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BUSINESS
May 9, 2002

U.S. presses for cross-border share swaps

The United States on Wednesday asked Japan to improve its environment for foreign direct investment by letting companies carry out cross-border stock exchanges for mergers and acquisitions.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2002

Toshiba, Samsung unite DRAMs

Toshiba Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday they have agreed to use a common interface specification to produce dynamic random access memory chips for business-use, high-speed network applications.
COMMUNITY
May 9, 2002

Zeitgist

The foreigner needs only two words to bridge the language gap in Japan, says Matt Shea.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
May 9, 2002

Big guns duel on the courts

Not since the time of "Pong" have two prominent powers like Sega and Namco gone head to head on the lowly sport of tennis. Sega and Namco, the two biggest names in the arcade business, are serving up tennis on PlayStation2.
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Heo repeats not guilty plea in Itoman appeal

OSAKA -- Real-estate broker Heo Young Joong repeated his not guilty plea Tuesday before the Osaka High Court in the first hearing of his appeal against a district court ruling last year on a fraud case involving collapsed trading house Itoman Corp.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2002

Moody's might downgrade ANA long-term rating

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Tuesday it may downgrade the Baa3 senior unsecured long-term rating of All Nippon Airways in response to the Fair Trade Commission's decision to approve the merger of Japan Airlines and Japan Air System.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Info brokers have got your number, among other things

In the spring of 1999, Haruo Tanaka (not his real name) became interested in buying a condominium and visited several showrooms in Tokyo. Each time, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire. He provided his name, age, address and phone number as well as his annual income.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2002

His fingers on the pulse

Bill Laswell stands in the lobby outside the Shinjuku Pit Inn, where on April 27 and 28 he played to packed houses with drummer Hideo Yamaki and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu. He's just set up his bass rig and is wondering where to sit for our interview.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2002

Matsushita inks drug technology deal

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and U.S. venture business Tensor Biosciences have signed an agreement to jointly develop and commercialize Brain-on-a-Chip drug discovery technology, the two companies said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2002

Mutual Sino-American respect

Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao's weeklong visit to the United States, which culminated in a meeting with President George W. Bush on Wednesday, seems to have achieved its purpose: introducing China's next leader to U.S. officials. The 59-year-old Mr. Hu is expected to become secretary general of the...
JAPAN
May 5, 2002

Numerous new bills snarl up Diet debate

The Diet appears to have become bogged down under the weight of a number of key legislative items that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hopes to see enacted during the current 150-day session that ends June 19.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
May 5, 2002

Thoughts of an accidental politician

Kyosen Ohashi was born in Tokyo in 1934 and studied journalism at Waseda University. He enjoyed a long career as a respected jazz critic and TV presenter, before quitting the entertainment world in 1990.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

Live and learn and learn

Swimming. Piano. English conversation.
JAPAN
May 4, 2002

Tokyo execs disappear with chunk of firm's cash

Executives of a Tokyo-based company that sells health food products and promises to help clients set up their own health food business have gone into hiding, taking with them several billion yen of company funds, according to sources close to the case.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2002

Japan, France to start full-scale pension talks

Japan and France will launch full-scale negotiations as early as the fall on the conclusion of a social welfare pact, government sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2002

Signs the Cabinet may fall

As the limitations of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government reveal themselves, there are emerging signs of the possible downfall of his Cabinet. The crushing defeat of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the Upper House by-election in the Niigata constituency on April 28 was one event testifying...
JAPAN
May 3, 2002

New version of M-5 rocket in works

Japan plans to develop a new model of its M-5 solid-fuel rocket by 2007, officials of the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science said Thursday.
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
May 2, 2002

Nago ponders base-for-cash community conundrum

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- A prefabricated building behind Jisei Asato's home in the Toyohara district of Nago used to be an office occupied by the Kube Area Economic Promotion Council. It is now closed and bears "for rent" signs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2002

Firm seeks to boot out child labor

Children around the globe dream of someday playing in the World Cup, but few people know that thousands of them spend their days making soccer balls to help feed their families, unable to go to school or enjoy the game.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

BTM chiefs to resign after June 26

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Chairman Satoru Kishi and Vice Chairman Kenji Yoshizawa will step down now that the bank has almost finished disposing of nonperforming loans to large-lot clients, sources close to the bank said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

Nomura Holdings posts 43% drop in consolidated net profit

Nomura Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that its group net profit plunged 43.4 percent in fiscal 2001 due mainly to a fall in both brokerage commissions and revenue from stock and bond trading on its own accounts.
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Sato served fresh tax evasion warrant

Saburo Sato, a former top aide of ex-Lower House lawmaker Koichi Kato, was served a fresh arrest warrant Tuesday on suspicion of failing to declare 150 million yen that he received from talent agency Rising Production Co., investigative sources said.
COMMENTARY
Apr 29, 2002

The virtue of keeping mum on Taiwan

LOS ANGELES -- From Beijing's perspective, the only acceptable U.S. public statement on Taiwan is no statement at all.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Apr 28, 2002

Japan's 'long-awaited spring'

In the morning edition of the Asahi Shimbun, Monday, April 28, 1952, there was a front-page editorial titled "A New Start for Japan." The Occupation, Asahi opined, had been "almost akin to colonialism," resulting in people becoming "irresponsible, obsequious and listless . . . unable to perceive issues...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Apr 27, 2002

Craftsmen keep alive hair ornaments that were all the rage in Edo Period

The display of fine Japanese hair ornaments at Tsumami-Kanzashi Museum in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward illustrates a small world of plums, cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, chestnuts, bees and phoenixes created with pieces of colorful silk.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2002

Osaka, U.K. officials work to ease soccer hooligan fears

OSAKA -- Concerted efforts by Osaka municipal officials and British government representatives to assuage fears of hooliganism in advance of the June 12 World Cup match here between England and Nigeria seem to be paying off.

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