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BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2004

DoCoMo profit falls 13% in line with fee discounts

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Friday its first-quarter net profit dropped 13 percent to 170.38 billion yen due to an expanded discount program to protect its subscriber base.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Jul 30, 2004

Antitheft devices now not just for luxury cars

A few years ago, car-security devices were found mainly in luxury vehicles. But as crimes involving vehicles increase, security gadgets are becoming more widely used, even in economy cars.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2004

Government looks to hike sales tax while still honoring Koizumi's pledge

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government could decide to raise the 5 percent consumption tax rate for implementation after the fall of 2006, when Koizumi's tenure expires, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2004

Making the farm sector competitive

The government's economic and fiscal report for 2004, which was released last week, has a subtitle that sounds only too familiar: "No growth without reform." Yet the report deserves attention for two reasons. First, it focuses on the regional economy, a subject that has been more or less overlooked in...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2004

Court halts MTFG-UFJ merger negotiations

The Tokyo District Court ordered a halt Tuesday to merger negotiations between Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc. in a move that could kill the creation of what would have been the world's largest banking group.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2004

Dell's new CEO hopes to expand in Japan, China

Kevin Rollins, on his first visit to Japan as Dell Inc.'s chief executive, said Tuesday the country is a strategic market that is growing at a record pace for the U.S. computer maker.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 27, 2004

As a foreigner, are you intimidated by the police presence?

Jen Lusk Asst. trainer, 26 I had some friends who were walking home at 1 a.m., and were assaulted, but they were the ones who got in trouble with the law. Since then I've been a little bit nervous.
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2004

Worrisome muscle flexing

Relations across the Taiwan Strait continue to deteriorate. The re-election of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has alarmed the mainland government, which is convinced Mr. Chen seeks Taiwan's independence. China has been sending signals that it is prepared to take military action if Taipei takes that...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Jul 27, 2004

Publishers bid to halt reading slump with flood of new youth-oriented titles

"Reading at Risk," a report published in the United States this month by the National Endowment for the Arts, deplores the decline of reading. Now, fewer than half of American adults read fiction, with the rate of decline especially sharp among those who are 18 to 24 years of age. Newsweek (7/19) notes...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 25, 2004

Cashing in on ideas

Thomas Edison's electricity, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the Wright Brothers' creaky biplane, H.G. Wells' time machine (OK, that last one hasn't happened yet), but through these world-changing discoveries, our daily lives have been made easier. Flick a switch and light banishes the darkness, pick...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2004

Portable digital-audio player market heating up

Competition is intensifying in Japan over a new breed of portable digital-audio players that allows music lovers to carry around a vast library of their favorite tracks.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2004

Ultraeasy monetary policy to go unchanged

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said Thursday it would take more time for the central bank to start tightening its ultraeasy monetary policy, despite recent brisk economic growth.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2004

Ministry to broaden spectrum user fees

The telecommunications ministry might slap users of home information appliances and high-bandwidth wireless local area networks with spectrum user fees, ministry sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

Term upheld for gangster busted under bugging law

The Tokyo High Court on Friday upheld a ruling that found a former gangster guilty of selling illegal drugs based on evidence obtained under the first application of a controversial law authorizing wiretapping.
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2004

Ministry to grant MMC 550 million yen tax break

The industry ministry said Friday it will help turn around struggling Mitsubishi Motors Corp. by granting it some 550 million yen in tax breaks.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2004

Asia seizing new opportunities in Africa

In the Senegalese city of Thies, a new enterprise, "Senbus," is assembling 30-seat buses for the domestic and regional markets. The first units of this first vehicle factory in Senegal rolled out the plant's doors in September 2003, thanks to a partnership between Senegalese investors and Tata International,...
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2004

MMC seeks 'beneficial' alliances

Struggling automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is discussing alliances with automakers at home and abroad to reduce its reliance on DaimlerChrysler AG, according to MMC President Hideyasu Tagaya.
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2004

METI to guarantee loans to MMC units

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday it will support cash-strapped affiliates of scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors Corp. by offering them guarantees to receive more loans.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2004

Firms grope for enticing product names

Nissan Motor Co.'s popular March compact becomes the Micra in Europe, while Toyota's Vitz is known as the Echo in the U.S. and the Yaris in Europe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2004

When life gives you lemons, make an underground comic

American Splendor Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Opens July 10 [See Japan Times movie listings] Religion may be the opiate of the masses, but surely comic books are the opiate of the misfits. Walk...
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Jul 7, 2004

Exporting animation a huge Japanese success story

Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2004

Lion to end Henkel joint venture

Household product manufacturer Lion Corp. said Tuesday it will terminate a joint-venture agreement with a Japanese unit of German firm Henkel KGaA.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2004

Japan, U.S. protest EC rules on chemicals

Japan and the U.S. have separately submitted documents to the World Trade Organization spelling out concern about draft European Commission rules on hazardous chemicals, Japanese trade sources said Monday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 4, 2004

Imaginative filmmakers shed light on dark side of humanity

At the end of May the Cine Pathos movie theater in Ginza was scheduled to run "Concrete," which is based on a "nonfiction novel" that itself is patterned after an incident that took place in Tokyo's Adachi Ward in 1989. Four teenage boys abducted a high-school girl and kept her prisoner for 40 days,...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2004

Seibu defendants admit pandering to 'sokaiya' demands

A former managing director of Seibu Railway Co. pleaded guilty Thursday to providing benefits worth 89 million yen to a corporate racketeer and his accomplices by selling company-owned land at prices well below market value in 2001, thereby violating the Commercial Code.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2004

Recovery helped state trim bond issuance

The government's issuance of bonds in fiscal 2003 is thought to have been 1.1 trillion yen less than the amount forecast, with the economic recovery having boosted tax revenue, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2004

Sony Walkman to go head to head with Apple's iPod

Sony Corp. said Thursday it will release on July 10 a Walkman portable music player that can store up to 13,000 songs, a move expected to pose a serious challenge to Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, a dominant leader in the field.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.