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BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2001

Chiyoda Life returns as AIG unit

Failed insurer Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Co. started anew Friday as AIG Star Life Insurance Co., with regaining customer confidence as the first order of business.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2001

Chemical giants set merger target for 2004

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc., which last year announced plans to merge under a joint holding company in October 2003, have agreed to let the holding firm absorb all entities in their groups by April 2004 to become a single company, company officials said Wednesday. The merger will...
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Angel firm to invest in university-bred ventures

A group of experts headed by Keio University professor Takatoshi Matsumoto has established an investment firm for information technology ventures set up by college professors and students.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2001

Internet bank aims to win business with personal touch -- online

Go to a bank, look lost, and almost instantly an attendant will appear to ask how you are doing and if everything is OK.
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

A yen for thrift

There was a time when Japan prided itself on its thriftiness. Hard times after World War II produced the need to save money and cut every corner. Children were taught that each grain of rice was sacred and not to be wasted. Sardines and mackerel were standard fare, beef reserved only for special occasions....
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2001

Power firms to integrate Internet units

The nation's 10 electric power firms and their telecom subsidiaries announced Thursday they will integrate their Internet-related businesses to provide uniform services nationwide.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2001

Jusco knocks Ito-Yokado from top profit spot

Ito-Yokado Co. slipped from top place among Japanese supermarket chains in terms of operating profits for the first time in 15 years in fiscal 2000, according to the firm's earnings report released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2001

Seven-Eleven sales shoot over 2 trillion yen

Sales at Seven-Eleven Japan Co. convenience stores in the business year to Feb. 28 rose 4.2 percent from the previous year to 2.05 trillion yen, topping 2 trillion yen for the first time, the company said Thursday. The performance is likely to make Seven-Eleven Japan the nation's largest retailer, a...
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2001

Disparaging title forces video delay

Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan Inc. was forced to stop release of a psycho-thriller video after receiving complaints from autistic patients whose condition is used in the Japanese title of the video, it was learned Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Sony eyes headphone-style Walkman

Inc. said Wednesday that it will soon begin selling a new digital, headphone-style Walkman. Like other units already on the market, the 95-gram NW-E8P uses a flash memory chip that allows high-quality sound to be played without interruption, even when the unit is shaken.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Man guilty of selling fake cigarettes

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced a 59-year-old company president to two years in prison, suspended for three years, for selling counterfeit Japan Tobacco Inc. brand cigarettes.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2001

Upgraded PlayStation2 on the way

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. on April 18 will launch an upgraded version of its PlayStation2 video game console in which a hard disk drive can be installed.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2001

Jusco sees record sales, pretax profits

Jusco Co. scored record sales and pretax profits on a consolidated basis for the fiscal year that ended Feb. 20, the firm said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2001

Economic package impact will be limited: Moody's

While Japan's emergency economic package announced Friday is a positive step, its immediate impact on bank credit ratings will be limited, Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2001

Mobile phone users top 60 million

There were 60.94 million mobile phone subscriptions in Japan at the end of March, topping 60 million for the first time, according to the Telecommunications Carriers Association. The number increased by 9.8 million from a year earlier, the industry group said.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Big tobacco stamps out antismoking campaigns

A number of prefectural governments have bowed to pressure from the tobacco industry and abandoned or downsized their antismoking campaigns, a Kyodo News poll showed Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Textbook furor won't sour relations: Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry believes a junior high school history book written by nationalists will not spark diplomatic problems with China or South Korea as the two countries have not demanded the text be rewritten, ministry officials said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2001

Mizuho Financial Group unveils business plans

The Mizuho Financial Group, one of four megabanks created through recent bank mergers, has unveiled business outlines for the two banks it plans to launch in April 2002 after reorganizing its three constituent banks.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2001

UFJ to detail extra measures for restructuring this month

UFJ Holdings Inc. is to announce further bold restructuring programs later this month, in addition to those unveiled in March.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2001

New bank group expects bigger loss

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. announced Thursday it has revised downward the projected earnings of its group banks for fiscal 2000, mainly because of increased writeoffs of bad loans.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2001

Asia-Pacific council to gather in Tokyo

The Pacific Basin Economic Council will convene for a three-day meeting starting Sunday in Tokyo, bringing together business leaders from 20 Asia-Pacific economies.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

Female office workers want better-paid husbands: poll

OSAKA -- About 70 percent of single female office workers do not want to marry a man who earns less than they do, according to a survey released Thursday by Ommg Inc., a marriage information service agency.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2001

FSA approves real estate joint venture

The Financial Services Agency on Thursday gave the go-ahead for a joint venture between major trading house Mitsubishi Corp. and UBS AG of Switzerland to manage real-estate investment trusts, Mitsubishi said.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2001

Matsushita unit sets up lab in U.S.

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., said Wednesday it has set up a laboratory in California to develop technologies for broadband distribution of video and digital content.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2001

Microsoft wants Xbox to be center of gaming

The launch of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox is designed to secure a foothold in the home video-game market for the company, an area seen as critical for long-term growth, according to a top executive of the game console project.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2001

Pundits reckon 15% sales tax ought to nip deflation trend

The problem of falling prices should be handled by gradually increasing the consumption tax to 15 percent over a decade from the current 5 percent, according to a proposal made in a report by Fuji Research Institute.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2001

LDP ignores advisory panel, endorses watered-down NTT bills

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party endorsed a set of bills Tuesday to rewrite laws governing Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. that would lead to looser-than-planned regulations on the dominant telecom carrier, LDP officials said.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2001

Sanwa, Tokai consolidate overseas

Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank said Tuesday they will merge subsidiaries Sanwa Bank California and Tokai Bank of California on July 2 to create United California Bank.

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