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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2004

Last gasp of U.S. hegemony

HONG KONG -- Sometimes it is difficult to fathom the mind of Mr. Market. After the Congress Party won the Indian election, the stock market plunged. After U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election was confirmed, markets everywhere were almost dancing with joy, seemingly oblivious to $50-a-barrel oil...
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2004

Loyal vote for pork politics

On Nov. 5, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Muneo Suzuki, a former Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party, to two years in prison for bribery, misreporting donations and perjury. Suzuki, who once served as state minister in charge of development in Hokkaido, was a key member of the LDP's...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2004

MMC, Peugeot enter tieup talks

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and PSA Peugeot Citroen of France are in talks to form a capital and business tieup, sources at the Japanese automaker and industry sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2004

Softbank gets all of Hawks next week

Daiei Inc. is expected to reach an agreement with Internet service provider Softbank Corp. early next week to sell its entire stake in the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2004

China tells Japan to hurry up with free-trade deal

OSAKA -- Chinese participants of the 4th Japan-China Economic Conference urged Japan on Friday to speed up negotiations for a free-trade agreement so that an East Asian FTA can be concluded by 2020.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 13, 2004

How mum juggles racing, soccer, K1, Portugal

Last Tuesday, Sonia Ito is busy with household chores in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Early evening she leaves husband Yuta with 2-year old daughter Julia and catches the train for Tokyo. By 7:30 p.m. she's seated on a purple "zabuton" in Fuji TV's headquarters at O-Daiba, recording the soccer program...
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2004

Daiei may ask founding family to offer up assets

Daiei Inc. might ask its founding family to bear some responsibility for the company's financial troubles by providing some of its personal assets to help with the retailer's rehabilitation, company sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2004

Sweaty summer doubles Tepco's first-half profit

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday its first-half net profit jumped 2.1-fold to 183.03 billion yen, as the sweltering summer pushed up electricity consumption and the resumption of nuclear reactors slashed fuel and generation costs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 12, 2004

Great red hope found at Coco

Can quality wine be made in Japan?
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2004

Rationale for a carbon tax

Thanks to Russia's ratification, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming is set to take effect in February. The treaty requires industrially developed nations to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by specified degrees from 1990 levels in five years from 2008 to 2012. Japan...
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2004

Softbank feels confident it will take over Hawks

Softbank Corp.'s chief executive said Wednesday it is making solid progress in its bid for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and is confident the pro baseball team will start the next season under new ownership.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2004

Reischauer center celebrates 20th

The Washington-based Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies celebrated its 20th anniversary Tuesday in Tokyo with an event attended by Japanese and American scholars, diplomats and political and business leaders.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2004

'Economy watchers' index off again

Business confidence of workers with jobs sensitive to economic trends worsened in October for the third straight month as typhoons pushed up retail prices, which in turn dampened consumer sentiment, the government said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2004

Mazda boosts profit on European sales, cost cuts

Mazda Motor Corp. said Tuesday its net profit soared 68 percent in the fiscal first half from a year earlier thanks to brisk sales in Europe and vigorous cost-reduction efforts.
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2004

Making money politics not pay

In yet another case of political corruption, former Lower House member Muneo Suzuki, who once held important posts in the Cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party, has been sentenced to two years in prison by the Tokyo District Court for bribery and other offenses. Significantly, the court did not grant...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 9, 2004

Classes, groups and driving

Japanese classes I am on a month-long holiday travel staying here in Tokyo. I am interested and looking for Japanese beginner level language courses.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2004

MMC posts record first-half loss

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday its first-half net loss widened to a record 146.2 billion yen.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 7, 2004

And you thought doing deals in today's Japan was tough

THE DESHIMA DIARIES MARGINALIA 1740-1800, edited by Leonard Blusse, Cynthia Vialle, Willem Remmelink and Isabel van Daalen. Tokyo: The Japan-Netherlands Institute, 898 pp., 2004, 13,000 yen (cloth). It has been 12 years since I had occasion to review on this page the first volume of the Deshima Diaries...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Panel OKs sanctions on North

A Liberal Democratic Party panel studying North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals stepped up the pressure on Pyongyang on Friday by approving an interim report that outlines steps for imposing economic sanctions on the reclusive state.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2004

IRCJ suspects Daiei, Colony cut secret deal over Hawks

The state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan has launched an investigation into a suspected secret deal between Daiei Inc. and U.S. investment fund Colony Capital LLC over the sale of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks ballclub, according to sources.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2004

JAL back in black, sees rate hikes over fuel costs

Japan Airlines Corp. reported Friday that it returned to profit in the first half of the fiscal year as international travel recovered from a decline a year ago caused by the war in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS in Asia, and added that rising fuel costs will lead to fare increases.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2004

University-launched startups at 982

A total 982 venture businesses resulted from universities and government research institutes' developments as of the end of August, the University of Tsukuba said in a report released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2004

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical off 31%

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday its group net profit dived 30.9 percent from a year earlier to 20.03 billion yen in the first half of the 2004 business year due to a series of one-off losses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 4, 2004

"How I Live Now," "News photo"

"How I Live Now," Meg Rosoff, Puffin Books; 2004; 186 pp. When a good writer writes, even if it is their first book, you can "hear" their voice.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 3, 2004

Rakuten awarded pro baseball team

Rakuten was one of two Japanese Internet companies applying to enter Japanese professional baseball next season after the merger of the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes led to a reduction in the number of teams in the Pacific League from six to five.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear