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BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2005

FSA to discipline Meiji Yasuda

The Financial Services Agency plans to order Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. later this month to suspend part of its business activities for about two weeks over alleged illegal sales practices, FSA sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2005

Diaspora bridges China and ASEAN

SINGAPORE -- On Feb. 9, the start of the Year of the Rooster, ethnic Chinese communities across Southeast Asia took stock of their progress and their future in the shadow of China's peaceful development and its strengthened status within the region of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations....
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

DHL poised to grab ever-increasing share of Asia-Pacific mart -- especially China

DHL, the world's leading international express and logistics company, is flying high over China, stepping up infrastructure investment geared to capitalize on fast-growing intra-Asia/Pacific trade, in particular Japan-China trade.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2005

Ramen food courts seek to slake slurping throngs

Ramen eateries in Tokyo have started banding together in food court-style complexes in response to red-hot competition.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2005

JR East to safeguard tracks against quakes

East Japan Railway Co. said Monday it will spend at least 50 billion yen to 60 billion yen during four years from fiscal 2005 on antiquake measures such as reinforcing elevated lines.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2004

Canberra's free trade polka

SYDNEY -- The convening of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations with Australia and New Zealand at ASEAN's meeting in the Laotian capital last week was a landmark for the region's push toward greater security and economic growth. It also started a move toward a free trade area that will...
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2004

Government strong-arms Itami airport

OSAKA -- The battle over the future of the Kansai region's airports heated up this month as the central government pressured Osaka's Itami airport to shift domestic flights to Kansai International Airport and threatened to take away Itami's official status as an international airport.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2004

Life plugging back in on Miyake

Economic activity, including postal services, is resuming on Miyake Island, 4 1/2 years after volcanic eruptions forced its inhabitants to flee in September 2000.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Lawyers go after reformist debt collector

An American businessman who tried to improve the way debts are collected in Japan from the oft yakuza-linked intimidation route was arrested last week amid growing pressure by lawyer groups to crack down on unauthorized parties encroaching on their turf.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 7, 2004

Comedian Shinsuke looks to be at wits' end

Social distinctions related to class, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation that mean a lot in everyday life tend to mean less in the world of show business. Indeed, it's one of the few places where the normally dispossessed can expect an even break, especially in Japan.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 24, 2004

The cat's whiskers of Kawaii

At 10 a.m. last Saturday, the moment the doors of the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district were opened, a small scrum of people rushed in, headed straight to the escalators and then up to the fifth floor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2004

Osaka eyes putting its homeless to work

OSAKA -- Facing central government cutbacks in financial aid to the homeless, Osaka officials are teaming up with the local business community to create a new program that will put some of Osaka Prefecture's estimated 7,700 homeless to work.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2004

Chubu airport to add to Kansai's unease

TOKONAME, Aichi Pref. -- With the February opening of Chubu Centrair International Airport, its general manager of sales and marketing has a few words for those who worry the new facility will take flights away from Kansai International Airport.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 30, 2004

Aso wants private-sector input on postal reform

Ideas from business leaders should be invited when crafting plans to privatize Japan Post to ensure it is profitable from the get-go, according to Taro Aso, minister of internal affairs and communications.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

Toshiba sees boom in audiovisual biz

Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it plans to more than triple annual revenue generated by its audiovisual business to 1.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2010, through the introduction of next-generation flat-screen TVs and DVD players.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Sep 28, 2004

Japanese mega-stores blazing trails in a brave, new publishing world

The Japanese bookstore world used to be one of "If you put it out, it will sell." But that comfortable age is over. Seven straight years of declining book sales have killed off some 1,500 bookstores.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 25, 2004

New Center for Creative Arts up and running

Anyone passing the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo's Moto Azabu in recent months may well have wondered about the flag reading "RBR -- New Center for Creative Arts" flying from the building opposite. Also the steady flow of visitors -- every age, color, race and creed.
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2004

Blame it on the cell phones

The continuing doldrums in the Japanese economy began with a slowdown more than 13 years ago -- in May 1991. The slump stems from sluggish consumer spending, which accounts for 60 percent of the gross national product, and bad loans plaguing Japanese commercial banks. Let's consider the reasons for sluggish...
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2004

Toyota to enter brokerage fray via dealers

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to enter the securities brokerage business by selling investment trusts, bonds and other financial instruments at affiliated dealerships possibly within this year, company officials said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2004

Flawed homeland security

LAS VEGAS -- The dispute between Washington and Tokyo over the fate of Army Sgt. Charles Jenkins, whom the United States accuses of defecting to North Korea some 40 years ago, is more than a case of American legalism vs. Japanese ad hoc policy and humanitarian instincts. The issue goes much deeper into...
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2004

Kono hits Keidanren arms trade push

House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono on Wednesday blasted the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) over its suggestion that the government should lift its ban on arms exports.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

Manufacturers foresee big capital spending rise

A strong business outlook has translated into a 19.8 percent year-on-year rise in fiscal 2004 spending forecasts for manufacturers, according to a government survey released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2004

Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric plan power module transfer

Toshiba Corp. will transfer a major portion of its high-capacity power module business to Mitsubishi Electric Corp. as part of a joint strategy to focus management resources, the two companies said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2004

Summer bonuses to hit record high

Bonus payments planned by 150 major Japanese companies this summer average a record 846,343 yen per employee, according to a recent survey by the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren).
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2004

Korean democracy passes test

NEW YORK -- Politics in Japan and South Korea are a study in contrasts. It is nearly impossible to identify the polic differences between Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democrats. In South Korea, on the other hand, the ruling Uri Party, which now controls both the presidency...

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