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BUSINESS
May 2, 2003

Namco sets deadline for Sega answer on merger

Video game maker Namco Ltd. said Thursday that rival Sega Corp. has until May 9 to make a decision on a merger proposal submitted by Namco.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2003

Dentsu forms e-content joint venture

Advertising agency Dentsu Inc. said Thursday it has established a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. to procure and supply music and digital content to various multimedia terminals.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2003

Millea forced to downgrade fiscal 2002 profit forecast

Millea Holdings Inc., which groups Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Nichido Fire & Marine Insurance Co., said Thursday it has revised downward its group profit forecast for fiscal 2002.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2003

Nomura Holdings posts 120 billion yen net profit

Nomura Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it posted a consolidated net profit of 119.91 billion yen in fiscal 2002, down 28.6 percent from the year before.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2003

Uncertainties in the global economy

The global economy is on shaky grounds, reports the World Trade Organization in its most recent assessment of the international outlook. Uncertainty created by geopolitics and the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has reinforced vulnerabilities that result from imbalances in the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2003

Siting windmills in parks irks environmentalists

Efforts to build environmentally friendly wind power plants in Japan have been causing a stir because the best locations for windmills are often national parks, where they could actually do harm to natural ecosystems.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2003

Lift ban on labor by illegal aliens: unions

Unions assisting foreigners working illegally in Japan are calling on the government to lift its ban on allowing them to engage in manual labor.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2003

Pianist, barber to receive government medals

A maverick jazz pianist and a hearing-impaired barber are among the 810 people who will receive government medals Tuesday in recognition of their contributions to society, the Cabinet Office said Sunday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Apr 27, 2003

The wandering laptop minstrel

With his long black hair pulled back in a tight, neat ponytail and his pale complexion, electronica musician Nobukazu Takemura has an otherworldly quality somewhere between a computer geek and a monk.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 27, 2003

Horse power helps handicapped surmount life's daily obstacles

Yukie Yamaguchi stands at the edge of the ring, intently watching the man being led around on horseback at the Yokohama Riding Club. He is clasping a bright-yellow Pikachu to his chest with both hands. Slowly he takes one hand off the stuffed toy and lightly slaps the horse's neck.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Downsize, get out of China's way and rebuild: business chief

Japan should aggressively create new businesses to regain its global competitiveness, according to Kakutaro Kitashiro, new chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 26, 2003

Jiro Hirano

When he was poised between high school and university in the late 1950s, Jiro Hirano had a vague idea that in life he wanted to do "something international." He knew he didn't want to study at the University of Tokyo, as his father and brother and cousins had before him. "I wanted to have a way of my...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 26, 2003

How to tell if your neighbor is a yakuza

Several years ago as I was taking a taxi to work, the taxi driver took a shortcut down a small side street through an old neighborhood. When we rounded a corner, we were met by about 50 men dressed in suits lining both sides of the street and making deep bows. The taxi driver stopped behind a large black...
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Honda reports record group net profit and sales

Honda Motor Co. reported Friday a record group net profit of 426.66 billion yen for fiscal 2002, up 17.6 percent from the previous year.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Sony group profit soars sevenfold

Sony Corp. said Thursday its group net profit in fiscal 2002 skyrocketed to 115.52 billion yen -- more than 7.5 times its 15.3 billion yen profit the previous year -- on strong movie sales and cost cutting.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2003

Foreign Ministry upgrades travel alert for Toronto

The Foreign Ministry upgraded Thursday its travel warning for Toronto, adding it to the growing list of areas that Japanese travelers are advised to avoid due to the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Matsui posts 20.6% net profit fall

Online broker Matsui Securities Co. said Thursday its group net profit fell 20.6 percent to 1.49 billion yen in the year that ended March 31.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Nissan, Mazda, Toyota saw domestic sales grow in fiscal 2002

Three of the nation's five major automakers saw their domestic sales grow in fiscal 2002, according to figures released Thursday by the firms in question.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Travel agencies open theme branches to lick SARS, Iraq war

Amid the sharp decline in the number of Japanese taking overseas trips, travel agencies are opening novelty branches to lure customers.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Apr 24, 2003

Challenging English at 65

April is traditionally the time of new beginnings in Japan, at school and at work. Novelist Sae Shuichi, however, makes it a practice to embark on a new project every five years. At 55, for example, he took up kendo. And at 65, as detailed in his latest book, "65-sai Ojisan no Eikaiwa Benkyo ga Tanoshiku...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 24, 2003

Shooting from the soul

Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone met at a diving class when they were students. Then, after graduation, they worked on an environmental-impact assessment project in the beautiful Fal estuary in Cornwall, southwest England, where a new port was being planned. It was the love of the sea and nature they developed...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

10 of 12 suspected cases of SARS turn out to be negative

A health ministry panel said Tuesday that 10 of the 12 SARS cases in Japan classified as either "suspected" or "probable" are not the deadly virus, but judgment is being withheld on the remaining two cases.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 23, 2003

Looking history straight in the face

"I want to live, I do not want to perish gracefully in battle," declares Yamato (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the young hero of Hideki Noda's "Oil."
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2003

Protection sought for whistle-blowers in fraud cases

Consumer groups on Monday urged that planned legislation to shield corporate whistle-blowers from retaliation by employers include a provision to protect workers who report fraudulent business deals, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2003

Tokio Marine to acquire capital stake in new Shanghai-based life insurer

Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. is finalizing a plan to take a capital stake in Shanghai-based Sino Life Insurance Co., which will begin operating this fall, company officials said Monday.

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