Search - 2000

 
 
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

Imports to be curbed via quarantine crackdown

In an effort to curtail surging vegetable imports to Japan, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will effectively introduce curbs on the volume of products that are permitted to clear quarantine, ministry sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

2001 budget set to clear Diet Monday

The ruling and opposition parties agreed Thursday to vote Monday on the fiscal 2001 budget both at the House of Councilors Budget Committee and during the chamber's plenary session, making it certain the budget will pass the Diet before the April 1 start of the new fiscal year.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2001

Mori planning major overhaul for BayStars

It's been said that life is all about truth and time. Well, truth be told, new Yokohama BayStars manager Masaaki Mori would prefer to spend as much of the time he has left on Earth doing what he loves most -- working in baseball.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2001

Giants' Maru-chan talks softly and carries a big stick

No one would've blamed Domingo Martinez if he never returned to Japan after the 1998 baseball season. After hitting .283 and smacking 30 home runs for the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions that year, the designated hitter wasn't given a gold watch or even a thank-you note for his efforts. Instead he...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2001

Afghan refugees to get emergency aid

Japan said Wednesday it will offer $1.86 million in emergency grants to provide relief to Afghans who have fled their homes in the face of a prolonged civil war and natural disasters, the Foreign Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2001

Sato in Sega hot seat

Sega Corp. announced Wednesday that Vice President Hideki Sato has taken over the firm's presidency, following the death of Isao Okawa from heart failure Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2001

Japan bans pork from Netherlands

Japan decided Wednesday to temporarily halt imports of pork and pork products from the Netherlands following reports of a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease there, farm ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2001

FSA eases stance to speed up loan disposal at banks

The Financial Services Agency has said it will not order banks to improve their operations even if they fall into the red -- provided they clear their net business profit targets and adhere to other criteria.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2001

S&P drops Aozora Bank to BB-pi

U.S. credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's has assigned Aozora Bank a credit rating of BB-pi, which is considered speculative.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 21, 2001

Detective work in snow country

Though farther south you are already reveling in springlike breezes, the steady accumulation of snow in the northern third of Japan continues to provide an opportunity for detective work.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

Manager of volunteer group suspected of embezzling welfare money

OSAKA -- The manager of a volunteer group in Osaka has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling welfare support money from a homeless man, police said Monday.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2001

Globalization does its work on Japan

GLOBALIZATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN, edited by J.S. Eades, Tom Gill and Harumi Befu. Trans Pacific Press, Melbourne, 2000. 295 pp., 3,250 yen (paper). The word "globalization" is used with increasing frequency these days. It is variously employed to describe the increasing degrees...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

State of deflation declared as assessment is downgraded

The government on Friday downgraded its overall economic evaluation for the second consecutive month, saying the nation's recovery appears to be stalling on weak production stemming from the U.S. economic slowdown.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

171 fires per day in 2000: agency

There were 62,418 fires in Japan last year, up 3,892, or 6.7 percent, from 1999 for a second straight year of increase, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Snow Brand execs sent to prosecutors

OSAKA -- Police on Friday sent papers to prosecutors on nine officials of Snow Brand Milk Products Co. on suspicion of professional negligence in connection with the massive outbreak of food poisoning that hit western Japan last summer.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Fears over recycling law boost trade in appliances

The estimated output of household electric appliances in fiscal 2000 will rise for the first time in four years, with consumers buying goods prior to the enforcement of a recycling law on April 1, an industry body said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Kyoei set to join Millea group

Kyoei Mutual Fire & Marine Insurance Co. is planning to join the Millea Insurance Group to be formed by Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and two other insurers by around 2004, industry sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2001

UFJ Group banks go into red

The three banks that will form the UFJ Group in April announced Thursday they will post pretax losses of 289 billion yen for fiscal 2000 due to writing off 1.13 trillion yen in nonperforming loans, around twice the amount they had earlier predicted.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2001

Rise in shares stems fears of rout

Tokyo share prices rebounded strongly toward the close of trading Thursday, shrugging off worries about a global stock market rout.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2001

Diesel woes spur truck firms to seek out alternative fuels

Delivery companies are starting to use trucks that run on compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas in the face of stricter regulations on diesel-powered vehicles.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2001

Making sense of the slide

The blood-letting in international stock markets continues. The U.S. Nasdaq index plunged below the 2,000 level for the first time in 27 months. The S&P 500 lopped 20 percent of its peak, officially becoming a "bear market." The U.S. free fall triggered a domino effect, pushing Asian and European markets...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2001

Current account surplus falls 60% to 250 billion yen

January's current account surplus fell 59.7 percent to 249.6 billion yen for the second consecutive year-on-year decline, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2001

Endocrine disrupter check widened

The Environment Ministry on Wednesday added four more substances to a priority list of agents that are being studied to determine the risks they pose as endocrine disrupters, ministry officials said.
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2001

Queuing for the exclusive

Harajuku, on any given Saturday, is filled with shoppers. On the main streets, the shops see a steady stream of customers move freely through their doors. In the back streets, however, the clientele is made to wait. The young people queue up -- for the privilege of buying basic street clothing off near-empty...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2001

NEC plans plasma display venture

Leading electronics maker NEC Corp. and Thomson Multimedia SA of France said Wednesday they have agreed to a joint venture to produce plasma display panels.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2001

Taking the long view on history

EAST ASIA AT THE CENTER: Four Thousand Years of Engagement with the World, by Warren I. Cohen. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, 516 pp. You don't have to believe in the Asian Century or any other form of that nonsense to admit that Western understanding of Asia is woefully inadequate. The intellectual...
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2001

No more secret funds

The criminal complaint filed in January by the Foreign Ministry against the former official in charge of logistics for VIP trips overseas has led to his arrest on a charge of fraud. An internal investigation has revealed that Mr. Katsutoshi Matsuo, who was fired in January for embezzlement, had swindled...
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

Bank chief frets Nikkei's dive but sees no crisis

The chief of the Japanese Bankers Association on Tuesday voiced strong concern over the plunge of the key 225-issue Nikkei stock index below the 12,000 level, but dismissed fears of a potential banking crisis at the March 31 end of fiscal 2000.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

Ireland's trade chief seeks IT firms

Low telecom costs and government support for information technology make Ireland a very attractive place for Japanese IT companies to invest in, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney said Tuesday.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?