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BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

BOJ tallies bank shares bought

The cumulative value of shares the Bank of Japan has bought from commercial banks under a special program to ease their exposure to falling share prices came to 527.1 billion yen as of Monday, the BOJ said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Feb 14, 2003

Ultra-sweet treats to round off a kaiseki feast

The best way to close an impeccable kaiseki meal is perhaps a piece of seasonal, perfectly ripe fruit. A small pile of peeled Concord grapes or a honey-sweet muskmelon signal the time of year and leave the palate clean and refreshed. There are, however, a few popular washoku desserts that may be prepared...
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

Beer, 'happoshu' shipments fall 4%

Combined shipments of beer and "happoshu," a low-malt, beerlike beverage, fell 4 percent in January from a year earlier, down for the fifth consecutive month, according to data released Thursday by Japan's five leading brewers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 14, 2003

Take your lover to Hevin and back

What is it about Japan and chocolate and Feb. 14? For the past two weeks and climaxing today, the entire nation -- or at least the female half of it -- has been engulfed in the annual chocomania. And, if anything, this year the Valentine's Day frenzy has reached new heights.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

Confidence down in third quarter

Business confidence in Japan worsened for the second consecutive quarter in the October-December term, reflecting heightened geopolitical tensions and sluggish domestic stock performance, according to a government survey released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

Sega and Sammy Corp. announce October tieup

Sega Corp. and pachinko machine maker Sammy Corp. announced Thursday that they will merge on Oct. 1, a move seen aimed at resolving Sega's financial troubles.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

Nisshin Fire, Tokio Marine to tie up

Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. will take a one-third stake in Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance Co. by March 2005, the nonlife insurers said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

Toray Industries chief puts faith in technological research

Sadayuki Sakakibara, president of Toray Industries Inc., is confident there are researchers at his company who have the potential to win a Nobel Prize, just like Shimadzu Corp.'s Koichi Tanaka.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2003

Former Eitai execs held for taking doomed loans

Police on Thursday arrested four former executives of the failed credit union Eitai who allegedly had their firm take over 7.8 billion yen in bad loans extended by an affiliated company to ailing borrowers, even though they knew the loans were unrecoverable.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

Opposition bill would freeze ruling coalition's plan to hike salaried-worker medical fees

Hoping to drive a wedge into the ruling coalition, four opposition parties submitted a bill Wednesday to freeze a planned 50 percent increase in the fees salaried workers pay for outpatient medical care.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2003

Resona now sees loss of 185 billion yen in fiscal '02

Resona Holdings Inc. said Wednesday that it expects to post a group net loss of 185 billion yen for the current fiscal year, as it writes off more of its loans as losses.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

Ishihara to run again in Tokyo

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara signaled his intention Wednesday to seek re-election in the April 13 gubernatorial poll.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

Yokohama mayor targets bureaucracy, apathy

First in a series of articles focusing on young politicians with the potential to change Japan. These articles will appear every other Thursday. KANAKO TAKAHARA Staff writer Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada is hoping to use the city, which has a population of some 3.5 million people, as a platform from...
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2003

FTC questions Saturday ATM fees

The Fair Trade Commission will look into recent decisions by major commercial banks to impose fees for Saturday transactions at automated teller machines.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2003

Helping 'refugees' from the North

North Korea is creating a new headache for the Japanese government: the plight of North Korean residents and their Japanese spouses who have now returned secretly to Japan from that impoverished communist state via China. The problem came to the fore last month when a Japanese woman who had gone to the...
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2003

JT sees tobacco sales slide 4.9%

Japan Tobacco Inc. said Wednesday it sold 60 billion cigarettes nationwide during the quarter that ended Dec. 31, down 4.9 percent from a year earlier. The company attributed the decline to:
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2003

Unions plan to rally around seniority-based pay increases

The "shunto" spring wage talks got under way Wednesday with several major automotive unions submitting demands related to job security and wages.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

GSDF, police train for terrorist raid

OSAKA -- The Ground Self-Defense Force and Osaka Prefectural Police conducted a joint security drill Wednesday simulating an attack by armed commandos.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2003

Okuda tells workers to endure pay hardship

The chairman of the country's largest business association told workers Wednesday to suck it up.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2003

Time for a Japan-Chile free trade accord

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos is currently visiting Japan at the official invitation of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. I suppose that one of the aims of his visit is to ask Japan to begin a joint study with Chile on the possibility of a free trade agreement, or FTA, between Japan and Chile. I say,...
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

Public handed in 2.4 billion yen in lost cash to police in 2002

Some 2.4 billion yen in cash was handed in to the Metropolitan Police Department's lost and found center in 2002, down 1.2 percent from the previous year, MPD officials said Wednesday.

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