Search - 2002

 
 
SOCCER / World cup / COHOSTING
May 17, 2002

A history of hate thy neighbor

Like most Asian countries, South Korea had never really considered bidding for the World Cup.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
May 17, 2002

Dinosaurs walking the earth once more

A full-length model of the skeletal structure of the seismosaurus will make its world debut at "The Greatest Dinosaur Expo 2002" to be held this summer at Makuhari Messe in Chiba.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 16, 2002

Expansion in Japan unlikely

Dear Wayne Graczyk: I'm writing to express support for the move of the Nippon Ham Fighters to Sapporo. I think this would be good not just for the Fighters and the city of Sapporo, but for all of Japanese baseball.
JAPAN
May 16, 2002

Ministry warns of drastic increase in pension premiums

Company employees will be forced to pay about a quarter of their salaries as pension premiums in fiscal 2025 if current pension levels are maintained, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Mitsubishi Heavy jumps out of the red

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday that its group net balance returned to the black in fiscal 2001, chiefly due to a reduction in material costs and a weakened yen.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Trading house Mitsubishi logs 34.6% profit drop

Trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Wednesday its group net profits in fiscal 2001 plunged 34.6 percent, primarily due to a 51.5 billion yen fall in securities sales.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2002

Mitsubishi Pharma profits up 229%

Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. said Monday that its group net profit soared 229.4 percent to 8.99 billion yen in fiscal 2001 due to cost-cutting and the U.S. government's authorization of a resumption of shipments from a U.S. plant.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
May 14, 2002

Tokyo market has lots of room to recover

The benchmark Nikkei average has been moving between 11,000 and 12,000 for nearly two months in the absence of strong incentives to drive the market either up or down.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2002

Core machinery orders declined 6.2% in March

Core private-sector machinery orders fell 6.2 percent in March, reverting to minus territory after rising in February for the first time in three months, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
SOCCER / World cup
May 13, 2002

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

"Passion" is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June. In this, the ninth of 10 exclusive...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 12, 2002

Poetry that's music to the ears of millions

POEMS OF THE GOAT, by Chuya Nakahara, translated by Ry Beville. American Book Company, Richmond, VA, 2002, 77 pp., $15/2500 yen (paper) Why do some writers get translated and others -- better, more deserving -- remain obscure? This is a question that Ry Beville, a young Virginia native, asked himself...
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

JAL suffers 36.7 billion yen in losses for fiscal 2001

Japan Airlines Co. on Friday said it slipped 36.7 billion yen into the red in fiscal 2001, it's first net loss in four years.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Kawaguchi sorry for scandals

In a highly unusual arrangement, Foreign Ministry scandals and reform plans were at the fore of the so-called diplomatic Blue Book for 2002, released on Friday, with Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressing resolve to regain trust in the ministry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

Nissan eyes big global sales boost

Nissan Motor Co. chief Carlos Ghosn announced Thursday the carmaker will add 1 million units to its global sales by the end of the 2004 business year by launching at least 28 new models worldwide.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

ANA to push for more on-time flights

To survive intensifying domestic competition, All Nippon Airways Co. will unify flight codes of its group airlines and improve on-time flight rates, the company said Thursday.
SOCCER / World cup
May 9, 2002

Venues get thumbs-up

A FIFA delegation on Wednesday concluded its final World Cup venue inspections ahead of the quadrennial tournament, giving good marks to the preparations regarding security control and the improvement in the condition of the turf at Saitama Stadium 2002.
COMMENTARY
May 6, 2002

Koizumi must focus or fail

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration, which marked its first anniversary April 26, stands at a crossroads. Its future hinges on whether his "no pain, no gain" reform initiative will produce tangible results. Thus far his administration has made no substantial achievements to speak of. Its...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
May 5, 2002

Thoughts of an accidental politician

Kyosen Ohashi was born in Tokyo in 1934 and studied journalism at Waseda University. He enjoyed a long career as a respected jazz critic and TV presenter, before quitting the entertainment world in 1990.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

Kids these days

What is wrong with kids today?
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 5, 2002

Memories are made of this

TOKYO CENTRAL: A Memoir, by Edward Seidensticker. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002, 256 pp. with b/w photographs, XXXVI. $30 (cloth) Translator extraordinaire, historian and beloved pedagogue, Edward Seidensticker has given us the definitive English versions of "The Tale of Genji" and the...
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2002

Why it must be Bush vs. Gore in 2004

NEW YORK -- It is impossible to overstate the importance of tossing U.S. President George W. Bush back onto the unemployment lines in 2004. His illegitimate presidency isn't even half-over, yet Bush's disreputable Cabinet of tin-pot gangsters has already succeeded in causing irreparable harm to our great...
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2002

No end in sight to China's banking woes

While Japan's recession and its wobbly banks distract much of the world, the banking sector in China is in much worse shape. Xinhua News Agency has reported that central bank governor Dai Xianglong admits that nonperforming loans (NPLs) account for 26.6 percent of total lending by China's top four state-owned...
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2002

U.S. homeland still insecure

Half a year after the creation of the Office of Homeland Security, how well is the Bush administration doing in its efforts to improve protection of the United States against terrorist attacks? No major attacks have occurred since Sept. 11, giving a first impression that the effort is going well. But...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 3, 2002

Ailing Japan looks to World Cup to spark a spending spree

While the nation continues to struggle with weak consumer spending amid the protracted economic slump, the World Cup soccer finals, which Japan and South Korea will cohost from May 31 to the end of June, seem to be loosening the purse strings of some consumers.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 1, 2002

Lopez puts tantrum behind him

Hiroshima Carp first baseman Luis Lopez says the problem between him and outfielder Tomonori Maeda has been put to rest. Marty Kuehnert, in his April 10 "Keen Edge" column, described how the teammates had nearly come to blows after Maeda twice failed to score from second base on outfield hits by Lopez...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Japanese cheerleader back for second season with NFL team

When Ai Yasuda was named to the San Francisco 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleading squad for the second straight year, she realized that although the door may not be wide, it is always open.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2002

UNICEF urges child focus at Cup

Nane Annan, wife of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, said Saturday that the well-being of children throughout the world should be a focus during the World Cup 2002.

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