Search - 2004

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2001

A dormant Islamic state concept

SINGAPORE -- Malaysia's ruling National Front coalition government has withdrawn from circulation a booklet "Malaysia Is an Islamic Country" to allay growing fears among the significant non-Muslim minority that the multiracial country which tolerates many faiths would be turned into an Islamic state....
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2001

EU readying for new challenge

Leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels last weekend, agreed to set up a broadly represented advisory body next March to draft recommendations for EU reform. The agreement marks another milestone on the road to an enlarged EU. Half a century following the creation of a common European market,...
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Dec 18, 2001

Japan aiming to boost E. Asia

What can Japan do for Asia? Does Japan want to be part of Asia's soccer fraternity? It's a long-standing question, but now maybe some answers are emerging.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Lift age for retirement, medical services: proposal

A government strategy drafted with Japan's graying society in mind proposes increasing the mandatory ages for retirement and eligibility for medical services, according to the draft outline obtained by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Treaty on deadly chemicals to go before Diet soon

The government will submit a landmark international treaty banning the production and use of the world's most toxic and harmful chemicals to the Diet for ratification early next year, government sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Cabinet approves budget plan modified to please coalition

The Cabinet has endorsed guidelines for the fiscal 2002 budget, in which a 30 trillion yen cap on new government bonds for that year forms the centerpiece of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2001

Sanyo, Kodak to jointly produce organic electroluminescent panels

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. and Eastman Kodak Co. of the United States announced Tuesday they will set up a joint venture this month to make a next-generation flat-panel display for use in electronic devices.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Enron's failure threatens power plant plans in Japan

The failure of U.S. energy company Enron Corp. threatens to end four thermal power generation projects that the Houston-based firm was pushing in Japan, industry officials said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2001

EU overtures to Cyprus rattle Turkey

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- When you cross the "green line" between the Cypriot and Turkish-occupied parts of the city, you enter a zone that has frozen in time since war stopped on this eastern Mediterranean island 27 years ago.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2001

No change in stormy economic outlook

Political and economic conditions at the end of November seem to be in a lull or stalemate both in Japan and abroad. But this is only a passing phenomenon. It may be the case that signs of turmoil and instability are only temporarily receding below the surface as the yearend and New Year approach.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2001

Mission Possible for Chen

TAIPEI -- Since Taiwan's long-ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) lost last year's presidential election to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the island has slid into its worst recession in decades.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Major banks brace for loan writeoffs

All but two of the nation's 14 major banks fell into the red during the first six months of this business year, together setting aside a hefty 2.7 trillion yen in loan-loss reserves to cushion the potential impact from nonperforming loans.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Major banks brace for loan writeoffs

All but two of the nation's 14 major banks fell into the red during the first six months of this business year, together setting aside a hefty 2.7 trillion yen in loan-loss reserves to cushion the potential impact from nonperforming loans.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2001

BTM to close 50 outlets, lay off staff

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi plans to close around 50 of its 310 outlets nationwide -- some 15 percent of the total -- and lay off 3,500 staff by the end of March 2005 to cut costs, bank sources said Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 24, 2001

Injured Yawara-chan to skip meet

Reigning Olympic and world champion Ryoko Tamura will pull out of next month's international women's judo meet in Fukuoka after failing to fully recover from a knee injury picked up earlier this year, informed sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2001

New law limits bank holdings

The Diet passed a bill Wednesday aimed at limiting banks' shareholdings and creating a stock-buying body designed to buy some of them.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2001

Sumitomo Mitsui sees 150 billion yen loss

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. announced Wednesday a sharp increase in loan-loss charges and large losses in its shareholdings, prompting it to revise its 2001 earnings forecast from a consolidated net profit of 180 billion yen to a 150 billion yen net loss.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2001

Miyazaki film sets new box-office record

Innovative animation director Hayao Miyazaki has set a new Japanese box-office record with his latest film "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" ("Spirited Away"), according to film distributor Toho Co.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2001

Asahi Mutual hawking sales division to Tokio Marine

Troubled life insurer Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Tuesday it is in talks to sell off its sales division to a Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. subsidiary in the face of policy-holder flight and dismal market prospects.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2001

Ministry holds first online tender for public works project

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Tuesday staged the first online tender for a public works project in the nation's history.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2001

JAL, JAS to merge to beat aviation slump

Japan Airlines Co. and Japan Air System Co., the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 air carriers, agreed Monday to integrate to create the world's sixth-largest airline in terms of passenger miles.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2001

Space station blues -- again

This month marks a milestone for the International Space Station. As of Nov. 2, there had been a continuous human presence on the orbiting lab-in-progress for exactly one year. Besides the three crews that have successively called it home, 14 spacecraft had visited. Eighteen space walks had been carried...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2001

Harassed leaders could play Kashmir card

T here is increasing concern that and the ongoing war in Afghanistan may well give India and Pakistan yet another reason to start a new war over Kashmir, a region they both claim as their own. In recent weeks, they have locked themselves deeper in their border conflict. Both countries, which have fought...
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Sharp, Taiwan firm agree on tieup

OSAKA -- Sharp Corp. said Thursday it has agreed with Taiwanese microchip maker Winbond Electronics Corp. to jointly develop next-generation flash memory chips in a deal aimed at slashing development costs.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2001

Alternative energy empowering consumers

With increasing demand for cost-efficient and environment-friendly energy, a growing number of hotels, hospitals and major industrial facilities are adopting cogeneration -- a system that makes more efficient use of heat and electricity generated from the same source.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Ministry eyes cutting down sea emissions

The Environment Ministry has decided to set a target for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus emissions into Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay and the Seto Inland Sea to avoid fouling the waters with too many nutrients, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2001

Bank shareholding bill clears hurdle

The House of Representatives approved at a plenary session Thursday a bill aimed at limiting Japanese banks' shareholdings and creating a stock-buying body designed to absorb a portion of such holdings.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2001

Toshiba, NEC report losses for first half of business year

Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. on Friday reported consolidated net losses for the first half of fiscal 2001, hit by the global slump in information technology and the worldwide economic slowdown.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2001

Toyota eyes parts plant in Mexico

Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to build a plant in Mexico to produce cargo platforms for small trucks, company sources said Thursday.

Longform

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