Search - 2002

 
 
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2003

BOJ queries big banks' capabilities

Some Bank of Japan board members have voiced doubts over the way some major banks are being run, especially after their stocks kept falling even after they announced plans to increase their capital, according to meeting minutes released Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2003

Slash taxes and spending, not interest rates

UBUD, Indonesia -- Alan Greenspan denounced the recent round of tax-cut proposals by the Bush administration. As governor of the world's most important central bank, his words carry a considerable amount of gravitas.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2003

Bonuses are still shrinking but at a slower rate

Summer bonuses this year are expected to average 407,900 yen, a 1.2 percent fall from last year, UFJ Institute Ltd. said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2003

Aceh peace accord breaking apart

Separatist rebels in the Indonesian province of Aceh have fought the government for more than a quarter of a century. Last December, Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (known by the initials GAM) signed a peace agreement. Hopes that the accord would yield an enduring peace have been betrayed during the...
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2003

Brewers' output off again in March

Combined shipments of beer and low-malt "happoshu" fell 5.2 percent to 520,920 kiloliters in March, down for the seventh consecutive month, according to data released by Japan's five major brewers Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2003

Japan Post to cut procurement costs by 10% to stay in black, Ikuta says

Japan Post aims to slash procurement costs in its mail delivery operations by 10 percent this fiscal year, according to Masaharu Ikuta, president of the new government-affiliated corporation that took over the Postal Services Agency on April 1.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2003

The SARS toll mounts

Concern over severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, continues to rise. Two weeks ago, we reported 350 cases of the disease worldwide that had resulted in 10 deaths. At the beginning of this week, the World Health Organization reported more than 2,600 cases, with 100 deaths, in 18 countries; it is...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2003

Dial-up 'adult' services soaring under new law

The number of "adult entertainment" telephone services registered with the government has grown 4.5-fold in three years, and such businesses are believed to involve prostitution and provide income for organized crime, the National Police Agency said.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2003

Aozora Bank slapped with reprimand

Aozora Bank has been reprimanded by the Financial Services Agency for giving information on its customers to its major shareholder, Cerberus Group, a U.S. investment fund bidding for greater control of the bank, FSA officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS '03
Apr 9, 2003

Parties kept at distance in Kanagawa race

YOKOHAMA -- The last-minute candidacy of Yoko Tajima, a former House of Councilors lawmaker and celebrated feminist scholar, in the April 13 Kanagawa gubernatorial election has added a new wrinkle into an already crowded field.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2003

Sino-Japanese cooperation is key

Over the past two years, relations between Japan and China have been a little awkward because of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by Chinese as a symbolic legacy of Japanese militarism. Now, however, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's three-day visit to China...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

DaimlerChrysler recalls 3,268 Jeeps

DaimlerChrysler Japan Co. said Tuesday it is recalling 3,268 units of the Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep Cherokee for free replacement of defective parts.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 8, 2003

Xia wins 1st Yonex Open title

Xia Xuanze defeated Lin Dan 15-12, 15-10 in an all-China men's singles final to improve on his second-place finish last year and earn his first victory at the Yonex Open Badminton Championships on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Aeon reports record sales, profits

Aeon Co. said Monday that it returned to the black for the year that ended Feb. 20, with a record group net profit and group operating revenue.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Matsushita expects 23.5 billion yen loss for fiscal '02

Joining a growing list of companies hit by plummeting bank shares, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Monday it expects to report a group net loss of 23.5 billion yen for the fiscal year that ended March 31.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Japan, Vietnam concur on investment accord

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his visiting Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Khai, agreed Monday on the basics of a bilateral investment treaty that would give each country most- favored nation status.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

IPOs in Japan slide by almost one-third

A total of 124 Japanese companies went public in fiscal 2002, down from 174 the previous year, owing mainly to sluggish stock markets, according to a report released Monday by UFJ Tsubasa Research Institute Ltd.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 6, 2003

Popping up everywhere

GLOBAL GOES LOCAL: Popular Culture in Asia, edited by Timothy J. Craig and Richard King. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002, 310 pp. with illustrations, $24 (paper) It is commonly observed that as the political hegemony of the West has grown, so has its cultural dominance: Mickey Mouse, Elvis...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

Ito-Yokado president to become CEO

Sakae Isaka, an Ito-Yokado Co. senior managing director, will succeed Toshifumi Suzuki as president, and Suzuki will become chairman and chief executive officer, company sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2003

A partially changing land-price map

Falling land prices are symptomatic of Japan's deflationary economy. Banks sell collateralized land to write off dud loans. Companies dump their land holdings to pay off debts. Land prices drop further as the property market weakens. As things stand, there seems to be no way to halt this vicious circle....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 5, 2003

Real Madrid vs. Manchester United as good as it gets

LONDON -- Arsene Wenger did not need a second to think about his answer.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Chinese towels safe from tariffs

Japan will not impose safeguard tariffs on towels imported from China for the time being, trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Asahi Mutual freezes dividend payouts

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. will suspend dividend payments on group insurance policies for corporate clients due to declines in capital from large unrealized losses on stockholdings, company officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2003

Victim of prison guards angry at being ignored

After witnessing guards at Nagoya Prison frequently bullying inmates -- particularly the elderly or physically disabled -- a male prisoner sent a written complaint in October 2000 to then Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Nationalization guidelines said lacking teeth, conviction

The Financial Services Agency on Friday published an elaborate set of criteria outlining when and how the government can nationalize a bank, but some analysts called the guidelines useless, pointing out that banks will find legal ways to make ends meet and that the FSA is clearly reluctant to follow...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2003

Mark-to-market suspension sought

The mark-to-market accounting method for corporate securities holdings should be suspended amid the plunging stock market, the head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2003

Diet turbulence likely in second half

As the Diet moves into the second half of its 150-day regular session, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration appears headed for more difficult times, politically and economically. The first half ended without a major hitch. The fiscal 2003 government budget -- the most important legislative...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2003

Shipments of printers drop 9.4%

Domestic shipments of printers came to 6.99 million in 2002, down 9.4 percent from the previous year for the second consecutive year of decline, according to research firm Gartner Japan Ltd.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building