tokio

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. is in final talks with Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. to sell off its sales division to the nonlife insurer's wholly owned subsidiary, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Co., sources close to the talks said Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 11, 2001

Kanetanaka-So: Modern kaiseki set on the right course

These are not the best of times for Tokyo's ryotei, those rarefied houses of inconspicuous consumption, whose prime purpose is as venues for wining and dining, mutual back-scratching and political intrigue. With captains of industry cutting back on expense accounts, and Nagata-cho's mandarins under increasing...
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Machinery orders post 13.2% drop

Core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 13.2 percent in September from the month before to 879 billion yen, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 9, 2001

Iwata to host Japan team

The Japan national soccer team will be based in Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture before and during next year's World Cup, the Japan Football Association announced Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Jobless woes to worsen

The U.S. jobless rate climbed 0.5 percentage point from the previous month in October to 5.4 percent amid increasing concerns over fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks and the spreading anthrax scare.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 8, 2001

Creation of wants and the damage done

Who's consuming whom? Are we consuming advertising and living a better life because it educates us about a wide range of choices? Or is advertising consuming us, urging us to want, need and buy whatever the market has to offer?
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Ministry eyes cutting down sea emissions

The Environment Ministry has decided to set a target for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus emissions into Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay and the Seto Inland Sea to avoid fouling the waters with too many nutrients, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2001

Moody's may downgrade Softbank

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Tuesday it will review and may downgrade Softbank Corp's Ba3 senior unsecured long-term debt ratings.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Basic energy plan one step closer

A basic national energy policy moved a step closer to fruition Tuesday as the ruling coalition agreed to submit a relevant bill to the Diet during the current session.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 7, 2001

Art in the midst of 'iniquity'

I live in Kabukicho -- the infamous tangle of sex clubs and mahjongg parlors located just north of Shinjuku Station's East Exit. There are a number of reasons why I live where I do: the hundreds of wonderful all-night Asian restaurants and supermarkets; the fact that I can walk from my apartment to the...
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2001

YOKE hosts festival for international cooperation

The Yokohama Association for International Communication and Exchanges (YOKE) will hold a fair to introduce organizations involved in international cooperation on Nov. 10 and 11 at Sangyo Boeki Center Bldg. in the city's Naka Ward.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2001

NGOs poised to invigorate Korean politics

SEOUL -- Nongovernmental organizations and local political autonomy have both contributed greatly to the advancement of democracy in South Korea. Both have been instrumental in checking centralized political power, bringing political decision-making closer to the people and increasing the political awareness...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001

It's a paradise for bikers in Japan

Maybe I'm losing it. With temperatures dropping and the first frost just around the corner, thoughts of winter sports and steaming cups of hot chocolate are starting to dance through most people's minds. But I've still got motorcycles wheelying through mine.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2001

U.S. policy crucial to stability

U.S. President George W. Bush has injected potentially destabilizing dynamics into the domestic political arenas of many nations by pressuring all countries essentially to swear loyalty oaths to the United States and to work with him in going "after terrorism wherever we find it in the world . . . getting...
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2001

Tasks for the corporate TSE

The Tokyo Stock Exchange acquired a new legal status as a corporation, effective Thursday, shedding its 52 years' standing as a nonprofit organization. This welcome step follows the global trend of incorporation of stock exchanges. The new TSE has the blessing of those concerned, including market players,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2001

Removing blinkers on trade

LONDON -- The tragic events of Sept. 11 have exacerbated the economic position of every country. New stimulus measures have been instituted in the United States and interest rates have been cut elsewhere. But these are not enough to put growth back on track. An expansion in world trade would bring major...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Nov 2, 2001

Serbian tennis ace giving it his best shot

It was gunfire that Nikola Stula thought he heard the first night he arrived in Gifu.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2001

More corporate bankruptcies in store, S&P says

The corporate sector is likely to see a growing number of bankruptcies and other forms of default, according to a Standard & Poor's Corp. report released Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2001

Kimono makers target the young

Mariko Moriwaki, 39, a Web editor at publisher Shogakukan Inc., draws a lot of attention from visitors to her office.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

Product Placement

Turntablism is the physical part of DJing, the act of slipping records on spindles and manipulating them in whatever configuration inspiration dictates. Some solo turntablists liken themselves to jugglers, which means their craft only has meaning in a live context. DJ Shadow is one of the ablest turntablists...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Ministry compiles list of nation's 100 best-smelling spots

Sulfurous hot springs, lavender blossoms, grilled eel and wisteria are a few of the smells cited on a list of 100 especially fragrant places released by the Environment Ministry on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

A window on Miyazaki's animated world

Colorful characters and animals come alive in the stained-glass windows of Ghibli Museum Mitaka.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2001

Major electronics makers suffer first-half losses

Five electronics makers swung into losses in the first half of the 2001 business year, plagued by the global slump in the information technology industry, according to interim earnings reports released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2001

LDP wins by-elections, gains simple majority

Two Liberal Democratic Party candidates won by-elections in Miyagi and Shiga prefectures Sunday, securing for the LDP a simple majority in the Lower House.
Events
Oct 30, 2001

Forum holds up Omi feudal merchants as models of corporate responsibility

OMI-HACHIMAN, Shiga Pref. -- The 20th century socioeconomic system saw most people consumed with the pursuit of profit. Today's businesspeople, however, must re-examine their raison d'etre as the idea of corporate responsibility takes hold.
COMMUNITY
Oct 30, 2001

Hosts with the most, ma'am, at your service

BANGKOK -- Bangkok may be the sex capital of the world for men, but what do Thai women do for kicks? It's Saturday night and I am in an underground parking garage in central Bangkok trying to find out. It is damp and somewhat desolate, but across the ill-lit tarmac I see a promising neon sign that reads...
Events
Oct 30, 2001

Scare stops Kobe beef in its tracks

KOBE -- It's a warm, sunny day at the Okaba cattle ranch in Kobe's Kita Ward.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2001

LDP wins by-elections, takes majority in Lower House

Two Liberal Democratic Party candidates won by-elections in Miyagi and Shiga prefectures Sunday, securing the LDP a simple majority in the Lower House.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2001

Matsushita plans merit-based pensions

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. is seeking to change its near-uniform retirement allowance system and generous high-yield company pension program, Matsushita sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2001

Market slump damages Daiwa's interim earnings

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. said Friday its group pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2001 plunged 98.9 percent from a year earlier to 1.18 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?