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BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2002

Daiei suffers 332.5 billion yen loss

Ailing supermarket operator Daiei Inc. announced Friday a consolidated net loss of 332.51 billion yen for the business year that ended in February, blaming the losses on increased restructuring costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2002

Israeli offensive shakes Jordanian society

GAZA REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan -- Gloom hung over the house where Amin's adult daughter had died of an unknown disease. Rain was leaking through the tarpaulin that served as a roof in half of the two-room structure of mud brick and cinder blocks where 15 people live.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2002

Cabinet approves auto recycling bill that would have consumers pay costs

The Cabinet approved a bill Friday that would oblige automakers and car importers to recycle three components of used vehicles and have consumers pay the costs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

Ex-foreigner on a Diet 'mission'

In February, Marutei Tsurunen made political history when he became the first Westerner to take a seat in the Diet. This was as much of a surprise to him as anyone. After being first reserve in the proportional representation list of Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) after last July's Upper House...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

A profitable day at the races

The year was 1948: Japan was still recovering from the ravages of war. Bombed-out bridges needed rebuilding, cratered roads needed repaving and railroads had to be relaid. It would cost a fortune, but who would foot the bill?
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2002

Asahi Mutual's new policy contracts see 17% increase

Struggling Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Thursday the number of new policy contracts in the 2001 business year is estimated to have grown 17 percent due to brisk sales of new products.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 31, 2002

How to teach the teachers to teach?

To Doreen Simmons, who for more than 20 of her 28 years in Japan has been an editor in the International Affairs Department of the Diet, the idea of Japan adopting English as its second official language sounds "totally unrealistic."
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2002

Official foreign aid leaves needy wanting

LAHORE, Pakistan -- One of Lahore's small Christian communities sits on army land, and thus constitutes an illegal occupation in the government's view. Most homes have one room, the latrines are makeshift, and families are lucky to survive on $20 a month.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2002

Fresh irritants may still derail Sino-Japan ties

Like Tokyo's cherry-blossoms-dotted landscape at this time of year, relations between Japan and China appear to have sprung back to life -- and in bloom again after a winter of chill and frost.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2002

MMC president-to-be leaves no stone unturned

When he arrived in Tokyo more than a year ago from the Railsystem Unit of the DaimlerChrysler Group, Rolf Eckrodt, vice president and chief operating officer of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., gave each MMC executive a piece of the Berlin Wall encased in clear plastic.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2002

MMC to break even this business year: COO

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will break even in the current business year, which ends Sunday, chief operating officer of the automaker said Monday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 24, 2002

Tune in for the final stretch

Next Sunday, Nippon TV's irreverent variety show "Denpa Shonen," the prototype of bizarre Japanese reality-TV programs, will once again end its long successful run with a pledge to be reincarnated in the near future. On Saturday at 9 p.m., however, there will be a special two-hour installment summing...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Mar 22, 2002

Students give seniors a rousing send-off

My first-grader sighed at the dinner table the other night. "Sakamoto-kun is graduating soon," he said sadly. Who? I had never heard of anyone by this name. "He's one of the sixth-graders," my son explained. "He showed me a magic trick and helps me at school."
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2002

If you don't need cash you don't count

A 0.2 percentage point drop in January's unemployment rate may be due to a new requirement that prevents some job-seekers from declaring themselves unemployed.
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2002

Class struggle joins Marx in the dustbin

HONG KONG -- Last Wednesday, a top official declared that, as a result of the market economy, "people's jobs and status keep changing" in China today, and there are "differences and contradictions between communities, between industries and between regions." These remarks by Li Ruihuan, China's fourth-ranking...
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2002

State to offer banks deal on bad mortgages

The government plans to dispose of about 97 billion yen in unrecoverable home loans by asking private banks that guaranteed them to assume payment, a senior government official said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 16, 2002

Sen Nishiyama

Sen Nishiyama says that translating one language into another is "a dangerous field to get into. You need plenty of insurance." He took his first steps into this dangerous field more than 60 years ago. He was a pioneer in the simultaneous interpreting of Japanese and English more than 50 years ago. Sen...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2002

'Shunto' outlives its usefulness

Japan's traditional annual wage round, known as "shunto" (spring labor offensive), has collapsed for all practical purposes. As a union leader in the information sector points out, "This year marks a historic turning point for shunto." In fact, labor groups have given up customary wage demands, effectively...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

Firms stand hard against pay-scale hikes

Most companies in the nation's four major industrial sectors on Wednesday offered no pay-scale increases beyond standard yearly hikes in spring wage talks with their labor unions, highlighting the severity of the economic slump.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 9, 2002

Democrats challenging Bush on defense

WASHINGTON -- As the month began, Democrats were beginning to question President George W. Bush's handling of the war against terrorism.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 9, 2002

Manager Eriksson thrives on World Cup pressure

Among the 32 teams competing in the coming World Cup, England will be one of the centers of attention, and manager Sven-Goran Eriksson holds the key to the team's success.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 9, 2002

Finding stories behind the headlines for translation

As the founding managing editors of Kotan Publishing, Gavin Allwright and Atsushi Kanamaru are a match made in the heaven and hell of small independent book making. Certainly they could not be more physically different, one so tall, well-meaning and -- dare I say -- well padded; the other small, neat...
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2002

Tobishima set to request more help

Tobishima Corp., yet another general contractor struggling in Japan's troubled construction industry, is considering calling on its main creditor, Fuji Bank, for additional financial assistance, company sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2002

Reform initiative faces setback

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces mounting difficulties as he tries to keep his reform initiative alive. His problem, in a nutshell, is that events are overtaking him. The gap between rhetoric and reality is widening amid growing signs of deflation. His favorite slogan, "structural reforms with...
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2002

Daiei to get 520 billion yen from its main creditors

Struggling supermarket operator Daiei Inc. announced Wednesday a fresh three-year restructuring program that features 520 billion yen in financial support from its three main creditor banks, up 100 billion yen from an earlier plan.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2002

Fight against deflation like a many-edged sword

The government plans to formalize a comprehensive policy package Wednesday to combat deflation.
COMMUNITY
Feb 24, 2002

'Technostress': Rage against the machine

Satoru Kobayashi, a 25-year-old computer programmer, had made smooth progress through life, with good grades from good schools. He had always been an introvert, though, with few friends, so his job as a programmer at a foreign-affiliated software manufacturing company suited him well.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan