Search - 2000

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Europe's top luxury brands unfazed by recession

Despite the prolonged economic doldrums in Japan, top-brand handbags, jewelry and others items imported from Europe are selling quite well as manufacturers step up their offensive.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 16, 2001

New looks at an enduring alliance

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON U.S.-JAPAN RELATIONS, edited by Gerald Curtis. Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange, 2000, 302 pp., paper. JAPAN-U.S. ALLIANCE: New Challenges for the 21st Century, edited by Nishihara Masashi. Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange, 2000, 191 pp., paper. It's...
COMMENTARY
Jan 15, 2001

Calling off all bets on Japan

Predictions can be dangerous when Japan is involved.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2001

Miyazawa, Jin worried over U.S. economic woes

KOBE -- Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and his counterparts from South Korea and Europe expressed concern Saturday that the slowing U.S. economy could deal a major blow to the economies of their respective regions, Japanese government officials said.
COMMUNITY
Jan 14, 2001

Turning gray offices into great places to work

Steven Louie, vice president and design director of Gensler Tokyo, is not only warm, open and charming; he's also sensitive, patient, and very very kind. This was illustrated by his treatment of the 16-year-old student from the U.K. (on a work experience program) who accompanied me, listening attentively...
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2001

Wholesale prices increase for first time in three years

Domestic wholesale prices rose 0.1 percent in 2000 for the first hike in three years, mainly due to higher crude oil prices, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2001

Corolla tops in car sales for 32 years straight

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla was the best-selling car in Japan in 2000, maintaining its status as the nation's favorite passenger car for the 32nd straight year, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2001

Dentistry exam scandal widens

Police questioned an Osaka Dental University professor late last year over his involvement in leaking questions on the March 2000 National Dentistry Examination, investigative sources said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2001

Behind the quest for more babies

The continuing precipitous decline in Japan's birthrate -- in 1999 it was at the all-time low of 1.34 births per woman during her lifetime -- has long troubled planners in both the government and the private sector. Now Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has put himself at the center of the issue by calling...
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2001

Suntory director vows to make beer division profitable

Leading alcoholic beverage producer Suntory Ltd. on Tuesday pledged to make its beer production division profitable in 2001 for the first time in nearly four decades.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2001

Deaths at sea up fifth year in a row

The number of people who died or went missing at sea in 2000 was 1,620, up from 1,601 in 1999, the fifth consecutive year of increase, according to information released by the Japan Coast Guard.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2001

Diplomat stripped of post in embezzlement scandal

The Foreign Ministry on Saturday stripped a senior official of his post as director of a ministry division due to allegations that he has embezzled several hundred million yen in public funds since 1993, ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2001

Professors arrested over leaking of dentistry-test questions

Police on Saturday arrested Kenji Kusunoki, a former Ohu University professor, on suspicion of leaking questions on the March 2000 National Dentistry Examination to his students in violation of the Dental Practitioners Law, police said.
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2001

Road safety requires enforcement

Rational observers of the chaotic traffic conditions on Japan's crowded highways and busy urban areas long ago concluded that improvements were overdue. So the surprise yearend announcement by the National Police Agency that it is proposing stricter penalties for drunken driving, hit-and-run accidents,...
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2001

TSE starts year sour despite rise abroad

Despite the record surge in U.S. high-tech stocks overnight, the Tokyo Stock Exchange began 2001 on a lackluster note Thursday, with an initial rally fizzling out.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 5, 2001

Have Japanese novelists lost touch with readers?

The fading interest in reading among younger Japanese first caused alarm several years ago in Japan, but I was recently startled to see a full page devoted to the topic in The New York Times' Book Review section (Dec. 10).
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2001

Obara served fifth warrant for rape

Accused serial rapist Joji Obara was served a fifth arrest warrant Thursday on suspicion of drugging and raping a woman last January, police sources said.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 4, 2001

2001: A Sports Odyssey

Welcome to the first Sports Scope of the 21st century. By now you've probably read a zillion stories about the sporting year in review. Have no worries; this column looks toward the future. Here are 13 fearless predictions for the Year of the Snake. Wager at your own risk!
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2001

Let Aibo tell you about brand image

Ku-Ku the kitten was top cat in the battle of the robo-pets in 2000, but guess which bionic beast got to snuggle up to Janet Jackson?
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2001

Emperor encourages all to overcome difficulties

As the Imperial family prepared to mark the first New Year's Day of the 21st century at the Imperial Palace, the Emperor expressed hope that the Japanese people will pull together to deal with difficulties such as the economic slump and the aging society and create a better future for all.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jan 1, 2001

Much ado about nothing

In a fierce fit of free-market commercialism, ads in Moscow subway insist that the real new millennium will start today. With the economy weakened by crisis, revenues from the advent of Y2K were not as impressive as in the West, and now Russian boutiques, travel agencies and software stores are trying...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

A question of hegemony

An implicit alliance has emerged in Washington since the Cold War's end between avowedly "Wilsonian" liberals, anxious to extend American influence and federate the democracies, and unilateralist neoconservative believers in U.S. power projection, who call for American world leadership, aggressively...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Toward mutually assured peace

As we enter the 21st century, recent trends in technological development make the problems of nuclear weapons a pressing issue requiring greater attention and a more serious response.
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2000

Economy still stuck in a rut

Looking back to 2000, the critical question hanging over the Japanese economy is: Has there been movement, or at least the preparations for a move, toward a new system befitting the start of a new century? The answer, unfortunately, is no.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 28, 2000

Buffs give Nakamura hefty raise

The Kintetsu Buffaloes signed infielder Norihiro Nakamura to a one-year contract carrying a 300 million yen annual salary and a performance-hinged bonus of up to 50 million yen Wednesday, making him the highest-paid player in the Pacific League.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2000

Budget does Japan a disservice

The Finance Ministry's budget for fiscal 2001, which was announced last week, falls far short of expectations, particularly because it does not lay out a road map for fiscal reform. It seems as if the ministry is marking time along with the stagnant economy. Critical issues, such as spending cuts, deficit...
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 23, 2000

Giants give Kiyohara 20 million yen raise

Infielder Kazuhiro Kiyohara agreed Thursday to a 20 million yen pay hike and signed a new one-year deal with the Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants worth an estimated 300 million yen.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

Switch China's ODA terms to project basis, panel urges

Japan should start providing its official development assistance to China on a project basis and terminate its habit of multiyear disbursement programs, a report released Monday by a Foreign Ministry advisory panel says.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?