Search - 2004

 
 
BUSINESS
May 14, 2002

Mitsubishi Pharma profits up 229%

Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. said Monday that its group net profit soared 229.4 percent to 8.99 billion yen in fiscal 2001 due to cost-cutting and the U.S. government's authorization of a resumption of shipments from a U.S. plant.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2002

Cabinet approves final bills on deregulating post services

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed the remaining two bills of a set of four on postal services deregulation and plans to submit both to the Diet.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2002

NTT plan includes 17,000 job cuts

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. formally announced a new three-year business plan that entails 17,000 job cuts, a 400 billion yen capital investment reduction and a shift in focus regarding Internet protocol-based services.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 18, 2002

JRFU to start new national tourney

Japan Rugby Football Union went a long way to improving rugby in Japan both on the domestic and international front with the news last week that it was abandoning the traditional company championship for a new nationwide 12-team tournament starting in September 2004.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 17, 2002

Fighters' proposed move to Sapporo makes sense

Quite a controversy brewing over the proposed relocation of the Nippon Ham Fighters from Tokyo to Sapporo for the 2004 season. The Pacific League club wants to shift its franchise base from the Tokyo Dome to the Sapporo Dome, but the Seibu Lions are trying to block the move, because that team wants to...
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2002

Nissan plans full lineup for customers in China

Nissan Motor Co. plans to launch almost its entire lineup of passenger cars in China, expecting the country to grow into a huge auto market, according to Nissan President Carlos Ghosn.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2002

Sumitomo, Mitsui Chemicals unite to weather tough times

As a global wave of consolidation sweeps through the chemicals industry, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Japan's second-largest chemicals maker, is trying to get a jump on its domestic rivals by merging with industry No. 3 Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

Toshiba, Mitsubishi in new 3G deal

Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. announced Wednesday they will jointly develop a third generation dual-mode mobile phone platform that will allow users of rival technology to use their handsets around the world.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2002

TSE aiming to be listed in 2005

The Tokyo Stock Exchange aims to list itself in the 2005 business year by improving its profitability during a midterm management program from 2002 to 2004.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2002

Asahi Mutual Life to deepen cuts

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. will deepen planned pay and staff cuts because a business integration scheme with Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. had to be scrapped in January, company sources said.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2002

Life, nonlife insurers scrap tieup

Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. have decided to scrap their plans to integrate under a single holding company by March 2003 due to the cautious stance of the nonlife insurer, sources from the two companies said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Nissho Iwai to eliminate 5,000 jobs in restructuring

Major trading house Nissho Iwai Corp. on Tuesday announced a three-year restructuring plan featuring a cut of 5,000 jobs from its current consolidated workforce of 19,000.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2002

Meiji Life to merge with Yasuda Mutual

Meiji Life Insurance Co. and Yasuda Mutual Life Insurance Co. announced plans Thursday to merge by April 2004, putting the heat on other life insurers to follow suit in a bid to survive share price plunges, cutthroat competition and a decline in policyholders.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2002

Kansai Electric to slash jobs, investment

OSAKA -- Kansai Electric Power Co. said it will slash 3,000 jobs -- more than 10 percent of its workforce -- by the end of fiscal 2004.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 26, 2001

At last, Congress tackles election reform

WASHINGTON -- It was just a year ago last week that the Supreme Court elected George W. Bush our 43rd president. The mess of the elections in 2000, from the faulty voting machines in Florida to the long counts in western states (remember it took almost a month to declare a winner in the Senate election...
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Not all auto industry restructuring drives get same mileage

As Japanese companies in almost all sectors carry out large-scale restructuring, the auto industry can offer them a number of case studies that reflect varying measures of success.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Isuzu Motors to jettison 3,300 more jobs by '04

Isuzu Motors Ltd. on Monday reported consolidated net and pretax losses for the first half that ended Sept. 30 and announced it will cut an additional 3,300 jobs to bring its group workforce down from some 38,000 to 24,700 by March 2004.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2001

Asahi Mutual may sell off unit to Tokio

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. is in final talks with Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. to sell off its sales division to the nonlife insurer's wholly owned subsidiary, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Co., sources close to the talks said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2001

Komatsu to trim 10% of workforce

Komatsu Ltd. said Tuesday it will cut 2,200 jobs, or about 10 percent of its group domestic workforce, by March 2004.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 29, 2001

A bearded Gore and the shrinking surplus

WASHINGTON -- At long last, Al Gore has reappeared! He is pursuing the political training school program that he had floated in a more full-blown way last spring. Al, sporting a full beard, is working with his fellow Tennessee loser, Republican presidential wannabe Lamar Alexander, training young people...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 9, 2001

Times get tougher for Bush

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has now been in the Oval Office for a little more than one half year, and it has been the best of times and the worst of times for him.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Insurance-yield cuts put forward in plan

A government panel presented a plan Tuesday that would enable life insurers to reduce yields promised to policyholders as a way to help weak insurers restructure.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2001

Long road ahead for planned judicial reform

Following Tuesday's proposals by the Judicial Reform Council, which came after two years of strenuous deliberations, attention has shifted to how the government will introduce the sweeping changes in cooperation with judicial parties.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2001

Greece hopes renewal of air links will spur bilateral ties with Japan

An agreement reached between Japan and Greece earlier this week to improve air links by code sharing will hopefully spur bilateral ties, Grigoris Niotis, Greek deputy foreign minister, said in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

15,000 more day-care centers vowed

The government has decided in principle to provide an additional 15,000 after-school day-care centers for elementary school children by fiscal 2004, using vacant classrooms, government officials said.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2001

DoCoMo's 3G service delay raises more questions

Last week's decision by NTT DoCoMo Inc. to scale back the introduction of third generation (3G) mobile phone services confirmed the skepticism of many observers about its launch date. But it proved the company was willing to cut prices to allow more consumers to access its richer, higher-speed content....
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Kyoei set to join Millea group

Kyoei Mutual Fire & Marine Insurance Co. is planning to join the Millea Insurance Group to be formed by Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and two other insurers by around 2004, industry sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2001

Nice Treaty upholds Britain's interests

BRUSSELS -- A "stronger Britain in a wider Europe" has been the vision of a succession of British governments but increasingly this debate on the future of Britain in Europe is one in which the media is having to place severe constraints. The strong tradition of English exceptionalism and isolationism...

Longform

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