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BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2002

Asahi Glass group net profit up 12%

Glass manufacturer Asahi Glass Co. announced Monday that its group net profit for the fiscal first half to Sept. 30 was 15.22 billion yen, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, thanks mainly to the absence of large one-time losses logged the previous year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2002

Police raid Nicos offices over charges linked to 'sokaiya'

Tokyo police raided the headquarters of Nippon Shinpan Co., popularly known as Nicos, on Sunday after allegations surfaced that its executives had paid off a racketeer.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Finance firm exec held over racketeer payoffs

A senior managing director of leading Japanese consumer credit firm Nippon Shinpan Co. was arrested Saturday with seven other people for allegedly paying off a former racketeer.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Daiwa official suspected of insider trading

A former division chief at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. allegedly earned more than 3 million yen in February through insider trading, sources close to the case said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

Year of the dragon

DRAGON DANCE, by Peter Tasker. Kodansha International, 2002, 272 pp., $22.95 (cloth) After beating Tokyo's mean streets in "Silent Thunder" (1992) and "Buddha Kiss" (1997), Peter Tasker's Tokyo gumshoe Kazuo Mori finally hit his literary stride in 1999 with "Samurai Boogie" -- one of the most entertaining...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Make tracks to the new-look Yurakucho

Have you noticed the recent changes around Yurakucho Station? As fancy new cafes and restaurants pop up one after another, the tiny old izakaya under the railroad tracks, with their red paper lanterns, are gradually disappearing.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

Sit up and beg, there's a good boy

The fatal stabbing of an independent-minded Diet member by an unbalanced ultrarightist last month raised the specter of the kind of political terrorism seen in pre-World War II Japan. If the global economy should worsen, could Japan once again fall into ultranationalism?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Nov 17, 2002

Getting syrupy about music

When I first heard the term "self-cover," I thought it referred to errant politicians or bureaucrats making excuses for themselves when caught with their pants down, metaphorically speaking or otherwise.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Menswear in the spotlight

Menswear at the Tokyo collections was, as usual, sparsely represented. Just a handful of designers sent any male models out onto the runways. And as for shows devoted solely to menswear, only Kohshin Satoh (for the Arrston Volaju brand), Kiminori Morishita (showing his own diffusion label within the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Nov 16, 2002

'Oden' is secret weapon in 24-hour stores' war for customers

For many modern urban residents, the typical harbinger of winter is the smell of "oden" steaming on the convenience store counter.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Kenwood to ask for tax break

Major audio equipment maker Kenwood Corp. said Friday it will file an application with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for treatment under the industrial revival law to qualify for a tax break METI gives to debt-ridden but potentially viable firms.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

JAL group operating profit dropped 26.7% in first half

Japan Airlines Co. said Friday its group operating profit for the first half of the business year fell 26.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to 28.55 billion yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Former Tokushima governor given suspended prison term

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Tokushima Gov. Toshio Endo to a suspended three-year prison term Friday and fined him 8 million yen for bribery.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Executives of top banks say everything is fine

Seeking to reassure markets of their financial stability, top executives of the nation's four biggest banking groups insisted Friday they do not require another injection of public funds.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 15, 2002

New coach, new approach has Wales in hunt for Euro 2004

LONDON -- Question time.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2002

Monthly gun haul goes easy on mob

More than half of the illegal firearms seized by police last month were confiscated from individuals outside of organized crime, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2002

Alleged embezzlement, coverup par for course?

What appears be a blatant case of embezzlement at a Saitama office of Japan Highway Public Corp. was hushed up last year -- an episode that observers say illustrates how the heavily indebted corporation, now at the center of a privatization debate, pays little heed to the fact that it is dealing with...
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2002

Tsutaya operator has record first half

Culture Convenience Club Co., operator of the Tsutaya video rental chain, said Thursday it posted record earnings in the fiscal half, thanks to a robust growth in membership and the popularity of DVD movies.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 15, 2002

And you wonder why women don't want to have babies . . .

Rumiko, the 29-year-old president of her own computer-graphics company, says she has decided to become an achiragawa no ningen (person who has crossed over to the other side) by having a baby.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2002

MHI net balance returns to black

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday its group net balance in the first half to Sept. 30 returned to the black, thanks mainly to a sizable decrease in latent losses on securities holdings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT THE JUNCTION
Nov 14, 2002

Ailing expressway entities' fate hangs in balance

A showdown looms between advocates of reform and vested interests.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2002

Innovation takes off if colleges, businesses link: Stanford head

With the economy in dire need of a boost, an increasing number of Japan's universities have, with government support, started collaborating with the private sector to create new businesses to revamp the nation's industrial competitiveness.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2002

Profits must answer to ethics, expert says

The seemingly endless series of corporate scandals emerging around the world underscores the point that responsible business management is in the long term vital to making profits, according to the leader of a global group that promotes business ethics.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2002

Mitsubishi, Mitsui log profit growth

The nation's top two trading houses reported increased group net profit for the first half to Sept. 30, thanks to solid performances in the metal and food businesses, company officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 14, 2002

Oooh no! There goes Tokyo!

Who can resist a game with a campy, self-effacing sense of humor? People like it in movies, and they like it in video games.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2002

FTC orders four road firms to stop fixing contract bids

The Fair Trade Commission ordered four firms closely linked to Japan Highway Public Corp. on Tuesday to stop rigging bids for road maintenance work ordered by the corporation.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 13, 2002

Cabrera stealing Matsui's thunder so far

OSAKA -- Seibu Lions slugger Alex Cabrera tied the Japanese record for home runs in a single season, and next season, he thinks he'll reach No. 56.

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