Search - japan

 
 
COMMUNITY
Dec 30, 2001

O-Shogatsu: a custom-made holiday

Yoshio Mamiya doesn't need reminding that o-shogatsu is almost here. For several weeks, the 78-year-old craftsman has been working 12-hour days, seven days a week at his studio in the Sanno district of Tokyo's Ota Ward, where he busily stitches away to meet his customers' demand to renew their domestic...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Ishikawa files for insolvency proceedings

Ishikawa Bank on Friday filed for insolvency proceedings with the Financial Services Agency under the Deposit Insurance Law after its efforts to rehabilitate itself failed.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 29, 2001

JABBA bans foreigners from C'ships

said on Friday that foreign players registered in the Japan Basketball League (JBL) will not be allowed to take part in the 2003 national championships. JABBA explained that the rule was taken to allow Japanese players increased playing opportunities.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

China, South Korea notified during chase of rogue vessel

The Japan Coast Guard contacted South Korean and Chinese authorities during its pursuit last weekend of an unidentified ship in the East China Sea, coast guard officials said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 29, 2001

Tetsuya Kobayashi

Early in his career at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, when he was still on the bottom rung of the ladder, Tetsuya Kobayashi was sent to the Kamikochi Imperial Hotel. Part of his duties there were the cleaning-up operations. "I shall never forget my first experience," he said. "While I was working, I was...
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Tanaka clarifies her comments on Taiwan

Following protests from Taiwan, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Friday clarified her earlier remarks that she hoped the sovereignty of Taiwan would be resolved peacefully, as Hong Kong was returned to China.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Japanese opt for domestic travel

Akihiro is planning to spend some of his New Year's holiday at a hot spring resort.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Koizumi rules out plans to call election anytime soon

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday ruled out any plan to call a general election in the near future, placing the implementation of his structural reform programs at the forefront.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2001

No public faith in Koizumi reforms

The first year of the 21st century has seen a great change in Japan's political landscape with the appearance of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Mr. Koizumi, who in April won the post of prime minister with an ardent call for "reforms without sacred cows," has been maintaining an unprecedentedly high...
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

Takenaka tolerant of yen's weakness

Heizo Takenaka, economic and fiscal policy minister, indicated Thursday his continuing tolerance of the yen's current weakness against the dollar.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

Auto output continues downhill ride

Auto production skidded 5.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 820,841 vehicles, falling for the third consecutive month, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Dec 28, 2001

Yen faces months of downward pressure

Amid concern over the beleaguered Japanese economy, the dollar has reclaimed 131 yen, a level unseen since Oc- tober 1998.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Most-searched Net news was Sept. 11 terror attack

Yahoo Japan Corp. said the news most frequently searched for this year on its Web portal site was about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Government decides to build airport off Okinawa

The government has selected an environmentally controversial plan to build an airport for civilian and U.S. military use on a reef off the Henoko district of Nago on the main island of Okinawa, government officials said Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 28, 2001

Native Horse

* Japanese name: Nihon zairaiba * Scientific name: Equus caballus * Description: Hoofed animal that bears its weight on its central third toe. Its family, called the perissodactyls, also includes tapirs and rhinos. The first horse ancestor was doggish and dog-sized, with four toes on the front foot....
MORE SPORTS
Dec 27, 2001

Satoya, Uemura headed to Utah

Reigning Olympic champion Tae Satoya and medal hope Aiko Uemura were named Tuesday to Japan's freestyle skiing team for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Dec 27, 2001

Dollar could find itself in yen's situation

The yen could remain under downward pressure for some time amid concern over economic and corporate earnings prospects in Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2001

Kirin, Takeda to forge seasoning joint venture

Kirin Brewery Co. and Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Wednesday they have agreed to set up a joint venture in April to combine their seasoning and other food business operations.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2001

Fish feed body to tighten quality control against MBM

Japan's fish meal association said Wednesday it will step up security measures to prevent meat-and-bone meal from cows, a suspected cause of mad cow disease, from being mixed into their fish feed products.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2001

Building-materials publishers under fire

The nation's public works projects -- notorious for their lack of transparency -- have sucked up tens of trillions of yen in taxpayers' money for decades, pushing government coffers to the brink of crisis.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 27, 2001

Get ready for Xbox

The last time an American company successfully launched a game console in Japan, Jesse Takamayama was the famous Hawaiian Sumo wrestler and Chad Rowan (aka Akebono) was still in high school. The last time an American company successfully launched a video game console in Japan, a famous hanafuda card...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2001

Simply, the best

This was a year in which the most memorable screen image belonged to reality, not cinema. Indeed, as many have noted, the spectacle of airline jets ramming into the World Trade Center towers was all too reminiscent of a Hollywood blockbuster's money shot -- and that may have been the point. Terrorists...
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 26, 2001

Best of times, worst of times

The ominous statistics had been news for some time, but, being a slippery freelancer, I never thought Japan's worsening economic situation would affect me directly. The year 2001, however, proved this assumption wrong, as the mean old cutback beast reared up and hit me where it hurt the most -- right...
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2001

Sales at supermarkets fall 4.5%

Sales at Japan's supermarkets fell 4.5 percent on a same-store basis in November from a year earlier to 1.26 trillion yen, the 36th monthly drop in a row, the Japan Chain Stores Association said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 26, 2001

Eyesaw unites artists' scene

"It was an accident. All I wanted to do was meet people." With these words, Julia Barnes explains the origin of Eyesaw, a rapidly expanding organization now becoming a focus for up-and-coming contemporary artists in Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2001

Yen-negative remarks send dollar soaring past 130

The U.S. dollar surged above 130 yen to hit a three-year high in thin Tokyo trading Tuesday. At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at 130 yen.74-77, compared with 129 yen.85-95 at 3 p.m. Monday in New York and 129 yen.37-40 late Friday in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2001

Beyond the farm-trade row

Japan and China, which had been mired in a drawn-out farm trade dispute since April, managed to reach a last-minute settlement avoiding a head-on confrontation late last week. Tokyo withdrew its threat to slap full-scale import curbs on three Chinese products: leeks, mushrooms and rushes (used in tatami...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 25, 2001

Budget reflects change in course

The compilation on Monday of an 81.23 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 2002 highlights a significant shift of authority in the drafting of national budgets -- an area long dominated by the Finance Ministry.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2001

Mystery ship used rockets in attack

Crew members of the possible North Korean spy ship that sank in the East China Sea after firing on Japanese patrol boats over the weekend also launched rockets during the shootout, the Japan Coast Guard said Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 25, 2001

Suguri, Takeuchi skate away with honors

Fumie Suguri prevailed in the women's free skate for her third title and Yosuke Takeuchi came from behind to take his second crown at the figure skating National Championships on Sunday.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan