Search - 2002

 
 
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

Mitsubishi Electric sees profit surge

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Monday its business group posted a net profit of 1.1 billion yen during the October-December term, a turnaround from a net loss of 38.4 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

Service firms in Darwinian struggle to get to top of food chain

Global food service giants are making inroads into the nation's office and hospital cafeterias, triggering mergers and acquisitions in the world's second-largest institutional meal market.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Feb 3, 2003

"The Wish List," "Winnie's Magic Wand"

"The Wish List," Eoin Colfer, Puffin Books; 2002; 200 pp. If you couldn't get enough of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, put this book on your wish list.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2003

Suzuki names new president, launches hybrid

Suzuki Motor Corp. made a number of announcements Wednesday, naming its new president, unveiling fiscal 2003 sales projections and launching what it says is the world's first commercially available hybrid minivehicle.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2003

Mizuho group plots huge fundraising effort as losses jump to 1.9 trillion yen

The Mizuho Financial Group said Tuesday its fiscal 2002 losses will hit 1.9 trillion yen, a nine-fold jump from estimates issued in November, after its two banks swallow more than 2 trillion yen in loan-loss provisions.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2003

'02 bankruptcies second most on record

There were 19,458 corporate bankruptcies in 2002, the second-highest figure in the postwar period, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2003

Tasks for the newly opened Diet

Economic revival is the main theme of the 150-day regular Diet session that opened on Monday. One of the first items to be discussed is a supplementary spending package for fiscal 2002 designed to shore up the sluggish economy. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy speech, scheduled for delivery...
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2003

Audi Japan unveils sales targets

The Japanese unit of Audi, part of the Volkswagen group of Germany, unveiled its sales goals Monday, shooting for 12,000 units in 2003 and 16,000 by 2006.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2003

Recovery projection pushed back

Driven by deep recession at home and a cloudy economic outlook abroad, a key government panel said Monday it will postpone the target year of an expected economic recovery by about two years.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 18, 2003

Tokyo Verdy signs Cameroon striker Mboma

Tokyo Verdy has signed Cameroon striker and former J. League star Patrick Mboma on a deal running through Jan. 31, 2004, officials of the first-division club said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2003

Hazama to split into building, real estate companies Oct. 1

Struggling contractor Hazama Corp. released on Friday a three-year reconstruction plan under which it will split itself into two firms, while its president expressed a willingness to conduct management integration with other unspecified builders.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 16, 2003

Shame in a 'showcase'

Second of two parts I ended my last story by saying, "If it is wolves, or winter wilderness, you want to see, don't waste time wondering -- get to Yellowstone! But please, when you're there, don't rent a two-stroke snowmobile! I'll explain why in my next column."
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2003

Daiei to scrap tie-up with electronics discounter

Daiei Inc. said Saturday it will scrap a sales tieup with Yamada Denki Co., a move that will force the troubled retail giant to review its strategy for increasing slumping sales of household appliances.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 12, 2003

Facing economic facts, even if it hurts

STRADDLING ECONOMICS AND POLITICS: Cross-Cutting Issues in Asia, the United States, and the Global Economy, by Charles Wolf Jr. Santa Monica, CA.: Rand, 2002, 210 pp., $20 (paper) You have to give Charles Wolf credit. It takes courage to reprint articles when some of the predictions included are flat-out...
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 12, 2003

Asashoryu ready for shot at promotion to yokozuna

Even with injury-riddled grand champion Takanohana back on the comeback trail, the smart money says cocky Mongolian ozeki Asashoryu will be the man who rules the roost when the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament kicks off in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2003

Honda ends Corolla's 33-year reign

The Honda Fit compact took over the title of the nation's best selling car in 2002, a position held by the Toyota Corolla for 33 straight years, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2003

Focus on cheaper premiums pays off for AFLAC

Consumers going after cheaper products do little to help the nation's deflation woes and usually end up hurting companies in the form of declining sales revenues.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jan 5, 2003

Rock 'n' roll that's as good as it gets

OK, the best album of 2002 goes to a bunch of teenage upstarts from Merseyside, England, but the place to be was underground in Japan. Veterans Shonen Knife and Guitar Wolf delivered their best albums to date, Salt Water Taffy and All Tomorrow's Party kick-started the indie-guitar revival with heart-melting...
EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2003

A year of living dangerously

By most measures, the war against Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terror network is going well. Close collaboration among security agencies has resulted in the arrest of high-ranking operatives and the cracking of terrorist cells around the world. Yet fear persists -- and with good reason. In 2003,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2003

Koreans on either side sweep offbeat honors

HONG KONG -- The two Koreas swept the board with the most Asian Institute of Discord Analysis (Aida) "awards" for 2002, in a way reminiscent of the glory days of the Indo-Pakistani antagonism, before those two South Asian nations won the "Rivalry of the Year" award in perpetuity.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 1, 2003

Too young to fall in love?

2002 was an eventful year, to say the least, for superstar singer/songwriter Utada Hikaru. In March, she signed a international recording deal (as an English-language artist -- she remains signed to Toshiba-EMI as a Japanese-language artist) with Island Def Jam.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 29, 2002

Matsui nets pair as Kyoto gets first crack at Cup final

SAITAMA -- Kyoto Purple Sanga advanced to their first ever Emperor's Cup final after defeating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 with two first-half goals from Daisuke Matsui on Saturday at Saitama Stadium 2002.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
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