Search - real_estate

 
 
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 1999

First bigger, then better

Another Japanese megabank is in the making. Sumitomo Bank and Sakura Bank have just agreed to merge by April 2002, which will create the world's second-largest banking group, with assets of about 99 trillion yen. Earlier this year, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan announced...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 1999

Realtor charged in murder of Tokyo temple guard

A 51-year-old real estate broker in custody on a gun-possession charge was served a new warrant Friday in connection with the fatal shooting of a security guard last month at Kuhonbutsu Joshinji Temple in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 1999

Aum followers held in raid; confinements alleged

A current and former member of Aum Shinrikyo were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of detaining a female follower who attempted to escape from a cult facility in Kiso-Fukushima, Nagano Prefecture, police said.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 1999

'Advance Australia fair' takes on a whole new meaning

"There goes another shiftless Aboriginal," said the Pioneer bus driver to those of us taking the half-day tour of Alice Springs. "We give them cars, they drive them till they're out of petrol, then, bloody hell, they just leave the bloody things by the side of the road."
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 18, 1999

A big bang, and then there was life

Five days and 116 years ago, a small island in the Sunda Straight between Java and Sumatra exploded.
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 1999

Accomplices in our own destruction

A series of storms are wreaking havoc across Asia. Torrential rains have drenched the region, killing thousands, swamping hundreds of thousands more (millions have been affected in China) and creating a string of humanitarian disasters. It is tempting to throw up our hands in helplessness when faced...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 1999

Thatched huts for the 21st century

TSURUI VILLAGE, Tokushima Pref. -- Still hidden away in Shikoku's remote Iya Valley, the thatch-roofed home made famous in Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" is taking out a new lease on life -- one that may alter this country's approach to conservation and development.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 1999

Land values drop 7.1% as banks unload properties

Land prices in Japan fell on average for the seventh consecutive year as the pace of decline again picked up amid banks' ongoing efforts to dispose of bad loans, the National Tax Administration Agency reported Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 1999

Hard questions for Hong Kong

It has been a bitter two years for Hong Kong. On July 1, 1997, the British Crown Colony reverted to the mainland amid an outpouring of pride and Chinese nationalism. The celebrations were short-lived. The very next day, the Thai baht imploded, launching Asia on a downward economic spiral from which it...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 1999

Yamaichi bankruptcy lawyers may sue former auditor

The head of a team of lawyers assigned with liquidating assets of failed Yamaichi Securities Co. hinted Thursday that they may sue the brokerage's former auditor, Chuo Audit Corp.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 1999

Farm chief cool to reduced bank deposit protection

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa voiced caution Friday about the government's plan to abolish full deposit protection at the end of March 2001.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 1999

Obuchi takes competition woes to industry leaders

Japan needs to promote joint projects between the government and the private sector to strengthen its industrial technology, government and business leaders agreed Thursday at a state panel on beefing up industrial competitiveness.
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

Big shots endorse plan to rejuvenate manufacturing

To help Japan's ailing manufacturing firms in their restructuring efforts, an advisory panel of government and business leaders endorsed a set of proposals Thursday that include tax cuts to dispose of excess facilities and extended benefits for the unemployed.
LIFE / Travel
May 13, 1999

Myanmar's Chinese connection

To the millions of Myanmar Buddhists who still visit it, Mandalay symbolizes, nominally at least, the Rome of this "Golden Land." It is a royal "City of Gems."
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Non-Japanese ring tied to Osaka house robbery

OSAKA -- The president of a private university in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, was robbed of some 700,000 yen early Tuesday by three knife-wielding intruders, and police suspect the same non-Japanese Asians linked to 17 other break-ins in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures since March 1998 perpetrated the crime....
COMMENTARY
May 5, 1999

A game plan for Ishihara

I was not surprised at all by Shintaro Ishihara's overwhelming victory in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Several journalist friends of mine and I had correctly predicted the election results, including the order of all the major candidates by the number of votes. More than anything else,...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

JR West decides not to sue the state

West Japan Railway Co. decided Wednesday not to sue the national government over its decision to impose an additional burden on the firm related to the mounting debt left behind by the former Japanese National Railways.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 1999

Kokumin's capital deficit about 71.2 billion yen

Kokumin Bank, which was declared insolvent Sunday, had a 71.2 billion yen capital deficit as of Sept. 30, 1998, the Financial Supervisory Agency revealed Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1999

FSA to declare Kokumin in capital deficit

The Financial Supervisory Agency next week will declare that Kokumin Bank, a second-tier regional bank, is in a capital deficit of 50 billion yen, raising the specter of yet another government takeover, sources at the state agency said Thursday.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 7, 1999

Underwater neighborhoods

PHUKET, Thailand -- The coral-rich waters of the Andaman and Similan Seas off the coast of Phuket have become a mecca for scuba divers: Here awaits a treasure of diverse marine species, some of which can be found in few other places on earth.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Marubeni reverses earnings outlook, airs reform plan

Major trading house Marubeni Corp. lowered its earnings projection for fiscal 1998 on Thursday and announced a restructuring program to consolidate its 701 group firms into about 500 by March 31, 2001.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1999

Nissan OKs 35% equity stake for Renault

Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday appeared willing to have Renault SA of France buy an equity stake in the struggling automaker, saying specific conditions for the deal would hinge on further talks.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Investment drops to 37-year low

Combined capital investments by Japanese firms in the October-December period fell 18.7 percent from a year earlier, the worst drop seen since the same quarter of 1962, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 1999

State moves to draft stronger consumer protection law

Staff writer
JAPAN
Feb 25, 1999

'Staff pay' entries give away tax dodger

Tokyo prosecutors arrested senior executives of a Tokyo real estate agency Thursday after raiding its offices over allegations that the firm failed to pay 500 million yen in taxes during a three-year period, sources close to the investigation said.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1999

Mitsubishi firms eye largest leasing merger

Two leasing companies in the Mitsubishi corporate group are negotiating terms of a merger that may take place this fall, sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 1999

Ethical standards for bankers

In a landmark suit involving a bank's responsibility for bad loans, Sumitomo Bank earlier this week agreed to pay 3 billion yen to the Housing Loan Administration Corp., the public debt-clearing body for bankrupt home-loan companies. The HLAC had initially demanded 5 billion yen in damages, saying the...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 1998

Court rulings in Aum trial set precedents in '98

Sentences handed down this year on two Aum Shinrikyo figures drew a clear line between life and death.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

NCB Mortgage applies for bankruptcy

NCB Mortgage Co., an affiliate of the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank, applied to the Tokyo District Court for voluntary bankruptcy on Tuesday, company officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

10 years sought for ex-Itoman boss

OSAKA -- Prosecutors demanded a 10-year prison term Tuesday for a former president of now-defunct Itoman Co. and a 12-year term for one of its former executive directors, for alleged aggravated breach of trust.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji