search

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Jul 12, 2002

Traditional industries adapting to stay afloat

KYOTO -- Tango Orimono Kogyo Kumiai, an association encompassing the traditional textile industry in Kyoto's Tango district, has tasted success with its foray into the skin-care products sector.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

General law sought for reform zones

A government deregulation panel said Thursday it will seek enactment of a general law to create "special structural reform zones," rather than individual laws, the panel's chairman said.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

FTA with Chile just isn't in the cards

Widely known as a feverish operagoer, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may politely but disappointingly tell an exasperated Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, "Please wait patiently until the fat lady sings."
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Uncertain times boost top gold retailer's sales 3.17-fold

The nation's top retailer of gold ingots said Thursday it logged a 3.17-fold surge in sales in the January-June period from a year earlier on a quantitative basis.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Typhoon sweeps northward leaving at least four dead

Typhoon Chataan headed out to sea south of Hokkaido on Thursday after raking the Tohoku region and pounding Japan's Pacific coast, leaving at least four people dead, two missing and widespread flooding in its wake.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Ministry plans to slash unemployment benefits

The welfare ministry is poised to slash unemployment benefits for certain recipients because the prolonged high jobless rate is putting a severe strain on the employment insurance program, ministry sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jul 12, 2002

Nikkei rally flies in face of negative factors

The Nikkei average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is showing signs of recovery.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Benetton to open more megastores

Apparel giant Benetton Japan Co. announced Thursday it will open megastores in Sapporo and Tokyo in the fall as part of moves to increase its worldwide chain of large-scale outlets.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Mitsui will be urged to halt ODA bids

The Foreign Ministry will urge major trading house Mitsui & Co. to temporarily refrain from bidding on projects related to official development assistance, ministry sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 12, 2002

Giant centipede

* Japanese name: Oogeji * Scientific name: Thereuopoda clunifera * Description: Someone went a bit leg-crazy when naming these animals. Although they are called centipedes (the name means "100 legs"), oogeji have only 15 pairs of legs. They are not insects (all of which have just three pairs of legs)...
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Improved conditions needed to draw ASEAN brains: panel

An informal government panel basically agreed Thursday to seek improvements to Japan's immigration and social environments to attract more experts and engineers from Southeast Asia, the panel's chairman said.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 12, 2002

Japan rugby team needs tougher competition

Japan's rugby players go into Sunday's game with South Korea at Tondaemun Stadium in Seoul knowing that a win will ensure qualification for the 2003 Rugby World Cup finals.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Kawaguchi defends Shenyang punishments

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Thursday countered claims by lawmakers that punishments over the handling of an asylum seeking incident in May at a Japanese consulate in China were lenient.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Straw to visit, meet with Kawaguchi

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will make a three-day visit to Japan next week for talks with Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on regional and global topics of common concern, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 12, 2002

Carp owner dies

The owner of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp professional baseball team Kohei Matsuda died of stomach cancer at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo on Wednesday. He was 80.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Taxpayers may cover BOJ loans to Yamaichi: Shiokawa

Taxpayers may have to cough up for the Bank of Japan's irrecoverable collateral-free loans to defunct Yamaichi Securities Co., Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa hinted Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Skymark to launch new Seoul service

Skymark Airlines Co. said Thursday it will conduct a charter flight to Seoul from Haneda airport in Tokyo on Aug. 23, marking the launch of the airline's first overseas service.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Government sees 'incipient recovery'

The government on Thursday upgraded its economic assessment on the back of brisk exports and improved production but warned that downside risks to the economy are increasing.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Fuel tank worry spurs MMC recall

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Thursday it is recalling 674 cars produced between Nov. 12, 2001, and this May 24 due to fears over defective fuel tanks.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Tax official caught evading taxes

A former head of the Sapporo Regional Taxation Bureau was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in prison for evading some 250 million yen in income tax.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Jul 12, 2002

Cultivating tradition

Seventeen boys and girls from Furusawa Elementary School are up to their shins in mud. June is the traditional rice-planting month in the Isumi area of Chiba Prefecture and for the past three years, the local fifth-graders have tried their hands at planting rice the old-fashioned way.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2002

Africa asks, what's in a name?

After nearly four decades, the Organization of African Unity is no more. The OAU, founded in 1963, was dissolved this week. It was reborn as the African Union with the same membership and the same ambitions. Fortunately, there is one big difference between the new organization and the old one: The AU...
COMMENTARY
Jul 11, 2002

China holds Taiwan independence card

HONG KONG -- Beijing's unremitting struggle to keep Taiwan from straying onto the independence path continues unabated, with Lions Club International, or LCI, providing the latest battleground.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2002

Bad loans, job woes cloud China's 'rosy' future

Hardly a week goes by these days without Japanese companies advancing into China to tap its low labor costs or to gain a foothold in the huge market.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan