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BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Balance of bank loans tumbles to a record low

The February balance of bank loans slipped to a record low 415.92 trillion yen, down 4.8 percent from a year ago, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 11, 2003

Building projects defy huge cash woe

Until a year ago, the tallest structure I could see from my apartment in Hashimoto, Kanagawa Prefecture, was the neon sign for the local Denny's. Not any more.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Mar 11, 2003

Four essential errors that you should make before assuming the CEO mantle

Winter is here with a vengeance, and the ski slopes are alive with CEOs who have nothing better to do than hone their powder skills -- and think about what might have been. Many will no doubt be replaying the miscalculations and misjudgments that led to their current difficulties. Yet the curious thing...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2003

Pyongyang fires another missile

North Korea fired a ground-to-ship missile into the Sea of Japan on Monday -- the second such launch in two weeks -- in what appeared to be further provocation aimed at gaining Washington's attention.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Hitachi latest firm planning to adopt merit-pay system

In a move that may affect the entire manufacturing industry, Hitachi Ltd. plans to introduce a new pay system based entirely on job performance and abolish seniority-based annual pay hikes.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2003

EU keeps channel open with Pyongyang

The withdrawal of North Korea from the Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, has caused great concern among members of the international community. The pillars of the 1994 Framework Agreement between the United States and North Korea and the policy that led to the establishment of the Korean Peninsula Energy...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 11, 2003

Beards and the George Bush drum & bass Babylon

The Punchline Comedy Club has again revealed its determination to showcase the cream of Western comedy in Asia, by securing the services of top British comedian Bill Bailey.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Economists skeptical over promise to take action on stock-price tumble

As the 225-issue Nikkei average briefly tumbled below 8,000 on Monday before finishing at a fresh 20-year low, top Cabinet members began talking about government plans to counter the seemingly relentless fall in domestic share prices.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 9, 2003

Tourists help Guam Rugby Club show its True Grit

The rugby community in Guam showed their True Grit in every sense of the word by hosting their annual tens tournament in early February.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2003

Annan asks Japan to aid Pyongyang

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged Japan to consider providing food aid to North Korea, New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki said Saturday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2003

Murder case suspect found hanged

A 28-year-old man wanted as a suspect in the murder of an office worker in Tokyo was found hanged early Saturday inside a restaurant lavatory, and police are treating the case as suicide.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2003

Sakai linked to extra 13 million yen 'reward' in 1997

A temporary staff agency gave 13 million yen in cash in 1997 to an unidentified person with close links to Takanori Sakai, it was learned Saturday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2003

Japanese fear more for economy, society

Japanese people are becoming more pessimistic about the troubled economy and more worried that their society is becoming increasingly unstable, according to a survey released Saturday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2003

Nearly 90% of fish in moat are native species

The Environment Ministry completed Saturday the netting of fish in an imperial moat in central Tokyo and, contrary to a 2000 survey, found nearly 90 percent of the catch to be native fish, not marauding foreign species.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2003

International schools to win equal status

The government plans to treat international schools like private domestic schools starting in April and give preferential tax treatment to donors to such schools, government officials said Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 9, 2003

Wallaby legend Ella to help Japan

Former Australian captain Mark Ella has been enlisted by the Japan Rugby Football Union to help national coach Shogo Mukai in the build up to this year's Rugby World Cup in October, the JRFU announced Friday.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 9, 2003

Rifts widen for U.S. ahead of war vote

WASHINGTON -- We wait and watch. Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein is cooperating. Or is he? He is destroying some missiles that United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix says are too powerful. But is that enough? U.S. President George W. Bush does not seem convinced. "Pure showmanship and more stalling,"...
Events
Mar 9, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Giant Buddhas shown for three days only: The Guide Interpreters Volunteer Club is organizing three one-day tours for English-speaking foreigners from March 14 through March 16 to observe huge pictures of Buddha displayed at two temples in Kyoto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 9, 2003

Lunch as a measure of motherly love

Kazuyo Matsumoto remembers all too clearly how her son's kindergarten sports day used to prey on her mind weeks before the event. She'd worry, not about whether her son would stumble in last, but about the "bare all" contest she would be forced to participate in at lunchtime. The judges were not the...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2003

Yokohama starts Nabisco Cup campaign with win

YOKOHAMA -- Yokohama's new signing, Yukihiko Sato, got one back on his old club on Saturday by setting up the winner for Marquinhos as the F. Marinos beat FC Tokyo 1-0 in Group B action on the opening day of the Nabisco Cup.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 9, 2003

Sordid offspring of Uncle Joe

MOSCOW -- Wednesday was the anniversary of Joseph Stalin's death. The sordid man who for 30 years held the Soviet Union in an iron grip expired 50 years ago, but still casts a long shadow.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 9, 2003

Hitting close to home

In Japan, a landlord really is a lord, and though laws exist to protect renters they are easily circumvented by property owners who don't like them. The three classic no-nos of rental properties -- no pets, no pianos, no employees of the "water trade" -- have recently been augmented with "no old people."...
COMMUNITY
Mar 9, 2003

You too can brew a business

So you've spent one year too many teaching English conversation and it's time for a serious career change. You want a job that's stimulating and creative. You want to be your own boss and perhaps even the boss of others. Maybe, just maybe, you want to run your own cafe, right here in Japan.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight