Search - 2000

 
 
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

Retailers more pessimistic on economic outlook

A monthly governmental survey of the economic views of retail workers showed new levels of pessimism in February, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

Net-based trading threatens major brokers

With stock trading over the Internet picking up strongly, online brokerages have played an increasingly key role over the past year in determining daily stock prices.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

North Korean bomb victims to receive aid from Japanese

Japan will send a group of doctors and government officials to North Korea on Tuesday to check the health of North Korean people exposed to radiation in the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, officials have said.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2001

Trade NMD for the CTBT

The new administration in Washington has taken office firmly committed to the concept of a national missile defense system, arguing that future U.S. security needs take precedence over arms-control agreements rooted in Cold War history. Its views on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, an agreement signed...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

Mori signals intention to resign

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Saturday effectively expressed his intention to resign to top executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, possibly after the fiscal 2001 budget passes the Diet next month.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 11, 2001

Japanese neighbors join in incinerator struggle

Two previous columns have focused on a United States government lawsuit seeking a provisional injunction against a private incinerator in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The Americans, however, are not the only ones eager to shut down the facility. Other neighbors, too, are fired up about Envirotech...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

Empty classrooms renovated for public use

With the birthrate declining, Tokyo municipalities have found that a growing number of school buildings are not being used. More wards are responding by renovating these vacant classrooms for wider use, ranging from offices to child-care centers.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2001

Show me what you've got!

I'd like to greet all the players in the J. League and look forward to seeing the joy of football in Japan this year. I'd specifically like to welcome the new foreign players. My message to you, as well as to the Japanese players, is simply play your best, play football.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2001

Banker calls for writing off loans

Kiichiro Furusawa, chairman of the Trust Companies Association of Japan, on Thursday urged banks to promote writeoffs of problem loans even if it means falling into the red.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2001

Volvo truck tieup remains: MMC

Struggling carmaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. on Thursday denied a report that it is in talks with Swedish truck maker AB Volvo to end their tieup in the truck business.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Mar 9, 2001

Lifetime employment myth fades amid jobless realities

At the age of 40, Yoshiro Kamimura worked in sales at a chemical company, with a wife and two preschool children to support.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 9, 2001

Japan Energy claims JBL title

Forward Ryoko Yano scored a game-high 21 points Wednesday as the Japan Energy Sunflowers sealed their first Japan Basketball League crown in 11 seasons with a 95-78 win over the Chanson V-Magic in Game 4 of the championship series at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2001

Marubeni to invest in China IT firm

Marubeni Corp. said Thursday it has obtained Beijing's approval to take a 10 percent stake in Shanghai Dragon Head Zhangjiang Business & Network, an information technology firm that operates an Internet portal site for textile companies.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2001

MSDF lieutenant sentenced to 10-month term for spying

A former Maritime Self-Defense Force officer was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in prison for passing two classified defense documents to a Russian Military attache in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2001

Genetically modified corn slips into human food chain

The safety of the nation's food has recently been called into question following the discovery of StarLink corn in a shipment of corn imported from the United States.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2001

Changes to attorney law allow lawyers to establish legal firms

The government approved a bill Tuesday to amend the attorney law, enabling lawyers to establish law firms.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2001

Domestic violence bill on Diet agenda

The increasing problem of domestic violence is being addressed by a nonpartisan group of female lawmakers who plan to submit a bill to the Diet next month aimed at protecting victims.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2001

Japan bans European pork over foot-and-mouth disease

Japan has banned imports of pork and pork products from France, Belgium and Northern Ireland following suspected outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease there, farm ministry officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2001

Moscow confirms summit with Mori

Japan and Russia agreed Monday to hold a bilateral summit meeting in Russia's Irkutsk on March 25 as planned, regardless of mounting calls in Japan for Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to step down.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2001

Matsushita to boost overseas output

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Monday it plans to produce 3.4 trillion yen worth of products at its overseas plants in fiscal 2003, a 1.7-fold increase over fiscal 2000 ending March 31.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 6, 2001

Carefully controlled exoticism

THE ORIENT STRIKES BACK: A Global View of Cultural Display, by Joy Hendry. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2000, 256 pp., 40 illustrations (16 color). 42.99 British pounds (cloth), 14.99 British pounds (paper). A century ago, the West used to entertain and educate itself with random views of the East. World's...
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2001

Firms searched over fumigation cartel

The Fair Trade Commission has searched the offices of four companies on suspicion they formed a cartel to control prices for fumigating plants imported through Narita airport, sources close to the case said Saturday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 4, 2001

Readers write about Monday night ball

In my column of Feb. 18 about the Pacific League's plan to play lots of games on Monday night during the coming season, I asked readers to send in their comments and ideas regarding the MPL (Monday Pacific League) format. Following are two e-mails I received and my response to each:
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2001

DoCoMo to raise discounts, reduce rates in price war

NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to raise its family phone discount rate to 20 percent from the current 15 percent and to reduce call rates for its mobile phone service, although the size of the cut has not yet been decided, in response to competition from other carriers, company officials said Saturday.

Longform

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