Search - 2003

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2004

Yamanouchi, Fujisawa to merge

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. said Tuesday they have agreed to merge in a bid to survive intensifying global competition.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 23, 2004

Admire Don takes February Stakes

Race favorite Admire Don rose to the challenge of the year's first top-level race and, in form befitting the dirt champion of 2003, turned in a satisfying half-length win of the February Stakes on Sunday in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 23, 2004

Critical war questions beg for an answer

NEW YORK -- First, my historian friend George Akita sent me a clipping of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's article that appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser (Aug. 7, 2003). Titled "We need rules for waging war," the piece begins with McNamara remembering the night of March 9, 1945, when...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 22, 2004

A second generation apart

INVISIBLE GARDENS, by Julie Shigekuni. St. Martin's Press, 2003, $23.95 (cloth). Lily Soto Quinn is starting to have an affair. At the first sexual encounter, she ponders the significance of her lover's body: "Part of him so clearly missing. A gap between his kneecap and the ground, filled with nothing...
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2004

Schools told not to force staff to play anthem

A bar association in Tokyo has urged principals at two public elementary schools in the city of Kunitachi, western Tokyo, not to force music teachers to play the national anthem at school ceremonies.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2004

Bridgestone profits double as recall woes ebb, Europe sales soar

Profits at tire maker Bridgestone Corp. nearly doubled in the fiscal year that ended Dec. 31 as sales rose in Europe and payments related to a massive U.S. tire recall three years ago declined.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2004

Shinsei Bank share price surges on TSE debut

Shinsei Bank shares debuted Thursday on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, marking a dramatic revival from the collapse of Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan five years ago.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Feb 20, 2004

Makeover for gum gives health-conscious something to chew on

Despite a shrinking confectionary market, chewing gum has been enjoying healthy growth, posting record sales last year.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2004

Upper House in need of reform

Should Japan keep its bicameral parliamentary system? Put another way, is the House of Councilors, or Upper House, really necessary? The question is not new. Many Japanese have long regarded it as the "rubber stamp" of the more influential House of Representatives. Now the issue is coming under scrutiny...
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2004

GDP logs 1.7% quarterly rise

Japan's economy expanded a real 1.7 percent in the October-December period, the best showing in 13 1/2 years, backed by strong corporate capital investment, exports and consumer spending, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2004

Head of DaimlerChrysler Smart unit reportedly to be named MMC chief

Andreas Renschler, president of DaimlerChrysler AG subsidiary Smart GmbH, will take the helm of struggling automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. as early as April, industry sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Feb 17, 2004

Koizumi, Kan warm to unicameral system

Whenever a Diet session convenes, the Emperor gives a short speech at the House of Councilors' opening ceremony -- a tradition that should demonstrate the chamber's status.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2004

TSE listing reflects Shinsei's return to viability

Demonstrating its successful revival, Shinsei Bank, the successor to the failed Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, will list its shares Thursday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2004

Toyota approach lifts NEC's PC production

NEC Corp. has boosted per-worker output of personal computers almost sixfold in the three years since it introduced Toyota Motor Corp.'s production style, company officials have said.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 15, 2004

Asian Sherlocks pursue exotic crimes

THE FENG SHUI DETECTIVE, by Nury Vittachi. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004, 280 pp., $23.95 (cloth). THE LAST KASHMIRI ROSE, by Barbara Cleverly. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003, 314 pp., $6.99 (paper). The "feng shui detective," an elderly Singaporean named C.F. Wong, doesn't wear a trench coat or pack...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 15, 2004

The politics of sex: How a government stays on top

COLONIZING SEX: Sexology and Social Control in Modern Japan, by Sabine Fruhstuck. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, 217 pp., 15 illustrations, $50.00 (cloth), $19.95 (paper). Philosopher Michael Foucault has written that sexuality is the most useful tool in any power relationship. It is...
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 14, 2004

Gaillard backs down on request

Yokohama BayStars right-hander Eddie Gaillard, who will likely move to middle relief with the return of closer Kazuhiro Sasaki from the major leagues, has backed out of a request for a multiyear contract, team executive Masatake Yamanaka said Friday.
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Feb 14, 2004

Kitajima wins MVP award again

The Japan Swimming Federation named Kosuke Kitajima as the 2003 Most Valuable Player on Friday, granting him the top distinction for the second year in a row.
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Feb 14, 2004

Sakamoto to take part in ekiden

Naoko Sakamoto, who won the Osaka International Women's Marathon last month, will take part in the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden later this month as a member of the Japanese national team.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2004

McDonald's Holdings posts 7 billion yen net loss

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Friday it posted a net loss of 7.12 billion yen for 2003, with weak sales and heavy restructuring costs forcing the company into its second consecutive losing year.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2004

SDP's Tsujimoto handed suspended term

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday sentenced Kiyomi Tsujimoto, former policy chief of the Social Democratic Party, to a suspended two-year prison term for defrauding the state out of 18.7 million yen.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2004

LDP trio reprimanded over vote

The Liberal Democratic Party reprimanded three veteran members Thursday for not participating in a Diet vote endorsing the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2004

Current account surplus hits record 15.8 trillion yen

Japan's current account surplus for 2003 rose 11.6 percent from the previous year to a record 15.79 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2004

Visaless foreigners to be denied national health cover

After the Supreme Court ruled last month that it is illegal to bar visaless foreigners from the national health insurance scheme, the health ministry is mulling the creation of an ordinance to do just that.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 12, 2004

The road to pinpointing corporations that care

When it comes to sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, the media never tire of airing dirty laundry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 11, 2004

Timeless message of divine 'Angels' rings loud and clear

They've pulled it off again! Almost exactly a year ago the team at tpt (Theatre Project Tokyo), led by the renowned American director Robert Allan Ackerman, got Tokyo theater in 2003 off to a great start with their stunningly moving production of "Bent," cast entirely from the young actors who took part...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Feb 11, 2004

You are always on my mind

Familiarity with an object or place can dampen the senses. It may not necessarily breed contempt, but it often leads to indifference. We see it all too frequently, as in the simple case of not visiting wonderful places in our own neighborhood, or the attitude folk here in Shizuoka have toward Mount Fuji:...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2004

Firms catch on to potential of booming IC recorder market

Overshadowed by the red-hot sales of digital cameras and DVD recorders, another digital product has been stealthily making its way into shirt pockets and briefcases.

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