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JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Court cans lawsuit against Harajuku lights

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by 55 Harajuku residents demanding an injunction against a local business association to force them to pull the plug on their annual Christmas light display.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Auto sales headed below 6 million units

Domestic automobile sales for 1998 are now projected to drop 12.3 percent from last year to 5.9 million units, slipping below the 6 million level for the first time in 12 years, an industry group said on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Lawmakers take aim at credit-rating firms

A Lower House committee will hold discussions today on the activities of international credit-rating companies, which critics say have unreasonably fueled financial turmoil in Japan and the rest of Asia.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Guru's counsel wants top lawyer freed

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's defense counsel demanded during the guru's trial session Thursday that their lead attorney, Yoshihiro Yasuda, be immediately released from jail.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Kids with asthma at 50-year high: poll

Record high percentages of children in all grades levels from kindergarten to senior high school have asthma, according to a survey released Thursday by the Education Ministry.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Tokyo staffers get yearlong pay rise freeze

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government agreed with its labor union Thursday to freeze a proposed wage hike for its entire staff for a year, officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Obuchi backs missile strikes on Iraq

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed support Thursday for U.S.-British missile strikes against Iraq, saying that Iraq violated agreements with the United Nations to cooperate with arms inspections by the world body.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Japanese troops waiting on the sidelines

The Defense Agency will monitor the development of the U.S.-Iraq showdown, but the Self-Defense Forces do not plan to take any action at the moment, Defense Agency Vice Minister Seiji Ema said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Three U.S. scientists win Japan Prize

Three scientists from the United States who have contributed to the fields of information technology and life sciences have won the 1999 Japan Prize, its selection committee announced Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Educators hammer out mandatory reforms

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Tokyo answers tax revenue dilemma by raising fees

In a move to boost the cash-strapped Tokyo Metropolitan Government's revenues, the metropolitan assembly passed seven bills Wednesday to boost rates for public services. The bills go into effect in April.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

LDP finalizes record 9.3 trillion yen tax cut plan

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party finalized a large package of tax revisions Wednesday allowing for a record 9.3 trillion yen in tax cuts for fiscal 1999.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Government wary of sales tax welfare role

The government Tax Commission, in a set of recommendations to the prime minister finalized Wednesday, called for cautious discussions about limiting the use of consumption tax revenues for welfare purposes.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Billiards stages comeback in hard times

OSAKA -- Billiards, a game in which Japan made off with gold, silver and bronze medals in this year's Asian Games, seems to be making a resurgence in popularity.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Defense to tighten purse strings

The Defense Agency will tighten its purse strings and try to save 100 billion yen in its procurement of defense equipment over the next three fiscal years, agency officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Automakers see November output rise

Four of the nation's five major automakers increased domestic output slightly in November, thanks to an increase in exports and sales of new minivehicles, according to statistics separately released by the firms Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Toyota to build waterfront theme park

Toyota Motor Corp. will spend 15 billion yen to construct an automobile amusement park on a fashionable man-made island in Tokyo Bay's waterfront district, company officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Gist of LDP's tax revision plan

1) Individual income tax cuts worth 4 trillion yen
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

Bank failure panel takes reins of recovery

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi launched the Financial Reconstruction Commission Tuesday by appointing five members to deal with the collapse of financial institutions and to resuscitate the nation's troubled banking sector.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

NCB Mortgage applies for bankruptcy

NCB Mortgage Co., an affiliate of the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank, applied to the Tokyo District Court for voluntary bankruptcy on Tuesday, company officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

'Sokaiya' leader gets eight months in prison

The Tokyo District Court sentenced the leader of a group of "sokaiya" corporate racketeers Tuesday to eight months in prison for extorting 22.3 million yen from five of Japan's top firms in exchange for a promise not to disrupt their shareholders' meetings.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

New studies on aging society spurred

To cope with Japan's graying society, more universities and colleges will offer courses to train nursing care and social welfare specialists, according to an advisory panel to the education minister.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

10 years sought for ex-Itoman boss

OSAKA -- Prosecutors demanded a 10-year prison term Tuesday for a former president of now-defunct Itoman Co. and a 12-year term for one of its former executive directors, for alleged aggravated breach of trust.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

Believe the 'convoy system' is over: Miyazawa

The nationalization of Nippon Credit Bank must have given foreign observers the impression that the "convoy system" era in financial policymaking is over, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

Miyazawa calls for new Bretton Woods agreement

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa called Tuesday for restructuring the Bretton Woods global economic framework, in place since the end of World War II, to better deal with today's financial crises.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

LDP, Liberals work on budget

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party agreed Tuesday to increase the fiscal 1999 budget for public works projects and expand the government's pecuniary aid to support families with three children or more, according to senior officials from both parties in charge of policy affairs....
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

Sri Lankan ambassador talks of peace

Sri Lankan Ambassador G. Wijayasiri said Tuesday his government is totally committed to implementing plans to restore peace and achieve national unity despite the Tamil separatists' campaign to divide the republic.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 1998

'Tankan' shows business sentiment worsening

Japanese firms grew more pessimistic over the past three months and see no end to the nation's economic woes, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" business sentiment survey for December.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 1998

Crimes help sodium azide get on toxins list

A Health and Welfare Ministry panel has decided to designate sodium azide as a toxic substance under the Poisonous Material Control Law in the wake of its use in a series of crimes, panel members said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 1998

Foley voices concern over rice tariff plans

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Foley expressed strong concern Monday over Tokyo's plan to impose heavy tariffs on imported rice, saying it could fuel bilateral trade tensions.

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