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JAPAN
Jun 18, 1997

Panel says ODA should better serve Japan's interests

Japan's national interests -- including business opportunities for Japanese companies -- should be taken into greater consideration when official development assistance is extended to a nation, a government panel said in a report released June 18.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 1997

Kamigumi chief takes over harbor association

Mutsumi Ozaki, president of Kamigumi Co., became president of the Japan Harbor Transportation Association after his appointment was approved in a general meeting on June 18.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

Transport official escapes bomb blast

Two small, homemade bombs went off early June 17 at the Kawasaki home of a senior Transport Ministry official, destroying a portion of the wall surrounding the house, police said. No one was injured in the explosion.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

DKB released from directorship of bankers' federation

The Japan Federation of Bankers Associations decided June 17 to grant a request by scandal-tainted Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank to be released from its duties as a director of the organization for the remaining 10 months of its term.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

Japan, U.S. to address liquor taxes at Denver

Japan and the United States will hold senior-level talks in Denver on June 19 regarding a long-standing dispute over liquor taxes, the Foreign Ministry announced June 17.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

Carmakers will not reduce exports, JAMA says

Japan's auto industry has no intention of sharply increasing exports, but the idea that automakers should refrain from exporting more is not acceptable, according to the head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

No change in G-7 currency pact expected, Mitsuzuka says

Finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will reaffirm their April agreement that exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals and that excess volatility is undesirable when they meet later this week, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said June 17.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

WWW Consortium to meet at Keio University

World Wide Web Consortium, an international nonprofit organization to promote standardization of the World Wide Web, is holding its semiannual general meeting, starting June 18, at Keio University in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

Organ donors' rights become key issue

Now that the Diet has passed a legislator-proposed bill to allow organ transplants from brain-dead donors, some patients may have a chance in the near future to receive organs in this country. The new law ends a 30-year self-imposed ban on such transplants by the medical profession.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

Foreign residents' panel asks city for support

The Kawasaki City Representative Assembly for Foreign Residents, an advisory unit to the mayor, asked for the municipal assembly's support June 17 for its proposals, including abolition of discrimination against foreign residents in housing.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1997

Japan set record for carbon dioxide emissions in '95

Japan released a record amount of carbon dioxide into the air in fiscal 1995, the Environment Agency reported to a Cabinet meeting June 17.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Analysis: Health system reform falls short

With the Diet's approval of a revision to the Health Insurance Law, many observers are frustrated with the less-than-anticipated results of well over half a year of heated and repeated discussions.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Barclays, Hokkaido Takushoku eye business tieup

Hokkaido Takushoku Bank and Barclays Bank PLC announced June 16 they will begin discussions toward mutual business cooperation in such areas as asset securitization and development of products for the Japanese market.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Japanese trader, Filipinos freed; two abductors killed

MANILA -- A Japanese trader and three others who were abducted by six armed men at a southern Philippine beach resort were rescued June 16 by government troops, officials said.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

New Kansai flight routes sought

OSAKA -- The Transport Ministry on June 16 presented to Osaka Prefecture its plan to establish two new overland routes for flights at Kansai International Airport.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Diet legislates independent financial watchdog

The Diet passed a bill June 16 to create a state agency independent of the Finance Ministry for supervising the nation's financial institutions.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

New venture promises free home-page setups

Internet users will be able to open their home pages for free in a "cybercity" that will be launched as early as September, Softbank Corp. and California-based GeoCities Corp. announced June 16.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Self-styled rice seller defends sake sales

A 61-year-old rice retailer claimed in court June 16 that his sales of "doburoku" unrefined sake are not in violation of the Liquor Tax Law, which bans the unlicensed production of alcoholic drinks.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

The pill creeps closer to contraceptive status

The Public Health Council drafted a report June 16 that effectively approves low-hormone birth control pills on condition that measures against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases be strengthened.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Marines' artillery drill relocation mapped out

Japan and the U.S. officially decided June 16 that the U.S. Marine Corps will discontinue live artillery drills over Highway 104 in Okinawa Prefecture, a senior Japanese defense official said.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Organ transplant bill nears Upper House vote

After only four hours of debate June 16, two-thirds of the Upper House select committee on brain death and organ transplants passed a compromise bill that will authorize organ transplants from brain-dead donors by narrowing the definition of brain death.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Key is goods and services trade, MITI says

The recent rise in Japan's current account surplus is a temporary phenomena and should not be taken as a sign of a relapse into trade friction, Shinji Sato, minister for international trade and industry, said June 16.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1997

Business, Hashimoto chew the fat over taxes

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto met with business leaders June 16 in Tokyo and urged them to cooperate with him in his plans for fiscal reform.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

GDP up 1.6% in January-March period

The economy grew 1.6 percent in real terms in the January-March period from the previous three-month period, bringing real growth in gross domestic product during fiscal 1996 to a strong 3 percent, according to a preliminary government report released June 13.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

NTT eyes international market as Diet approves breakup

Following the Diet's passage of three telecommunications bills to breakup Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. into three firms under the control of a single holding company, NTT President Junichiro Miyazu said on June 13 that the reorganization will globalize Japan's telecommunications industry.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

DKB's Fujita likely to face full probe

Prosecutors appeared ready June 13 to launch a full-fledged investigation of Ichiro Fujita, vice president of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, over his suspected involvement in the bank's illicit loans to a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

LDP panel delays Ex-Im merger with JDB

A task force within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided to further delay until at least the end of this month a final decision on whether to merge the Export-Import Bank of Japan and the Japan Development Bank due to strong resistance from concerned parties, party sources said June 13.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

Transport sets profit goal for Japan Freight

A Transport Ministry study group is urging Japan Freight Railway Co. to further improve its management so it can meet conditions for public listing in five years.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

Upper House passes bill to double medical fees

A much-debated bill that will more than double medical costs for the public from Sept. 1 cleared the Upper House on June 13, supported by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 1997

Top surgeon backs brain-dead transplants

Full disclosure of information, fairness and the best efforts of those involved will be crucial when the nation resumes organ transplants from brain-dead donors, a liver transplant expert told a Diet hearing June 13.

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