Search - 2003

 
 
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.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2004

Employment opportunities set to grow amid recovery

More than 40 percent of major companies that took part in a recent survey said they plan to increase the recruitment of workers fresh out of school next spring, according to a report compiled Wednesday by Kyodo News.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 28, 2004

Young stars filling shoes of those who left for major leagues

Proof positive Japanese baseball is not "doomed," as some critics have suggested with regard to star players leaving for the major leagues, is the emergence of young phenoms coming seemingly out of nowhere to take the places of Ichiro (Suzuki), Hideki and Kazuo Matsui, Hideo Nomo, Kazuhisa Ishii, Shingo...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 28, 2004

Should Buddhist art be left in the temples?

The most poignant work in Kyoto National Museum's "Treasures of a Great Zen Temple, The Nanzenji: Commemorating the 700th Memorial Year of Emperor Kameyama" is a hand scroll titled "Prayer for the Prosperity of Zenrinzenji [Nanzenji]" from the hand of Emperor Kameyama himself.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2004

FSA discloses results of special audit

The Financial Services Agency said Tuesday it upgraded 23 borrowers that have loans with Japan's 11 major banks, and downgraded 26 others.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Accused Softbank data extortionist says he just wanted a reply

A man accused of stealing client data and trying to extort money from Softbank BB Corp. denied in court Monday that he had intent to extort and said he only wanted the firm to respond to him.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2004

China, consolidation end steel industry slump

After years of being in a slump, Japan's steelmakers are again enjoying strong demand, buoyed by China's red-hot hunger for everything used to make buildings, bridges and other social infrastructure.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2004

Mitsui O.S.K. lifts earnings forecast

Shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said Friday it has raised its earnings forecast and dividend payment plan for fiscal 2003 as a market recovery and progress in cost cuts boosted its business.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2004

Repercussions for MMC could be terminal: analysts

The sudden decision by DaimlerChrysler AG to halt further financial support to ailing Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has forced the Japanese automaker to drastically reconsider its restructuring program, analysts said.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2004

Individual traders boost earnings of online brokerages

Online brokerages' earnings surged in fiscal 2003 due to active trading by individual investors during the recent stock market rally.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2004

Teething troubles aside, merit-based pay catching on

Corporate Japan's shift toward performance-based pay has been beset by difficulties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004

A universe far beyond manga as we know it

Realism no Yado Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita Running time: 83 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Foreign manga fans are always praising manga's scope as compared with that of American comics stuck in a narrow superhero...
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2004

Sony revises projections upward

Sony Corp. on Tuesday revised upward its projections for group profits and sales for fiscal 2003 due to greater profits in the United States and foreign-exchange gains.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2004

Help Japan by using more homegrown wood: report

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry released an annual forestry report Tuesday calling for greater use of domestically produced lumber to help Japan's ailing forestry industry.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 18, 2004

Beijing Ripper goes chop-chop; New York whodunit has a rap

CHINESE WHISPERS, by Peter May. London: Coronet Books, 2004, 402 pp., £6.99 (paper). MURDER IN CHINA RED, by Dean Barrett. New York: Village East Books, 2003, 260 pp., $11.95 (paper). Honolulu Detective Charlie Chan made his literary debut in Earl Derr Biggers' 1925 novel "The House Without a Key."...
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2004

Teijin develops new technology for recycling PET bottles

Major textile and chemical maker Teijin Ltd. has developed advanced technology for recycling plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate.
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2004

Bankruptcies fall for second straight year

The number of corporate bankruptcies in fiscal 2003 fell 16.6 percent from the previous year to 15,790, down for the second straight year, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2004

Disillusionment over Iraq

LONDON -- In March 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair apparently believed that there was an imminent threat that Iraq might use weapons of mass destruction. A majority of British voters were accordingly persuaded that Britain was probably justified in taking part in an attack on the tyrannical regime...
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2004

College gang-rape trio get up to 32 months

Three members of a now-defunct social club made up of students from elite universities received prison terms of up to 32 months Thursday for gang-raping a coed last April, allegedly along with 10 other male accomplices.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2004

Japan Post let billions in taxes slide

Japan Post said Thursday it and its predecessor failed to collect 15.16 billion yen in withholding tax on postal savings interest in the three years through fiscal 2003 by illicitly applying its tax-exempt small savings system for the elderly and disabled to noneligible customers.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight