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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.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jan 23, 2002

Finance Ministry rethinks weak-yen policy

Alerted by a faster-than-expected fall in the yen's value and the outcry from other Asian countries about the weak yen, the Finance Ministry appears to be having second thoughts on its foreign-exchange policy.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Elvis wannabe crooners soothe to 'Rabu Me Tenda'

Dressed in a black tuxedo, a middle-aged former company executive took the stage, cued the six-piece band and launched into Elvis Presley's version of the syrupy '60s ballad "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2002

U.S. backs reform drive: Powell

The United States fully supports Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ongoing reform drive and expects Japan to become the world's "economic engine" again, U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell told the prime minister on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2002

BOJ leaders predict more gloom during reforms

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Monday he expects the economy to remain in a severe state and prices to continue falling.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2002

Shokusan Jutaku begins 'revival' process

Shokusan Jutaku Sogo Co., a major builder of custom-made houses that went bust earlier this month, said Monday the Tokyo District Court has decided to begin legal proceedings under the Civil Corporate Revival Law.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2002

Insurers set to finalize details of merger plans

Top officials from Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. will meet today to iron out the details of a proposed business integration, including the transfer of Asahi's sales division to a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokio Marine, company sources said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2002

Insurance body vice chief steps down

The Life Insurance Association of Japan said Friday its board accepted a proposal to replace vice chief Yuzuru Fujita, president of Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., with Shinichi Yokoyama, president of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Fujita is leaving because he wants to focus all his energy into efforts...
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2002

Produce growers learning to cope with competition

Unlike traditional family farms, 52-year-old Tetsuichi Umezu runs his like a corporation.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jan 18, 2002

Exhausted dollar consolidating its range

Market participants are now divided over the future of the yen-dollar rate, with some expecting the yen to continue its fall while others believe the opposite.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2002

Beijing's political reflexes still at war with modernity

HONG KONG -- In the 23 years since Deng Xiaoping opened China to the outside world, it has become one of the world's great trading nations. Now the further onrush of foreign trade is to be used as a forcible stimulant to hasten China's economic reform and to enhance modernization. So Dec. 11, the day...
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2002

Gloomy economic assessment left unchanged by government

The government left its bleak assessment of the economy unchanged in a monthly report issued Wednesday but said the decline in exports may be bottoming out.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2002

Shokusan to sell Homest to Painthouse

Shokusan Jutaku Sogo Co., a failed builder of custom-made houses, has agreed to sell its new-home construction business to Painthouse Co. for 1 billion yen, the companies said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2002

Food firms resolve curry confusion

S&B Foods Inc. and House Foods Corp. have reached an out-of-court settlement in a suit over similar package designs used for their curry products, S&B said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2002

UFJ Bank makes shaky debut

UFJ Holdings Inc. decided Tuesday to dip into its reserves to the tune of 1 trillion yen to make dividend payments, indicating that the group's new bank, which officially began operations the same day, is already desperately low on capital.
COMMUNITY
Jan 13, 2002

Time catches up with old men and the sea

HAKODATE, Hokkaido --Kenji Fujita sits among his crabs, the wood fire in a tin bucket at his feet a thin defense against the predawn chill. It's minus 3 degrees at Hakodate's famed morning market, the pitch darkness of 4 a.m. adding layers to the cold.
COMMUNITY
Jan 13, 2002

Fukuoka fish are jumping

FUKUOKA -- First-time visitors to this sunny city are often told with a certain friendly belligerence that Fukuoka's seafood is the best in Japan. Usually, just a glimpse of its sparkling harbor and rugged natural coastline is enough to whet their appetite to test this claim.
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 13, 2002

Donations for World Cup 80 percent off expectations

The Japanese organizing committee for the 2002 World Cup (JAWOC) is struggling to raise donations, having received less than 20 percent of what was projected in its revenue plan.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

Farm minister's retirement pay hit

Lawmakers on Thursday fiercely criticized the huge retirement payment allocated to Hideaki Kumazawa, the former vice farm minister who stepped down this month amid criticism of the ministry's handling of the recent outbreak of mad cow disease.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2002

Lower House member's ex-aide involved in construction scandal

A company connected to the former secretary of a senior politician received more than 10 million yen from construction companies in return for introducing local government heads and major contractors, industry sources said.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2002

Sanwa, three other banks look at bailing out struggling Daiei

Sanwa Bank and three of Daiei Inc.'s other creditor banks are considering a bailout package for the struggling supermarket chain, including debt forgiveness and a debt-for-equity swap, as one of "many options," a Sanwa Bank spokesman said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2002

Merrill Lynch to ax 20 branches

Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. said Wednesday it will drastically reduce its retail brokerage business in Japan, closing 20 of its 28 branches.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jan 9, 2002

Positive TSE start masks long-term gloom

The Tokyo stock market has rung in 2002 on a positive note, stirring hope over the prospects of high-priced activity in the months ahead.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2002

Aso calls for time frame for consumption tax hike

The Liberal Democratic Party's top policymaker on Tuesday called for setting mid- to long-term time frames for raising the consumption tax beyond the current 5 percent.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2002

Daiei to sell transport unit to U.S. investment firm

Troubled supermarket chain operator Daiei Inc. said Tuesday it will sell its secure-transportation subsidiary to the Carlyle Group, a major U.S. private equity investment company, for roughly 3.5 billion yen in February to reduce group interest-bearing debts.

Longform

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