Search - 2000

 
 
CULTURE / Books
Oct 21, 2001

Shaky bridges across the language gap

POESIE YAPONESIA: A Bilingual Anthology, edited by Taylor Mignon and Hillel Wright. Printed Matter Press, 2000, pp. 200, $20 (paper) For some reason, I had expected "Poesie Yaponesia" to be a collection of poems by longtime, English-speaking residents of Japan, each given in two versions, Japanese...
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2001

Mazda set to log group profit

Mazda Motor Corp. reversed its earlier projection of losses Thursday, saying it likely turned a group profit for the April-September first half of this year due to restructuring efforts.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2001

Bankruptcy rush simmering: Teikoku Databank expert

Katsuyuki Kumagai has witnessed an abundance of corporate bankruptcies during his 17-year tenure at a credit research firm.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2001

Havel lauds Nippon Foundation

Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel has honored Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation, for the foundation's involvement over the past five years in Forum 2000, foundation officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2001

AIDS forum urges bold, massive efforts

Experts from global institutions, governments and nongovernmental organizations at a recent international symposium in Tokyo called for a worldwide political and social commitment, supported by sufficient financial aid, to combat AIDS, calling it one of the biggest threats to mankind in the new century....
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2001

Children's center provides haven for teenagers

Teenage boys with long dyed hair and guitar cases saunter into the lounge, passing a group of high school students playing mah-jongg. By 5 p.m., teenagers have taken over this "jidokan," or children's center, in Suginami Ward, Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2001

Consumer finance industry in danger, S&P warns

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Monday that the record-high number of bankruptcies and intensifying competition are threatening the profitability of Japan's consumer finance industry.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2001

Bonuses log first rise in three years

The average summer bonus paid out to employees at the nation's top 276 companies rose 2.86 percent in 2000 from the previous year to 783,113 yen, according to a recent survey compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2001

Public housing strategy at the crossroads

National housing policy is set for change with the reformist Koizumi Cabinet having launched a political battle to abolish or privatize all unprofitable semigovernmental corporations.
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2001

NTT likely to take 550 billion yen loss over Verio

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. may book a latent loss of up to 550 billion yen this business year due to the depreciated value of Verio Inc., its U.S. Internet wholesale service subsidiary, NTT sources said Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Liabilities far exceed assets

The government's liabilities exceeded its assets by as much as 806.43 trillion yen in fiscal 2000, 28.49 trillion yen more than the year before, according to the national balance sheet released Friday by the Finance Ministry.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2001

'Tale of Genji' goes to the opera

An operatic version of the classic 1,000-year-old Japanese court novel "The Tale of Genji" will open in Tokyo next week staged by an American artistic director and a Japanese composer.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2001

Imported auto sales up 4% in August

Sales of imported vehicles rose 4 percent in August from a year earlier to 18,890 units, increasing for the second month in a row, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Thursday.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Sep 6, 2001

Japan's high-tech history sets scene for the future

Although the high cost of doing business in Japan has eroded the competitiveness of many manufacturers, some high-tech firms have managed to retain their edge.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2001

Consultations on domestic violence soar

More than 9,000 women visited prefectural counseling centers across Japan to seek advice on domestic violence in fiscal 2000, surpassing the number that sought counseling on divorce, according to a government survey released this week.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2001

Hourly wage gap spreads among female workers

The average hourly wage of female part-time workers was 67 percent that of female full-time workers in 2000, according to statistics compiled by the labor ministry. Female part-time workers earn an average of 889 yen per hour, while their full-time counterparts make 1,329 yen excluding bonuses and other...
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2001

Evacuated Miyake islanders get to grips with urban jungle

Motome Miyazawa's voice booms across rows of taro plants at a farm in Hachioji, western Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

Government to build extra shelters for homeless

To cope with the steadily growing number of homeless people, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will build seven more shelters in fiscal 2002, raising to 12 the number of facilities the government will build in two years.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2001

Fish stocks may resolve whaling debate

The International Whaling Commission recently completed its 53rd annual meeting. For the media, highlights included: false accusations of vote buying; the illegal withholding of Iceland's right to vote, decided by a majority when by international law it should not have been a subject for the commission...
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 28, 2001

Carmakers had shaky start until oil shock hit market

Staff writer In 1957, Toyota Motor Corp. shipped two samples of its Toyopet Crown sedan to the United States as the first Japanese cars exported to that market. Nissan Motor Co. followed with Datsun compacts in 1958.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2001

Kim seeks survival, not reform

WASHINGTON -- It is time to begin facing up to reality on the Korean Peninsula: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is neither a serious reformer nor a likely visitor to Seoul this year. Despite a valiant effort by South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, North Korea is trapped in its own system with the pace...
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2001

Saudi investment pact going nowhere

Nearly four years after Japan and Saudi Arabia agreed to form a pact to rev up Japanese private investment in the world's largest oil-exporting country, negotiations remain stalled and the treaty hangs in limbo.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2001

Honda plans to produce Odyssey in China in 2003

Honda Motor Co. plans to begin producing Odyssey minivans in China in 2003 because it anticipates continued growth in the automobile market there, company officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2001

Space agencies to be integrated

The science and technology ministry decided Tuesday to integrate three government-affiliated space agencies and create a new space development organization by fiscal 2003.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2001

Sewage access up but still low at 62%

Sixty-two percent of the population had access to public sewage facilities in fiscal 2000 through March, up 2 percent from the previous year, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Monday.
Events
Aug 21, 2001

Kansai airport ignoring feasibility concerns

OSAKA -- As Kansai International Airport approaches its seventh birthday Sept. 4, a number of serious problems are casting clouds over the occasion.

Longform

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