Search - jobs

 
 
COMMUNITY
Oct 22, 2000

ZERI student volunteer recalls Expo experience

Agreeing to be interviewed but only 18, Ikuko Sato brought along her elder sister Kyoko for support. Actually, Kyoko had her own motive for joining us. Soon to visit a Filipino friend in England, she wanted information on traveling in the U.K.: "Is there a special rail pass for tourists? And what do...
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2000

Reform starts with big business

Two of Japan's four largest business organizations, Keidanren (Federation of Economic Organizations) and Nikkeiren (Federation of Employers Associations), have decided to merge by May 2002. A task force will be working out details by the end of the year, including the proposed name and articles of association...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 18, 2000

Rootless, wandering nomads on the shifting sands of time

Of all the things I have given my children (bicycles, braces and bald chromosomes) and of all the things I would like to give them (resilience, compassion and an early introduction to Rogaine) nothing seems farther beyond my meager means than the one gift I care to bestow the most:
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2000

Accounting practices blamed for slump in Japanese films

The chief executive of a Tokyo financial management company launched in late September hopes her new business saves Japanese films from a long slump.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 8, 2000

Plenty to get antsy about at your local bank

Today we will examine something I refer to as Anthill Economics. The other day when I entered the local anthill, i.e., the bank, the usual staff of 33 employees greeted me. The most customers I've ever seen inside the bank is 10, but that's not the point. The anthill employs as many ants as possible...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2000

Britain's future is at the heart of Europe

Britain is still on course to join the euro despite the narrow rejection of formal membership by Denmark in last week's referendum. Denmark is Europe's second-smallest country, represents only 2 percent of European gross national product, and anyway has already tied its currency, the krone, to the euro....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2000

Singapore media monopolies break into rival's turf

SINGAPORE -- Competition in Singapore's expanding media industry is growing more intense as the two rival main players prepare to slug it out, having pumped in millions of dollars to upgrade existing projects and invest in new ones.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2000

Today's Luddites go global

LONDON -- The Seattle protesters who fought the World Trade Organization and those in Prague who demonstrated recently against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are a mixed crew: anarchists, anticapitalist thugs and groups anxious to help the poorer people of the world. None of them...
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2000

Firms continue to be optimistic: 'tankan'

The outlook of the nation's corporations -- particularly large manufacturers -- continued to improve over the past three months, according to the latest quarterly "tankan" business sentiment survey, released Tuesday by the Bank of Japan.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2000

Suspect cop handed to prosecutors

Police on Sunday handed to prosecutors a 52-year-old Tokyo policeman suspected of passing confidential information, including criminal records, to a detective agency run by his former chief.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Shelter plan for park's homeless hit

OSAKA -- A municipal government plan to build temporary shelters for homeless people living in a park that will host next year's East Asian Games has received heated criticism from area residents, who have gathered over 22,000 signatures in protest.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2000

Mizuho has big goals -- and hurdles

The Mizuho Financial Group, the world's biggest financial empire in terms of assets, takes shape today, integrating Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan under a newly created holding company.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2000

Japan's nonprofits carve out a space of their own

When the Nature Conservancy's Lori Forman addressed the College Women's Association of Japan at a luncheon earlier this year, the topic was supposed to be nongovernmental organizations in Japan. But instead of providing a nuanced description of Japan's not-for-profit movement, Forman seemed more interested...
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2000

Honda revamp cuts production time 30%

Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it has completed rationalization of its auto production at its plant in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, which will shorten by more than 30 percent the average time it takes to assemble automobiles.
COMMENTARY
Sep 25, 2000

Weak unions, weak economy

The collapse of the department store operator Sogo Co. came as a shock to Japan's recovering economy. Even more shocking are reports that the company's union leader has been fired for disrupting "order" in the organization.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Snow Brand to ax subcontractor

OSAKA -- Snow Brand Milk Products Co. will cancel part of its outsourcing contract with an Osaka-based warehouse company by the end of September in the wake of the recent food-poisoning scandal involving the dairy firm, Snow Brand sources said.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

Workers less optimistic on economy

The Economic Planning Agency said Monday that its index measuring workers' views on the current status of the economy showed they were more pessimistic in August than three months ago.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

Kumagai Gumi to restructure

Kumagai Gumi Co. unveiled a restructuring plan Monday under which the debt-ridden construction firm will ask 15 creditors to forgive debts totaling 450 billion yen.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2000

California: the colors of tomorrow's U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The bald statistic released the other day informing us that the population of the state of California was no longer dominated by a Caucasian majority, having given way to a fast-growing coalition of Hispanics and Asians, should have surprised no one.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Elderly population reaches record high of 21.9 million

The number of Japanese 65 or older stands at 21.9 million, accounting for 17.3 percent of the population, or one in 5.8 people, the Management and Coordination Agency said in a report Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

EPA leaves assessment of economy unchanged

The Economic Planning Agency on Thursday left intact for the third straight month its view that the economy is gradually moving toward a self-sustaining recovery.
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2000

Fragile foundations for the nation's youth

Although the whole nation has been dismayed by the recent wave of reports of serious crimes committed by 17-year-olds, everyone must have been excited and impressed by the teenagers playing in the high-school baseball championship tournament held at Koshien Stadium, regardless of who won and who lost....
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2000

Unemployment adds to Miyake Island evacuees' woes

With an end to the volcanic activity on Mount Oyama nowhere in sight, evacuees from Miyake Island are facing an uphill battle in trying to secure sources of income upon settling into temporary housing in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2000

Multiculturalism and meritocracy are key

We live in a world of at least 2,000 nationalities, 200 states and 20 nation-states (where the populations are more or less homogeneous). The doctrine of self-determination was one of the most powerful ideologies of the 20th century. The drive to self-determination by disaffected communities created...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2000

Nationalism before the national interest

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- If you ever chance to fly in the wintertime to the disputed Northern Territories -- a cluster of volcanic islets claimed by both Russia and Japan, and known as the southern Kuril Islands to Russians -- be prepared to be stranded.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2000

Nigerian envoy promotes natural gas

The Nigerian ambassador to Japan on Thursday called on Japanese companies to invest in his country, particularly to make better use of its natural gas, much of which is wasted due to a lack of technology there.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Evacuees to get new homes

The processing of evacuees from the volcanic island of Miyake is going smoothly and the first of three groups of islanders is scheduled to move into public housing today, officials of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Tuesday.

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