Search - 2005

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2003

ASIMO gets job at Takashimaya

ASIMO, the humanoid robot developed by Honda Motor Co., started work Monday as a department store clerk for customer services at Takashimaya Co. in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Apr 22, 2003

Optical equipment maker focuses on creativity

If you really want to work for a company that produces high-technology devices, you may have to brush up on your chopstick skills.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2003

Panel drops plan to identify ideal size for municipalities

An advisory panel to the prime minister examining the future of local governments has decided not to specify a desirable population level as a factor in deciding the scope of administrative powers for local authorities, according to panel sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2003

Suzuki prepares a 'mini' blitz

Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's top minivehicle maker three decades running, is preparing an assault on the global market with a new line of compact cars, according to company President Hiroshi Tsuda.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2003

Asia economic forum set for Tokyo

The head of the World Economic Forum said Wednesday that the organizer of the Davos Forum plans to hold East Asia's annual regional economic summit in Tokyo in 2005 or 2006, according to Japanese officials.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2003

TOEFL preparatory aids hit market

The operator of the Test of English as a Foreign Language said Tuesday it has introduced two new products targeting schools: a software package named LanguEdge Courseware and an online service called Criterion.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2003

Employment insurance to cost more

The House of Representatives approved revisions Tuesday to the Unemployment Insurance Law, raising the premium to 1.6 percent from 1.4 percent of employee pay and slashing benefits for high-income earners.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2003

Politicians under fire for plan to fix accounting rules

A group of ruling coalition politicians is coming under fire from investors and accounting specialists for trying to suspend globally recognized corporate accounting rules as stock prices continue to tumble.
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2003

SARS outbreak, Iraq war leave airlines in tailspin

Airlines are hoping bad things don't come in threes.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2003

Real test for Ishihara lies ahead

Despite his resounding re-election victory in Sunday's vote, Shintaro Ishihara's real test as Tokyo governor lies in the four years ahead, experts say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2003

Suzuki unit begins Ignis production

Suzuki Motor Corp. said Thursday its Hungarian subsidiary began production of the Ignis 1.3-liter car in a factory in Esztergom.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2003

Environment tax eyed for '05 debut

The Environment Ministry will levy an environment tax even if the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming does not take effect on time, according to Vice Environment Minister Masaharu Nakagawa.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2003

China firm, Toyota pen production deal

Toyota Motor Corp. and FAW Group Corp., China's largest automaker, signed an agreement Wednesday to jointly manufacture four Toyota models in China to cash in on the world's fastest growing auto market.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2003

School texts cite 9/11, toe line on SDF

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and subsequent war in Afghanistan are included in most high school textbooks that survived the latest round of screening by the education ministry.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 7, 2003

U.S. racks up victories, and a huge debt

WASHINGTON -- After months of ducking the question of how much the war would cost, President George W. Bush sent Congress a request for just under $80 billion in new funds. It responded by moving quickly, with both the Senate and House Committees approving bills to give the president his money, but it...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003

Carbon molecule inspires hope in medicine, energy sectors

In the liver or even the brain of a cancer patient, carbon molecules shaped like soccer balls seek out malignant cells and bombard them with anticancer drugs.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003

New farm minister follows Oshima's lead

New agriculture minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said Tuesday he will seek a "realistic and balanced" agreement on farm trade liberalization during World Trade Organization negotiations, adopting the same stance as his disgraced predecessor.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2003

Millea Insurance companies finally announce merger

After a series of false starts, the companies of the Millea Insurance Group on Friday officially announced their merger, which will take place in October 2004.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2003

Seibu rehabilitation plans win shareholders' go-ahead

Seibu Department Stores Ltd. won approval Tuesday from shareholders on a new share issuance and a debt-for-equity swap, paving the way for its management rehabilitation program.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2003

World Water Forum declaration

The following is a summary of the ministerial declaration adopted Sunday at the World Water Forum in Kyoto.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2003

Hamburger chains trying new ways to lure back customers

Hamburger chains are shifting away from low-price strategies after cheap burgers failed to lure back customers following the outbreak of mad cow disease 1 1/2 years ago.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

Delegates press severity of African water situation

Participants at a special session of the ongoing World Water Forum voiced satisfaction Monday that Africa's water crisis is firmly on the agenda of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2003

Oshima stays upbeat over trade plans

Farm minister Tadamori Oshima said Monday he expects that a new global trade proposal will better favor Japanese interests.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

High school kids to be sent abroad

The education ministry unveiled a plan Monday in which 10,000 high school students will be sent overseas each year to study and 100 high schools will be selected to provide advanced English education by the 2005-2006 academic year.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2003

Deprived, ignored and scorned, North Korea driven into a corner

CAMBRIDGE, England -- For several years now North Korea has been carrying out a process of economic reform and opening up. Sound familiar? That is what the Chinese did 25 years ago when they, too, realized that their economic system was out-of-date and unable to meet the aspirations of its people.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

MMC, Nissan forge Minicab deal

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will supply its Minicab commercial vehicle to Nissan Motor Co. on an original equipment manufacturing basis, the firms said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2003

How the U.S. piqued Pyongyang

CAMBRIDGE, England -- If it weren't for the fact that the lives of several million people are at stake it could be fun watching the game of diplomatic poker being played by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and U.S. President George W. Bush. Those lives are at stake, however, as is the future stability...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2003

EU keeps channel open with Pyongyang

The withdrawal of North Korea from the Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, has caused great concern among members of the international community. The pillars of the 1994 Framework Agreement between the United States and North Korea and the policy that led to the establishment of the Korean Peninsula Energy...

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