search

 
 
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

SMBC to open branch in Hangzhou

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. said Friday it will open a branch in Hangzhou, China, on Monday, becoming the first foreign bank to do so.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

Blue LED case may end out of court

The Tokyo High Court recommended that a 50-year-old researcher and Nichia Corp., his former employer, settle their dispute over the blue light-emitting diode patent without any court ruling.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

FSA to promote financial conglomerates

The Financial Services Agency announced a new two-year plan Friday underlining the nation's need for a legal framework that will allow the country's banks, brokerages and insurers to form financial conglomerates capable of competing on a global level.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

FSA set to inspect report recheck refusers

The Financial Services Agency said Friday it will strongly urge companies to respond to its orders to review financial statements and will conduct on-site inspections on those who refuse.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

Daikyo to sell seven noncore properties

Ailing condominium builder Daikyo Inc. said Friday it will sell properties from its noncore operations to seven companies, including a special purpose company established by the Morgan Stanley group of the United States, for about 80 billion yen.
Dec 25, 2004

State to push for child-care leave at all companies

In the latest effort to arrest the nation's falling birthrate, a government task force Friday approved a new five-year plan that includes numerical targets and the introduction of child-care leave at all companies.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 25, 2004

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks get green light

Softbank Corp. officially became a baseball club owner Friday when the Internet service provider obtained approval for its purchase of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from debt-ridden retail giant Daiei Inc.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 25, 2004

Robert Morton

When he speaks of Queen Victoria, British monarch from 1837 to 1901, young Englishman Robert Morton becomes impassioned. He said: "England would have had a revolution if it weren't for Victoria. Her route to the throne was very tenuous, then she became the first monarch of the people, supported by the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

Vodafone to play 3G hardball with customers

Vodafone K.K. President Shiro Tsuda has said the company will stop offering new second-generation cell phone handsets in 2005 to force customers to switch to 3G handsets.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Former LDP lawmaker gets 32 months

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Diet lawmaker Takanori Sakai to 32 months in prison Friday for not reporting 168 million yen in political donations and defrauding the state out of 24 million yen.
Dec 25, 2004

Now 22, Kobe killer to be turned loose Jan. 1

A 22-year-old man who murdered two children in Kobe in 1997 when he was 14 will be fully discharged from a medical reformatory on Jan. 1, the Justice Ministry announced Friday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Strained Japan-China ties bode ill for region's future

HONG KONG -- Beijing's relations with Tokyo, already strained by the intrusion of a Chinese nuclear submarine into Japanese territorial waters last month, have been worsened by Japan's release on Dec. 10 of a new National Defense Program Outline that for the first time names China as a potential threat....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 25, 2004

Last-minute gifts for discerning foreigners

Merry Christmas! If you are one of those people who waits till the last nano-second to do your Christmas shopping, don't worry. You've still got till midnight tonight to get a Christmas present for that special gaijin you forgot about.
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Waiting for Japan to change -- or can it?

LOS ANGELES -- For as long as I write this column on Asia, which enters into its 10th year next month, I doubt I'll ever witness anything as amusing or telling as the flareup that took place at the close of the University of Southern California's Asia Conference last month.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

Mitsui to fire employees for fabricating diesel filter test data

Mitsui & Co. said Friday two employees at the trading house and another at a subsidiary will be fired for fabricating test data to obtain official approval for a diesel particulate filter.
Dec 25, 2004

Cancer victims' kin demand ban on sales of Iressa

Families of patients who died after experiencing side effects from the lung cancer drug Iressa urged the government Friday to order British pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca PLC to stop selling it because tests have shown it ineffective at prolonging life.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Princess' funeral to cost 131 million yen

The Cabinet said Friday it will spend 131 million yen in taxpayer money on the funeral of Princess Takamatsu, an aunt of Emperor Akihito.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 25, 2004

Ai-chan to play in Chinese league

Japanese table tennis player Ai Fukuhara will join Chinese Super League powerhouse Beijing on a one-year professional contract, table tennis officials said Friday.
Dec 25, 2004

Court nixes IBJ back-taxes ruling over bad-loan writeoffs to lender

The Supreme Court on Friday invalidated a decision to impose back taxes on the former Industrial Bank of Japan for writing off nonperforming loans it made to an insolvent "jusen" mortgage lender.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2004

Singh moves to resolve Kashmir conflict

MADRAS, India -- India's new prime minister, Manmohan Singh, welcomed his Pakistani counterpart, Shaukat Aziz, in New Delhi the other day with a classic line: "Who could say 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall would be a thing of the past. My hope and prayer is that we can do something similar in the Indian...
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

MMC hurting bad

Three of Japan's top five automakers saw their domestic sales rise in November from a year earlier, while scandal-tainted Mitsubishi Motors Corp. failed to pull out of its downward spiral, according to figures released Friday by the five companies.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2004

U.N. group drafts turtle guideline

A U.N. organization is compiling the first international guideline for protecting sea turtles from fishing operations, according to Japanese government sources.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2004

Government eyes medical teams for disaster victims

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will form about 200 medical teams and assign them to hospitals nationwide to bolster earthquake- and other disaster-response measures, ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 24, 2004

Kyoto aid group helping farmers revive agriculture in Afghanistan

When a nongovernmental organization based in Kyoto sent a study team to Afghanistan's Herat Province in November 2001, just a month after the Taliban regime had collapsed under the onslaught of U.S. retaliation for the Sept. 11 attacks, it found a human disaster in progress.

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