Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
May 26, 2004

80% of single mothers have trouble making ends meet

The average household income for families with single mothers is about 40 percent that of households with two parents and eight out of 10 single mothers say they have trouble making ends meet, according to a government report released Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 26, 2004

80% of single mothers have trouble making ends meet

The average household income for families with single mothers is about 40 percent that of households with two parents and eight out of 10 single mothers say they have trouble making ends meet, according to a government report released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2004

Sumitomo Trust's group net balance back in black

Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. said Monday its group net balance last business year returned to the black at 79.63 billion yen, partly due to a plunge in its loan-loss charges.
Japan Times
Features
May 23, 2004

Japan's deadly game of nuclear roulette

Of all the places in all the world where no one in their right mind would build scores of nuclear power plants, Japan would be pretty near the top of the list.
Japan Times
Features
May 23, 2004

Power and the People

North Korea is not the only country casting a long nuclear shadow over Japan and America. The citizens of both nations are right now under threat from precarious atomic programs -- ones which are being forced on them by their own governments.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2004

Namco sees profit surge 83.3%

Namco Ltd., a maker of video game software and hardware, said Thursday that its group net profit jumped 83.3 percent to 7.55 billion yen in fiscal 2003.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2004

Revolving door fatality dooms bonus

Sanwa Shutter Corp. said Thursday it will not pay bonuses to any of its 10 board members for fiscal 2003 due to a fatal accident involving one of the firm's revolving doors at Tokyo's Roppongi Hills complex.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2004

Snow Brand sheds scandals, red ink

Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Thursday it returned to the black in fiscal 2003 for the first time in five years, overcoming a string of damaging scandals.
JAPAN
May 19, 2004

Brokerage chief, two others held over deposit padding

Tokyo prosecutors have arrested three people, including the president of Tokyo General Corp., a failed commodity futures brokerage house, on suspicion of faking its financial statements and padding the deposit balance by more than 20 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2004

Japan Post could pay 533 billion yen in taxes when privatized

Japan Post will need to pay 533 billion yen a year in national and local taxes when it is privatized, according to an internal estimate obtained by Kyodo News.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2004

Big contractors ride out decline in public works

Japan's four largest construction companies on Tuesday reported bolstered earnings for the year through March, with the fruits of cost-cutting more than offsetting flat or even declining revenue.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2004

Health food vendor top taxpayer

Health food entrepreneur Hitori Saito was Japan's top individual taxpayer last year, according to a list released Monday by the National Tax Agency.
MORE SPORTS
May 17, 2004

'Brave Blossoms' disappoint in draw with South Korea

How time flies. Was it only seven months ago in the tropical heat of Townsville, Australia, that Japan played such scintillating rugby that it scared the living daylights out of both France and Scotland during its adventures down under in the 2003 Rugby World Cup?
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 16, 2004

Spring, summer, fall and winter haiku

HAIKU: A POET'S GUIDE by Lee Gurga, Illinois: Modern Haiku Press, 2003, 170 pp., $20 (paper). HAIKU: The Poetic Key to Japan, selected & introduced by Mutsuo Takahashi, photographs by Hakudo Inoue, design by Kazuya Takaoka, translated by Emiko Miyashita & Lee Gurga. Tokyo: P.I.E., 2003, 400 pp....
Features
May 16, 2004

A guide by any other name

We don't know when she was born, or when she died -- was it April 9, 1812, at age 25, or perhaps Dec. 20, 1884, aged nearly 100? We don't even know her real name, but the Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis, Clark and the Corps of Discovery has a fair claim to being the most celebrated woman of color...
BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

Sony Bank remains mired in the red

Sony Bank Inc. posted a net loss of 2.1 billion yen in fiscal 2003 for third consecutive annual loss since it started operations.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2004

New jailers, same prison?

The stage-managed toppling of ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's statue will not, after all, be the image defining the Iraq war. Like the famous photo of the young girl on fire running naked to escape the horror of napalm in the Vietnam War, the photographs emerging from Abu Ghraib prison will be the...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 14, 2004

Arsenal one game away from setting new standard in England

LONDON -- Arsenal stands on the verge of what manager Arsene Wenger called "sporting immortality" with just Leicester blocking its path to the record books.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

COMJAN 'abduction' list grows -- despite lack of evidence

OSAKA -- On the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2003, 42-year-old Naruki Okita, operator of a small marine transport company in Taisho Ward here, showed up near the docks of Izumi Kita with his luggage in tow.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

COMJAN 'abduction' list grows -- despite lack of evidence

OSAKA -- On the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2003, 42-year-old Naruki Okita, operator of a small marine transport company in Taisho Ward here, showed up near the docks of Izumi Kita with his luggage in tow.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2004

Ripplewood expresses interest in MMC

Ripplewood Holdings LLC is interested in investing in troubled Mitsubishi Motors Corp., according to sources.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2004

Konami gets a kick back into profitability

Konami Corp. said Wednesday it returned to profitability in fiscal 2003 on strong overseas sales of soccer video games.
JAPAN
May 5, 2004

More universities offering internships in business field

University graduates are finding it hard to get jobs despite the much-vaunted economic upturn, so the schools are promoting business internships in an effort to help them get started on their careers.
JAPAN
May 1, 2004

Ministry safety devices come from LDP lawmaker's pal

Ministries exclusively use chemical-substance gauges sold by an acquaintance of a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker in projects aimed at curbing sick building syndrome, according to sources.
JAPAN
May 1, 2004

Ministry safety devices come from LDP lawmaker's pal

Ministries exclusively use chemical-substance gauges sold by an acquaintance of a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker in projects aimed at curbing sick building syndrome, according to sources.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2004

CPI off a sixth year in '03 but deflation pace easing

The key gauge of consumer prices in Japan dropped 0.2 percent in fiscal 2003, down for a sixth straight year, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2004

Kimono makes comeback -- in used form

Every once in a while, 27-year-old Junko Nagumo and five companions visit boutiques in upmarket Tokyo districts such as Omotesando and Ginza -- not to buy trendy fashion items but to find inexpensive used kimono.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji