Search - 2003

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 10, 2004

A journey through a landscape of clay

Kyoto ceramic artist Shin Fujihira creates works imbued with a childlike glee and an overflow of intelligent -- rather than intellectual -- energy that it's impossible not to fall in love with. The man, as a favorite singer of mine says, "has sharpened his sense of wonder" to the point of supreme refinement....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2004

Suffrage for foreigners gains momentum

After nearly a decade on the back burner, the issue of granting suffrage to foreigners in local-level elections has gained renewed interest due to recent moves by lawmakers.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2004

Izuhakone Railway chief bows out over falsified financial statements

Izuhakone Railway Co. President Teruni Serizawa stepped down Tuesday to take the blame for falsified financial statements that had inflated the number of individual shareholders in the firm.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2004

JT ups warnings on cigarette packs

Japan Tobacco Inc. will start printing larger health warnings on the packages of some of its cigarette brands later this month in preparation for stricter labeling regulations that kick in at the end of June.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2004

FSA tells Resona to improve plan

The Financial Services Agency asked Resona Holdings Inc. on Monday to improve its pending business revitalization plan, Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2004

Female bank exec challenges industry

For Miyuki Zeniya, the first female full-time board member in Japan's banking industry, her challenge at Saikyo Bank is a challenge to the country's conservative banking world.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2004

Defense Agency says SDF cut would put reactors in danger

An internal Defense Agency document says that cuts in Self-Defense Forces personnel and equipment as proposed by the Finance Ministry could leave nuclear reactors open to attack and hamper disaster relief operations.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 7, 2004

Nihon TV's documentary "Super TV" and more

This week, Nihon TV's weekly documentary series "Super TV" (Mon., 9:54 p.m.) explores Aokigahara Jukai, the densely wooded area near Mount Fuji that is famous as a final destination for suicide victims.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Child-rearing costs average 16.1% of living expenses

It takes an average of 46,400 yen per month to raise a child, or 16.1 percent of a household's total living expenses, according to a survey by an organization affiliated with the Cabinet Office.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2004

JAL back in black, sees rate hikes over fuel costs

Japan Airlines Corp. reported Friday that it returned to profit in the first half of the fiscal year as international travel recovered from a decline a year ago caused by the war in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS in Asia, and added that rising fuel costs will lead to fare increases.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

U.S. pressure on North may sideline abductee resolution

U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to increase pressure on North Korea over the Pyongyang nuclear threat in his second term -- something Japan does not want, experts say.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2004

University-launched startups at 982

A total 982 venture businesses resulted from universities and government research institutes' developments as of the end of August, the University of Tsukuba said in a report released Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2004

Japan urged to put human rights on agenda for talks with North Korea

A visiting American human rights specialist has urged Japan to put North Korea's human rights record on its agenda for the upcoming normalization talks scheduled with the reclusive state.
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2004

Time to review Iraq policy

The Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq has ended in the death of Mr. Shosei Koda, a 24-year-old traveler, whose decapitated body was found in central Baghdad on Sunday. He had been detained by Islamic militants demanding that Japan withdraw its troops from the country. The government, having failed in its...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2004

Abortion rate for 19-year-olds 2%

Two percent of 19-year-old women and 1.5 percent of those aged 18 had abortions in fiscal 2003.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2004

Nakao's prison term suspended due to sickness

The Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office decided Tuesday to suspend a prison sentence handed down against former construction minister Eiichi Nakao, who was found guilty of bribe taking, because he is ill.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2004

Government plans stricter rules on disposal of CFC substitutes

Regulations on disposal of chlorofluorocarbon substitutes that cause global warming will be tightened, government sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 3, 2004

Sublime angst in a dolce vita

David Leveaux, the English director of "Nine," is not only one of the world's leading dramatists -- constantly in demand on Broadway and in the West End -- but he is also well-known for the theatrical panache with which he endows his work, most recently this year's Broadway hit "Jumpers."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2004

Brisk overseas sales offset Fuso's domestic slide

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- Scandal-tainted Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. will be able to weather a plunge in domestic sales with brisk overseas sales, in terms of volume, for the year ending next March, Fuso President Wilfried Porth said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2004

Asian-African trade conference kicks off

An international conference hosted by Japan and the United Nations to help expand exports from Africa to Asia for the sustainable growth of African economies got under way Monday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / BY THE NUMBERS
Nov 2, 2004

Free the workers to be better consumers

The government is encouraging companies to ensure their employees take time off because it wants workers to get out and be better consumers.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2004

Okuda ups sales forecast by 1 million

Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Hiroshi Okuda said Monday that Japan's top automaker plans to sell 8.5 million vehicles worldwide in 2006 and to double its overseas production in the 2010s.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2004

Japanese hostage found dead in Iraq

A five-day hostage crisis ended in tragedy Sunday as the government said a decapitated body found in Baghdad earlier in the day was that of Shosei Koda, a 24-year-old Japanese taken captive by a militant group in Iraq last week.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2004

Kanebo tabs spinoff head for president

Struggling textile maker Kanebo Ltd. has decided to name Takehiko Ogi, an outside board director of Kanebo Cosmetics Inc., a firm spun off from Kanebo in May, as its president, sources close to the reshuffle said Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 31, 2004

M. Ward finds his voice

Almost every pop musician starts out trying to sound like somebody else, and if he's lucky he ends up sounding like nobody but himself. This truism becomes less tenable with the passage of time and the gradual exhaustion of new musical ideas. Even a field as huge as "American folk-rock" is reducible...
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2004

State surveillance of Aum constitutional

The Tokyo District Court on Friday rejected a claim from Aum Shinrikyo that a 1999 law that allows state surveillance of the group is unconstitutional.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2004

Nissan, MMC consider minivehicle tieup

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are negotiating a possible integration of their minivehicle businesses under a joint venture to be set up next spring, industry sources said Thursday.

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