Search - 2004

 
 
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2003

Economy, deficit least served by budget caps

Although the government faces two important goals -- shoring up the fragile economy and cutting its enormous budget deficit -- the cap on core fiscal 2004 budget outlays the Cabinet endorsed Friday only increases concern that neither can be achieved anytime soon.
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2003

Political roadblock spurs military detour

MANILA -- Military interventions in Philippine politics are not a novel phenomenon. The politicization of the armed forces occurred during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, when the influence and power of officers were determined not by merit or performance but by political allegiance to factions...
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2003

Honda saw net profit fall 5.4% in first quarter

Honda Motor Co. reported a consolidated net profit of 101.82 billion yen in the April-June quarter, down 5.4 percent from the same period last year, company officials said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 29, 2003

Foreign mom chases after deadbeat dad

Jessica Lankester is furious. She's so angry she can barely get her story out fast enough as she pulls court documents from her bag and spreads them on the table. One letter from her lawyer reads like something from the pages of Joseph Heller's famous satire "Catch 22":
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2003

Chinese currency system must face step-by-step liberalization

We recently hear a lot about the need for China to adjust the exchange rate of its currency, the yuan. In fact, Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan, during the U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing July 16, said it is "increasingly evident" that China should allow its currency to trade freely...
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2003

Hospital network planned to combat cancer scourge

The government said Friday it will establish a nationwide network of hospitals to treat cancer as a step toward upgrading the nation's medical infrastructure.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2003

Sony net profit nosedives 98% amid sluggish sales

Sony Corp.'s group net profit for the first quarter of this fiscal year nosedived 98 percent to 1.1 billion yen from a year earlier, the company said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2003

Iraqis take control

The inauguration of an Iraqi-led government in Baghdad is the first concrete step toward creating a free and democratic Iraq. Installation of the Iraqi Governing Council by the United States is still problematic, but a successful transition from U.S. administration to a stable and functioning civil society...
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2003

133 college R&D projects win grants from ministry

Grants will be awarded to 133 research and development projects at 56 universities and colleges under an education ministry program focusing financial resources on academic centers of excellence, according to the ministry.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2003

FTC seeking greater antimonopoly powers

The Fair Trade Commission wants to revise the Antimonopoly Law and obtain the power to launch investigations into suspected offenders, FTC sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Tsujimoto arrested over fraud

Tokyo police on Friday arrested former Diet member Kiyomi Tsujimoto on suspicion of committing fraud by skimming government salaries for her policy secretaries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2003

Tsujimoto to face fraud charges

Tokyo police will establish a criminal case against former Social Democratic Party lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto on suspicion of fraud by skimming government salaries for her policy secretaries, according to investigative sources.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2003

Mortgage tax break may continue

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday he may consider extending the tax break on mortgages as part of efforts to boost the economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2003

Paris plays multilateral card

SINGAPORE — Although one of the most notable moments at the June 1-3 Group of Eight summit in Evian, France, was the rapprochement between U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac, Franco-American relations have not been completely restored. Senior Bush administration officials...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2003

Narita looks to privatization, more profits, lower landing fees

With legislation for privatizing Narita airport set to win Diet approval Friday, the head of the operating authority pledged to do his utmost to make Japan's main gateway more profitable so it can go public in a few years after becoming a wholly state-owned joint stock corporation.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2003

Wrong light at the end of the tunnel

Stock prices and long-term interest rates in Japan have climbed rapidly of late. On Monday, the Nikkei index hit a 10-month high of 9,795 points while yields on 10-year benchmark government bonds topped 1 percent, more than double the level of a month earlier. That is good news if it signals an upturn...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 9, 2003

Did sports rags hire students to stuff ballot box for Godzilla?

A couple of selections from the mail bag this week.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2003

Volkswagen SUV bound for Japan

The Japanese unit of German automaker Volkswagen said Monday the company's first luxury sport utility vehicle, the Touareg, will debut in Japan on Sept. 2.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2003

A productive EU presidency for Greece

"The Greek presidency succeeded because it had good cooperation with everyone," said Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the outgoing president of the European Council, while addressing the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on July 1. All in Europe realize, he added,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

Famed sailor Horie plots nonstop circumnavigation

Yachtsman Kenichi Horie, who has twice circumnavigated the globe, will take up a new challenge in October 2004 when he embarks on a solo nonstop voyage around the world eastbound around Cape Horn in a boat made of recycled materials.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

Immigration procedures to be faster for foreign visitors

The government will speed up entry procedures at immigration for foreign visitors and support training for tourism personnel to attract more sightseers to Japan, government sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2003

Isuzu to supply Elf to Mazda in cost-reduction bid

Isuzu Motors Ltd. will start supplying the Elf small truck to Mazda Motor Corp. late next year on an original-equipment-manufacturing basis, the firms said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2003

Softbank to open Net game portal

Softbank Corp. is opening an online game portal in an effort to boost the number of subscribers to its broadband service, the Japanese Internet company said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2003

Shiokawa seeks budget flexibility

The government plans to include funds for multiyear "model" projects in the fiscal 2004 budget, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 2, 2003

On a director's storyboard far, far away

Is there a person in the Western world -- or even globally, given Hollywood's cultural reach -- who is unaware of "Star Wars"? In a society increasingly described as amnesiac, in which pop culture seems to come with an expiry date, George Lucas' movie trilogy (now with two -- soon to be three -- "prequels")...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2003

Chongryun may lose tax-exempt status

An increasing number of local governments are reconsidering their policy of making facilities of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) either partially or entirely exempt from fixed-asset taxation, according to a Kyodo News survey.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2003

Chongryun may lose tax-exempt status

An increasing number of local governments are reconsidering their policy of making facilities of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) either partially or entirely exempt from fixed-asset taxation, according to a Kyodo News survey.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2003

Chongryun may lose tax-exempt status

An increasing number of local governments are reconsidering their policy of making facilities of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) either partially or entirely exempt from fixed-asset taxation, according to a Kyodo News survey.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2003

DPJ may soften stance over SDF dispatch bill

The Democratic Party of Japan may consider discussing with the ruling coalition revisions to a government bill to allow the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to help with the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, a senior DPJ official said Sunday.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past