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BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2002

Snow, Lotte forge deal to sell ice cream

Struggling dairy products maker Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Monday it has signed an agreement with confectioner Lotte Co. to jointly set up a firm to manufacture and sell ice cream.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Big companies demanding better English

Takuya Suzuki has been taking the Test of English for International Communication exams twice a year since he joined electronic parts maker Sumida Corp. two years ago.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2002

Abtronic aside, couch potatoes make TV shopping 110 billion yen juggernaut

The growing legion of TV shoppers in Japan has turned the relatively new market into a 110 billion yen colossus.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Mitsubishi elevator firm given sabotage warning

The Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday warned Mitsubishi Electric Building Techno-Service Co. to stop sabotaging its competitors.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2002

Seibu to cut 15% of full-time jobs

Seibu Department Stores Ltd. plans to cut some 800 jobs, or about 15 percent of its full-time workforce of 5,300, by the end of March, company officials said Friday.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Jun 7, 2002

Working with people to save the Earth

Money was not Fareeha Ibrahim's reason for joining the JET program. In fact, as a senior policy adviser in Australia's Environment Department, her annual income was significantly more than the 3.6 million yen she gets as a JET.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jun 3, 2002

Can a nation learn from Nissan's success?

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The twin announcements that Nissan made a record profit of 372 billion yen last year and that Carlos Ghosn has been appointed chief executive officer of the parent company, Renault, as well as retaining the presidency of Nissan, are an extraordinary landmark.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Hakuhodo eyes TSE listing in fall

Toshio Miyagawa, president of advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc., said Thursday his company hopes to list on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the fall. "Our aim to be listed next fall remains unchanged," Miyagawa told reporters during a briefing on Hakuhodo's earnings reports for fiscal...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
May 31, 2002

Keio professor applies soccer tactics to business

Watching World Cup soccer games may give corporate managers a good clue about productive organization. Shunsuke Takahashi, an expert on human resources management, said that in a "soccer style" organization, team members work autonomously and flexibly. Even defenders can take shots on goal.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2002

American Express arm, Mitsui unit sign tieup

Mitsui Mutual Life Insurance Co. and American Express Financial Corp. said Wednesday they have signed a tieup in the asset management business for individual investors.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2002

Nippon Mitsubishi buys North Sea oil rights

Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corp. said Tuesday it has acquired operational rights in Britain's Brae oil and natural gas fields in the North Sea, and rights to use transportation facilities.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2002

Yakult group net profits up 5.4%

Yakult Honsha Co. said Friday its group net profits for the 2001 business year increased 5.4 percent to 11.11 billion yen due mainly to nonoperating income, such as royalties.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2002

Nippon Steel loses 28.4 billion yen

Nippon Steel Corp. said Thursday it posted a group net loss of 28.4 billion yen in the year to March 31, hit mainly by valuation losses on its securities holdings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 24, 2002

Snow Brand Milk posts 71.74 billion yen net loss

Struggling Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Thursday it posted a group net loss of 71.74 billion yen for the 2001 business year, 35 percent worse than the year before, due to plunging sales in the wake of a food mislabeling scandal at its meat packing subsidiary.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2002

Tokyo Gas posted 80 billion yen profit in fiscal '01

Tokyo Gas Co. said Wednesday its group pretax profits rose 20.6 percent to 80.63 billion yen in the business year to March 31 on strong gas sales and cost-cutting efforts.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2002

Airline SkynetAsia gets approval for operations

A Miyazaki-based airline venture obtained government approval Tuesday to launch flights in August between Miyazaki airport and Haneda airport in Tokyo, setting itself up to become the third new major domestic airline after Skymark Airlines Co. and Hokkaido International Airlines Co. (Air Do).
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Work sharing solves Netherlands' economic woes

THE HAGUE -- As Japan remains mired in an economic slump, the idea of work sharing is increasingly attracting the attention of the government, labor unions and business organizations as a way to handle the record level of more than 5 percent unemployment.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Showa Shell turns focus toward customers' needs

With most of its restructuring completed, Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. is now focusing on stimulating customer demand by improving its products and services, according to John S. Mills, the new president of the country's fourth-largest oil wholesaler.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Mazda returns to profitability

Mazda Motor Corp. said Wednesday it returned to the black in the 2001 business year thanks to cost-cutting measures and a weakened yen.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Trading house Mitsubishi logs 34.6% profit drop

Trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Wednesday its group net profits in fiscal 2001 plunged 34.6 percent, primarily due to a 51.5 billion yen fall in securities sales.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
May 12, 2002

Former top executive attempts to save Japan Inc. with ethics

What is the root cause of corporate failure?
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

Softbank posts 88.76 billion yen net loss

Internet business investor Softbank Corp. dipped into the red in the year that ended March 31, due to costs to build infrastructure for broadband online services and a devaluation of the firm's stockholdings, company officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2002

DoCoMo profits vanish into writeoffs

After years of spectacular growth, NTT DoCoMo Inc. on Wednesday said group net profits in fiscal 2001 plunged 99.8 percent to 862 million yen due to losses on strategic foreign investments.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2002

Extraordinary losses keep Shiseido in the red

Shiseido Co., the nation's largest cosmetics maker, said Wednesday it remained in the red in the 2001 business year due to appraisal losses on its shareholdings and other extraordinary losses stemming from product recalls.
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

A plastic menagerie for kids of all ages

"Instead of only children, we started to think about what we could sell to people in their 30s, 40s or 50s."

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?