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BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Softbank posts second net loss

Softbank Corp. said Friday its group net loss worsened in the year through March 31 due to hefty outlays to attract new subscribers to its broadband Internet service.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Sorting out the recent fuss over pension funds, share prices

Thought Tokyo stock prices could fall no further? Think again. Corporate pension managers are poised to sell between 2 trillion yen and 3 trillion yen worth of stocks in the coming months -- and think tanks estimate that figure could double.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Lending falls 64th month in row

The balance of loans by banks fell 4.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the 64th straight month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Money supply shows slack growth

Japan's most closely watched money supply gauge rose only 1.4 percent in April from a year earlier for the lowest growth in 9 1/2 years, while the balance of quasi-money, mostly in time deposits, fell 1.6 percent, the Bank of Japan said Friday in a preliminary report.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2003

France deserves far better than the dock

SEOUL -- For those old enough to remember the climactic U.N. Security Council face-off in 1962, during which the United States confronted the Soviet Union with incontrovertible evidence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, there's a lesson here. When America's U.N. ambassador, Adlai Stevenson, accused his Soviet...
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2003

Let market forces decide corporate fates

WASHINGTON -- America's series of corporate scandals have demonstrated the power of the market to discipline errant businesses. Market forces can also rehabilitate firms, unless Uncle Sam decides to shoot the economy's wounded.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 10, 2003

Fukudome breathes life into Dragons

Kosuke Fukudome nailed a three-run homer in the eighth inning and singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth as the Chunichi Dragons came from behind to beat the Yomiuri Giants 7-5 at Tokyo Dome on Friday for their third straight win.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Ikuta against using postal savings to prop up stocks

Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta said Friday he is against calls for the new public postal corporation to dump more funds from postal savings and insurance into the flagging stock market.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 10, 2003

Law unto himself meets Japanese country singer

Hearing a great cover of the country song "All You Ever Do Is Hurt Me" as he descended into Kenny's Country Music Station one Saturday evening in 2001, Chicago-born Dan Rosen wondered who the American woman singing it was. Imagine his surprise, then, when he looked at the stage and heard "this big, really...
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

DBJ eyes stake in Mizuho venture

The governmental Development Bank of Japan plans to take a stake in a joint venture that Mizuho Financial Group Inc. wants to form by July to help rehabilitate troubled corporate borrowers, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Consumer pessimism lifts slightly

The key index of consumer confidence in Tokyo rose 1.7 points in April from the previous month to 40.5, up for the first time in two months, the government said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2003

End of the old world disorder?

Wars are cataclysmic events. Out of the destruction of major wars emerge new fault lines of international politics. To this extent, wars are the international, political equivalent of earthquakes, eruptions on the surface reflecting deeper underlying seismic shifts in the pattern of major-power relations....
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Nippon Steel posts 51.7 billion yen loss

Nippon Steel Corp.'s group net loss widened to 51.69 billion yen in the 2002 business year, up from 28.40 billion yen the previous year, due to restructuring-related losses and appraisal losses on land and stockholdings.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 10, 2003

Japan's most honorable form of death

"Well, you don't have a fever," the doctor told me. Next, he looked down my throat.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 10, 2003

Matt Lagan

People say that the show must go on. They also say that what may happen behind the scenes only the actors know.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Nippon Life hit for ads that misled

The Fair Trade Commission on Friday directed Nippon Life Insurance Co. to inform policyholders that it may have misled them through its sales practices for cancer insurance policies.
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2003

Disappointments in Damascus

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Syria last weekend to demand that the government in Damascus do more to help bring peace to the Middle East. As a key player in the region, Syria's cooperation is essential to any viable peace between Israel and its neighbors. So far, though, Syria has resolutely...
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2003

The silent birth of a killer virus

BEIJING -- Is it the "big one" -- the indestructible one? Perhaps not. Either way, China's inability to tell the truth has made it a threat to all of us.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Disney operator's profit up 48.8%

Oriental Land Co., operator of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, said Thursday its group net profit for fiscal 2002 rose 48.8 percent to 18.93 billion yen.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2003

Postscript: The man who tore down the cloak of silence

BEIJING -- When SARS broke out in Guangdong Province, the government chose to keep quiet about it. It was a mistake that would not only endanger the world's health and economy, but also undermine the credibility of the Chinese government itself.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

JT net profit more than doubles

Japan Tobacco Inc. said Thursday its group net profit for the fiscal year that ended March 31 leaped 104.3 percent from the previous year to 75.3 billion yen due to improved profitability on the back of cost cuts and higher sales of its flagship brands.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Camera-phones help DoCoMo to post solid profit

NTT DoCoMo Inc., the nation's top mobile phone firm, said Thursday it posted a group net profit of 212.49 billion yen for the year through March, thanks to strong growth stimulated by camera-equipped handsets.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Aiful posts 70.9% rise in net profit

Consumer loan company Aiful Corp. said Thursday its group net profit jumped to 59.91 billion yen in fiscal 2002, up 70.9 percent from the previous year as a result of efforts to become a more diversified financial group.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Gaming industry revolution falls through

A potential revolution within the gaming industry fell apart Thursday, with Sega Corp. announcing it has scrapped integration talks with Sammy Corp. and video game maker Namco Ltd. saying it has dropped a merger proposal submitted to Sega.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Mizuho to cut long-term lending rate

Mizuho Corporate Bank said Thursday it will cut its long-term prime lending rate by 0.05 percentage point to a record low 1.35 percent per year.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Toyota Motor logs third straight year of record earnings

Toyota Motor Corp. continued to perform strongly in fiscal 2002, setting new sales and profit highs for the third consecutive year, the nation's leading automaker said Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Foreign reserves hit new record

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves at the end of April hit a new record high for the fifth straight month, rising by $3.26 billion from a month earlier to $499.44 billion, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
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.

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