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BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

Ministry urges NTT to voluntarily reform

The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications on Tuesday urged Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to submit a voluntary business plan to boost competition among NTT group firms, a ministry official said.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

DoCoMo to cut phone fees by offering free calls

NTT DoCoMo Inc. will effectively cut its monthly mobile phone fees by adding free calls worth up to 400 yen starting in June, company officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2001

'Yu-Gi-Oh!' goods headed for U.S.

Konami Co. said Tuesday it will market game software and card games in the United States based on the popular Japanese "manga" comic series "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelmonsters."
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Widow's appeal over stocks rejected

The Tokyo High Court has thrown out an appeal by the widow of a supporter of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi demanding the return of shares in NTT DoCoMo Inc. from the late prime minister's chief secretary, her lawyer said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2001

DoCoMo's 3G service delay raises more questions

Last week's decision by NTT DoCoMo Inc. to scale back the introduction of third generation (3G) mobile phone services confirmed the skepticism of many observers about its launch date. But it proved the company was willing to cut prices to allow more consumers to access its richer, higher-speed content....
BUSINESS
May 5, 2001

Foreign firms vie to crack drugs, distribution markets

Despite Japan's moribund economy and stagnant consumption, many foreign firms are still keen to enter the Japanese market, with some eyeing the pharmaceutical and distribution industries.
JAPAN
May 3, 2001

Missing Dutchman turns up in Chiba

A Dutch salesman who went missing after failing to meet up with an official from a company in Chiba Prefecture on his arrival at Narita airport has shown up at the company after almost a month of wandering, the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 3, 2001

Foreign stake in Fuji TV nears limit

Foreign ownership in Fuji Television Network Inc. was measured at 19.2 percent as of Tuesday, leaving it just below the legal limit of 20 percent, the television network said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 3, 2001

Japan's Major league idols cash in at home clubs' expense

With the sensational debut of Japanese outfielders Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Tsuyoshi Shinjo of the New York Mets, Major League Baseball is stealing the hearts of many Japanese.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

NPO tackles cybercrime as government drags its feet

A group of lawyers, scholars and housewives has launched a nonprofit organization to help victims of libel, fraud and other problems that have seen a sharp increase on the Internet.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

REITs banked on to ease market fears

As stock market woes and asset deflation continue to cast a cloud over Japan's economic recovery, a new type of investment trust will be introduced this month in a bid to solve these problems in one fell swoop.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

Obituary: Kakuro Nakata

Kakuro Nakata, former head of the Japanese news agency Radiopress Inc., died Monday of pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Tokyo's Ota Ward, his family said Tuesday. He was 84.
JAPAN
May 1, 2001

Release of bilingual CD aims to soothe Tokyo-Seoul discord

Cultural exchanges between Japan and South Korea have made steady progress since the first deregulation of Japanese popular culture in South Korea in 1998, according to Kiyomi Kaneko, secretary general of the Foundation for Promotion of Music Industry and Culture (Promic).
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Hayami might resign in May

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami intends to resign as early as May after three years at the helm of the central bank, sources close to him said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

Saitama to get cheap, fast Internet service on May 25

SpeedNet Inc. announced Thursday that it will start offering a high-speed wireless Internet service based on Tokyo Power Electric Co.'s optical fiber networks in parts of Saitama Prefecture on May 25.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

DoCoMo to commence 3G service in October

NTT DoCoMo Inc. officially delayed the launch of its next-generation cellular service from May 30 to Oct. 1 but refused to call it a postponement.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

S&P upgrades Tokai Bank rating

Standard & Poor's Corp. on Thursday upgraded its long-term rating assigned to Tokai Bank to BBB plus from BBB.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

Construction orders fell 6% in '00

Construction orders received by Japan's 64 major contractors in fiscal 2000 fell 6 percent from the previous 12 months to 15.37 trillion yen, the Japan Federation of Construction Contractors Inc. said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Sanwa, Tokai merger ahead of schedule

Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank will form UFJ Bank by Jan. 15, completing their merger two and a half months earlier than planned, due to better-than-expected progress toward computer systems integration, Sanwa and Tokai presidents said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Exec cites potential in Net data centers

Despite whatever attractive content it may offer, a dot-com firm is doomed to failure if it cannot provide its customers with quick and smooth access to data through its Web site.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Three nonlife insurers to merge in fiscal '02

Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and two other nonlife insurers due to merge April 1, 2002, inked a deal Wednesday to merge into a single entity on April 1, 2002.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2001

Moody's may cut Itochu, Marubeni credit ratings

Moody's Investors Service Inc. on Tuesday took rating action against two of Japan's giant trading houses, Itochu Corp. and Marubeni Corp., in a move that could cut their credit ratings.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2001

Mitsubishi Rayon to merge fiber division with sales unit

Mitsubishi Rayon Co. said Tuesday it will spin off its continuous fiber division and merge it with its textile sales unit, Dia Textile Inc., to create a new company Oct. 1.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Women fighting for space in a man's land

The recent debuts of women-only areas at a prominent hotel and department store, as well as on long-distance buses, railway cars and airplanes, have generally been received favorably.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2001

Reorganization of Kyoei Life now complete

The Tokyo District Court on Monday ended reorganization proceedings for failed mid-tier life insurer Kyoei Life Insurance Co., renamed Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. at the beginning of this month.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2001

Nifco buys four firms off Acriplas Group of Spain

Major plastics parts maker Nifco Inc. said Monday it has bought four companies of the Acriplas Group, a plastic parts group in Spain.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

FTC asked to probe NTT marketing tactics

A Japan-based affiliate of British telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless PLC has asked the Fair Trade Commission to probe sales practices by Japan's dominant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group over the Myline service for registering preferred carriers.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 22, 2001

A bird's-eye view of history

JAPAN: A Short History. Supervised by John Gillespie. New York/Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc. 2001, 80 pp., map, profusely illustrated, 950 yen. When Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked that "there is no history, only biography," he was implying that our annals are really only accounts. Like so much else, history...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami