search

 
 
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

BTM to lend 1 trillion yen by '05

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi plans to make 1 trillion yen in new loans to corporate and individual customers by March 2005, bank officials said Thursday.
LIFE / Language / THE PARENT TRIP
Jul 5, 2002

Equal but different

My 18-month-old daughter, Marin, was involved in a tug-of-war over a toy with a little friend a few months older. The boy gave my daughter a small shove and won possession of the coveted toy, and Marin promptly burst into noisy sobs. The other mother hurried over. Handing the toy back to Marin, she scolded...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

Farm credit federations post first losses in six years

Agricultural cooperative credit federations ("shinren") in 46 prefectures across the nation posted combined net losses of 54.9 billion yen in fiscal 2001, Norinchukin Bank said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

New public postal corporation faces funding problems

A public postal corporation scheduled to be created in April must be capitalized at 14 trillion yen and have a capital adequacy ratio of 4 percent, mirroring the requirements imposed upon several domestic banks, posts minister Toranosuke Katayama said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2002

Shenyang consul chief removed from post

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Thursday removed Kiyoshi Okazaki as Consul General in Shenyang and took punitive action against 11 other officials who failed to deal appropriately with five North Korean asylum-seekers who sought refuge at the consulate two months ago.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 5, 2002

Our yankii are different from your yankees

You know you're old when the slang expressions so fashionable in your youth go right over the heads of 22-year-olds who stare blankly as though you've just spoken to them in ancient Egyptian. One remembers a time when mecchanko (extremely superduper) was the adjective of the day, used to describe everything...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

Osaka business lobbies set to merge

OSAKA -- The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Osaka Industrial Association agreed Thursday to merge into a new group on April 1, according to the head of the OCCI.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2002

METI plots against R&D subsidy fraud

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will consider preventive measures against subsidy embezzlement following a series of corporate scandals involving its research and development support, a top ministry official said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

JAL-JAS to give up slots at Haneda

Japan Airlines and Japan Air System said Thursday they will give up a combined nine slots at Tokyo's Haneda airport in connection with their integration plan in October, although two of the slots will be returned to the tieup.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 5, 2002

Bringing our schools out into the open

I'm pretty happy with the Japanese elementary school my children attend. But I have to say one thing: I hate the building itself. It's the standard four-story concrete block. Drab, institutional and uninviting. What I dislike most is that it's closed off from the surrounding neighborhood, hidden away...
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jul 5, 2002

July may be hot for stock if U.S. avoids shock

In June, Japan's stock market suffered direct hits from the three concerns that were depressing stock prices in the United States -- dismal corporate earnings, shady corporate accounting and the specter of terrorism.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

Takagi tapped to be next FSA commissioner

The government on Thursday decided unofficially to appoint Shokichi Takagi, director general of the Financial Services Agency's Supervisory Bureau, as the agency's next commissioner, officials said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 5, 2002

Brace yourself for "The Delta Force"

As hot as the trance music scene may seem right now, the electronica sub-genre itself is about "five years behind" where it should be, according to Marcus C. Maichel.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

Adidas cashes in on Japan's World Cup exploits

Philippe Troussier was not the only Frenchman elated with the surprisingly good performance of the Japanese squad in the FIFA World Cup.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 5, 2002

Swallowtail

* Japanese name: Kiageha * Scientific name: Papilio machaon * Description: There are several species of swallowtail butterflies in Japan, all of them easily recognizable by their swallowtails -- the tail-like appendages on the edge of the hind wings. Body length is 36-70 mm. Swallowtails have fully...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

Sanyo to make plasma panel TVs in China

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. plans to start production of liquid crystal display projectors and plasma display panel television sets in China early next year, a company official said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2002

Reserved but hardly remote

The June 8 article "A right royal celebration," by former British Ambassador to Japan Sir Hugh Cortazzi, described the Golden Jubilee celebration for Queen Elizabeth II. I was happy to read that the celebration was a great success, that the respect and affection of the British people for the queen were...
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 4, 2002

JFA set to appoint Zico as Japan coach

Former Brazil international Zico is set to take over as manager of Japan's national soccer team, the Japan Football Association (JFA) said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2002

'Shimoyama Incident' memos uncovered

Detailed records of the investigation into the so-called Shimoyama Incident of 1949, in which the president of the Japanese National Railways mysteriously died, were recently found by the family of a late JNR official.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2002

Delay in steel dispute ruling casts doubt over WTO's intentions

The World Trade Organization has yet to come up with a ruling on a steel dispute between the United States and an unprecedented number of economies, betraying initial expectations such a move would come as early as May.

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’