In a marathon, 28-hour plenary session, the Upper House on Thursday approved two controversial bills -- one to authorize wiretapping in organized crime investigations and another to have each citizen numbered for administrative purposes.

After voting down a raft of opposition-proposed motions, including one to censure Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, the 252-seat upper chamber passed a package of antiorganized crime bills 142 to 99, and the amendment to the Law of the Basic Resident Registers 146-93.

The anti-crime package features one piece of legislation that allows law enforcement authorities to eavesdrop on communications in certain types of investigations.

The amendment to the resident register law will let the government to assign a 10-digit number to all Japanese nationals for the purpose of enabling citizens to get copies of their resident registers elsewhere than their hometowns.

In addition, the names, dates of birth, sex and addresses of all nationals will be registered on a computer network of city, town and village municipalities.

Both items were supported by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its junior coalition partner, the Liberal Party, and coalition hopeful New Komeito.

In an all-out effort to block passage of the wiretapping bill, the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party employed every possible means to delay Upper House voting on the legislation.

They gave lengthy speeches as they presented motions, and resorted to the "ox walk" tactic, in which members walk at a snail's pace as they cast votes on each motion.

The wiretapping legislation, first submitted to the Diet in March 1998, allows investigative authorities to intercept organized crime suspects' communications via telephone, fax and the Internet.

Justice Ministry sources said later in the day that the ministry plans to to put the wiretapping law into effect from Aug. 1, 2000.

The package also includes a bill to stiffen penalties for those charged with organized crimes and expand punishments for money laundering. Abettors of money laundering will also face harsh penalties.

Another bill partly revises the Code of Criminal Procedure, giving judges the authority to ban questioning of witnesses in court about where they live or work if there is a danger of retaliation from people they may be testifying against.

The wiretapping bill was revised in the Lower House in late May after the LDP-led ruling coalition accepted a revision proposed by New Komeito. The revision tightens requirements for wiretapping as part of investigations into four types of organized crime -- those involving drugs, guns, premeditated murders committed by groups and the mass smuggling of people into Japan.

The revised bill also requires members of a third party, such as employees of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. or Internet service providers, to be present when such monitoring is carried out.

However, the third party attending the procedure will not be allowed to monitor the content of the communications, according to the bills.

The wiretapping legislation caused a ruckus in the Diet earlier this week after the controversial measures were rammed through the Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee on Monday night.

In the Upper House plenary session that began around 5 p.m. Wednesday and continued until shortly past 9:30 p.m. Thursday, the main opposition forces -- the DPJ, SDP and JCP -- submitted a motion to censure Obuchi, but it was voted down by the LDP, Liberal Party and New Komeito, 140-77, early Thursday morning.

Earlier Wednesday, Obuchi also survived a no-confidence motion in the Lower House submitted by the opposition camp.

During the plenary session of the upper chamber, motions requesting that the chairman of the Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee, Kiyohiro Araki, a New Komeito legislator, and Upper House President Juro Saito, be removed from their positions, were also rejected by the LDP-led camp during the session.

Because of those motions, the ruling bloc and New Komeito had to wait for hours before the plenary session could move to vote on the wiretapping legislation.

The amendment to the resident register law had cleared the Lower House in June after a provision to strengthen protection of information on individuals was added.

The opposition camp remained opposed to the bill through the Upper House procedure because it was concerned that passage would lead to unlawful invasions of privacy.

But the opposition agreed to a proposal by the LDP, the Liberal Party and New Komeito to skip a vote by an Upper House committee to pave the way for a full Upper House vote Thursday evening.

The amended law will be enforced within three years after it is officially announced, on condition that a new privacy-protection law is enacted as required by the ruling alliance.

The amendment to the resident register law, meanwhile, will mean all Japanese nationals will be given a 10-digit number and have their name, date of birth, sex and address registered on a computer network of city, town and village municipalities.

The reform will enable citizens to be given copies of their resident registers not only in their own municipalities, but at other locations as well. It is described as a measure that will simplify registration procedures for those coming into or leaving a city, town or village.

The new register system is also expected to be used for rewriting information in passports and for other clerical purposes.

The revised law also features strict punishment for public servants who use administrative information on individuals for commercial purposes or leak such information to the general public.

But a possible expansion of clerical work under the numbering system has caused some political groups to press the government to agree to enact a new privacy-protection law.