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JAPAN
Feb 9, 1999

BOJ governor opposes outright bond purchases

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Tuesday came out against a proposal that the central bank expand its buying of government bonds from the market, saying such a measure would be tantamount to underwriting newly issued bonds.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1999

Will government bonds help? It's a trick question

Debate on how Japan can pull itself out of its worst postwar economic slump has entered a new stage.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 1999

Yaohan securities holders sue over cooked books

Shareholders and convertible bond holders of Yaohan Japan Corp. filed a 260 million yen damages suit Thursday against executives of the effectively bankrupt supermarket chain, arguing they suffered losses because the firm window-dressed its financial statements.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 1999

OECD drafts corporate governance guides

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has completed a draft of international guidelines for good corporate governance that emphasizes, among other things, promotion and protection of shareholders' rights.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 1999

Finance outlook for regional economies flat

The nation's regional economies generally remain sluggish, although there are signs of improvement in some areas and sectors, Finance Ministry bureau heads reported Wednesday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Feb 3, 1999

Easy money?

Have you got Net fever yet? It's hard to resist.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 1999

Sumitomo, Goodyear link to retread tire industry

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. of the United States, the world's third-biggest tire maker, has agreed with Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. to participate in a capital and business alliance that will be the largest in the industry, Sumitomo announced Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 1999

Nippon Life offers one-account plan

Nippon Life Insurance Company announced Wednesday it will introduce a new business scheme April 2, offering life insurance and other services under one account.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Credit-rating agencies, critics defend their views

Tokyo-based media recently met with rare opportunities to hear countering views on how credit-rating agencies operate and how they should operate, when officials from Moody's Investors Service defended their business and the head of a Japanese research institute detailed how it "rated" such agencies....
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Moroccan legislator visits Tokyo to improve ties

Morocco's success in balancing its monarchy with democracy has firmly planted a seed of full-fledged democracy and built a basis for a new stage of economic development, said the country's senior legislator, who is currently visiting Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

First Moldovan visit enhances relations

Visiting Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura signed a communique Monday pledging to further enhance bilateral ties based on universal values such as democracy and basic human rights.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Rover Japan chairman steps down

Rover Japan announced Monday that its chairman, Peter J. Woods, stepped down on Jan. 1.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

BOJ to pare luxuries

The Bank of Japan announced Friday it will sell all but one of the houses it maintains for its branch managers and all of its resort and golf club memberships as part of restructuring efforts.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1999

BIS tells banks to tighten hedge fund dealings

A committee under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements has released a report urging banks to take more care in dealing with hedge funds, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1999

U.S. policy, experts called obstacle to stable foreign exchange

U.S. trade policy and influential American economists are obstacles to creating a system to enforce a trading band for yen-dollar exchange rates, according to Kenichi Ohno, an advocate of such a system.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 27, 1999

Links you can trust

In the past few months, this column has addressed the trend of "portals," those jump-station sites where you're supposed to begin your journey onto the Web. Although Wired.com hasn't officially become a portal, it is where I often begin my Web sessions. I go to read Wired's superior tech features, but...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 1999

Poll Preview: Celebrity governors in need of new shtick

Four years ago, comedian and Upper House member "Knock" Yokoyama entered the Osaka gubernatorial race three days before the official campaign started, saying he was angry about the collusion in the non-Communist ruling coalition in the prefectural assembly.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Japan, Iran agree to debt-refinancing plan

Japan and Iran have agreed in principle to refinance $500 million of $2.6 billion in debts owed by the Persian Gulf country to private Japanese companies, to help strengthen bilateral economic relations, government and industry sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Sony, Toyota enter data service venture with IIJ

A joint data communications venture established by Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp. and Internet Initiative Japan Inc. announced Tuesday that it will begin high-speed data services of up to 600 megabits per second in April for corporate users.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Free short-term parking aims to appease violators

In a bid to help solve Osaka's notorious parking woes, city authorities said they will offer 30 minutes of free parking at public lots near JR Osaka Station on weekdays.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 1999

An Olympic-size mess

What a difference a year makes. One year ago, Nagano City was pulling out the stops to welcome athletes from all over the world for a mammoth festival on ice and snow. Such was the universal appeal of the Olympic Games that even warring nations laid down their arms for the duration of the competition...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

American Express plans securities firm

American Express Financial Advisors Inc., a financial planning company within the American Express group, will launch business in Japan as a securities firm, company officials announced Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

NTT acquires 80% stake in AutoWeb

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. purchased an 80 percent stake in AutoWeb Communications Inc., a computer software company in the United States, the carrier announced Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

New Keizai Doyukai chief aims to revise Japan's image

Fuji Zerox Co. Chairman Yotaro Kobayashi, the newly appointed chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), expressed hope Friday that he will be able to give foreigners a clear picture of a changing Japan in his new position.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 1999

Daiei president steps down to speed restructuring efforts

Daiei Inc. Chairman and President Isao Nakauchi, who established the nation's largest supermarket chain operator, relinquished his post as president to accelerate its restructuring efforts, Daiei officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 1999

Vietnamese premier to visit Tokyo

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Kai will make his first official visit to Tokyo in March to seek more Japanese support for the Southeast Asian country's desperate efforts to overcome fallout from the continued regional economic crisis, government sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 1999

A regional test for Japan

If the International Monetary Fund today serves, in effect, as a tough lender of last resort globally, Japan last year gave itself the role of a friendly neighborhood bank in East Asia. That choice has proved timely, but it has become more challenging as the new year began. Unsettling news from two places...
JAPAN
Jan 19, 1999

Mitsui, Chuo Trust plan biggest trust bank in 2000

Mitsui Trust & Banking Co. and Chuo Trust & Banking Co. announced Tuesday that they have reached basic agreement to merge in April 2000 to become the nation's biggest trust bank with a combined capital of more than 40 trillion yen.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 1999

Coalition's anticlimactic debut

The curtain rose Thursday on the new conservative coalition government to reveal just one more unimpressive performance of the same old political drama. Much had been said and written about the apparent significance of the realignment, but it seems to have ended up as essentially just another political...
JAPAN
Jan 12, 1999

Deaths spur probe into telephone messaging business

The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry will begin an investigation into the status of telephone message dating services in the country.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan