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BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Nissan announces Taiwan venture

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it will set up a joint venture with Taiwan-based Yulon Motor Co. by the end of the year to promote car sales in Taiwan and China.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Rising fuel costs bludgeon Tepco profits

Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s group net profit dropped 18.1 percent to 165.27 billion yen in fiscal 2002, with the increasing cost of fuel used to fire up thermal power generators weighing heavily on its earnings, the utility said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Ministry calls for sweeping overhaul of farm co-ops

Structural reform is lagging behind in the farm sector and the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group should undergo a major overhaul, the agricultural ministry said Tuesday in its annual white paper.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 21, 2003

King Sunny Ade: "Syncro Series"

King Sunny Ade of Nigeria came and went as a star of African music, and these days makes only sporadic appearances. At his peak, in the early '80s, he had a deal with Island Records, which was then hoping he would fill the shoes and sales of the recently deceased Bob Marley. But if Ade's music was reigning...
BUSINESS
May 20, 2003

43-year-old to become president at Sega Corp.

Sega Corp., which saw two potential merger deals slide down the drain earlier this month, announced Monday that a 43-year-old senior officer will replace Hideki Sato as president.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2003

Nonlife insurers show mixed fortunes

Three of the nation's six major nonlife insurer groups posted a net loss in fiscal 2002, due to hefty valuation losses on their securities holdings, according to parent-only financial statements released Monday.
COMMENTARY
May 18, 2003

Arms sales hinder S. Asian peace effort

ISLAMABAD -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage, concluding his visit to India and Pakistan, extended Washington's support for a new peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbors without a direct role for the United States in settling the drawn out dispute over the divided Himalayan...
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2003

Let Asia resolve the North Korean crisis

WASHINGTON -- The Iraq war is over, but the Korean Peninsula is growing hotter. Obvious disagreement over policy toward the North has clouded South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's visit to the United States, while Washington's recent nuclear talks with North Korea ended in acrimony. U.S. President George...
BUSINESS
May 16, 2003

Mitsubishi Materials cuts net loss

Major nonferrous metal smelter Mitsubishi Materials Corp. said Thursday it slashed its group net loss to 26.85 billion yen in fiscal 2002 from the previous year's 61.32 billion yen on the strength of cost cuts and fewer special losses.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2003

Sogo, Seibu to merge operations in June

Struggling department store operator Sogo Inc. announced Monday that it will integrate its operations with Seibu Department Stores Ltd. on June 1 under a new holding company, Millennium Retailing Inc.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 13, 2003

Fingerprint IDs touted as leading security option

Have you ever forgotten your PIN number when attempting to withdraw cash from a bank ATM? If so, you are a target user for fingerprint identification systems.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Key gauge above 50% in March

A key gauge of the current state of the economy stayed above the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in March for the third straight month, but will probably fall below the line next month due to slowing production, the government said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 8, 2003

O-soji: the way of the Japanese housewife

A lot of things baffled when I attended a Japanese school for the first time at the age of 14. Lot's of things baffled me, but the custom of soji -- or cleaning -- of the classroom and school buildings everyday after the last bell, seemed outrageous.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 8, 2003

Shoppers' power coming to the aid of sustainable development

Few environmentalists or economists doubt that the G-7 must take an active role in promoting environmental protection and economic prosperity in the developing world. To date, however, though the G-7 nations -- the economic powers of the developed North -- have dispensed substantial aid to the developing...
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Seafood firm, Waseda forge alliance

Seafood maker Natori Co. said Tuesday it will set up a joint venture with Waseda University to develop food items for the elderly.
BUSINESS
May 3, 2003

Ruthless foreigners given bad-news role

Japan's regional banks are turning to a tried and true method of conveying bad news: asking a foreign third-party to do it for them.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2003

Kelly's 'fairies' threaten peace

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Last October, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly set off an international crisis by claiming that North Korean officials had told him that Pyongyang was developing nuclear weapons. The officials denied saying that.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 27, 2003

Horse power helps handicapped surmount life's daily obstacles

Yukie Yamaguchi stands at the edge of the ring, intently watching the man being led around on horseback at the Yokohama Riding Club. He is clasping a bright-yellow Pikachu to his chest with both hands. Slowly he takes one hand off the stuffed toy and lightly slaps the horse's neck.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Nikkei plumbs new depths

The Nikkei index closed Friday at a fresh 20-year low, battered by sales of technology stocks that were pushed down by Sony's bearish earnings outlook released the previous day.
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2003

An opportunity for APEC

HONOLULU -- The rapid spread of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is a compelling demonstration of the need for a truly global health network to fight future epidemics. The particulars of this outbreak also highlight the role that the Asia-Pacific region will have to play in this effort. The...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Yankee-Mariner games only bright spot for travel industry

Causing yet another made-in-Japan sensation on the other side of the Pacific, New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui is providing a bit of much-needed relief for the nation's travel industry.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2003

LDP mulls stiffer terms for illegal money-lenders

The Liberal Democratic Party is looking to punish unregistered moneylenders and those who engage in other illegal business practices with prison terms of up to five years and fines of up to 5 million yen, LDP lawmakers said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2003

Tokio Marine to acquire capital stake in new Shanghai-based life insurer

Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. is finalizing a plan to take a capital stake in Shanghai-based Sino Life Insurance Co., which will begin operating this fall, company officials said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 20, 2003

Mixing models to match clothes

Ten days to go before the catwalk show and designer Sugimoto Chiyuki faces a critical decision. Who will show off the clothes he has spent the last six months creating for these Tokyo Collections?
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2003

FamilyMart to offer 'happoshu' deal

Convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. said Friday it will not raise the price of "happoshu" after a tax increase takes effect May 1.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2003

Digital broadcasting licenses issued

The government issued provisional licenses Friday to 17 television stations planning to begin terrestrial digital broadcasts in December.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2003

Genome breakthrough prompts scramble in pharmaceutical sector

With the task of unscrambling the human genome complete, Japanese pharmaceutical companies are trying to produce new medicines to fight diseases for which effective drugs don't yet exist.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji