Search - 2002

 
 
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Haneda extension, beltways enter urban renewal account

The government decided Tuesday that the expansion of Tokyo's Haneda airport to allow more international flights and the construction of beltway systems in major cities will be designated as urban redevelopment projects, officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Isahaya reclamation project faces review

An ongoing reclamation project in Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, will have to be scaled down as the current plan "is unrealistic to pursue," farm minister Tsutomu Takebe said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mitsui, Sumitomo to merge fertilizer sales subsidiaries

Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp. plan to streamline their operations by merging their wholly owned fertilizer sales subsidiaries by around April, officials of the two trading companies said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Infrastructure spending key to town mergers

The government plans to emphasize social infrastructure investment as part of a comprehensive plan to support mergers of cities, towns and villages, according to a draft plan obtained by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Quake insurance tax break in works

The Cabinet Office said Saturday it will pursue an independent tax exemption system for earthquake insurance premiums in line with requests for revisions to the tax system in fiscal 2002, government officials said.
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Living on the edge

It's 6 a.m. on Saturday, and Teruyuki Kato is woken at home by the beeping of his government-issued pager. The University of Tokyo professor of geophysics knows he must act fast. He calls the local police, who arrive within minutes and transport him, sirens howling, red lights whirling, to the Meteorological...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

METI to launch 'smart house' pilot project

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to launch a project in the next fiscal year linking about 50 households to a high-speed data network that will improve their security systems and monitor their occupants' health, ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Subsidies eyed for eco-friendly buses, trucks

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry plans to create a system to subsidize truck and bus company operators in Japan's three major urban areas to change their vehicles to low-emissions ones, ministry sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Ministry aims for science, math boost

The education ministry has selected around 1,000 elementary and junior high schools nationwide to participate in a new program aimed at boosting students' math and science abilities.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Japan's public schools grow more violent

A record 40,374 cases of violence were reported at public schools across Japan in the school year ending in March, the education ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2001

Extra budget needed, says policy chief

Kazuo Kitagawa, the New Komeito policy chief, said Friday an extra budget worth 5 trillion yen to 6 trillion yen is needed for the current fiscal year to help buoy the faltering economy.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2001

Itochu, Marubeni units to merge

Itochu Corp. and Marubeni Corp. said Friday they will merge their trading subsidiaries dealing in steel construction materials on equal terms on Oct. 1, simultaneous to the integration of their steel businesses.
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2001

ODA also needs reform

Japan's official development assistance is expected to be reduced by 10 percent in fiscal 2002 as part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's program of "structural reform with no sacred cows." According to the budget outlines announced earlier this month, ODA will be cut by 100 billion yen from the current...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2001

Domestic violence shelters to see rise in number of counselors

The government plans to provide better support for victims of domestic violence by dispatching psychotherapists to shelters and women's centers across the country from April, according to health ministry sources.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Broadband to grow 81% per year: IDC

Domestic subscribers of broadband Internet services will continue to rapidly grow at a compound annual growth rate of 81 percent from 635,000 in 2000 to 12.42 million in 2005, a high-tech research company predicted Wednesday.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 23, 2001

Japan's foreign policy still retains U.S. trappings

First of a six-part series looking back on 50 years of Japanese-U.S. relations since the 1951 signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the bilateral security treaty. By JUNKO TAKAHASHI Staff writer Nobuo Matsunaga was a young diplomat in Paris when Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which...
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2001

Contractors may get job subsidies to hire engineers

The labor ministry may subsidize construction companies as part of a program to create jobs for construction engineers forced out of work as banks strive to dispose of their bad loans, ministry officials said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2001

Gaining our neighbors' trust

In his speech at the government-sponsored memorial service for the war dead Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi acknowledged that Japan had inflicted "tremendous damage and pain" on people in Asian nations, and expressed a strong determination...
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2001

Europe's help sought for hooligans

The National Police Agency has asked European police to help deal with soccer hooligans at next year's World Cup finals, agency officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2001

Fujitsu to cut 16,400 jobs worldwide

Fujitsu Ltd. announced Monday it will cut its global workforce by 9 percent, or 16,400 jobs, by the end of the fiscal year amid a global slump in the semiconductor market.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2001

Medical experts get special role at schools for disabled

The education ministry plans to send medical experts to work with teachers at schools for blind, deaf and disabled children.
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2001

Fujitsu to slash 10,000 jobs in North America, Asia

Leading computer maker Fujitsu Ltd. plans to slash about 10 percent of its group workforce, or more than 10,000 jobs, at home and abroad as the main part of a restructuring plan designed to counter a slowdown in the information technology market, company officials said Sunday.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2001

Defense Agency to build memorial park to SDF

The Defense Agency is planning to construct a park in Tokyo to commemorate members of the Self-Defense Forces killed in the line of duty, agency officials said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2001

Obstacles to decentralization must embrace independence

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi won big gains for his Liberal Democratic Party in the Upper House election and has been re-elected uncontested to a new two-year term as LDP chief. But the tasks ahead of him are mounting, and one of the biggest is the decentralization of administrative power.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2001

Ministry set to launch 'green' car plans

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has decided to introduce action plans in nine regions in Japan to boost the use of less-polluting "green" vehicles, ministry officials said Sunday.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2001

Sony's Idei to lead exchange with China

Sony Corp.'s charismatic chairman and chief executive officer, Nobuyuki Idei, has been tapped as the point man for galvanizing exchanges with China next year to mark 30 years of diplomatic ties between Japan and China.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2001

Revision of GDP shows gain of 0.1%

The government on Thursday revised economic growth upward for the January-March quarter to a real 0.1 percent growth over the previous quarter, following its preliminary prediction of a 0.2 percent contraction.

Longform

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Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building