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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2004

Corporations racked up record profits in fiscal '03

Corporations posted record profits in fiscal 2003, thanks to streamlining efforts and strong core-business performance.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 30, 2003

all systems GO!

In the game of go, there are no cards, no dice, no tricky moves like chess or complicated formulas to remember as there are in poker or mah jongg. And though in principle the game is simplicity itself, go is in a mathematical stratosphere all of its own.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 13, 2003

Opportunity knocks for women in Japan's climate of change

With the days of the Asian Tigers long gone, and Japan Inc. now more of a pussy cat gone belly up, the talk is no longer about the world's second-biggest economy taking over the world, but about the profound structural changes that will be necessary just to keep it afloat.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2003

C&W IDC chief upbeat about prospects in Japan

Phil Green makes no bones about it: he's an optimist.
EDITORIALS
May 7, 2003

Ease lending to small firms

Small businesses in Japan continue to languish in the midst of a protracted economic slump. Compounding their predicament is the tight lending policy of private banks, which are said to be more selective toward smaller borrowers than larger ones. Banks may have their own reasons to restrict lending,...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Nov 19, 2002

Seagram's fall from grace is testimony to virtue of stockpiling crown jewels

When Shakespeare wrote, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" he was talking about royalty, but I'm sure the travails of today's business elite would have attracted his attention. The recent demise of the House of Seagram, for instance, might be worthy of a play -- the tale of how a third-generation...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 19, 2002

Raze the barriers to inward investment

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The 21st century has not gotten off to a particularly brilliant start. Greed, corruption and dishonesty are pervasive. Scandals are rocking the world of business and politics in America and Europe. The chances of the Bush/Cheney administration becoming paralyzed by investigations...
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2002

A big role for small firms

Small firms in Japan face a growing need for self-reliance, a need to shed or trim their status as permanent subcontractors for large companies. This is especially true of small manufacturers. With domestic production moving increasingly to low-cost overseas locations, they have no choice but to develop...
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2002

A fairer tax system needed

Two years ago the Tokyo Metropolitan Government imposed a controversial tax on large banks doing business in the capital, with business size, not income, as the standard. Twenty-one banks (now 18 due to reorganization) filed a lawsuit seeking repeal of the tax. On Tuesday the Tokyo District Court ruled...
Events
Aug 21, 2001

Kansai airport ignoring feasibility concerns

OSAKA -- As Kansai International Airport approaches its seventh birthday Sept. 4, a number of serious problems are casting clouds over the occasion.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2001

Smokers sue as Japan Tobacco denies causal links

Matao Yamamoto, a 67-year-old former Kyoto cab driver, is one of a large number of smokers in Japan who deeply regrets acquiring the hard-to-quit habit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 7, 2001

Sharing corporate vision of women and money

Whoever said women were the weaker sex has not met Kaori Sasaki. Not only is she president of UNICUL International Inc. and president and CEO of eWoman Inc., a new Web site for women. She is the brains behind the 6th International Conference for Women in Business, to be held at the Daiba Hotel Nikko...
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Employees encouraged to start ventures

When Noriyuki Ichihashi, an employee of Itochu Corp., proposed his idea to the firm's Internet venture incubation office about a year ago, the trading house was quick to give him the green light. Within a month, the 34-year-old had set up a planning company.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2001

Effect of Nissan factory closure to linger

Kazuko Shimoda, 62, wasn't surprised when she heard in October 1999 that the Nissan Motor Co. plant across the street from her tobacco store in Musashi-Murayama, western Tokyo, was to close by the end of March.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2001

Effect of Nissan factory closure to linger

Kazuko Shimoda, 62, wasn't surprised when she heard in October 1999 that the Nissan Motor Co. plant across the street from her tobacco store in Musashi-Murayama, western Tokyo, was to close by the end of March.
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 21, 2001

Tiny birds and dwindling treasure

BANGKOK -- Imagine for a moment that you are an edible-nest swiftlet. You are a dusky bird, tiny enough to fit in the palm of a hand. In southern Thailand, where you live, you soar above the turquoise waters and jungle-clad islands of the Andaman Sea. You build your nests inside island caves hidden by...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2001

Female Internet entrepreneur prefers company-making to money-making

Back in 1986, Tomoko Namba didn't really know what management consultancy firms did. She just wanted to join a company where she could "work and make money" at the same level as a man.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2000

Youth restoring 'chindon-ya' name

"Chindon-ya," traditional street performers who promote shops, pachinko parlors and other local businesses, were once on the verge of extinction due to a lack of successors.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 25, 2000

Salute to a life of honesty, humanity and hard work

A SUMMER FOR A LIFETIME: The Life and Times of George I. Purdy, as told to Thomas Caldwell. Foreword by Michael J. Mansfield. Lost Coast Press, 2000, 144 pp., $24.95. When I was a librarian I was assigned to inventory a business biography collection. I didn't expect to find much excitement in the stacks,...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2000

Valuable guide through the legal thicket in Japan

JAPANESE LAW (second edition), by Hiroshi Oda. Oxford University Press, 1999, 16,900 yen. First and foremost, this is a book about the commercial law of Japan. Initially published in 1992, the second edition endeavors to reflect the many changes that have occurred in Japanese law in the years since...
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1999

Hitachi plans info-systems investment

Hitachi Ltd. announced Friday it will invest 300 billion yen in the next two years to strengthen its foothold in the fast-growing information systems business.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1997

Upstart airlines prepare to take to the skies

Staff writer
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2023

Seven & I management wins showdown with U.S. fund over 7-Eleven strategy

ValueAct Capital, an activist hedge fund and major shareholder of Seven & I, was seeking to replace several directors including current President Ryuichi Isaka with their own candidates.
Japan Times
GLOBAL MEDIA POST / Southeastern USA report 2023
Feb 28, 2023

Professional litigators win cases for Japanese companies

Licensed to practice in Georgia and other states, KITAGAWA & EBERT is one of the few American law firms that wins difficult disputes for Japanese business clients in federal and state court trials and arbitrations throughout the USA.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2023

Japan ramps up support for startups venturing overseas

Private-sector and government initiatives are seeking to equip young companies with the knowledge and contacts to be successful outside Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 24, 2022

The supply chain that keeps tech flowing to Russia

At least $2.6 billion of computer and other electronic components flowed into Russia in the seven months to Oct. 31 despite Western sanctions.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2022

The humiliating fall of Nidec billionaire's handpicked successor

The story of Jun Seki's time at the company is a cautionary tale of the risks of taking over from a self-made titan who finds it near-impossible to pass the reins.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 21, 2022

Japanese carmakers face continuing risks in the Russian market

From county-based issues to reputational risks at home, automakers have had to tread carefully in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2022

COVID policy, political tensions dimming U.S. firms’ confidence in China, survey shows

Only 51% of respondents expressed some degree of optimism about their five-year business outlook in the world's second-largest economy.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami