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JAPAN
Dec 22, 2000

TSE dives to 13,500 in high-tech sales spree

Tokyo stock prices continued to take a beating Thursday, as sharp declines on Wall Street overnight coupled with indications of a faltering economic recovery at home depressed the benchmark stock index to below the 13,500 mark, the lowest closing in over 23 months.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2000

Taking it easy on tax reform

A basic agreement reached earlier this month by the three ruling parties on fiscal 2001 tax code changes is a case of being unable to see the forest for the trees. Their myopia distorts an overall tax review and undermines the basic principles of taxation: fairness, neutrality and simplicity.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 13, 2000

IMG a major player in pro sports

What do people think of when you mention IMG? For most, it's money, for some it's exploitation, for others it's sports promotion, and, thanks to my friend Rick Roa at IMG's Tokyo office, for me it's the Playmate twins Carol and Darlene Bernaola.
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2000

Old guard may still deliver

As suggested in an earlier column (Nov. 16), the Liberal Democratic Party faction leader, Koichi Kato, probably deserved to fail in his recent attempt to overthrow his party's leadership. His timing and approach were flawed. His call for immediate structural reform and fiscal restraint was bad economics....
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2000

Japan reconsiders the free trade agreement

Next January, Japan and Singapore will kick off a round of government-to-government negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement. The plans in the works reportedly call for signing the pact by the end of 2001 so that it will take effect in 2002.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 23, 2000

Six reasons to give thanks

A great deal of space in columns like these -- and I'm one of the culprits -- is devoted to all that's wrong with the sports world and the people who make their livings in it.
COMMENTARY
Nov 20, 2000

Confusion rocks the alliance

The deadlock over the results of the U.S. presidential election is likely to undermine the administration that will be inaugurated next January. It remains to be seen if the United States, the world's only superpower, will continue to lead world affairs in the 21st century as it did in the last one....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2000

Generosity toward China faces tough test

The first sweeping review of Japan's generous official development assistance for China is under way within the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, amid growing domestic criticism of such aid.
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2000

Entangled by the truth

Central bankers are Delphic figures. They are supposed to be all-knowing, serious and solid, exuding confidence and authority. At the same time, however, they must maintain an air of unpredictability to keep markets from anticipating their moves. That is why last week's comments by Mr. Wim Duisenberg,...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2000

Strong links crucial to Asia stability: Zhu

Visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said Saturday that ties between China and Japan are crucial to peace and security in northeast Asia, according to Japanese government officials.
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 2000

Japan's ills threaten the world

Japan's Naoko Takahashi won the gold medal in the women's marathon in the Sydney Olympics Sept. 24. In winning the tough race on a difficult, up-and-down course, she established an Olympic record and became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic marathon gold medal. She also gave Japan its first...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2000

Warmer ties do not signal U.S. tilt toward India

NEW DELHI -- It may be still too early to conclude that there is a definite American tilt toward India, but there are strong signs that Washington is fed up with Islamabad's obsession with Kashmir that has has forced Pakistan to throw logic and caution to the wind.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2000

Mori vows to urge oil producers to stabilize prices

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori promised Wednesday to call on oil producers to make efforts to stabilize crude prices, saying the recent surge in the prices could have a negative impact on the global economy.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 20, 2000

The night train to Nha Trang

A few minutes before dawn on the night train to Nha Trang I awake to the sound of a nonstop diesel speeding past in the opposite direction. It hurtles past just inches away from the open windows of our own side-tracked train, sending us rocking nearly out of our bunks.
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2000

Japan flounders without goals

The disturbing thing about Japan today is that it lacks a clear sense of national purpose even though the 21st century is close at hand. The economic slump of the 1990s is often described as a "lost decade" or a "second surrender" (after the defeat in World War II). But it is not just the stagnant economy...
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2000

Mr. Mori fails his test

The Diet has completed a round of plenary debates on Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's policy speech -- the first full-dress parliamentary exchanges since he launched his second Cabinet following the June 25 Lower House election. But the prime minister has only disappointed the people. He fell far short...
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2000

BOJ report confirms recovery, albeit weak

The Bank of Japan released a monthly report Wednesday in which it upgraded its assessment of the economy by confirming a recovery -- albeit gradual -- and suggested that conditions do not yet merit a rise in interest rates.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2000

New JAMA chief wants taxes untangled

Hiroshi Okuda, new chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, is determined to push the government into rectifying the vehicle tax system and reducing the burden on car owners.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2000

Any recovery of the euro will be limited

There are two main reasons for the current weakness of the euro. One is the interest rate differential between the dollar and the euro, a gap that was temporarily contracting but is now widening again based on the extraordinary strength of the U.S. economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2000

Japan, human rights and the WTO

The 135-member World Trade Organization has announced that it will start global negotiations on trade in agriculture beginning March 20. There is yet to be agreement on the negotiating format, scope of discussions and time frame. But we do know the talks will take years -- and that they will be very...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Companies plan e-commerce site

Nissho Iwai Corp. and NTT-ME Information Xing Inc. (NTT-X), a Web site management company affiliated with NTT Corp., said Friday they will form a joint company by the end of this month to offer comprehensive electronic commerce.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2000

Chile's new beginning

In one of his first moves upon taking office last weekend, Chile's new president, Mr. Ricardo Lagos, reopened the presidential palace to the Chilean people. It is a symbolic gesture by the country's first socialist president since former Gen. Augusto Pinochet launched a coup against Salvador Allende...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Sofia seeking EU membership by 2006, visiting minister says

Bulgaria will strive to become a full member of the European Union as early as 2006 by implementing far-reaching economic reforms, according to a senior Bulgarian diplomat who was recently in Japan.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2000

Yen's weaker trend could last till March

Foreign investors' stepped-up purchases of Japanese equities -- the main catalyst for the yen's rise last year -- are no longer playing a major role in daily market activity.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2000

Finance meeting ends rates speculation

Last week's Group of Seven meeting of financial leaders in Tokyo provided Japan with an opportunity to clear up doubts about its monetary policy options.
COMMENTARY
Jan 24, 2000

Common sense up in flames

Shizuka Kamei, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, recently proposed a raise in the tobacco tax in the fiscal 2000 government budget. The proposal, however, was quickly quashed due to opposition in the LDP and by Japan Tobacco Inc., the nation's only cigarette manufacturer. Smokers and...
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1999

BOJ to plug 'zaito' hole with bonds

The Bank of Japan announced Friday that it will temporarily purchase government bonds to compensate for an expected funds shortage in the government's "zaito" fiscal investment and loan program.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 1999

Trade Ministry concerned with U.S. antidumping suits

Vice Trade Minister Katsusada Hirose on Thursday repeated concerns that a recent chain of antidumping complaints filed by the U.S. steel industry against steel imports from Japan and other nations may impede development of sound trade practices.

Longform

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