Search - 2000

 
 
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2000

Growth forecast; correction to run its course

The higher they go, the farther they'll fall.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2000

Isuzu Motors names Ida as new president

Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Tuesday it will appoint Yoshinori Ida, 57, as its new president and chief operating officer, effective Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2000

Japan considering 3% cut in aid to developing nations

The government and the ruling coalition are considering a reduction of roughly 3 percent in Japan's official development assistance to developing countries for fiscal 2001, sources involved in ODA revision talks said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Okinawa's Ota makes a case for redress

ESSAYS ON OKINAWA PROBLEMS, by Masahide Ota. Gushikawa City, Okinawa: Yui Shuppan Co., 2000, 302 pp., 1,600 yen (paper). Okinawa's history is essentially that of a poor ethnic group at Japan's southern extremity. The island has been continually exploited and abused for the interest and convenience of...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 13, 2000

The willow world stripped bare

GEISHA: The Secret History of a Vanishing World, by Lesley Downer. London: Headline Books, 2000, 370 pp., 20 British pounds. A common question asked about geisha is: Do they or don't they? Their attraction seems balanced between artistic prowess and sex appeal, but just how often is the latter properly...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Book bites

MANGEKYO/KALEIDOSCOPE: Modern Senryu with English Versions, translated by Okada Hideo and Adrian Pinnington, boxed cards, XYLO Co. Ltd., 2000, 3,150 yen (+200 yen postage). This is a most unusual and attractive publication, consisting of four dozen short poems printed in Japanese on separate cards, with...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Television as a pillar of the state

BROADCASTING POLITICS IN JAPAN: NHK and Television News, by Ellis Krauss. Cornell University Press, 2000, 278 pp., $35 (cloth). Many of us know NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) for its film documentaries, its cultural programs -- stunning or plodding, depending on your perspective -- or its Sunday morning singalongs....
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2000

Fujimori's citizenship about to be delivered

The government has confirmed that deposed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who is currently staying in Japan, has Japanese citizenship, government sources said Monday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 10, 2000

Japanese players strike: believe it when you see it

A number of articles appeared in the press this past week, leading us to think there may be a players strike on the horizon in Japan pro baseball. To my thinking, however, a work stoppage by the players here is about as unlikely as a no-hitter being pitched on opening day or Yomiuri selling the Giants....
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Coalition group urges ODA paring

A study group set up by the ruling coalition agreed Friday on the need to reduce the amount of Japan's official development assistance to developing countries in the fiscal 2001 budget, members of the group said.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Environment Agency rises a rank

In less than a month, the Environment Agency will -- at least in theory -- get its hands on a bigger piece of the administrative pie.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2000

IT sectors lead machinery orders to 11th month of increase

Core machinery orders to Japanese manufacturers in October rose a seasonally adjusted 8.3 percent from the previous month to 1.088 trillion yen on the back of brisk demand from information technology-related sectors, the Economic Planning Agency said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Auto-parts makers report improved earnings in first half

Japanese auto-parts makers registered improved earnings in the first half of fiscal 2000 as their sales grew both at home and abroad, the Japan Auto-Parts Industries Association said in a report released Thursday.
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Dec 7, 2000

Miyazawa to focus on employment, spending

The state budget for fiscal 2001 to be drawn up by the government later this month is expected to be characterized by "guarded optimism," Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 7, 2000

Hanshin set to sign Cardinals utility man Perez

OSAKA -- The Hanshin Tigers are set to sign utility man Eduardo Perez from the St. Louis Cardinals, officials of the Central League club confirmed Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2000

First Nordic-Japan Forum held

NAGANO -- About 950 people attended the first Nordic-Japan Forum on environmental issues held recently at a hotel in Nagano Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2000

GDP disappoints with 0.2% growth

The nation's economy continued its slow pace of growth during the July-September period as gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent, the Economic Planning Agency said Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 5, 2000

Lions to let go of Fernande

The Seibu Lions will release infielder Tony Fernandez after having the services of the veteran major leaguer for only one season, Seibu officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 5, 2000

Handful of history

COLUMBIA CHRONOLOGIES OF ASIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, edited by John S. Bowman. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, 752 pp., $85. Oh, "if men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives is a lantern on the...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 5, 2000

What is the weight of a fractured atom?

ATOMIC FRAGMENTS: A Daughter's Questions, by Mary Palevsky. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, 272 pp., $24.95 (cloth). With the benefit of hindsight and a distant or nonexistent memory of World War II, we pass moral judgment on those who were directly involved with the invention and construction...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 4, 2000

Judging history's 'single most violent act'

At a midtown bar, Wolcott Wheeler, whom I call a historian without portfolio, tells me a story about Robert Oppenheimer: how the physicist, meeting President Harry Truman in the Oval Office, said, "Mr. President, I have blood on my hands."
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

Three insurers report mixed fortunes

Chiyoda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. fell into the red in the first half of fiscal 2000 on a consolidated basis, while Dai-Tokyo Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance Co. posted profits, according to their earnings results released Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

NCB sees two key balances move back into the black

Releasing its first financial results since its sale on Sept. 1 to an investment consortium led by Softbank Corp., Nippon Credit Bank said Friday its operating and pretax balances moved back into the black in the first half of fiscal 2000.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2000

Keep government out of the stock market

A few months ago, members of Japan's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party encouraged the government to take steps to prop up the stock market. They also urged the government to accelerate spending from the public-works reserve fund of 500 billion...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 2, 2000

Treasures of ancient China

Until the 16th century, when the first Europeans reached these shores, China had, for over 1,000 years, been the sole foreign influence on the development of Japanese culture. Some of this influence had been refracted through Korea, but Korea itself was in a position similar to Japan's: a recipient of...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

LDP panel puts brakes on dual taxation system

The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel decided Thursday to delay the government-designed introduction of a new local tax system because of concerns about its effect on unprofitable companies, party officials said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 29, 2000

Caring more and judging less: fighting AIDS with compassion

"What you need is a hooker!"
MORE SPORTS
Nov 29, 2000

Hitachi to disband volleyball team

Major electronics maker Hitachi Ltd. will disband its once-mighty women's volleyball club next March, at the end of the upcoming season, as part of its restructuring drive, company officials said Monday.

Longform

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