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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2001

The real backbone of Japan

Japan pays about 2,000 yen for each ton of iron ore it imports. Sheet iron made from the ore sells for 50,000 yen a ton and automobiles built with the sheet iron sell for 1 million yen a ton. The Japanese economy thrives by creating added value in the manufacturing of industrial products from raw materials....
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2001

Get a grip, brokers -- this is only a first step

The introduction in October of the much-touted U.S. 401(k)-style corporate pension system in Japan will have little impact until individual investors feel more confident about the regulatory environment and the economy, said Brian Murdoch, president and CEO of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2001

BOJ chief rules out extra liquidity for economy

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Tuesday dismissed speculation that the central bank plans to inject more money into the economy in the near future.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2001

FRC wanted major changes at banks

The Financial Reconstruction Commission, the predecessor of the Financial Services Agency, set out to push through a major reorganization of 17 major banks immediately after its inauguration in December 1998, according to minutes of the FRC's meetings disclosed Friday by the FSA.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2001

BOJ hints at easing monetary policy

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami signaled Thursday that the central bank may further relax its already easy monetary policy to help shore up the faltering economy.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

LDP policy chief calls for extra budget

Shizuka Kamei, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Tuesday that a supplementary budget should be compiled to boost the economy.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 1, 2001

NHK's hollow take on easy-money bubble era

What's impressive about the new Steven Soderbergh film, "Traffic," which opens here in April, is how thoroughly it presents all the ramifications of America's drug war by exclusively dramatic means: no charts, no explanations of cause and effect, no polemics. The movie's three separate plot vectors intersect...
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2001

BOJ Governor defends discount rate drop

In the face of calls for the Bank of Japan to ease its monetary policy further, Gov. Masaru Hayami said Wednesday that is exactly what the central bank did when it lowered its official discount rate.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2001

Keidanren gears up for mission to Russia in June

Japan's most powerful business lobby is planning to send a mission of up to 150 representatives to Russia between June 1 and June 8, the group's head said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2001

Despite bleak outlook, return to 'zero rate' unlikely: poll

Nearly 80 percent of economists at financial institutions questioned by Kyodo News expect the Bank of Japan to maintain its current monetary stance and say there is little chance the central bank will return to its "zero-interest-rate" policy within a year.
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2001

Don't fret about economy: IMF chief

International Monetary Fund chief Horst Koehler told Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Friday that there is no need to worry about the outlook for the Japanese economy, although Japan will experience pain as its labor market goes through a transitional period.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2000

Dollar no safe haven as U.S. economy ebbs

International investors rushed to safe havens such as dollar-based securities in recent years on news of finan- cial crises in the Far East and elsewhere.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Future holding firm sets terms

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. on Wednesday announced the terms for the April consolidation of their units under a single holding company, a move that will form the nation's fourth-largest banking group.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2000

BOJ votes to abandon ultraeasy money policy

The Bank of Japan on Friday defied acute political pressure and decided to abandon its "zero-interest-rate" policy.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2000

Mori apologizes for naming shady Kuze as FRC chief

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Monday officially apologized for having appointed scandal-tainted Kimitaka Kuze as chief of the Financial Reconstruction Commission, telling the Diet he was not fully aware of Kuze's shady background.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

Defense chief does about-face on time limit for Marine base

Newly appointed Defense Agency chief Kazuo Torashima has had to retract a remark that it would be difficult to put a 15-year time limit on the use of a new airport for the U.S. Marines to be built in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2000

Shinsei asks DIC to take Sogo loans

Shinsei Bank on Wednesday formally asked Deposit Insurance Corp. to take over 205 billion yen of its loans to embattled department store chain operator Sogo Co., bank officials said.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2000

NCB deficit grows 50.7 billion yen to 3.24 trillion yen

The capital deficit of Nippon Credit Bank, which is currently under state control, for the year that ended in March increased by some 50.7 billion yen over levels reported in September, the bank's earnings report showed Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2000

All 47 prefectures in the red in '98 for first time

The financial situation at prefectural and municipal governments continued to worsen in fiscal 1998, according to a government white paper released Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

U.S. expresses opposition to China's presence at G8

The United States expressed its opposition Wednesday to Japan's unofficial proposal to invite China to the Group of Eight major nations' summit in Okinawa in July, Japanese officials said.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2000

Group led by Softbank named buyer of NCB

The Financial Reconstruction Commission on Thursday effectively named a consortium led by Softbank Corp., an Internet-oriented Tokyo-based holding firm, as the buyer of the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank. The government aims to finalize a basic agreement with the consortium -- which also includes leasing...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2000

FSA seeks parties who reported erroneous ratio

The Financial Supervisory Agency said Monday it has ordered Daihyaku Mutual Life Insurance Co. to clarify who is responsible for the intentional reporting of an erroneous solvency margin ratio to authorities. The struggling midsize life insurer was found to have disguised some of its loans as "subordinated...
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2000

Think before giving nonbankers licenses, JBA chief urges

The relationship banks will have with nonfinanciers trying to enter the industry should be clarified before authorities decide to grant them banking licenses, Katsuyuki Sugita, chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association, said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 1999

Ex-Yakult exec indicted second time

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday again indicted former Yakult Honsha Co. Vice President Naoki Kumagai, this time for allegedly violating the Commercial Code through aggravated breach of trust and by putting company assets in danger. The 69-year-old Kumagai has already been indicted...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Fourth party makes bid for NCB

A fourth candidate has officially submitted a bid to buy the failed Nippon Credit Bank, the chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 1999

Daiwa-Sumitomo Trust deal driven by IT costs

Daiwa Bank and Sumitomo Trust Banking & Co.'s decision to jointly provide administrative services for corporate pension and other trust funds was motivated by their desire to share the burden of information technology investment -- a catch phrase in the financial industry these days.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1999

Asahi, Tokai move up merger

Asahi Bank and Tokai Bank announced Thursday they will integrate their operations under a holding company next October -- moving up their original schedule by more than a year.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 1999

Miyazawa defends use of public funds in LTCB sale

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Wednesday defended the planned use of additional public funds to sell Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan to a consortium led by Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. of the United States, calling the burden nothing new.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person