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BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2004

New 'happoshu' brew earns Asahi record profits

Industry leader Asahi Breweries Ltd. reported Friday a record net profit for 2003, buoyed by strong sales of a newly introduced "happoshu" beerlike beverage.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2004

Softbank ups Yahoo! BB subscriber target by 50%

Softbank Corp. said Thursday it has raised the target number of subscribers to its Yahoo! BB high speed Internet connection service by 50 percent.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2004

Nissho Iwai, Nichimen trading units set to merge

Nissho Iwai-Nichimen Holdings Corp. said Tuesday it will merge its core trading house units Nichimen Corp. and Nissho Iwai Corp. on April 1 to cut costs and speed up decision-making.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 4, 2004

Innovative dance program aims to shift the balance

In the arena of artistic production, a publicly run performing arts facility on the Sea of Japan coast is issuing a challenge to Tokyo, the nation's center of cultural activity. The Niigata City Performing Arts Center (Ryutopia) has tapped Jo Kanamori, a 29-year-old star dancer and choreographer, to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Dec 16, 2003

Multitask outsourcing service leaves no client stone unturned

The economic slump has resulted in rapid growth for a Tokyo-based outsourcing service company that works with a diverse range of clients, including parcel delivery firms, automakers and restaurants.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 11, 2003

Guiding U.S. corporations to the greener side

Elizabeth Sturcken could easily have passed for a hotshot IT executive, dressed for the part in a business suit and low heels. Instead, the 37-year-old resident of San Francisco is a major player in the drive for environmental change.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Are Japanese ready for bioengineered 'natto'?

A venture company in Hokkaido is challenging Japanese consumers unwilling to buy genetically modified food.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2003

Sumitomo Mitsui unit seeks another bailout

Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. said Thursday it will seek yet another bank bailout as it slid into negative net worth of 33 billion yen during the fiscal first half.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Man who gave us loose white socks eyes comeback

The man behind the "loose socks" fad among schoolgirls had enough of the phenomenon long before it died out.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2003

Durex gears for Japan condom market beachhead

Japan's condom market, which has remained virgin territory for outsiders for a long time, may be in for an Earth-moving change with the recent entry of the world's largest brand.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2003

Power Rangers help Bandai post 5.3% profit increase

Bandai Co., Japan's leading toy maker, on Wednesday reported a 5.3 percent increase in operating profit for the first half, boosted by its Power Rangers and Mobile Suit Gundam products.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2003

ANA swings back into black

Despite the impact of the SARS epidemic across Asia and the Iraq war, All Nippon Airways Co. said Friday it swung back into the black in the first half of fiscal 2003, posting a group net profit of 20.57 billion yen.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2003

NTV to probe producer who bribed TV monitors

Nippon Television Network Corp. will set up an in-house investigation panel on Monday to look into the scandal involving a producer who bribed TV viewer rating monitors in a bid to manipulate the ratings of his own shows, the company said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2003

Sony second-quarter profit tumbles 25%

Sony Corp. said Thursday its group net profit fell 25.3 percent in the second quarter to 32.92 billion yen due to large research and development costs in its game division.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2003

Students test corporate waters as interns

Like many college students who gathered at a Tokyo forum earlier this month, Tomoe Yoshida believes becoming an intern at a company will help her find out what career she wants to pursue.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Jun 19, 2003

Ice cream companies turning to high-end treats

Facing a steady decline in sales of traditional ice cream, domestic frozen treat makers are turning their eyes to the upscale market -- a growing sector so far dominated by Haagen-Dazs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2003

S. Korea emerges from Japan's shadow

NEW DELHI -- Despite resentment against Japan for its colonial domination of the Korean Peninsula (1910-1945), South Korea followed Japan in its model of postwar economic development. In both countries, the central government established close links between commercial banks and companies while ensuring...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2003

Former Duskin chief held on fund misuse

Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday arrested the former chairman of Duskin Co. on suspicion of misusing some 180 million yen of the company's money to help an ailing firm run by a friend.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 1, 2003

A cut above

After 15 years as one of the most successful and popular rikishi in the history of sumo, Takanohana called it quits Jan. 20. In his usual unflappable manner, the yokozuna (grand champion) commented at the press conference that he felt "it was a good time to retire," and though a lot of his peers have...
BUSINESS
May 16, 2003

J-Pop helps Columbia Music out of seven years of red ink

Columbia Music Entertainment Inc., reviving itself under Ripplewood Holdings LLC, reported Thursday its first profit in seven years on a group operating basis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
May 7, 2003

Shimadzu enjoys fruits of research and development program

If he had been a researcher at a major Japanese university, Koichi Tanaka could not have won the 2002 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Kumagai Gumi seeks 300 billion yen bailout, merger

Ailing construction firm Kumagai Gumi Co. announced Friday it will ask its main creditor banks for a bailout of 300 billion yen under a new three-year restructuring plan while seeking a merger with Tobishima Corp.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003

Taiyo latest life insurer to go public

Taiyo Life Insurance Co. converted itself Tuesday into a stock company from a mutual firm, becoming the second Japanese mutual life insurer to become a stock company, excluding ones that have since failed.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2003

Increase in overtime boosts average monthly salaries

The average monthly wage, including overtime pay, stood at 277,003 yen in January, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, marking the first rise in 25 months, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Monday in a preliminary report.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

Toray Industries chief puts faith in technological research

Sadayuki Sakakibara, president of Toray Industries Inc., is confident there are researchers at his company who have the potential to win a Nobel Prize, just like Shimadzu Corp.'s Koichi Tanaka.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 9, 2003

Golf: a sport that mirrors the nation

Forget indicators such as unemployment levels and interest rates; there's no simpler way to chart Japan's economic well-being than by tracing the ebb and flow of the popularity of golf.

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