Taiga Uranaka - The Japan Times

October 30, 2025

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Taiga Uranaka

JAPAN

Mar 14, 2003

Japan Tobacco strikes back with smoking salons

With the stock market hitting 20-year lows and the economic outlook getting worse, Japan's smokers have even more excuses to light up. Yet, in a country which has long been tolerant of tobacco use, a growing antismoking trend has made life for addicts more difficult.

BUSINESS

Mar 12, 2003

Three-year plan boosts JAL outlook

Japan Airlines System Corp. is expecting a group net profit of 35 billion yen for the business year through March 2006, up from 8 billion yen estimated for 2002.

BUSINESS

Mar 11, 2003

Firms matching workers' skills to departments

Former Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui, who has joined the New York Yankees, is not the only Japanese to take advantage of a free-agent system.

BUSINESS

Mar 11, 2003

Ando to inject Hazama with 1 billion yen

Midsize general contractor Ando Corp. said Monday it has agreed to forge a capital tieup with Hazama Corp., seeking to inject the troubled builder with 1 billion yen through the purchase of preferred shares.

BUSINESS

Mar 8, 2003

Toshiba to focus on digital, electronic devices

Toshiba Corp. said Friday it will spin off some of its operations so it can concentrate its resources on semiconductor and digital products.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS

Mar 6, 2003

Lingerie firms hustling to open outlets as lights go out on major retailers

Major domestic underwear firms are aggressively expanding their direct retail operations, opening lingerie boutiques with French names, as well as bra kiosks at train stations.

BUSINESS

Mar 6, 2003

McDonald's Japan chief Fujita decides to resign

Den Fujita, founder of the McDonald's chain in Japan, is stepping down as chairman and chief executive officer after the company suffered its first loss in almost three decades, McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Wednesday.

BUSINESS

Mar 6, 2003

Daiei touts new plan to open two outlets

Ailing retailer Daiei Inc. on Wednesday announced a plan to open its first new outlets in more than two years and strengthen ties with an affiliate chain.

BUSINESS

Mar 4, 2003

Softbank in Yahoo Japan selloff

In an effort to bankroll its broadband business, Softbank Corp. announced Monday it will offload around 17 percent of its group stake in Yahoo Japan Corp.

BUSINESS

Mar 1, 2003

With Sogo recovering Wada takes on Seibu

Shigeaki Wada, who has successfully navigated the Sogo department store chain out of bankruptcy, began his second successive resuscitation job Friday, taking the helm of now troubled Seibu Department Stores Ltd.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Feb 11, 2003

Boutiques feast on Valentine's frenzy

St. Valentine's Day is a key occasion for confectioners as consumers snap up an estimated 50 billion yen worth of sweets to give to friends and loved ones on Feb. 14.

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.

BUSINESS

Jan 28, 2003

Brewers bank on heady days for nonalcoholic beer

Some of the nation's major breweries have started producing nonalcoholic beer in the hope of boosting a fledgling market helped by heightened health consciousness and steeper penalties for drunken driving.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Jan 21, 2003

Snow's successor hopes red cartons gain consumers' blessing

On Jan. 7, red milk cartons debuted at stores nationwide, with dairy farmers and retailers hoping the new brand will boost consumption, which has been down since contaminated milk products sickened thousands of people three years ago.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Jan 7, 2003

Maker of stylus-free record player has got his groove back

SAITAMA -- His friends backed him up 15 years ago when he left his lofty position at one of the world's largest electronics makers and ended up at a small audio manufacturer. But when he decided to pursue a piece of analog equipment seemingly destined to die in an increasingly digital world, they wrote...

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Jan 1, 2003

Humanoid robots: companions or just costly toys?

In the 1950s, Astro Boy drew on his 100,000 horsepower and hip-mounted machineguns to fight evil-doers. Despite his supposed April 7, 2003, birthday, however, the creation of robots the likes of Astro will probably remain a superhero pipe dream forever.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS

Nov 29, 2002

Department stores gear up for yearend gift season

Department stores nationwide go into full swing this weekend for the all-important yearend gift-shopping season, hoping to finish on a high note a year marked by battered sales.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS

Nov 16, 2002

'Oden' is secret weapon in 24-hour stores' war for customers

For many modern urban residents, the typical harbinger of winter is the smell of "oden" steaming on the convenience store counter.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Nov 9, 2002

Bar code's replacement packs data into a series of squares

A seemingly random collection of black-and-white blocks will become an increasingly common sight when we buy soda out of a vending machine, bet on a horse race or purchase items at a store.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Companies

Oct 18, 2002

Soap maker gets healthy dose of mayo market

Some consumers unwittingly used mayonnaise to style their hair when, in the 1920s, this exotic condiment was first introduced in Japan.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.

Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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