Search - 2002

 
 
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 28, 2002

Ihara to pursue coaching career

Urawa Reds and former Japan defender Masami Ihara admitted on Friday that hanging up his boots was a tough decision to make. But Japan's most-capped player made the decision in order to prepare for a new career as a future J. League coach.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 22, 2002

Kazuko Shiraishi does it her way

KAZUKO SHIRAISHI: Let Those Who Appear. Translated by Samuel Grolmes and Yumiko Tsumura. New Directions, 2002, 49 pp., $12.95 (paper). I've met the poet Kazuko Shiraishi three times, on each of her visits to New York. Shiraishi made her latest trip to this city in the spring of 2002, to mark the publication...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 20, 2002

'Top 100' bargain-hunters, on your marks

Whether or not you always agrees with its contents, one of the most widely studied wine rankings is Wine Spectator magazine's annual "Top 100 Wines in the World" listing.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 18, 2002

Hot stove ponders fate of Rose, Matsui, Nakamura

This is the final "Baseball Bullet-In" for 2002, so let's take a look at, and make some comments about, topics on the hot stove of baseball news on both sides of the Pacific.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 15, 2002

From jobs to robots it's all about chance

It's that time of year again, when hundreds of people can be seen lining up in front of the shopping arcades in Ginza and Shinjuku. No, we're not talking about Christmas. We're talking about the big Yearend Lottery.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2002

Matsuzaka takes pay cut

Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is all but happy after re-signing a contract for 25 billion yen less than last season. Matsuzaka agreed to a 115 million yen deal.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2002

High stakes in reducing poverty

In the 2002 edition of its annual "State of World Population" report, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, or UNFPA, emphasizes that eliminating poverty and reducing the birthrate by raising the educational level of women will curb the population explosion, shrink the gap between rich and...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 8, 2002

Take me back to the ball game

WE ARE NIPPON: The World Cup in Japan, by Simon Moran. S.U. Press, 2002, 190 pp., 1,500 yen (paper) As anyone who was here will undoubtedly recall, things got a little raucous in Japan and South Korea last summer. But hosting a World Cup will do that to a nation or, as in this case, two nations.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 6, 2002

Matsui happy to hear Red Sox interested in his services

Free agent slugger Hideki Matsui said on Wednesday he is thankful for the interest the Boston Red Sox are showing in acquiring him for next season.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2002

New ways to kei-mmunicate

"The day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid on to houses just like water or gas -- and friends will converse with each other without leaving home."
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2002

Shiokawa now urges 5 trillion yen bond limit

Underscoring the need for fiscal restraint, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Wednesday he wants to keep the issuance of new government bonds under 5 trillion yen when compiling an extra budget for fiscal 2002.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2002

Mizuho restructuring program to include 10% wage cut

The Mizuho Financial Group has worked out a restructuring program, which includes an average salary cut of more than 10 percent from fiscal 2003, sources close to the program said Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2002

Koizumi pushes hard for additional tax cuts

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday instructed the Cabinet to start work on the specifics of a supplementary budget for fiscal 2002 and pushed for further tax cuts to revitalize the economy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 22, 2002

"Noughts and Crosses," "Krazy Kow Saves the World -- Well, Almost"

"Noughts and Crosses," Malorie Blackman, Corgi Publishing; 2002; 445 pp. Children's writers often conjure up imaginary worlds in their fiction; and making those worlds convincing is no easy job. Perhaps there's one thing that's harder, though -- writing a compelling story that makes us think about our...
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Mizuno posts consolidated net loss

Mizuno Corp. said Wednesday it incurred a consolidated net loss of 180 million yen in the first half of the 2002 business year, a reversal from a profit of 478 million yen a year earlier.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2002

Tepco profit melts in wake of lower charges fallout

Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced Tuesday that its group net profit for the first half of fiscal 2002 dropped 11.9 percent to 155.88 billion yen on a year-on-year basis, due largely to an April cut in electricity charges.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2002

Crimes set record high, arrests record low in '01

Last year saw a record 2.74 million Penal Code violations, excluding traffic offenses, up 12 percent from 2000, but the arrest rate fell to a postwar low of 19.8 percent, the government reported Tuesday, adding that although foreigners committed a small percentage of the crimes, their offenses were models...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 19, 2002

Swallows to name Mac in the baseball draft

The Yakult Swallows plan to name Mac Suzuki in Wednesday's baseball draft after the right-hander finished a disappointing season with the Kansas City Royals, club officials said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2002

Cost-cuts, yen put MMC back in black

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. surged back into the black with a consolidated net profit of 6.64 billion yen during the April-September period thanks to reduced costs, a weaker yen and brisk overseas sales, company officials said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2002

Isolate Pyongyang if it doesn't come clean

WASHINGTON -- In June 1994, as the United States and North Korea stepped back from the brink of war over the North's nuclear weapons program, a moderate consensus in the U.S, South Korean, Japanese and Chinese governments applauded the Agreed Framework for averting a crisis through dialogue and negotiation....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 8, 2002

"Short and Scary!," "Notso Hotso"

"Short and Scary!" Louise Cooper, Oxford University Press; 2002; 96 pp.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 7, 2002

PlayStation stays ahead of the pack

When it comes to video games, Sony is the company that does no wrong.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2002

Electronics firms hustle to adjust to changing, slowing PC market

Electronics firms are moving to revamp their personal computer operations as sales continue to dwindle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Nov 1, 2002

Gathering closes summer's curtain

HIWADAKOUGEN, Gifu Pref. -- I was inside my tent changing from damp clothes to dry when the whooshing thuds of a low-flying helicopter took the campsite by surprise. I thought little of it until the commotion started. News travels fast in a village of nylon walls. Clearly something was amiss.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 25, 2002

"The Thief Lord," "The Witch Trade"

"The Thief Lord," Cornelia Funke, The Chicken House; 2002; 345 pp. "Who does this child belong to?"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

Sommeliers ride high on Japan's wine wave

The last five years have seen an explosion in the number of certified sommeliers in Japan. Certain high-profile Japanese sommeliers have even achieved an almost rock star-like status, an unexpected development in a country where the title of sommelier did not even exist 30 years ago. Despite its lack...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2002

Soap maker gets healthy dose of mayo market

Some consumers unwittingly used mayonnaise to style their hair when, in the 1920s, this exotic condiment was first introduced in Japan.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 13, 2002

Composer Toru Takemitsu gets his turn in the spotlight

A WAY A LONE: Writings on Toru Takemitsu, edited by Hugh de Ferranti and Yoko Narazaki. Tokyo: Academia Music, Ltd., 2002, 258 pp. with musical examples and one b/w photo, 3,000 yen (paper) THE MUSIC OF TORU TAKEMITSU, by Peter Burt. Cambridge University Press, 2002, 294 pp., with 133 musical examples,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 11, 2002

"Time Stops For No Mouse," "Hairy Bill"

"Time Stops For No Mouse," Michael Hoeye, Puffin Books; 2002; 262 pp. It's a mouse's world.

Longform

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