Search - 2005

 
 
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2002

Report on Constitution released

A House of Representatives committee charged with reviewing the Constitution for possible amendment submitted an interim report Friday listing the outcome of its discussions.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2002

EU 'withholds funds' for N. Korea reactors

The European Parliament has decided to temporarily withhold its 2003 funding to a consortium charged with building nuclear reactors in North Korea following Pyongyang's admission that it is developing nuclear arms, EU sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2002

Sumitomo posts 5.4% rise in profit

Trading house Sumitomo Corp. said Thursday its group net profit in the first half to Sept. 30 grew 5.4 percent to 21.41 billion yen, despite sales sinking 5.5 percent to 4.57 trillion yen.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 17, 2002

Searching within ourselves for the vaccine against HIV

It is 2005, in what was formerly the state of California. After a massive earthquake, the golden state has been divided into two: So. Cal and No. Cal. Scrawled and sprayed on walls and wreckage is the name of the people's savior: J.D. Shapely.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2002

Honda may file appeal on ruling on scooter patent

Honda Motor Co. may file an appeal against a Chinese court ruling Wednesday that rejected Honda's request that Beijing's patent office reinstate a patent on a motor scooter design, Honda officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2002

Limited voting rights for foreigners

OSAKA -- Foreigners with permanent resident status will get to vote in a plebiscite approved Wednesday by the Takaishi Municipal Assembly in Osaka Prefecture on whether the municipality should merge with the neighboring city of Sakai.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2002

Cloud of population decline may have silver lining

"Rabbit hutch" is a stereotypical term coined years ago by outsiders referring the cramped dwellings of crowded, urban Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ENERGY EQUATION
Sep 21, 2002

Public role key to green-energy foothold

OSAKA -- While nuclear power provides about one-third of Japan's electricity, the government's goal for raising the share of alternative energy sources is a modest one -- from the current 1.2 percent to a mere 3.2 percent by 2010.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

Fujisawa licenses drug-coated stent to Italy's Sorin

Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday it has concluded a contract with Sorin Biomedica Cardio SpA to license to the Italian firm its immunosuppressive drug-coated stents used for heart disease treatment.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

Koizumi backs BOJ bad-loan disposal measures

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday the government will take every possible measure in cooperation with the Bank of Japan to accelerate the disposal of nonperforming loans and prevent a financial crisis.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Temp firms gear for manufacturing entry

The lift of a statutory ban on dispatching temporary workers to the manufacturing sector has long been a fervent wish for many such businesses and personnel providers.
BUSINESS
Sep 17, 2002

NEC, Toshiba join on MRAM chip development

NEC Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have begun developing next-generation memory chips that promise to slash power consumption in personal computers and other portable electronic devices.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2002

Two wetlands slated for protection

Two wetlands should be added to the list of wildlife preserves with the aim of registering them under an international convention on wetlands to be held in Spain in November, the Environment Ministry's Central Environment Council decided Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2002

Moscow Embassy pool scrapped by ministry

Bowing to sharp public criticism over a string of scandals and the lavish lives of diplomats, the Foreign Ministry said Monday it has given up a plan to construct an indoor swimming pool at the new Japanese embassy under construction in Moscow.
BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2002

Taisho and Toyama conclude tieup accord

Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. and Toyama Chemical Co. said Monday they have concluded a tieup agreement that features the establishment of a joint sales company and the acquisition by Taisho of a major equity stake in Toyama.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2002

Public backs road entity privatization

A majority of the people polled by Kyodo News support privatization of the nation's four public road entities but oppose a total freeze on construction of highways that would not be commercially viable.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Sky PerfecTV scores Serie A rights

Sky Perfect Communications Inc., operator of digital satellite broadcaster Sky PerfecTV, said Friday it has obtained exclusive rights to broadcast Italian Serie A soccer league games.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2002

A 'disappointing' success

Ten days of haggling about the Earth's future in Johannesburg, South Africa, have yielded an action plan and a political declaration, though both are less ambitious that they might have been.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2002

Cosmo Oil battles industrial waste

Cosmo Oil Co. has mapped out a three-year plan aimed at eradicating its industrial waste by the end of March 2005, company officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2002

Experts call for faster intellectual property reforms

A group of patent experts urged the government Wednesday to speed up reforms under the intellectual property strategy recently drawn up as part of an effort to sharpen Japan's industrial competitiveness.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Toyota and Nissan forge hybrid tieup

Toyota Motor Corp. will provide Nissan Motor Co. with technology aimed at developing eco-friendly hybrid cars over a period of more than 10 years, the automakers said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2002

Panel formalizes road-firm privatization report

A key government panel on Friday formalized an interim report on ways to privatize four road-related public corporations, proposing to freeze a number of pending highway projects and minimize the financial burden on taxpayers.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2002

Psychiatry confab ends with plea

YOKOHAMA -- The 12th World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP) ended Thursday at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center with a declaration calling on countries to provide the best possible treatment for those with mental illnesses.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Aug 24, 2002

Steep costs seen stifling market for Internet ice boxes

Imagine the convenience of a microwave oven that can download 1,000 recipes and automatically set the optimal cooking temperature for each dish, or a refrigerator whose contents you check via your cell phone.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Kobe activists hope to repay Tanaka by rallying behind his Nagano race

KOBE -- Kobe-based activists who had worked with former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka as volunteers helping this city following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake are lending support to his re-election bid in the Sept. 1 gubernatorial race.
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2002

Local governments face increased airport cost burden

The transport ministry plans to ask local governments to shoulder more of the costs of building and expanding airports, according to an interim policy report presented to an advisory panel Friday.

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