search

 
 
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

MMC to spin off truck division

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Friday it will spin off its truck and bus business on the road to improving overall competitiveness, with DaimlerChrysler AG set to become the top shareholder in the new firm next spring.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Media coverage of abductions criticized

OSAKA -- Korean residents of Japan expressed concern Friday over what they feel has been excessive coverage by the Japanese media of the North Korean abductions but comparatively scarce debate over Japan's legacy of its colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ENERGY EQUATION
Sep 21, 2002

Public role key to green-energy foothold

OSAKA -- While nuclear power provides about one-third of Japan's electricity, the government's goal for raising the share of alternative energy sources is a modest one -- from the current 1.2 percent to a mere 3.2 percent by 2010.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

One-third of proposals in deregulation plan implemented

The government has implemented 205 out of 599 proposals in a three-year deregulation plan approved by the Cabinet in March, Nobuteru Ishihara, state minister in charge of deregulatory affairs, said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Ten countries agree to develop nuclear systems

The United States, Japan and eight other countries have agreed to jointly develop a series of new nuclear energy systems by 2030, U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said Friday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Abductee may have been executed after tutoring plane bomber

Yaeko Taguchi, one of the Japanese abductees whom Pyongyang admitted died in North Korea, may have been executed after serving her purpose as a language instructor for the female agent who blew a Korean Air jetliner out of the sky in 1987, relatives said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Convenience store sales slip 1.1%

Sales at convenience stores across the nation fell 1.1 percent in August from a year earlier on a same-store basis, marking the 14th month of year-on-year declines, the Japan Franchise Association said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Koizumi hints rice aid to North Korea may resume

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Friday that Japan may resume rice aid to North Korea before normalization of bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2002

Underestimating the players

SEOUL -- The success of Tuesday's Japan-North Korea summit in Pyongyang shows just how much critics underestimated both Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Both demonstrated a considerable amount of diplomatic skill, and courage, during this historic one-day...
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Government debt continues climb

The government's liabilities exceeded its assets by as much as 831.71 trillion yen on an unconsolidated basis at the end of fiscal 2000, 23.57 trillion yen more than in the previous year, according to the national balance sheet released Friday by the Finance Ministry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 21, 2002

Isolation poses major danger to modern mothers

Yumi, the mother of a 17-month-old girl in Tokyo, said she started feeling the burden of raising a child even before she became a mom.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

BOJ plan to buy shares has neutral implications: Fitch

The Bank of Japan's plan to purchase shares held by banks as a means of stabilizing the financial system has neutral implications for the credit ratings of major Japanese banks, Fitch Ratings said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Scholar named to Supreme Court

The government has appointed Tokiyasu Fujita, a professor of administrative law at Tohoku University's graduate school, as a Supreme Court justice, officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Panel to boost credibility of meat industry, farm ministry

The farm ministry will set up an advisory panel to consider how to overcome consumer distrust of the meat industry and the ministry itself in the wake of a series of mislabeling frauds, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2002

An inventor's rights to rewards

An invention is the product of inspiration, endeavor and innovation on the part of one or more researchers. Breakthrough inventions may enrich human life and enliven economic activity. One such example in Japan is a semiconductor diode that transmits blue light when electricity is passed through it....
MORE SPORTS
Sep 21, 2002

Serena wastes little time getting into semis

This one didn't resemble a best-of-three tennis match. Apparently, a 1-hour, 3-minute match in the second round of the Toyota Princess Cup wasn't short enough for Serena Williams.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Cabinet forms task force to handle normalization issues

The government set up a Cabinet task force Friday to deal with issues related to the resumption of Japan-North Korea normalization talks in October, including pressing Pyongyang to return the surviving Japanese abductees before the negotiations restart, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said.
SUMO
Sep 21, 2002

Trio leads the way at basho

Yokozuna Takanohana pulled down a rampaging ozeki Chiyotaikai to move into a three-way tie for the lead as fellow grand champion Musashimaru fell victim to some fancy footwork by Kaio at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Nippon Ham takes cleaver to earnings forecasts

Scandal-racked Nippon Meat Packers Inc. said Friday it has sliced its interim and full-year group earnings forecasts for the 2002 business year in response to falling sales and profits in the wake of its involvement in a beef-mislabeling scam.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 21, 2002

Alternative secondary school meets special needs

The first floor of the building that houses International Secondary School (ISS) in Tokyo's Meguro Honcho is deserted. This is English Studio, a conversation school for toddlers and tinies that starts late afternoon.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Lenders hit with criminal complaints

Five citizens' groups jointly filed criminal complaints Friday with police in 15 prefectures against hundreds of moneylenders they accuse of charging illegally high interest and using strong-arm tactics to collect debts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Tokyo Game Show 2002 exhibits latest software

Japan's biggest video-game software show kicked off Friday at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, with 85 domestic and overseas software companies exhibiting 500 new products.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2002

Myanmar's SPDC must honor its word

Visits to Myanmar by United Nations Special Envoy Ismail Razali and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi ended in hopes that change would take place. Unfortunately, however, Myanmar's generals have shown no sign of turning their words into action, and the country's situation continues to deteriorate. If...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 21, 2002

Far-out news headlines from the Far East

Sometimes I yearn for lies. Like sensational news items that everybody knows aren't true:
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2002

Past returns to haunt Taiwan's Kuomintang

HONG KONG -- The Kuomintang's chickens have come home to roost. The KMT, which was swept off the China mainland in 1949 by Communist forces, ruled Taiwan from then until two years ago, when it was defeated in the presidential elections by Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Sep 21, 2002

Traditional house preserves dream of pioneering writer

Surrounded by trees, the old house sits preserved in tranquility, exuding the beauty of traditional Japan and reviving the taste of the Edo Period two centuries ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Woman left off list of abductees probably nurse

The Japanese woman abducted to North Korea who was not on Tokyo's official list of 11 is probably a nurse from Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture who vanished along with her mother in 1978, sources said Friday.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear