Search - 2002

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2003

Choosing human security

The notion of "human security" has gradually but steadily gained greater international currency. Canada and Japan, especially under former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and the late former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, respectively, were prominent early advocates of incorporating the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2003

Taking shape: Prehistoric art and us

In the 19th century, scientists finally junked the Biblical idea of a seven-day divine Creation -- with man, at the pinnacle of the process, being fashioned from clay on the sixth day.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Aug 14, 2003

Manga culture ignites craze in media markets overseas

American boys can now read popular Japanese manga like "One Piece" in an English-language "Shonen Jump" and German girls can read girl's manga in the German-language magazine "Daisuki." Is this a passing fad or the start of a full-scale manga invasion?
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2003

Airlines seeking emergency loans

Japan's top air carriers, Japan Airlines System Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co., are asking for emergency loans from a government-run bank to help them through drops in travel in the aftermath of the war in Iraq and the SARS epidemic in Asia.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2003

McDonald's cuts annual forecast

Struggling restaurant chain McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) on Friday cut its full-year earnings forecast by about 50 percent due to weak sales during the first half of the year.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2003

Softbank logs 34.73 billion yen loss in first quarter

Internet-related business investor Softbank Corp. said Friday it incurred a group net loss of 34.73 billion yen in the first quarter of fiscal 2003.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2003

Cost of producing rice falls again

The cost of rice production in Japan fell for the fourth straight year in 2002, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Tsutaya rental chain charts diversification course

The nation's largest rental video chain hopes to stay ahead of its rivals by diversifying, inaugurating a point-card system in tieups with off-industry partners and offering its customers more convenience and comfort.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2003

Tsujimoto loaned out illegal cash

Arrested former lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto used some 40 million yen of her office's illegally pooled funds to loan to her friends, sources alleged Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2003

Honda saw net profit fall 5.4% in first quarter

Honda Motor Co. reported a consolidated net profit of 101.82 billion yen in the April-June quarter, down 5.4 percent from the same period last year, company officials said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jul 29, 2003

Winds of change mean big profits for Eco Power

When Eco Power Co. President Toshio Katano joined the firm in 1998 from its parent, Ebara Corp., a Tokyo-based industrial machinery manufacturer, he doubted whether the nation's largest wind power firm would turn a profit.
COMMENTARY
Jul 29, 2003

A turning point for ODA

Japan's ODA Charter, which sets forth the basic principles and objectives of the nation's official development assistance, is to be revised for the first time since it was established 11 years ago. The Cabinet is expected to approve an updated version in late August.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2003

Former aide says she did not advise Tsujimoto

A woman who allegedly lent her name to a former lawmaker to be fraudulently registered for monetary gain has said she never went to the politician's office or advised her by phone, as has been claimed, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jul 24, 2003

"Fox," "Stravaganza: City of Masks"

"Fox," Matthew Sweeney, Bloomsbury; 2002; 176 pp. Every city has its ghosts. I don't mean spirits of the dead, I mean real people who might as well be invisible because no one takes notice of them.
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2003

Can Ms. Doi restore trust in SDP?

The Metropolitan Police Department last week arrested Ms. Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a former Lower House member of the Social Democratic Party, on suspicion of misappropriating salaries paid by the government to her two public secretaries in charge of policy affairs. The MPD also arrested those former secretaries...
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jul 23, 2003

Tainted-food scare gives Nichirei an appetite for fewer additives

In the world of business, misfortunes sometimes become blessings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2003

Foreign banks excel in lending with measure of risk, realism

Reiko Kinoshita, senior vice president of Tokyo Star Bank's principal finance division, doesn't mince words. Neither she nor her clients have the time.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2003

Tsujimoto to face fraud charges

Tokyo police will establish a criminal case against former Social Democratic Party lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto on suspicion of fraud by skimming government salaries for her policy secretaries, according to investigative sources.
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2003

Banks face FSA order to boost earnings

The Financial Services Agency is preparing to issue an administrative order to five major banking groups that have received public funds but booked net losses for fiscal 2002 to improve their earnings, FSA sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 13, 2003

Second strings

Shin Yoshida leads a double life. And everyone, including his boss, his wife and three children, knows about it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2003

Narita looks to privatization, more profits, lower landing fees

With legislation for privatizing Narita airport set to win Diet approval Friday, the head of the operating authority pledged to do his utmost to make Japan's main gateway more profitable so it can go public in a few years after becoming a wholly state-owned joint stock corporation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2003

Tokyo Star taking a different approach to banking

Enter one of Tokyo Star Bank's four new branches, and you are soon ushered into booths arranged for private consultations with customers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2003

Man who held girl for nine years to serve 14, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court on Thursday restored the original 14-year sentence imposed on a man who kidnapped and confined a girl in Niigata Prefecture for nearly a decade.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

Jobholders fall for first time on record: ministry

The number of jobholders has fallen by 3 percent over a five-year period, marking the first decrease on record, according to a government report released Wednesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 9, 2003

Did sports rags hire students to stuff ballot box for Godzilla?

A couple of selections from the mail bag this week.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2003

Volkswagen SUV bound for Japan

The Japanese unit of German automaker Volkswagen said Monday the company's first luxury sport utility vehicle, the Touareg, will debut in Japan on Sept. 2.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2003

Politics of human migrations

One in five Canadian workers, one in four Australians or -- at the other extreme -- one in 500 Japanese workers is foreign-born today. The 1 million Indians in the United States comprise a meager 0.1 percent of India's population, but earn the equivalent of an astonishing 10 percent of India's national...
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2003

Freeze salaries to arrested lawmakers

The average annual income of Japanese Diet members in 2002 dropped 6.2 percent from the year before to 26.93 million yen, the lowest level since 1993 when an income and asset reporting system for national legislators was introduced, according to data released Monday by the Diet. This drop is attributed...

Longform

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