Search - information

 
 
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2004

Struggling UFJ pursues merger deal with MTFG

Ailing UFJ Holdings Inc. on Wednesday asked rival Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. to merge with it in a deal that would create the world's biggest banking group, with 190 trillion yen in assets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jul 14, 2004

A diamond in the rough

During the 20th century, Japanese studio pottery made by individuals came to the fore. Up until then, many potters worked for large kilns or were artisans involved in a production-line method; one man molded the pots, while another decorated and so on.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 13, 2004

Adoption and no-charge credit cards

Adopting Dave and his Japanese wife want to adopt a baby.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso tries to clean up its act

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Monday it will sack a senior quality control manager responsible for making a false report last week on defects found in clutch housings.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

Summits of East Asian unity

East Asia is moving toward regional integration, albeit at a slow pace. In a series of meetings held in Indonesia from late June to early July, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on a package of measures to expedite economic, financial, political and security integration. This signals...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2004

Death-penalty debate rages anew in India

MADRAS, India -- India is once again hotly debating capital punishment. This time the discussion has been provoked by the death sentence given to Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old schoolgirl. Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has stayed Chatterjee's hanging...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2004

Is Pyongyang trying to win the election for the coalition?

North Korea's surprise live broadcast Friday of Hitomi Soga's kin at Pyongyang airport may constitute another indication that the country is apparently trying to back Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration ahead of Sunday's House of Councilors election, government officials claimed.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2004

Chip-making equipment sales lull seen

Domestic sales of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors and liquid-crystal panels are expected to peak in the current fiscal year, an industry association said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 8, 2004

Rising doubts about NATO

LONDON -- The June 28-29 summit meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Istanbul was a sour affair. The so-called allies within NATO could not agree on how to help with reconstruction in Iraq and ended up merely offering to do some training of Iraqi personnel, but not much more.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2004

Electric power body sat on data

The Federation of Electric Power Companies admitted Wednesday that it failed to disclose data it compiled in February 1996 on the cost of burying spent nuclear fuel.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Jul 7, 2004

Exporting animation a huge Japanese success story

Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2004

Atomic commission buried cost estimates

The Atomic Energy Commission had concealed from the public estimates made a decade ago showing that burying spent nuclear fuel was up to 2.4 times cheaper than recycling it, commission members said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 6, 2004

Healthcare overseas and pension cares

Overseas health I have heard that under some circumstances it is possible to use National Health Insurance Coverage outside of Japan. Is this true? If so, under what circumstances?
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2004

Links eyed in cost cuts, workplace accidents

The labor ministry plans to look into work-related accidents for possible links to cost-cutting and corporate restructuring efforts, it was learned Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2004

Cost info on spent nuclear fuel quashed

The government has withdrawn two estimates showing that the cost of burying spent nuclear fuel in the ground is much lower than that of recycling nuclear fuel, government officials have said.
Japan Times
Features
Jul 4, 2004

Fears that falling voter turnout may 'threaten democracy'

"Are you only interested in Japan as far as sports are concerned?" asks a newspaper advertisement that has been running recently to alert people to the Upper House election July 11.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2004

Hot summer expected to warm up economy

Hot temperatures this summer are expected to spur consumer spending, which in turn will boost corporate earnings and give a lift to the entire economy.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2004

WWF ties illegal tuna fishing in Europe to Japan demand

The World Wide Fund for Nature warned in a recent report that illegal fishing for bluefin tuna is pervasive in Europe to meet Japanese market demand.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2004

Children's environment symposium to be held in Tokyo

All children living in Japan are invited to take part in an international symposium on the environment to be held in Tokyo on July 18.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION '04
Jul 2, 2004

Abductions are candidate's cause celebre

Independent candidate Teruaki Masumoto, 48, hoped to keep a fire alive as he tried to get the attention of passersby outside Tokyo's Iidabashi Station on June 24, the day campaigning for July 11 House of Councilors election kicked off.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2004

SDF striving to become global partner

Among the 550 Ground Self-Defense Force troops in the first deployment to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah were five men in green fatigues armed with musical instruments.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2004

Talks give reason for hope

Although the third round of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis yielded little more than a commitment to meet again, for the first time, there are grounds for genuine optimism. The United States and North Korea finally appear to be discussing solutions in earnest. To help them along,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 29, 2004

Large clothes, scooters and passport help

Larger fashions Susan has info on where to find larger-sized clothes for women. "You can find Ladies LL size at the Ito Yokado Store in Shinagawa Ward (Oimachi Line, Rinkai Line and Keihin Line). Dress shop 'Miharu' (3F; phone 03-5743-0306) stays open until 11 p.m." Car parking is free to buying customers....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2004

North Korea's likely arsenal

NORTH KOREA'S WEAPONS PROGRAMMES: A Net Assessment, by International Institute for Strategic Studies staff. Palgrave Macmillan, 80pp., 2004, $90 (paper). To America's hard men of the right, North Korea harbors a full and fearsome array of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, and the willingness to sell...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2004

Middle East policy banks on destruction

NEW YORK -- The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations in the United States to distribute information and register voters for the November presidential election shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by...
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2004

Internet, TV shopping shift firms' focus toward mail-order market

A growing number of retail corporations that once sold mostly over the counter are concentrating more on the mail-order market, made popular by the Internet and television shopping programs.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

Manufacturers foresee big capital spending rise

A strong business outlook has translated into a 19.8 percent year-on-year rise in fiscal 2004 spending forecasts for manufacturers, according to a government survey released Thursday.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes