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BUSINESS
May 22, 2003

Arcades boost Namco's profits

Game maker Namco Ltd. said Wednesday that its group net profit more than doubled in fiscal 2002, thanks to the strong performance of its domestic amusement arcades.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2003

World Cup lifts Sky Perfect revenue

Sky Perfect Communications Inc. said Wednesday its consolidated revenue soared 18.4 percent to a record 70.37 billion yen in fiscal 2002.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2003

Wowow returns to profitability

Satellite broadcaster Wowow Inc. said Wednesday it climbed back into the black in fiscal 2002 due to a sharp reduction in promotional costs.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Rising fuel costs bludgeon Tepco profits

Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s group net profit dropped 18.1 percent to 165.27 billion yen in fiscal 2002, with the increasing cost of fuel used to fire up thermal power generators weighing heavily on its earnings, the utility said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Suzuki Motor records 20% sales increase

Suzuki Motor Corp., the nation's top minivehicle maker, on Tuesday reported record group sales of 2.02 trillion yen for fiscal 2002, up 20.8 percent from the previous year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 21, 2003

Who, what, when, where -- why?

My good friend Tatsumi Orimoto, now one of Japan's best-known artists, has made his mother a central subject in his work for the last several years. This, he once explained to me, is because she always supported him in his creative efforts -- efforts that are, in a word, unorthodox: in one, he famously...
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2003

On the brink of another recession

Japan's economy appears on the brink of yet another recession -- the fourth in a decade. The nation's gross domestic product -- the total value of goods and services produced at home -- remained flat in real terms, not including price effects, in the first three months of the year, according to data...
BUSINESS
May 20, 2003

Nonlife insurers show mixed fortunes

Three of the nation's six major nonlife insurer groups posted a net loss in fiscal 2002, due to hefty valuation losses on their securities holdings, according to parent-only financial statements released Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2003

Sea piracy raises watch for terrorist links

HONOLULU -- An almost unnoticed battle against piracy in the South China Sea has become more intense, with the pirates winning and governments in Southeast Asia fearing they will be joined by terrorists in an attempt to disrupt trade throughout Asia.
COMMENTARY
May 18, 2003

A regime to quell nuclear fear

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Any real solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis will ultimately be a "grand bargain" with military, economic, political and diplomatic components. Fashioning that deal will require aggressive and creative thinking. The lack of trust in Pyongyang and Pyongyang's lack of trust...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 18, 2003

'Out' of the ordinary

OUT, by Natsuo Kirino. Kodansha International, 2003, 359 pp., 2,500 yen (cloth). Mystery novels and short stories, both original works and translated works, have a huge following in Japan. The flow of translations, however, is not entirely one way, but overwhelmingly favors English to Japanese. A scholar...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 18, 2003

Battleground Japan: crows, N. Korea and corporate rents

TV Tokyo's weekly financial documentary series, "The Dawn of Gaia," moves from Sunday to Tuesday this week with a special program about "The 2003 Problem" (May 20, 10 p.m.).
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2003

Long march back to China

LOS ANGELES -- History is full of irony for former empires. Historians of East Asia have maintained for some time that it was the Japanese war of aggression in China in the 1930s and 1940s that eventually drove the Chinese people into the arms of the Chinese Communist Party. After that, the equally forceful...
BUSINESS
May 17, 2003

Kenwood effects dramatic comeback

Kenwood Corp. said Friday that it chalked up its first return to profitability in four years and a record group net profit.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2003

JAL expects revenue to fall by 162 billion yen

Japan Airlines System Corp. revealed Friday that it could lose revenue of 162 billion yen during the current fiscal year due to a drastic fall in passengers on international flights.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2003

Kajima records 28.6% decline in pretax profit

Kajima Corp. said Friday its group pretax profit fell 28.6 percent in fiscal 2002 to 25.82 billion yen, primarily due to smaller profit margins and reduced revenue from construction projects.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2003

Fuji Heavy's profit tumbles 23.7%

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., maker of Subaru vehicles, reported Friday a consolidated operating profit of 67.52 billion yen for the year through March 31, down 23.7 percent from fiscal 2001.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 16, 2003

Nioka cracks homers in three straight at-bats

Yomiuri shortstop Tomohiro Nioka homered in three consecutive at-bats and rookie right-hander Yuya Kubo carried a three-hitter over eight innings in his first career start as the Giants cruised past the Yokohama BayStars 9-2 at Tokyo Dome on Thursday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 16, 2003

Strachan looking to complete Southampton's transformation

LONDON -- To mull over a defeat the previous day when he was manager of Coventry City, Gordon Strachan went for a Sunday morning walk.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 15, 2003

Nelson plays hero as Buffs choke on Hawks

Bryant Nelson singled home the game-winning run as the Daiei Hawks rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth en route to a 9-8 "sayonara" victory over the Kintetsu Buffaloes at Fukuoka Dome.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2003

Deflation helps generate profits

Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., two of Japan's leading manufacturing companies, chalked up record profits in the business year that ended March 31. Other major firms, including Honda Motor Co., also made their best showings in spite of falling prices. These results indicate that deflation is...
BUSINESS
May 15, 2003

MHI saw profit rise 30% in 2002

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday that its group net profit jumped 29.8 percent in fiscal 2002 to 34.33 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2003

NTT back in the black but sales on the slide

NTT Corp. on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of 233.36 billion yen for the business year to March 31, marking a dramatic turnaround from its 834.67 billion yen group net loss in fiscal 2001.
SOCCER / World cup
May 14, 2003

Nigeria pulls out of Kirin Cup due to fears over SARS

Nigeria canceled plans to play in the three-nation Kirin Cup 2003 soccer tournament in June because of concerns about SARS.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2003

World must find peaceful solutions to WMD problem

BRUSSELS -- The international community was deeply divided on how to effectively deal with the potential threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein continued to maintain such an arsenal has yet to emerge from the rubble of the recent conflict.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
May 12, 2003

Flush with victory in Iraq, Bush sets his sights on defending the White House in 2004

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush last week became the first American president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare victory in a foreign war. FDR named May 8, 1945, V-E Day for victory in Europe, and Aug. 14, 1945, V-J Day for victory over Japan. Bush proclaimed May 1, 2003, V-I Day, in grand...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 11, 2003

Koreans make good moves

THE KOREAN DIASPORA IN THE WORLD ECONOMY, edited by C. Fred Bergsten and Inbom Choi. Washington D.C.: Institute for International Economics, Special Report 15, January 2003, 180 pp., $25 (paper) In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the social and economic role of diasporas -- communities...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Disney operator's profit up 48.8%

Oriental Land Co., operator of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, said Thursday its group net profit for fiscal 2002 rose 48.8 percent to 18.93 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Aiful posts 70.9% rise in net profit

Consumer loan company Aiful Corp. said Thursday its group net profit jumped to 59.91 billion yen in fiscal 2002, up 70.9 percent from the previous year as a result of efforts to become a more diversified financial group.
MORE SPORTS
May 8, 2003

NFL plans Tokyo visit

The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take on the New York Jets on Aug. 2 at Tokyo Dome in the NFL Tokyo 2003, the game's organizers announced Wednesday.

Longform

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