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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 5, 2003

'Uchiawase' meeting reveals mooing OL

"Japanese is a vague language." I often hear Japanese people say this, but I've never heard a foreigner say it. To me, what the Japanese mean by their language being "vague" is that the reality is often very different from what you are told. On my planet, the United States, we call this lying. But in...
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2003

Shareholder meetings no longer for the meek

Individual and institutional investors were assertive at shareholders' meetings held by many companies in late June, raising questions about low stock prices and directors' retirement allowances.
COMMENTARY
Jul 4, 2003

Does irrelevancy await Japan?

HONOLULU -- Japan-U.S. relations are at a postwar high, "the best they have ever been," report policymakers on both sides of the Pacific and longtime observers of the relationship. Credit growing realism in Japan about security issues, unprecedented decisions in Tokyo and a remarkable personal relationship...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2003

Firms vie to release first home-use fuel-cell system

Allow oxygen to meet hydrogen at your home, and you'll get electricity and hot water cheaper and with less pollution.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2003

Life insurers promise not to cut yields on policies

Many life insurance companies promised their representative policyholders Wednesday that they would maintain guaranteed yields on policies even if a law enabling them to cut the yields is enacted.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 3, 2003

Who says all factories have to be eyesores?

Earl in 1995, a friend of mine, a journalist I first met back in the 1970s, asked me to have dinner and drinks with him in a cozy, noisy izakaya in Shinjuku. There, he introduced me to a very friendly, well-traveled man called Masayoshi Ushikubo, the executive manager of a company that made electrical...
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2003

Japan needs foreign workers to achieve economic growth: METI

Japan should make efforts to introduce foreign workers to achieve economic growth in line with increasing globalization, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in an annual report released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2003

Gas firms tie up on power generation

Tokyo Gas Co., Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. and Shell Gas & Power Japan Ltd. said Tuesday they will establish a joint venture on Aug. 1, hoping to launch a power generation project by 2009.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2003

FSA accused of strong-arm tactics

The Financial Services Agency exerted improper pressure early last year on Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. to consolidate with Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., a Democratic Party of Japan member said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jul 1, 2003

Apparel firm teaches teenagers to like its fashions

For teenage girls, brightly colored clothing from Angel Blue, Daisy Lovers and Mezzo Piano are all the rage -- especially for those aspiring to be models.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 30, 2003

Extension of Stackhouse's contract bizarre

NEW YORK -- Who exactly were the Wizards bidding against when they awarded Jerry Stackhouse a two-year extension ($18 million) to piggyback the two years he could have escaped from before July 1?
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

Cerberus to buy up Aozora shares

U.S. investment fund Cerberus Group will start formal procedures early this week to buy all the Aozora Bank shares held by its largest shareholder, Softbank Corp., through a tender offer, according to sources close to the deal.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

Cerberus to buy up Aozora shares

U.S. investment fund Cerberus Group will start formal procedures early this week to buy all the Aozora Bank shares held by its largest shareholder, Softbank Corp., through a tender offer, according to sources close to the deal.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

Cerberus to buy up Aozora shares

U.S. investment fund Cerberus Group will start formal procedures early this week to buy all the Aozora Bank shares held by its largest shareholder, Softbank Corp., through a tender offer, according to sources close to the deal.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2003

Dishonesty in democracy

JAPAN'S DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY: The Liberal Democratic Party and Structural Corruption, by Roger W. Bowen. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2003, 139 pp. $21.95 (paper). JAPAN'S FAILED REVOLUTION: Koizumi and the Politics of Reform, by Aurelia George Mulgan. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, 2003, 139 pp. $36 (paper). During...
Events
Jun 29, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Guide offers illuminated tour of top Nara spots: English-speaking guide Harry Horii is offering an illuminated night tour of Nara every day from July 1 through Oct. 31.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 28, 2003

Extinction ahead for odd Japanese beasts

A news item earlier this year cited the upcoming extinction of the banana, giving the slippery fruit a life expectancy of but 10 more years.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2003

Three firms deemed eligible for public aid

Local corporate turnaround committees have mapped out rehabilitation plans for three small and midsize companies, making them eligible for public support, industry minister Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2003

Hailing a cab easier for foreigners

Taxi companies have decided to give a helping hand to those who do not speak Japanese.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2003

Unemployment stuck at 5.4% for third consecutive month

The national unemployment rate stood at a near-record 5.4 percent for the third straight month in May, suggesting the deflation-stricken economy is weighing heavily on the job market.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2003

Asia's future leaders take center stage

SEOUL -- "If you've got it," as the saying goes, "flaunt it!" And Asia's "New Leaders" have got "the right stuff" in spades. But what to do with it?
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2003

Sakai, cohort plead not guilty to defrauding state

Lower House lawmaker Takanori Sakai pleaded not guilty Thursday to hiding political donations and defrauding the government.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2003

Sakai, cohort plead not guilty to defrauding state

Lower House lawmaker Takanori Sakai pleaded not guilty Thursday to hiding political donations and defrauding the government.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2003

Sakai, cohort plead not guilty to defrauding state

Lower House lawmaker Takanori Sakai pleaded not guilty Thursday to hiding political donations and defrauding the government.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2003

AIG seeks 'organic' growth in insurance industry

The tortoise, and not the hare, is more comfortable in the climate of Japan's life insurance sector.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2003

Fall in retail sales hits 26th month

Retail sales fell 2.4 percent in May from a year earlier to 10.42 trillion yen, underscoring bearish business conditions in the sector, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2003

High court eyed for intellectual property

Amid prolonged civil lawsuits over intellectual property such as patents, Japan is studying the creation of a high court devoted exclusively to dealing with such litigation more quickly.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight