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BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Aeon reports record sales, profits

Aeon Co. said Monday that it returned to the black for the year that ended Feb. 20, with a record group net profit and group operating revenue.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

Ito-Yokado president to become CEO

Sakae Isaka, an Ito-Yokado Co. senior managing director, will succeed Toshifumi Suzuki as president, and Suzuki will become chairman and chief executive officer, company sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Nationalization guidelines said lacking teeth, conviction

The Financial Services Agency on Friday published an elaborate set of criteria outlining when and how the government can nationalize a bank, but some analysts called the guidelines useless, pointing out that banks will find legal ways to make ends meet and that the FSA is clearly reluctant to follow...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2003

Kumagai to integrate with Tobishima

Ailing construction firm Kumagai Gumi Co. is planning to integrate operations with Tobishima Corp. next April under a revamped restructuring program in which it will spin off its loss-making real estate business into a new company, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 2003

Thrilling theatrical polygamy

For American drama fans, the ultimate contemporary theater experience would be to have seen a Tennessee Williams play directed by the author; for Europeans, it would be to have caught a Samuel Beckett drama staged by the playwright. For Japanese theatergoers, the equivalent would be to have seen a Shuji...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 2003

International theater merits closer inspection

Less than a year since its successful debut production of Moliere's "The Miser," Intrigue Theatre returns to the Studio Akasaka Playbox in Nogizaka. This time round, artistic director Mozaffar Shafeie, formerly of the National Theatre in England, will offer "The Government Inspector," written by Mikolai...
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 30, 2003

JAL signs on as MLB sponsor

Japan Airlines System Corp. said Friday it has become an official sponsor of Major League Baseball.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 30, 2003

Setting music free on the open road

While major record labels battle Internet file-sharing to preserve the sanctity of music delivery media (CDs and whatever the hell will take their place), major artists challenge their contracts and less-than-major artists avoid the "entertainment industry" altogether. The consequence of technological...
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2003

McDonald's Holdings flips top manager posts

said Friday that managers from its U.S. parent now hold two of the top three positions on its board, signaling a shift in the power dynamics at the country's largest fast food chain. The shakeup, approved at a general shareholders' meeting, comes in the wake of the announcement this month that founder...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2003

JAL to slash flights due to Iraq war

Japan Airlines System Corp., suffering from reduced demand due to the war in Iraq, will slash the number of international flights, sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2003

Olympus utilizes camera prowess to corner endoscope market

First in a series of occasional articles about Japanese firms that retain a global competitive edge
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2003

JNOC unit files for court protection

Japan National Oil Corp. said Wednesday it has authorized a plan by subsidiary Japan Oil Development Co. to rehabilitate itself under court protection from creditors.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2003

SMBC disbands and merges with subsidiary

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. disbanded Monday and merged with Wakashio Bank, a tiny SMBC subsidiary.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 18, 2003

Kiwi pair hopes to put Kyushu rugby on map

Japan's new professional rugby league, the Top League, may not kick off until Sept. 13 but the 12 clubs involved are all in the process of finalizing their squads and coaching staffs for the inaugural season.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Yoji Yamada

A director since 1961, with 77 films to his credit, Yoji Yamada, 71, is a Japanese film industry icon. His "Tora-san" series, about a wandering peddler who is forever falling in love, but never gets the girl, generated 48 hit installments -- and made Yamada the most successful Japanese director of his...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2003

DoCoMo mulls lower call charges

NTT DoCoMo Inc. is considering lowering charges for calls made from fixed-line telephones to its mobile phones, the company's president said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2003

Business failures down, liabilities up

Corporate bankruptcies were off 7.4 percent in February for the second straight month of decline on a year-on-year basis, but liabilities left by the failed firms jumped 20.6 percent, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2003

Importer of cancer drug in info probe

AstraZeneca K.K., the Osaka-based importer of the controversial cancer drug Iressa, may have failed to notify health authorities of the drug's acute side effects within the time period set by the government, sources said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Firms plug their toys' ability to lick stress

It seems as though everyday life is getting more and more stressful, and toy manufacturers are coming up with new products they say can soothe mind and body of young and old alike.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2003

Bills on support for subcontractors to go to Diet

The government on Tuesday approved two bills that would strengthen support for ailing subcontractors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2003

Charlie Watts: The beat goes (40 years) on

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, 61, has sunk into a deep leather chair in a huge hotel room in Toronto. In the corner hundreds of jazz CDs cover the walls. The table is strewn with old snapshots. Watts coughs and straightens his brown jacket.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Firms matching workers' skills to departments

Former Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui, who has joined the New York Yankees, is not the only Japanese to take advantage of a free-agent system.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Ando to inject Hazama with 1 billion yen

Midsize general contractor Ando Corp. said Monday it has agreed to forge a capital tieup with Hazama Corp., seeking to inject the troubled builder with 1 billion yen through the purchase of preferred shares.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2003

UFJ spearheads bid to save small firms

The UFJ group, the nation's fourth-largest lender, will team up with financial services company Orix Corp., trading company Marubeni Corp. and others to set up a fund aimed at turning around small and medium-size firms, UFJ officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2003

Hazama asks Ando for directors and funds

Struggling construction firm Hazama Corp. said Thursday it is asking fellow midsize builder Ando Corp. to take a stake in it and dispatch directors under its new three-year business plan.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2003

Kanebo to fly soap-on-a-rope drive

Kanebo Ltd. will distribute free packets of its liquid soap Naive by dangling them from large poster displays at 90 train stations in nine cities, the firm said Thursday.

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