Search - 2002

 
 
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2003

Mitsubishi Research bilked ODA supplier for millions

Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc. swindled the government-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation out of 8 million yen in official development assistance earmarked for Southeast Asia, JBIC officials said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2003

Dancing in the dark, but who's calling the tune?

Ever since the five Japanese who were kidnapped by North Korea in the late '70s returned to Japan a little less than a year ago, the media, the government, the abductees' families and supporters, and the abductees themselves have been performing an elaborate and awkward dance.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 28, 2003

Journals of Joseph Campbell

SAKE & SATORI: Asian Journals -- Japan, by Joseph Campbell. California: Joseph Campbell Foundation/New World Library, 2002, 350 pp., b/w photographs, $22.95 (cloth). In 1955, the eminent mythologist Joseph Campbell came to Japan and stayed for five months. Author of "The Hero With a Thousand Faces,"...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2003

IRCJ takes salvage target list up to six

The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan announced Friday that it will bail out Matsuya Denki Co., an Osaka home appliances retailer, and Meisei and Co., a chemical trading company also based in Osaka, under its corporate resuscitation scheme.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2003

Tokyu to take control of travel unit

Railway operator Tokyu Corp. said Friday it will make Tokyu Tourist Corp. a wholly owned subsidiary on Jan. 1.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2003

Problems with Mr. Grasso's pay

In business, as in politics, there is a simple rule for evaluating decisions: How will it look when it is in the headlines? By that standard, the uproar surrounding revelations that Mr. Richard Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, was awarded compensation of $139.5 million tells...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 26, 2003

Arsenal, Wenger out of excuses this time

LONDON -- It's Groundhog Day for this column.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2003

Shiokawa confirms Diet retirement

Veteran lawmaker Masajuro Shiokawa, replaced as finance minister in Monday's Cabinet reshuffle, said Thursday he will not run in the next House of Representatives election, expected to be held in November.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2003

Test tube baby born using eggs frozen in 1995

A Hokkaido woman gave birth to a boy last year using fertilized eggs frozen in 1995, which may be the longest time in Japan that such eggs have been used after being in storage, according to her doctors.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 25, 2003

Tosa may miss Tokyo Marathon

World silver medalist Reiko Tosa twisted her left ankle and may be unable to take part in the Tokyo International Women's Marathon this fall, marathon sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2003

Child abuse cases hit record 23,738

A record 23,738 cases of child abuse were reported to child welfare centers nationwide in fiscal 2002, topping the previous year's record by 464, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2003

Pump firm slapped on wrist for concealing 290 million yen

The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has judged that plant engineering firm Ebara Corp. concealed 290 million yen in income over a two-year period ending in March 2002, sources said Monday.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 24, 2003

Kawaguchi eyes bigger SDF role

The government should pursue a more flexible interpretation of the Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 and allow the Self-Defense Forces to make a greater contribution to global peacekeeping efforts, according to Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 24, 2003

Ito's embroidered art has got it all stitched up

The Watari-Um Museum of Contemporary Art in Shibuya is one of Japan's most respected private museums. Now, it seems, the beautiful, Mario Botta-designed art space has also become one of the country's leading supporters of young artists.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2003

More police, immigration officers sought

Seven prefectures in the Kanto and Kansai regions jointly filed a request Monday with the central government to increase the number of police and immigration officers assigned to major prefectures.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2003

Mr. Koizumi gets down to business

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reshuffled his Cabinet Monday after his victory in Saturday's Liberal Democratic Party presidential election. The new Cabinet demonstrates the prime minister's determination to push his mandate without being swayed by forces that oppose his policy line.
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2003

LDP factions losing clout

The Liberal Democratic Party is an assemblage of factions. Since it has held the reins of government almost continuously, the LDP has derived much of its vitality from factional power struggles for the party presidency and the prime ministership.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 22, 2003

Dwindling benefits cast doubt on rigid pension and deposit schemes

An insurance policy is an agreement whereby the payment of premiums and the receipt of benefits are inseparable. However, this fundamental principle is now being challenged by the nation's public insurance systems, which are creating anxiety and discontent by gradually denying policyholders freedom of...
COMMENTARY
Sep 22, 2003

Decentralization will finish road to democracy in Japan

Some independent or reformist prefectural governors have come out with their own plans to revitalize local politics and economies. Their ultimate goal is to end the centralization of administrative power that dates back to the Meiji Restoration and establish real local autonomy. To achieve the goal,...
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2003

Group-use discounts for expressways to be stopped

Japan Highway Public Corp. will abolish toll discounts extended to group users of expressways in a bid to ensure fairness, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2003

Ebara suspected of padding bills

Plant engineering firm Ebara Corp. allegedly netted 300 million yen in taxpayers' funds by having a subcontractor pad bills tied to a garbage incinerator construction project in Chiba Prefecture in 2001, sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2003

Liberal ideals gain ground in the Asia-Pacific region

MANILA -- In past decades, liberal democracy and economic freedom have made great advances in all parts of the world. This general trend also applies to Asia, as is documented in the annual "Freedom in the World" surveys published by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation and the "Economic Freedom...

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