Search - 2004

 
 
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

MMC pursues performance-linked wages

The union and management of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have agreed to replace the seniority-based wage structure with a performance-based system, sources close to the talks said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2003

Oma landowners block J-Power reactor plan

The semigovernmental Electric Power Development Co. (J-Power) said Monday it will move the site of a planned nuclear reactor in Oma, Aomori Prefecture, because it could not persuade landowners to sell their property.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2003

Newer, smarter sentinels

There is no new thing under the sun, said the quotable author of Ecclesiastes a few thousand years ago. Won over by its pith and poetry, we have always regarded that statement as self-evidently true. Lately, though, we have begun to wonder if the exact opposite isn't the case. Sometimes it seems as if...
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2003

DPJ loses politicians to local races

Several Democratic Party of Japan politicians have either announced plans to run in gubernatorial or mayoral elections or are contemplating doing so ahead of nationwide unified local elections scheduled for April.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2003

Kuraray beefing up plastic output

Kuraray Co., a manufacturer of synthetic fiber and chemicals, said Wednesday it will invest 8.5 billion yen to boost production in Belgium of EVOH resin, a plastic used to make containers for food products such as mayonnaise and ketchup.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2003

Ministry sees state bond issues rising

The value of government bonds issued to cover the fiscal 2006 budget deficit is expected to hit 45.5 trillion yen, 25 percent higher than the planned issuance for the 2003 budget, according to a report released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 5, 2003

Interesting mix of foreign players, coaches and manager for 2003

Foreign players for 2003: Who's who?
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Sea waste-dumping treaty compliance eyed

The Environment Ministry is considering banning the dumping at sea of waste such as sewage sludge in a bid to curb marine pollution.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Economy top priority: Koizumi

Admitting that the Japanese economy is struggling to find a way out of the recession, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made clear Friday that reviving the economy will be his top priority for this year, declaring he will take "all available policy measures" to fight deflation.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 29, 2003

Nori, Buffs work out contract

OSAKA -- The Kintetsu Buffaloes signed slugging infielder Norihiro Nakamura to a four-year deal Monday after working out the details of the free-agent contract they agreed to earlier this month. Kintetsu officials hinted the agreement will see Nakamura earn an estimated annual salary of 500 million yen...
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Bill drafted to create urban renewal entity

The land ministry has drafted a bill to establish an urban redevelopment body that would call for utilizing private-sector funds and technologies, according to ministry sources.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Honda Motor abolishes wages based on seniority

Honda Motor Co. has abolished its seniority-based wage system and introduced performance-based pay for the 40,000 rank-and-file employees at the parent firm and nine subsidiaries, company officials said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2003

Bank tax may be frozen for extra year in Osaka

OSAKA -- The Osaka prefectural government told the assembly Friday of its intention to freeze for another year the imposition of a planned local bank tax if the Tokyo metropolitan government loses an appeal over the legality of a similar levy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2003

Kansai casinos a dicey proposition

OSAKA -- It's way past dinner time in the back streets of Osaka's Shinsaibashi district. But one establishment advertising itself as an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant is doing a booming business.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2003

Kodansha and Random House tie up

Kodansha Ltd. and U.S.-based Random House Inc. announced Thursday they have agreed to forge a joint venture aimed at publishing books in Japanese.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2003

Highways to abolish high-priced toll cards

Four public expressway corporations said Tuesday they will stop selling high-priced prepaid expressway cards at the end of February.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2003

Sanyo to plow 45 billion yen into CCDs

Sanyo Electric Co. said Tuesday it will invest 45 billion yen in the production of charge-coupled devices over three years starting in fiscal 2003.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2003

Ministry to subject teachers to performance-linked pay

The education ministry plans to evaluate public school teachers and reflect the assessments in pay raises and personnel moves nationwide beginning in fiscal 2007, government officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2003

Emission-trading trials planned

The Environment Ministry is planning a test trial to trade carbon dioxide emission rights in fiscal 2003, beginning April 1, ministry officials said Sunday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 20, 2003

Hike in consumption tax center of lobby's vision

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) on Jan. 1 released a grand vision aimed at reviving Japan into a vigor- ous and attractive nation.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2003

New Diet session opens up new questions

The Diet opens a 150-day session Monday amid widespread speculation in Nagata-cho that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may dissolve the House of Representatives and call a snap election sometime this year -- possibly even during the session.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 18, 2003

Tokyo Verdy signs Cameroon striker Mboma

Tokyo Verdy has signed Cameroon striker and former J. League star Patrick Mboma on a deal running through Jan. 31, 2004, officials of the first-division club said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2003

Heritage listing sought for holy sites

The government decided Thursday to nominate the holy grounds and pilgrimage path in the Kii Mountains that run through parts of Mie, Nara and Wakayama prefectures for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List, government officials said.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2003

Japan plods path of isolation

HONOLULU — Japan continues to be the odd man out in Northeast Asia. While the other states in the region have been forging ties and building networks with each other — even North Korea — Japan has lagged behind. Tokyo could be marginalized in its own neighborhood. That risk has motivated Japanese...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2003

Subaru expects sales increases in '03

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru cars, unveiled on Wednesday a new 2003 worldwide sales target of 568,000 vehicles, up 2.4 percent from the year before.

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