Search - 2002

 
 
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Agriculture body overpaid mad cow disease subsidies

A farm body paid more than 400 million yen in unnecessary subsidies to companies affected by the outbreak of mad cow disease in domestic cattle, the Board of Audit said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2003

Chen winning back respect for Taiwan's position

NEW YORK -- Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president, recently made a whirlwind international tour. During a three-day transit in New York three weeks ago, he received the 2003 award from the International League for Human Rights. He attended centennial independence anniversary celebrations of Panama, then...
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2003

Scandal-tainted Nippon TV sees profit fall

Nippon Television Network Corp., rocked by a viewer ratings scandal, on Thursday reported double-digit profit falls for the half year to Sept. 30 amid slumping ad revenue and a lack of big events matching last year's World Cup soccer finals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 21, 2003

A New Year's tradition that's worth celebrating

Christmas and St. Valentine's Day may find favor in the eyes of young people, but New Year's Day is still the highlight of Japan's festive calendar. With kadomatsu pines at the doors of people's homes, New Year's cards cramming post boxes, and shrines crowded as people make their hatsumode (first visit...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Young environmental campaigner has message for Japan

Since delivering a speech during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 at age 12, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has actively campaigned worldwide to raise people's awareness about environmental issues.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 21, 2003

Nippon Ham inks Shinjo

Former major league outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo signed a provisional contract carrying an annual salary of 80 million yen over two years with the Nippon Ham Fighters, officials of the Pacific League club said Thursday.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 20, 2003

Empty school buildings: reuse or recycle?

Not far from where I live, there's an elementary school with just 36 students. It's not a private school. It doesn't have a special curriculum. It's a regular public school designed to serve several hundred students. But the neighborhood has changed into a business district, and the few residents who...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2003

Tanaka gets a stage in Diet as DPJ ally

The Democratic Party of Japan may have obtained a powerful weapon Tuesday to wield against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2003

Yamanouchi, Fujisawa may forge tieup

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. may integrate their business operations by 2005, company sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2003

NPSC chief admits more donations from rightist

The head of the agency that oversees the nation's police forces has admitted to receiving 1 million yen from a construction company whose chairman is a senior rightist.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 19, 2003

A helping handyman

Watching Didier Courbot at work, you would probably think he was a nut.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2003

Journalists to countersue lender

Five journalists said Tuesday they will countersue the leading consumer lender Takefuji Corp., which launched libel litigation against them earlier this year over their reports on the scandal-tainted firm's alleged misdeeds.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2003

Graying Japan needs a road map

Falling birthrates and aging populations -- largely consequences of affluence and longevity -- are a common phenomenon in industrialized countries. Japan is no exception, yet it stands out as an extraordinary case, historically as well as globally. To our knowledge, few countries have experienced such...
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Japan asked to aid Falun Gong devotee held in China

The government is being asked to pressure China over an arrest it made last year in connection with the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Takefuji Corp. bugging allegations grow

A former Takefuji Corp. employee arrested last week on suspicion of tapping the phone of a freelance journalist had earlier admitted to bugging the phones of others.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Nov 18, 2003

Shiseido positions itself for China cosmetics boom

Faced with a maturing market in Japan, the nation's largest cosmetics company has turned its attention to China.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Dentsu profit plunged in first half

Dentsu Inc. said Monday its group net profit in the fiscal first half fell 76.6 percent from a year earlier to 6.80 billion yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Ueno Zoo to host panda mating mission

A 16-year-old giant panda will leave her home in Mexico City's Chapultepec Zoo early next month to engage in a breeding mission with the only resident giant panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, it was revealed Monday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2003

WTO says no to U.S. tariffs

The World Trade Organization has ruled that U.S. tariffs on imported steel are illegal, setting the stage for a showdown with the international body and U.S. trade partners. The ruling, which was widely anticipated, provides U.S. President George W. Bush with an opportunity to signal his commitment to...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2003

U.S. continues to stir Muslim resentment

SINGAPORE -- In an Oct. 1 report to the U.S. Congress, titled "Changing Minds, Winning Peace," a high-level panel warned that "hostility toward America had reached shocking levels." It recommended that the administration overhaul and increase public-relations efforts to salvage its plummeting image among...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2003

U.S. should restore corporate governance market: Niskanen

The collapses of Enron and other major U.S. companies in recent years are highlighting the need to amend corporate governance rules that overemphasize management protection so that an effective market for corporate control can be restored, said William Niskanen, head of the Cato Institute, a U.S. think...
JAPAN / TALKING SHOP
Nov 17, 2003

For headhunter in middle, tactful persuasion is art of the deal

For headhunter Toshiaki Komatsu, the most electric moment in his work is when he negotiates a candidate's salary contract -- in English.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2003

SARS, Iraq war bludgeon JAL earnings

Japan Airlines System Corp. said Friday it incurred a 57.59 billion yen net loss in the first half of fiscal 2003 due to the SARS epidemic and the Iraq war.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2003

Future pension benefits, premiums depend on who does the calculating

Four government entities are bracing for a policy showdown that could dictate the financial state of future generations and could influence the country's economic vitality for years to come.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami