Search - 2003

 
 
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2000

Honda revamp cuts production time 30%

Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it has completed rationalization of its auto production at its plant in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, which will shorten by more than 30 percent the average time it takes to assemble automobiles.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2000

Leaders agree to coordinate Pyongyang policies

ATAMI, Shizuoka Pref. -- Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung reaffirmed the importance of coordinating their North Korea policies in their talks here Saturday, the first since the two Koreas' historic meeting in June.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Korean to be part of college test

The government is to add Korean to the list of foreign languages that applicants can be tested in when taking entrance examinations for state-run universities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Crown Princess' dad named as possible U.N. ICJ judge

The government will field former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations and the Crown Princess' father, Hisashi Owada, in an election for the post of a U.N. International Court of Justice judge, scheduled for late 2002, government sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

Kumagai Gumi to restructure

Kumagai Gumi Co. unveiled a restructuring plan Monday under which the debt-ridden construction firm will ask 15 creditors to forgive debts totaling 450 billion yen.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

School libraries short 66 million books

Libraries at the nation's elementary schools and junior high schools are a combined 65.79 million books short of government standards for class sizes, the Education Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2000

Regional banks seek 95 billion yen injection

Chiba Kogyo Bank and Yachiyo Bank on Monday asked the government for a combined 95 billion yen in taxpayers' money to bolster their fragile capital bases.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

Agency to unveil stricter requirements for diesels

As part of efforts to improve the dismal air quality in Japan's major cities, the Environment Agency will announce today that diesel automobiles will have to meet stricter standards beginning in 2002, Agency officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2000

Elevated dioxin, PCB found in fish

Elevated levels of dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls were found in the livers of squid, cod and bottom-dwelling sharks off the coast of Japan, according to interim results from an Environment Agency survey released Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2000

MITI to abolish subsidy for solar power in homes

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry plans to scrap government subsidies for solar power generation equipment for household use at the end of fiscal 2002 in order to boost competition in the industry, ministry sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

Panel approves new reactor

An advisory panel on Monday endorsed a plan by Chugoku Electric Power Co. to build a new nuclear reactor in Shimane Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2000

More places to go on license plates

The Transport Ministry plans to allow local authorities to put the geographical names of their choice on automobile license plates.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2000

Plan for spy-satellite system is finalized

Japan's plan to set up a system of four reconnaissance satellites has been finalized, with Kagoshima Prefecture chosen as the second of two sites for the system's ground antennas, according to a government source.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Motorcycle makers gear up to tackle domestic slump

Despite brisk business in the global market, Japanese motorcycle makers have for years watched their domestic sales slide.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Agreement signed in 'Nishi-Tokyo'

Faced with a declining birthrate and falling tax revenues, officials of the cities of Hoya and Tanashi in western Tokyo signed an agreement Thursday to launch the merger of the two municipalities.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2000

Tokyo government to seize land for dump site

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to break a 6-year-old impasse with environmentalists by expropriating two plots of land to expand a municipal landfill in the town of Hinode, western Tokyo, officials announced Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2000

If Europe can unify currency, why can't Southeast Asia?

The Southeast Asian economy has reportedly found the path to recovery after being crippled by the regional financial crisis of 1997.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 3, 2000

World Cup vote: Africa needs a good PR officer

The jury is not out on this one: Africa should be hosting the World Cup in 2006. The continent is long overdue, having made a significant contribution to world soccer in the past 20 years.
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2000

Tough choices for ASEAN

ASEAN is back. That is the message coming from Bangkok this week as foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations hold their annual get-together. North Korea's debut at the ASEAN Regional Forum, which follows the foreign ministers' meeting, has contributed to the optimism, as has...
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2000

Toyota diesel system slashes emissions

Toyota Motor Corp. has developed a basic technology for a new diesel engine purification system that can drastically reduce harmful emissions from diesel vehicles, Toyota President Fujio Cho said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2000

Stimulus policy should continue: Imai

While acknowledging that the much-anticipated economic recovery has become more evident, Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), is emphasizing that the government should continue its current stimulus-oriented fiscal and monetary policies for the foreseeable...
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2000

MMC may have hidden complaints

Transport authorities have inspected Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s head office in Tokyo and some of its dealers on suspicion it concealed documents regarding complaints from users at the time of a regular inspection, Transport Ministry officials said Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 17, 2000

Scope for universal understanding

It seems that Silicon Valley in California, that hotbed of blazing computer development, is now giving birth to technology for the search for origin of biological life in the stars.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Row blazes over merits of parking garage

Near the north end of chic Shibuya shopping street Koen Dori, roughly 50 local residents and construction workers have held a standoff every night for nearly a month.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2000

Okinawans see railway as ticket to ride

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- A middle-aged cabby here says he has never seen a train in his life except on television, much less ridden one. His story, however, does not surprise locals.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2000

NEC, Mitsubishi unit to hike spending

In a effort to play a larger part in the ongoing information technology revolution, computer manufacturer NEC Corp. and electric appliance maker Mitsubishi Electric Corp. on Wednesday unveiled expansionary business plans.
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2000

The finest map in the world

Rival researchers this week announced that they had completed a draft model of the human genome -- the blueprint of the human being. The breakthrough was hailed as "a milestone in science," a "revolution in medical science" and "the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind." For once,...
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2000

Expansion of whale sanctuary proposed

Australia and New Zealand have proposed that the International Whaling Commission designate a wide area of water between Australia and Chile as a whale sanctuary, Japanese Fisheries Agency sources said Sunday.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.