Search - 2002

 
 
BUSINESS
May 1, 2003

Monthly wages dwindle by 2.1%

The average monthly wage fell 2.1 percent to 343,125 yen in fiscal 2002, the biggest drop in 11 years, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2003

Industrial output rose 2.6% in '02; first time in two years

Japan's industrial production rose 2.6 percent in fiscal 2002, the first increase in two years, on robust output of automobiles and electronic devices, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2003

Reform is key to keeping Asia on top

MANILA -- Asia's future is bright, but it is not preordained. Policy reforms that augment investment, lead to the adoption of new technologies and enhance productivity must be pursued to increase the growth potential of developing economies in Asia. The urgency of these reforms is accentuated by the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2003

Uncertainties in the global economy

The global economy is on shaky grounds, reports the World Trade Organization in its most recent assessment of the international outlook. Uncertainty created by geopolitics and the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has reinforced vulnerabilities that result from imbalances in the...
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2003

Combined wholesale, retail sales down 2.2% last year

Combined wholesale and retail sales fell 2.2 percent in fiscal 2002 from the previous year to 581.37 trillion yen, logging a second consecutive year of decline and underscoring the continued deflationary trend, the government said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2003

Pyongyang nuclear posture hit

North Korea has jeopardized the future of its regime by saying that it possesses nuclear weapons, the Defense Agency director general said Sunday.
Events
Apr 27, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Photos, poems reveal children's school days: An exhibition of photos and poems depicting the school lives of children in Asia and countries bordering the Mediterranean will be held between April 30 and May 4 at the Kyoto City International Center in the city's Sakyo Ward.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 27, 2003

University exam pressure

JAPANESE HIGHER EDUCATION AS MYTH, by Brian J. McVeigh. M.E. Sharpe: Armonk, NY, 2002, 301 pp., $25.95 (cloth) In this withering critique, Japanese universities are portrayed as an educational Potemkin village. McVeigh's excellent analysis of institutional dysfunction focuses on how learning is sacrificed...
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Youth unemployment rockets to record 13.2%

The unemployment rate hovered at a near-record 5.4 percent in March, as joblessness among the young peaked at its highest levels in half a century, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Hino Motors sees net profit decline

Hino Motors Ltd. said Friday it posted a consolidated net profit of 4.96 billion yen for fiscal 2002, down 40.7 percent from a year earlier due to valuation losses on its securities holdings amid the slumping stock market.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 26, 2003

Lions chew up Lotte

Seibu slugger Alex Cabrera homered in back-to-back at-bats for his sixth and seventh home runs to lift the Lions over the Marines 3-2 at Chiba Marine Stadium on Friday, putting a halt to Lotte's winning streak at four.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Ghana envoy seeks more investment

Increased Japanese investment in the Republic of Ghana would be "mutually beneficial" to both sides, Ghanaian Ambassador to Japan Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah told The Japan Times on Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Mazda reports near threefold profit surge

Mazda Motor Corp.'s group net profit for the year through March nearly tripled from the previous year to 24.1 billion yen, due to large reductions in operating costs and the appreciation of the euro against the yen, the company announced Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

CPI declines for fifth straight year

The key gauge of nationwide consumer prices fell 0.8 percent in fiscal 2002 from the previous year, declining for the fifth consecutive year, the longest skein on record, the government said in a preliminary report Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2003

Death demanded for Asahara

Exactly seven years after the trial began, prosecutors Thursday demanded the death penalty for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, accused of masterminding two sarin attacks in the mid-1990s as well as other heinous crimes.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

China seen as 'second engine' of growth for ASEAN nations

The rise of China as an economic power has been greeted with a mixture of fear and hope by member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to Chia Siow Yue, a senior research fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Matsui posts 20.6% net profit fall

Online broker Matsui Securities Co. said Thursday its group net profit fell 20.6 percent to 1.49 billion yen in the year that ended March 31.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2003

Accounting decision due before June

A private accounting-standards body will decide whether to freeze mark-to-market rules on corporate securities holdings by the end of May, according to organization officials.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2003

Death sentence for killer confirmed

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of murdering six female employees during a jewelry store raid in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, in June 2000.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2003

Quick action needed to stabilize Iraq

Last Sunday marked one month since the war began in Iraq. The United States and its allies have yet to declare victory, but for all intents and purposes the military operation is over. In fact, the fighting in strategic areas ended in less than four weeks, making this war one of the shortest in history....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2003

Getting serious about tourism -- finally

Japan is finally getting serious about attracting some foreign visitors to its shores.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2003

Trade surplus up 36.6%; first rise in four years

Japan's trade surplus jumped 36.6 percent on a year-on-year basis in fiscal 2002, marking the first increase in four years, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 23, 2003

Marines whitewash Buffaloes in Osaka

Lefty Koji Takagi limited Kintetsu to four hits over the distance for his first shutout win since October 2002 as the Chiba Lotte Marines blanked the Buffaloes 10-0 at Osaka Dome on Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

Aum flailing amid vacuum left by Asahara

In early February, a 37-year-old former member of Aum Shinrikyo launched a Web site featuring transcripts of past lectures by the cult's founder, Shoko Asahara.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2003

Takeda Chemical names new chief

Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it will appoint board member Yasuchika Hasegawa as its next president and chief operating officer, replacing Kunio Takeda, who will become chairman.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

Keep an eye on foreign seafood: paper

Japan should step up efforts to ensure the safety of seafood products, especially those that are imported, the Fisheries Agency said in an annual report released Tuesday.

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