Search - cabinet

 
 
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Feb 6, 2002

TSE passing through crucial stage

Investor confidence has plunged to the lowest level in decades amid concerns over bleak economic prospects.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2002

French imitations of a banana republic

LONDON -- Is corruption a Third World disorder? Not if the French are any guide.
COMMENTARY
Feb 5, 2002

Aftershock risk to Koizumi

Late at night on Jan. 29, exactly nine months after the formation of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government, a great seismic tremor struck the Japanese political landscape, as he dismissed Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and Vice Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami, and forced Muneo Suzuki, a Liberal...
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2002

Topix closes at new 17-year low

The Tokyo Stock Price Index closed Monday below 950 for the first time since April 1985 as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy speech to the Diet failed to ease investors' worries over a possible delay in structural reforms.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2002

Dollar expected to stand firm against yen

The U.S. dollar is predicted to be firm against the yen this week in Tokyo in light of the better economic fundamentals in the United States compared with Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2002

Yen temporarily plunges on news of Tanaka firing

The yen temporarily dipped into the 135 range against the dollar Friday morning in Tokyo for the first time in 40 months after reports of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plummeting approval ratings fueled concerns over his economic reform pledges.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2002

Emperor, Empress planning summer tour of Europe

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will depart for an official visit to Poland and Hungary on July 6, government sources said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 2, 2002

Lynn Hannachi

"Particularly at the present time, it is important to us to present Arab countries in a positive light. There is so much negative writing in the media, we seize the opportunities we can to portray our countries in favorable aspects," said Lynn Hannachi.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2002

Truth and consequences

The forced resignation of Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka says a lot about Japan's sloppy politics and its emotional inability to focus on the rights and wrongs of a dispute.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2002

Accord signed in final Hansen's case

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi signed a final agreement with former Hansen's disease patients and relatives of deceased sufferers Monday to settle a damages suit over the government's past quarantine policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2002

Commission a model of global cooperation

Responding to the call by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in September 1999, then-Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy set up an independent, 12-member International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty to try to bridge the divide between international intervention and national sovereignty....
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2002

Japan, U.S. set to begin strategy dialogue in May

Japan and the United States are preparing to hold their first meeting at the sub-Cabinet level on a wide range of topics, including security and economic issues, in Washington in May, Japanese government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 27, 2002

Hi-Vision advocates display a lack of foresight

Being someone who isn't intimidated by purchases of electronics, I recently entered the digital age with an alarming lack of serious forethought. I bought a digital BS tuner. At less than 50,000 yen, it's hardly a huge investment by itself, but since being hooked up to my TV, it's caused me to reflect...
COMMUNITY
Jan 27, 2002

100 years on: Japan's fateful 'surprise'

A hundred years ago this week, a small group of Japanese and British officials gathered at the Foreign Office in London, made a few speeches, signed some documents, drank Champagne and then dispersed into the cold and foggy streets of the capital of an empire "on which the sun never set."
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2002

A revolution in British politics

LONDON -- The British Constitution has long been widely admired, if not always understood.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2002

Government backtracks on banks

The government's top spokesman expressed support Friday for continuing to fully guarantee bank deposits held by local governments after the planned abolishment the 100 percent guarantee system.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2002

Takenaka on defensive over extra budget

Fiscal policy chief Heizo Takenaka on Friday defended the government's second fiscal 2001 extra budget and its 4.1 trillion yen for public works as necessary to ward off rapid economic contraction.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2002

New 'G-men' to help protect others' treasures

The government has drawn up a package of measures -- including the appointment of a special "G-man" task force -- to fulfill obligations under an international treaty that bans illicit traffic in cultural treasures, government sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jan 24, 2002

A case for campaign finance reform

WASHINGTON -- Controversy is raging about the Enron collapse. Is it a political story? Is it a criminal story? Is it a business story? Is it a story about personalities? The Enron story is all three. The real question is which category is the most important. and that all depends on your perspective....
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2002

State, BOJ use report to pledge solidarity in deflation war

The government and the Bank of Japan are expected to release their first joint report Friday in which they reaffirm their determination to fight deflation, government sources revealed Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

Snow Brand unit admits to mad cow subsidy scam

Snow Brand Food Co. admitted Wednesday that it misidentified Australian beef as domestic to take advantage of a government subsidy introduced after the mad cow disease outbreak.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2002

Facing fraud charges, disgraced bureaucrat pledges to pay his debt

A former Foreign Ministry official pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding the government of 422 million yen by padding hotel bills during meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Osaka in 1995.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2002

Houston, we have a problem

The fallout from the collapse of Enron, the Houston, Texas-based energy conglomerate, continues to accumulate. Enron's spectacular implosion -- the largest bankruptcy in history -- raises questions on issues ranging from accounting rules to White House access and influence. It might be a cautionary tale...
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2002

End of deflation expected in '03

Japan will see the end of deflation and achieve slight positive growth in fiscal 2003, when the government's structural reform programs and the Bank of Japan's credit-easing steps begin to take effect, a key government panel said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2002

Man held for threatening to bomb official residence

A 25-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of threatening to blow up the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2002

State aims to boost female civil servant pool

The National Personnel Authority has unveiled plans drawn up by 31 government ministries, agencies and related institutions to improve the recruitment and promotion of female civil servants.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2002

Mayor arrested over works bid

Yoshishiro Kimura, the mayor of Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of obstructing a public works tender by receiving money in connection with a bid won by Hitachi Ltd.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 16, 2002

A humorous view of history from the other side of the lens

At last, I got to see a play by Koki Mitani, whose comedy dramas are just about the most difficult to get tickets for nowadays. This is not only because of the critical ovations that greet his productions, but also because of the star status of Mitani himself.

Longform

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