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BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

Lending by banks falls for 54th straight month

Lending by Japanese banks fell 4.5 percent in June from a year before, down for the 54th month in a row, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

MMC plans aluminum-chassis truck

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. next year will introduce an extra-light, environmentally friendly truck that has an aluminum chassis, marking a world first for the automaker.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

Money supply rises as shift from time deposits continues

Japan's key gauge of money supply rose 3.4 percent in June from a year earlier, while the balance of quasi-money -- most of it in time deposits -- extended its decline to a record eight consecutive months, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Japan's close encounter with the West

'By reading, hearing, and by observation in foreign lands, our people have acquired a general knowledge of constitutions, habits and manners as they exist in most foreign countries. . . . Japan cannot claim originality as yet, but it will aim to exercise practical wisdom by adopting the advantages, and...
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Jul 9, 2002

Dell turns to consumer market in quest to be No. 3

As the nation's personal computer market shrinks, competition is intensifying, and the Japanese unit of U.S.-based Dell Computer Corp. is becoming a rising force with its low-cost business model.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Jul 9, 2002

Burning your bridges

There was a well-known shogun who at one point was considered one of the most powerful men in the country. He built his empire swiftly and, he would be the first to admit, ruthlessly, and in the process ran over a lot of people and burned a lot of bridges. Like many feudal warlords, he rarely left the...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2002

Firms' IT investment to drop 0.3% in '02

Japanese firms plan to cut their information technology-related investment by 0.3 percent in fiscal 2002, according to the Japanese unit of U.S. high-tech consulting firm Gartner Group Inc.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2002

Local tax ruling may have wide effect: METI

A recent decision by the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly to hike a local tax on nuclear power operators may inspire other prefectures to follow suit, a high-ranking ministry official warned Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jul 9, 2002

Chengdu, Sichuan's city of contrasts

Tonight, our guide Desmond assures us, there is going to be "a very exciting party." The Tibetans are planning a neck-wrestling competition. And you, Desmond adds, as the first foreigners to visit the newly opened hall of Tibetan games and dance, are going to be invited to participate.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

Sluggish summer may yield to scoring drive

Japanese athletes have proved they can compete on a global level, as seen in the monthlong World Cup soccer finals cohosted by Japan and South Korea that ran until the end of June.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jul 9, 2002

Chengdu, Sichuan's city of contrasts

Tonight, our guide Desmond assures us, there is going to be "a very exciting party." The Tibetans are planning a neck-wrestling competition. And you, Desmond adds, as the first foreigners to visit the newly opened hall of Tibetan games and dance, are going to be invited to participate.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

Extend March 31 deposit guarantee deadline: Noda

A key ruling coalition figure said Monday that legislation should be enacted to extend the government's full-refund guarantee on demand deposits at failed banks beyond March 31, the scheduled termination date.
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2002

A trans-Pacific economic crisis

The economies of the United States and Japan are treading the recovery path; there is no need to worry, as there once was, about a free fall. This sanguine outlook for the world's two largest economies is now clouded increasingly by falling U.S. stock prices. What's worrying is an apparent shift in investor...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jul 8, 2002

Economic agenda languishes

WASHINGTON -- Still basking in high marks for prosecuting the war on terrorism, U.S. President George W. Bush is being dogged by economic difficulties.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2002

Legacy-building in Beijing

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin has made another speech -- another important speech -- adding gloss to the landmark speech he made July 1 last year at the Communist Party of China's 80th birthday party.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jul 8, 2002

Great country; pity about the institutions

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- My good friend Philippe Pons, the Japan correspondent for the leading French daily Le Monde, wrote an excellent article, "Au Japon, la crise n'est pas ce que l'on croit" (In Japan, the crisis is not what people think), for the newspaper's June 19 edition. Pons rectifies many...
COMMENTARY
Jul 8, 2002

Erosion of respect for sweat

Few doubt that the scholastic abilities of young Japanese, from grade school children to university students, have declined markedly. Some critics blame the problem on the system of "yutori kyoiku" ("relaxed education") introduced in Japanese public schools; others blame the nation's declining birthrate....
MORE SPORTS
Jul 8, 2002

Japanese fall to France again

Setter Daisuke Usami and ace Ryu Morishige were replaced as starters in the second set but France countered with solid blocks and defeated Japan 25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21 in the Tokyo round of the men's volleyball World League on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2002

Indian envoy contributes gun for peace monument

KYOTO -- India's ambassador to Japan on Sunday contributed a weapon for inclusion in a peace monument in Okinawa Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2002

Danish EU presidency plans global tasks with Japan's help

On July 1, Denmark assumed the presidency of the European Union. Today, together with European Commission President Romano Prodi, I will meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo at the 11th EU-Japan Summit. This summit, which has taken place annually since 1991, is an important occasion for promoting...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 8, 2002

Igawa sparkles as Tigers maul Giants

Hanshin southpaw Kei Igawa threw eight shutout innings and the Tigers sent 11 batters to the plate in a seven-run seventh inning Sunday to salvage the final game of a three-game series with a 10-2 triumph over the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2002

India now ripe for foreign investment, expert says

Conventional wisdom says that doing business in India is a difficult proposition, given its unstable politics and restrictive investment environment.

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’