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BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2003

Trade insurance body to lift exclusions in Middle East

Nippon Export and Investment Insurance said Friday it will lift a ban on insurance for firms operating in four Middle East countries now that U.S. forces control Baghdad.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2003

Aceh peace accord breaking apart

Separatist rebels in the Indonesian province of Aceh have fought the government for more than a quarter of a century. Last December, Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (known by the initials GAM) signed a peace agreement. Hopes that the accord would yield an enduring peace have been betrayed during the...
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2003

Sanyo, Samsung join forces to develop air conditioners

Sanyo Electric Co. and Samsung Electronic Co. said Thursday they will jointly develop household air conditioners.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2003

Cerebrus set to win Aozora sweepstakes

The Cerberus Group has entered final negotiations with Softbank Corp. to buy, along with another U.S. investment fund, all of its Aozora Bank shares, sources close to the deal said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2003

BOJ chief issues plea for global coordination

In a rare glimpse of the man behind the cautious rhetoric, Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui made a passionate plea Thursday for coordinated economic policy in an increasingly fractious world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2003

Futility felt by journalist drives him to show war's true face

Hearing U.S. bombs find their targets and feeling the ground shake under his Baghdad hotel, Kosuke Tsuneoka was struck by the futility of his plan to serve as a "human shield" and stop the war.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2003

China firm, Toyota pen production deal

Toyota Motor Corp. and FAW Group Corp., China's largest automaker, signed an agreement Wednesday to jointly manufacture four Toyota models in China to cash in on the world's fastest growing auto market.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 10, 2003

Addiction rages blindly on

Too bad the Iraq war is not just about oil. It would be much easier to fathom if it were.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Apr 9, 2003

Domestic firms missing out on slice of medical device market

Dr. Kiyoshi Namba is a hard-core believer in medical technology. A breast cancer specialist, Namba has invested heavily in state-of-the-art medical equipment at his two clinics in Miyazaki Prefecture, claiming this provides exactly what he needs to counter the killer disease -- the earliest detection...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Takenaka cautious over accounting change

Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka remained cautious Tuesday about a Liberal Democratic Party proposal to freeze the mark-to-market accounting method on corporate securities holdings to limit the damage from stock market falls.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

BOJ decides on a risky financing course

The Bank of Japan took another step into the unknown at its Policy Board meeting Tuesday, effectively committing itself to purchasing risk assets in a bid to transform how small and medium-size companies secure funding.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Economic gauge showed expansion again in February

The government's key gauge for the current state of the domestic economy stayed above the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in February for the second month in a row.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Post offices to aid in recycling PCs

Personal computer makers and the public postal corporation will join hands to recycle PCs starting Oct. 1, an industry group said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Shipbuilder plans to lead way to new energy source

A major shipbuilding company in Tokyo has been working to commercialize natural gas hydrate, a chemically stable combination of water and natural gas in powdery form, hoping to make it more economical to transport and store.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Apr 8, 2003

Who's minding the store? Keeping an eye on partnered projects

The multimillionaire developer had a long track record with a number of large resort properties. He figured that when he hired a Fortune 500 hotel chain to manage his latest development he would be freeing himself up to do what he did best -- building and creating -- while they did what they did best:...
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Nintendo lowers earnings estimates

Game console and software maker Nintendo Co. said Monday it has revised its earnings estimates downward for fiscal 2002 due to lower-than-expected sales of game consoles.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Matsushita expects 23.5 billion yen loss for fiscal '02

Joining a growing list of companies hit by plummeting bank shares, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Monday it expects to report a group net loss of 23.5 billion yen for the fiscal year that ended March 31.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2003

Kim Jong Il vanished to weigh options

SEOUL -- It looks as if U.S. Tomahawk missiles aimed at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein have also spooked the "Great Leader" of North Korea's hunger-stricken regime. Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, remained hidden from public view for 44 days, after he visited...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

New environment tax to begin in fiscal 2005

The Environment Ministry hopes to introduce a temporary tax on coal, gasoline and other fossil fuels in fiscal 2005 in an effort to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, ministry sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2003

Embedded in war's twilight zone

One of the most unusual things about the quite unusual war going on in Iraq is the presence of so-called embedded reporters, or "embeds," assigned to British and U.S. ground units, aviation units, ships and headquarters throughout the combat zone. The only difficulty is trying to figure out the significance...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 6, 2003

Selfishness and greed motor the American Dream

Watching the war in Iraq from the vantage point of Japan, you don't get as much of the propaganda-like white noise that accompanies the coverage if you're watching it from the United States or the Middle East. But that doesn't mean you get less information.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Apr 6, 2003

Like no other country on earth

"Bom . . . bash . . . bom . . . bash . . ." The savage thud of big drums echoed off the alley walls, shook the cobbles and rattled the wonky Belgian shutters.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 5, 2003

Real Madrid vs. Manchester United as good as it gets

LONDON -- Arsene Wenger did not need a second to think about his answer.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2003

State bodies decide not to appeal

The national government and the Shiga Prefectural Government will not appeal a court decision ordering them to pay damages for the abuse of mentally disabled workers at a Shiga company, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi and Shiga officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Nationalization guidelines said lacking teeth, conviction

The Financial Services Agency on Friday published an elaborate set of criteria outlining when and how the government can nationalize a bank, but some analysts called the guidelines useless, pointing out that banks will find legal ways to make ends meet and that the FSA is clearly reluctant to follow...
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Walt Disney gets set to broadcast in Japan

Walt Disney Co. will enter the Japanese broadcast business later this year, sources at the Japanese unit of the U.S. entertainment and media giant said Friday.

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