Search - 2003

 
 
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2003

Subaru expects sales increases in '03

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru cars, unveiled on Wednesday a new 2003 worldwide sales target of 568,000 vehicles, up 2.4 percent from the year before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2003

Theater greats raise curtain on the new year

Have you made your first visit of the new year to the theater yet? If not, "Umi yorimo nagai yoru (The Night Longer than the Sea)," being staged by Seinendan at Theater Tram in Sangenjaya, will surely whet your appetite for what promises to be a lively and exciting year on the Tokyo drama scene.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2003

Stuttering reform drive prompts election whispers

Speculation is mounting that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will call a general election this year, as old guard politicians continue to hamper his reform drive and leave him appearing increasingly forlorn.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 1, 2003

So you thought '02 was good? Well, there's Mori to come

It looks, at first glance, like a refreshing case of "out with the old, and in with the new": In late 2002 the Tokyo art community bade a teary goodbye to its Mecca, when the falling-down old Sagacho building, home for years to some of Japan's most progressive gallery spaces, finally closed its doors...
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2002

Pay cuts demand job security

It has been a long time since the word "shunto" -- the spring labor offensive -- stood for its traditional meaning. With the domestic economy caught in a deflationary spiral, the idea of winning across-the-board wage concessions from management on top of regular pay increases no longer holds water. So...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 12, 2002

JGTO tournament bites the dust

The deflation-racked Japanese economy has forced organizers of the men's pro golf tour to drop one event off its calendar, making it the smallest since its inauguration in 1973.
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2002

Koizumi ponders changes to local corporate taxes

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday the government may allow local governments to tax corporations on the basis of business size rather than profits, and the rate could differ by region.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2002

Keep tax cuts under 1.5 trillion yen, Shiokawa says

Tax cuts for the next fiscal year should not top 1.5 trillion yen, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday, citing the country's tight fiscal conditions.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2002

Not the time to celebrate profits

At first glance, corporate earnings reports for the first half of fiscal 2002 seem too good to be true, given the continuing economic slump. On average, pretax profit surged nearly 40 percent in April through September from the same period a year earlier -- a dramatic reversal from the 40 percent decline...
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2002

Sony to shut down audio operations at Indonesian unit

Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will stop manufacturing audio equipment at its Indonesian subsidiary by next March in line with efforts to restructure its plant operations in Southeast Asia.
EDITORIALS
Nov 26, 2002

Reviving the image of peacemaker

Israel's opposition Labor Party now has a new leader, who is calling for an immediate resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians. In Tuesday's leadership election, Mr. Amram Mitzna, the mayor of Haifa, won an easy victory over Mr. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the party chief who had served as defense minister...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 7, 2002

PL to continue Monday nighters

The Pacific League announced Wednesday it will hold games on Mondays in the 2003 season for the third straight year with Opening Day set for March 28, the same day as the Central League season openers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 7, 2002

PlayStation stays ahead of the pack

When it comes to video games, Sony is the company that does no wrong.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2002

Back to the future via broken promises

BRUSSELS -- Next year's crisis on the Korean Peninsula has come early. The year 2003 was to see an explosive conjuncture of events: a change of regime in South Korea, markedly less sympathetic to engagement with the North than that of current President Kim Dae Jung; the final failure of the United States...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Sep 26, 2002

Ailing tourism sector seeking to lure more Asians

ATAMI, Shizuoka Pref. -- Ryuichiro Mori, sales manager at Hotel New Akao, sees one emerging ray of hope for this hot-spring city mired in a long-term slump: a group tourism boom in Taiwan, South Korea and China.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2002

A sustainable recovery for developing Asia?

The strong global recovery that was widely expected to take place in the latter half of 2002 has not materialized. On the contrary, increasing uncertainties are undermining the confidence of consumers and investors worldwide, and the speed of economic recovery in the industrialized world is likely to...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2002

Japan may seek redress from Pyongyang

Japan may ask North Korea for compensation over the North's abduction of more than a dozen Japanese, and will provide no economic aid unless the North ceases targeting Japan with missiles, a Japanese official said Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2002

Kim admits abductions

PYONGYANG -- Four of the 11 Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and '80s are alive but six others are dead, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during their landmark talks on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Sky PerfecTV scores Serie A rights

Sky Perfect Communications Inc., operator of digital satellite broadcaster Sky PerfecTV, said Friday it has obtained exclusive rights to broadcast Italian Serie A soccer league games.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2002

Little-used Kansai airport likely to finish second runway

OSAKA - Eight years after it opened to great fanfare, Kansai International Airport looks likely to get a second runway in 2007, even as its financial problems continue to mount.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Sapporo plans to close two of its breweries

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. said Monday it will close two of its eight beer breweries by the end of 2003 as part of a restructuring program.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Defense Agency budget request exceeds 5 trillion yen

The Defense Agency hopes to increase the capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces to combat terrorism, guerrilla attacks and spy ships, and on Friday requested an allocation of 5.0043 trillion yen in the fiscal 2003 general account budget to achieve this -- an increase of 64.8 billion yen, or 1.3 percent,...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Osaka plans to boost worker morale with performance-based pay raises

OSAKA -- In an effort to boost morale among prefectural employees, the Osaka Prefectural Government plans to reinstate special pay raises to staffers for good performance, it was learned Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2002

Diplomatic prowess for less

A ministerial meeting of the Initiative for Development in East Asia, held in Tokyo on Aug. 12, acknowledged the significance of maintaining adequate Official Development Assistance as a tool for strengthening regional cooperation and agreed to examine how to make more effective use of ODA. The meeting...
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 25, 2002

Tackling the global water crisis

As attention turns to the Johannesburg summit, many regions of the world could be excused for being more concerned with the water crisis on their doorsteps.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

Solution for office glut: housing units

The infrastructure ministry says it plans to promote the conversion of office buildings in urban centers into public rental housing units in order to cope with a shortage of high-quality apartments.

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