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BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

666 billion yen spent to weaken the yen

Japanese monetary authorities spent almost 666 billion yen intervening in the currency market in January to stem the yen's rise, according to Finance Ministry data released Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Condo owners win compensation

The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered Urban Development Corp. to pay 67 million yen to a group of residents demanding compensation over the public entity's decision to lower the prices of condominiums after they had bought theirs.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Hiroshima mayor wins re-election with ease

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Aichi Gov. Masaaki Kanda sailed to re-election Sunday, while former Kofu Mayor Takahiro Yamamoto won a narrow victory in the Yamanashi gubernatorial race.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

Tax revenue fell 12.2% in December

Tax revenue in December decreased 12.2 percent from a year earlier to 2.28 trillion yen, marking the 16th consecutive monthly fall, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

JGBs prove a hit with individuals

The first Japanese government bonds specifically targeting individuals moved quickly on Monday, the first day investors were allowed to place orders for them at commercial banks, securities houses and post offices.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 4, 2003

Refunded cash for working at home and a sumo day out

Greetings Greetings from 10,000 meters -- I am beginning this week's column from somewhere high over the Pacific Ocean on United Flight 897 bound for Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

Service firms in Darwinian struggle to get to top of food chain

Global food service giants are making inroads into the nation's office and hospital cafeterias, triggering mergers and acquisitions in the world's second-largest institutional meal market.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 4, 2003

Kitting out the big man in Japan

If this writer had to pick a Tom Hanks film to depict his three-and-a-half decades of life in this country, it would be a tossup between "Forrest Gump" and "Big."
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

Koizumi to choose new BOJ chief earlier

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said late Monday he will name a new Bank of Japan governor around Feb. 20, but stopped short of saying who would get the job.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

Pay fell 2.3% in 2002

Average monthly pay in all industries in 2002 fell 2.3 percent from the previous year to 343,688 yen, marking the largest drop on record, the government said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2003

Rhetoric still trumps reality

After nearly two years in office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is increasingly beleaguered in his bid to retool Japan's dysfunctional economic system. He is sticking to his banner slogans -- "Structural reform without sacred cows" and "No reform, no growth" -- but the gap between words and deeds...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 4, 2003

Converting to a healthier bento option

It's noon on a weekday in Tokyo's posh Daikanyama district in Shibuya Ward, and 52-year-old Buddhist monk Tenkai Miki makes a conspicuous arrival in front of Daikanyama station on his scooter.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

New drug application withdrawn

Pharmaceutical firm Eisai Co. and its joint venture with Italy's Bracco SpA said Monday they will withdraw a new drug application for the contrast agent code-named E7155.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2003

Is the press fulfilling its role?

LONDON -- "In a democracy as stagnant as Japan's, you might expect the national newspapers to stir things up. But much of the Japanese press is adverse to change with reporters from some of the top newspapers sharing the clubby life of politicians and bureaucrats."
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2003

'A bad day' for us all

We have felt this before. Watching the fiery remains of space shuttle Columbia streak across the blue Texas sky Saturday was like being forced to relive the past. Didn't we experience the same disbelief, sadness and horror when a flash fire killed three Apollo astronauts during a launch pad test in 1967?...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2003

Pendulum swings on China vs. Japan

DAVOS, Switzerland -- How wildly the pendulum swings whenever "the experts" start talking about Japan vs. China. One can do no wrong, and the other can do no right.
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2003

Slogans without sanctuary

After nearly two years in office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is increasingly beleaguered in his bid to retool Japan's dysfunctional economic systems. He is sticking to his banner slogans -- "Structural reform without sanctuaries" and "No reform, no growth," but the gap between words and deeds continues...
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2003

Obituary: Soko Izumi

KYOTO -- Tea expert Soko Izumi, the younger brother of tea Grand Master Zabosai Sen Soshitsu XVI, died of kidney failure at a Kyoto hospital early Sunday, his family said. He was 44.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2003

Bush shifts Pyongyang to the back burner

HONOLULU -- In a subtle but unmistakable signal, U.S. President George W. Bush has shoved the American confrontation with North Korea well down the list of Washington's priorities.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 3, 2003

Davenport outlasts Seles

All it took was losing one set point for Lindsay Davenport to rejuvenate from a disgruntled player returning from injury to a former No. 1 player ready to send a loud message to the women's tennis world.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’