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JAPAN
Mar 23, 1998

LDP rules out income tax cut for this year

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided Monday that it will not carry out a large-scale income tax cut this year, ruling out the possibility that such a measure will be included in a planned economic stimulus package.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1998

State grills bank industry official who advised Yamaichi

Nobuhiko Matsuno, 59, vice chairman of the Regional Banks Association of Japan, was questioned by prosecutors about Yamaichi Securities Co. seeking his counseling when he headed the Finance Ministry's Securities Bureau in 1991, informed sources said March 17.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 1998

Defense Agency takes delivery of biggest submarine

KOBE -- The nation's largest submarine, completed just recently at a shipyard in the area here, was officially handed over March 16 to the Defense Agency.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 1998

Bill to make wards municipalities

The Home Affairs Ministry plans to submit a set of bills to the Diet March 10 to revise laws to convert Tokyo's 23 wards into full-fledge municipalities in April 2000, ministry officials said March 9.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 1998

New BOJ plan to cut pay of governor, executives

The annual salary for the Bank of Japan governor will be lower than that of the prime minister beginning in April.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1998

Vindicated gassing suspect wants Aum's Niimi to tell truth

Yoshiyuki Kono, falsely accused in connection with the June 1994 nerve gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, said Wednesday at the trial of an Aum Shinrikyo figure that he hopes the proceedings shed light on what really happened.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 1998

BOJ breaks precedent, divulges minutes of policy talks

For the first time ever, the Bank of Japan disclosed Tuesday the minutes of a recent monetary policy meeting in line with recently adopted transparency rules.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 1998

Tokyo, Okinawa to resume talks on military bases

The central and the Okinawa governments will soon resume previously stalled talks on U.S. military bases in the prefecture, a special adviser to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Okinawa affairs said Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 1998

Jury still out on Nagano Olympics

NAGANO -- The pavilions are closed and the Olympic banners have disappeared. The souvenir shops are half-empty and Zenkoji Temple has regained its calm demeanor. The city's infamous traffic jams are back, and the taxis once again form long lines waiting for customers.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 1998

New budget for Osaka Prefecture unveiled

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Government announced Friday a 3.5 trillion yen budget plan for fiscal 1998, in which financial support for elderly people is to be reduced from August.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 1998

Cabinet backs JNR debt relief bills

The Cabinet endorsed two bills Friday to dispose of 27.8 trillion yen in debts amassed by the now-defunct Japanese National Railways, including a controversial measure to have Japan Railway group firms bear 360 billion yen.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 1998

Contractors face collapse as banks gird for Big Bang

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JAPAN
Feb 20, 1998

LDP unveils latest plan to reinvigorate economy

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday unveiled its fourth stimulus package, hoping to boost confidence in the economy before the March 31 end of the fiscal year.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 1998

American teenager blazes path through Japanese schools

Staff writer
JAPAN
Feb 17, 1998

Bill aims to put some backbone into administrative reform

The Cabinet adopted a bill Tuesday that will serve as the basic law to start consolidating a reformed administrative system in January 2001 at the earliest.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 1998

Nagano's traffic no problem for time-pressed athletes

Staff writer
JAPAN
Feb 12, 1998

Paralympics' legacy left in doubt

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JAPAN
Feb 6, 1998

Takashimaya section chief sold customer data for 500,000 yen

OSAKA -- A section chief of Takashimaya Co., Ltd., a leading department store chain operator, sold data on about 500,000 customers in July 1995 to a mail list dealer in Tokyo for 500,000 yen, company sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1998

Kansai execs back government decentralization

KYOTO -- The Kansai region should draw up concrete plans to promote decentralization of administrative power, business leaders attending the 36th Kansai Zaikai Seminar here agreed Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1998

Case of 1946 assault on state minister finally allowed to expire

A trial that started in 1946 and was continuously resurrected to prevent the statute of limitations from running out while the defendant remained at large was formally dismissed Friday.The defendant, who was not named and who would be 76 years old now, was arrested Feb. 24, 1945, after he pulled a knife...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1998

NTT's caller ID service makes screening easier

Staff writerEver been harassed by incessant prank calls? Felt nervous about picking up the phone, not knowing who's on the other end of the line?Based on such apprehensions and other misuses of the telephone, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. has shrewdly developed a new business. Starting Sunday,...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1998

Outline of 2001 administrative realignment approved

The government Thursday drew up the outline of new legislation that will serve as the basic law to start consolidating administrative organs in 2001.A government panel, consisting of all ministers and headed by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, met in the morning and decided on the outline, which mandates...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1998

Keck announces end to EU-Japan auto export restraint

Europe will not seek to extend its agreement with Japan on voluntarily restraining Japanese automobile exports, European Union Ambassador Jorn Keck said Wednesday.The departing ambassador was speaking at a farewell news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. "I don't know how to prolong...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1998

Extra budget, tax cuts pass Lower House

The Lower House on Wednesday passed the government-proposed supplementary budget for the current fiscal year and bills to allow for 2 trillion yen in pump-priming income and residence tax cuts.The extra budget and bills were moved the House of Councilors for further action. They are key components in...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1998

Mitsuzuka resigns over finance bribery scandal

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka tendered his resignation Wednesday to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to take the blame for a scandal in which two ministry bank inspectors were arrested for bribery.In accepting Mitsuzuka's resignation, Hashimoto will also hold the post of finance minister until...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1998

Finance Ministry inspectors arrested over bank bribes

Two officials of the Finance Ministry's Finance Inspection Department are under arrest on suspicion of accepting bribes from banks in the form of wining and dining, the special investigative squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office announced Monday night.The two arrested were identified...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 1998

Seoul retaliates as Tokyo scraps 1965 fishery pact

Seoul denounced Tokyo's decision Friday to unilaterally terminate a 1965 fisheries pact following the breakdown of nearly two years of negotiations.In swift response, South Korean Foreign Minister Yoo Chong Ha declared the Japanese decision "unfriendly" and said his country will, in retaliation, immediately...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 1998

Bill targets renewal of old-fashioned shopping districts

Three government ministries on Friday presented to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party the outline of a bill to revitalize commercial districts in line with the planned abolition of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law.The bill would allow for a total expenditure of 1.5 trillion yen to bring economic vitality...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 1998

OECD sets guidelines to stop harmful tax competition

Staff writerThe 29 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have agreed in principle on guidelines for eliminating "harmful" tax competition designed to attract more foreign capital, government sources said Friday.The guidelines call for the nations to roll back what...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 1998

Mitsuzuka vows internal probe of corruption

The Finance Ministry will conduct an internal probe to check on excessive wining and dining of its officials in light of the arrest of a former ministry bureaucrat for alleged acceptance of bribes, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Friday.The results of the investigation will be made public, he...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past