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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2000

Support the economy -- take a vacation

If all you knew about Japan was what you saw on Japanese TV, you might think the Japanese are the most well-traveled citizens in the world. No other broadcast culture offers as many travel programs in which happy-go-lucky celebrity guides see the sights, interact freely with the natives and, most importantly,...
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2000

Support for Mori's Cabinet inches upward

The support rate for Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet rose slightly over the past two months, but still remains far below the percentage of people who disapprove of his administration, according to a Kyodo News public opinion poll released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2000

No request to change NCB deal

Ruling coalition legislators on Monday dropped a plan to ask a Softbank Corp.-led consortium to accept the removal of a bad-loan buyback clause from their sales contract for the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank, coalition officials said.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2000

Japan offers compromise in NTT dispute

Posts minister now suggests that 22.5% cut in less than three years possible Japan on Friday offered a compromise in the long-standing dispute with the United States over telephone connection rates, bringing the two nations closer to resolving the bilateral trade row before the upcoming Group of Eight...
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2000

U.S. fund to purchase Tokyo Sowa

Administrators of Tokyo Sowa Bank, a collapsed regional bank now under state control, announced Tuesday that they have signed a basic agreement to sell the bank to an investor group led by U.S. financier Wilbur Ross.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Asahi backs out of planned tieup with Sanwa, Tokai

Three months after signing a basic agreement to integrate its management with Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank, Asahi Bank reversed its stance Thursday and said it will pull out of the three-way consolidation plan.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2000

Sakura to purchase Minato Bank in 'friendly takeover'

Sakura Bank said Friday that it will acquire a controlling stake in Minato Bank, a second-tier Kobe-based regional bank -- the first takeover bid in the Japanese banking sector.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Daiwa Bank group picked to buy Namihaya by FRC

The government's Financial Reconstruction Commission on Wednesday decided to sell the collapsed Namihaya Bank to the Daiwa Bank group, commission sources said.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2000

Idemitsu Kosan considers going public

In a move heralding a major shift in its corporate philosophy, Idemitsu Kosan Co., a major oil distributor, said Tuesday it will consider going public.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2000

Dull markets spell slow recovery for yen

The yen opened the new fiscal year on a lower note last month, replaying its weak showing in January. It could take time to turn higher.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2000

Back in private hands, LTCB looks to expand

The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, which has returned to private management after being under state control, is interested in taking over the operations of the failed Tokyo Sowa Bank, its top executive said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

New LTCB boss details his vision for the future

The chief executive officer of the newly privatized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan has vowed that he will strive to transform the institution into a highly profitable commercial bank, utilizing high-level expertise from western financial institutions.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2000

Yachiyo Bank to take over failed Kokumin

Yachiyo Bank and state-appointed administrators of Kokumin Bank announced Tuesday that the two parties have reached a basic agreement to have Yachiyo take over the failed second-tier regional bank. Of the five second-tier regional banks that went under after the financial reconstruction law took effect...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Donors pledge total of $522 million to East Timor

Aid donors for East Timor concluded a two-day fundraising gathering Friday in Tokyo, pledging a total of $522 million in a three-year package to help advance the territory's transition to independence. The meeting, the first of its kind since East Timor rejected Indonesian rule in a September referendum,...
JAPAN
Dec 13, 1999

Yasuda, Fukoku announce insurance alliance

Yasuda Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Co. announced Monday that they will form a wide-ranging alliance to share costs for investment in computer systems and cooperate in other areas. The move by Yasuda, the sixth-largest life insurer in terms of assets, and Fukoku, which...
JAPAN
Nov 11, 1999

Government unveils 18 trillion yen stimulus

The government unveiled an 18 trillion yen economic stimulus package Thursday that it hopes will put the economy on a full recovery track in the second half of fiscal 2000.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 1999

Japan's biggest nonlife insurer scheduled for 2002

Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Nippon Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and Koa Fire & Marine Insurance Co. formally announced Tuesday they will form a holding company by April 2002 to create the nation's largest nonlife insurer.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 1999

More reform needed to underpin Japan's economic recovery

Japan has made important progress in recent years in the area of regulatory and other structural reforms, but there is an urgent need for further and more rapid progress to strengthen future Japanese growth and prosperity.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 1999

Will G7 nations agree to rein in yen?

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami will attend a meeting Saturday of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Washington, at a time when policy coordination over the yen's rapid rise against the dollar is being closely watched.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

Hayami warns firms to prepare for forex fluctuations

Corporations should take measures to become less vulnerable to fluctuations in the yen-dollar exchange rate, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami reiterated Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 1999

Finance jumped gun on making Namihaya: Usui

Vice Finance Minister Nobuaki Usui on Monday admitted the ministry was less than thorough in inspecting the failed, Osaka-based Namihaya Bank's predecessors and added that the state's inability to help the bank rebuild is "regrettable."
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Japan to reward UNIDO reforms with $830,000 in aid

The government will offer $830,000 in fiscal 1999 to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in appreciation of its administrative reform efforts, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Crisis manual details local obligations to U.S. troops

The government finished drafting a manual Tuesday that will tell local governments and private businesses how they should support U.S. forces in times of emergency in areas near Japan.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

Weaker deposit safety net worries Nonaka

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka on Friday said measures to help small businesses in the event of bank failures need to be drawn up after the government introduces a ceiling on guaranteed deposits in April 2001.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 1999

No quick sale forecast for LTCB

The nationalized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan will not be able to find a buyer by the end of the month, Financial Reconstruction Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa indicated Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 1999

New Toho Mutual team to probe liability of execs

The newly appointed administrators of the failed Toho Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Monday they will set up an internal committee to investigate if the firm's management is liable for its collapse.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 1999

Shares in Tokyo Sowa plunge

Tokyo Sowa Bank dropped sharply on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, reflecting investors' concerns over the financial institution's creditworthiness.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 1999

Ex-LTCB execs face criminal charges

The nationalized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan filed a criminal complaint Friday against its former top executives, accusing them of falsifying the bank's balance sheets and illegally paying dividends to shareholders without earning enough profit.
JAPAN
May 14, 1999

Tokyo Sowa capital falls short of minimum

Tokyo Sowa Bank announced Friday that its capital-to-asset ratio had fallen to 2.4 percent -- well below the regulatory threshold of 4 percent -- at the end of March.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1999

Second aid package set for Kosovo

The government announced a comprehensive aid package Tuesday for Kosovar refugees, featuring $200 million in humanitarian and financial support for international aid bodies, refugee-hosting countries and the future return of the refugees to Kosovo.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers