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JAPAN
Nov 11, 1997

KDD considering merger with Teleway

KDD, the nation's leading international telecommunications carrier, said Tuesday it is moving toward a merger with Teleway Corp., a firm affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp. that handles domestic long-distance services.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 1997

Easing of land-use laws eyed as latest panacea

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto outlined plans Monday to spur land use and housing construction through easing building-to-land ratios in urban areas and other means as a way to bolster the weakening economy.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 1997

Ota hints heliport plan may get backing

Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota hinted Friday that he may approve a national government plan to construct a sea-based heliport off Nago.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 1997

Amway gets 500 complaints a year

The head of a consumer rights organization told a Diet committee Thursday that his group has received about 500 complaints each year since 1992 over the operations of Amway Japan Ltd., a member-based distribution company that makes sales but has no stores.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1997

Ministry wants tax breaks cut, tax rates lowered

The Finance Ministry recommended Wednesday that tax breaks firms receive on five reserve funds be abolished or reduced so their taxable income base can be expanded and overall corporate tax rates reduced beginning in fiscal 1998.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 1997

Worsening economy sparks dissent within LDP

A number of lawmakers on the Liberal Democratic Party's Executive Council on Tuesday voiced concern over a bill that would designate specific reduction targets in key budget areas, arguing the bill would make it impossible for the government to stimulate the economy via spending measures.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 1997

Tokyo pressuring states before COP3

Japan will take every diplomatic opportunity to narrow differences over greenhouse gas emissions targets to ensure the upcoming COP3 international global warming conference in Kyoto does not fail, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 1997

Improved consumption key to recovery, BOJ says

Improved consumption key to recovery, BOJ says> Economic growth has been slowing since April and business sentiment has weakened, but there are no signs of a sharp decline in corporate profits, employment and income conditions, the Bank of Japan said Oct. 27.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

U.S. requests investigation of glass distribution system

The United States called on the Japanese trade watchdog on Oct. 22 to investigate the glass distribution system, which Washington claims is manipulated by three major Japanese firms and limits foreign access.Japan's Fair Trade Commission took note of the request but remained noncommittal on whether...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Hashimoto hints at ditching reform proposals

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated Oct. 20 that to accommodate demands from the Liberal Democratic Party, he may sacrifice some of the streamlining proposals suggested in an interim report drafted last month by a blue-ribbon government panel, which he heads.During the first meeting of a House...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Hashimoto pushes economic reform rather than tax cuts

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated Oct. 17 his opposition to the use of deficit-covering bonds to finance any special income tax cuts for propping up the economy, stressing that increased efforts to change the nation's economic structure are more important in the longer term.Responding to questions...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

LDP stimulus plan drops tax incentives

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's economic stimulus package due out next week is unlikely to include tax incentives worth around 300 billion yen, party sources said Oct. 16.LDP officials said the package, originally to be released on Oct. 20, would be made public Oct. 21. In effect, the pump-priming...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

Small, medium-size firms urge prompt cuts in taxes

Small and medium-size enterprises urged the government Oct. 15 to promptly reduce corporate and income taxes to stimulate the economy.The request was made during a meeting between Mitsuo Horiuchi, the minister of international trade and industry, and representatives for four organizations of small and...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Bad-loan troubles force Kyoto bank to liquidate

OSAKA -- Kyoto Kyoei Bank said Oct. 14 that it will begin liquidation procedures and transfer its operations to Osaka-based Kofuku Bank by next Oct. 1, after using funds from the Deposit Insurance Corp. to get rid of its nonperforming assets.Kofuku, another second-tier regional bank with bad loans of...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

China to get $1 million to save relics from dam

Staff writerJapan will provide up to $1 million in financial aid to China to conserve and restore innumerous cultural relics that will be submerged by the controversial Three Gorges dam project, government sources said Oct. 14.The assistance will be funneled to Beijing through a special cultural assets-preservation...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 1997

SDP, Sakigake tell Hashimoto to rescind emissions proposal

The Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake jointly demanded Oct. 8 that Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto withdraw Japan's proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 5 percent from 1990 levels.The two parties, saying they were not consulted on the proposal until it was announced Oct....
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1997

LDP quest to boost economy faces skeptics, tax cut calls

As a council in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party considers an economic package without new fiscal spending, key party members are voicing doubts about such measures.At a regularly scheduled meeting of the party's key members Oct. 7, many called for introducing such measures as special income tax...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 1997

Minnesota college living out bubble's burst in Akita

YUWA, Akita Pref. -- When the economic bubble burst in the late 1980s, more than 40 American-style colleges that peppered Japan's educational landscape went under, now leaving only four, one with an ambitious foothold in Akita.Among the universities possessing a campus, Minnesota State University --...
JAPAN
Oct 3, 1997

Think tanks project growth of less than 1%

Six private think tanks and one bank have lowered their projections of real economic growth for the current fiscal year, most of them to less than 1 percent.Forecasts by the institutions range from 1.1 percent to minus 0.5 percent growth in fiscal 1997, which ends in March. The pessimism reflects prolonged...
JAPAN
Oct 3, 1997

Reduced ODA will still travel far, white paper says

Although the amount of Japan's official development assistance is on the decline, such aid will continue to play an important role in combating environmental destruction and poverty in developing countries, an ODA white paper released Oct. 3 says.Japan needs to aggressively tackle these issues through...
JAPAN
Oct 3, 1997

Heliport implementation plan due by November

The government will submit to Okinawa Prefecture by November a rough draft of the plan for building a U.S. Marine helicopter facility offshore Nago, officials of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency said Oct. 3.The planned facility is designed to replace Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.In the...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1997

Deficit proves a tough nut to crack

Even if the government meets its goal of reducing the deficit to 3 percent or less of the gross domestic product by 2003, there will still be a revenue shortfall of 24.9 trillion yen, Finance Ministry calculations showed Oct. 1.In making its calculations, the ministry put annual economic growth in real...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1997

Okinawa office to promote sea-based heliport

The national government's headquarters for relocating the U.S. Marines Futenma Air Station set up on Sept. 30 a local branch in Okinawa to win support from local residents for construction of a sea-based facility in Nago, northern Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 1997

Law planned to boost land liquidity

The Finance Ministry established a study group Sept. 25 to draft a law to facilitate the creation of companies whose purpose is to secure real estate to boost land liquidity.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 1997

Osaka business forum addresses Kansai decline

Four consul generals gave varying takes on the business climate in Osaka during the 100th Osaka International Forum on Sept. 18.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 1997

Okinawa to get 1 billion yen for jobs

The government announced Sept. 19 that it will allocate 1 billion yen to promote employment-related projects in Okinawa Prefecture as part of a package to help placate local concerns over U.S. military bases.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 1997

Iranian man alleges abuse in Fuchu prison

An Iranian man who was incarcerated at Fuchu prison has filed a 15 million yen damages suit against the national government, claiming that guards in the western Tokyo facility mistreated him, his lawyers said Sept. 17.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1997

MITI chief vows to tackle 'global megacompetition'

Mitsuo Horiuchi, the newly appointed minister of international trade and industry, is determined to push through "drastic policies" to accelerate deregulation and create a level playing field for Japanese companies competing in this era of "global megacompetition."
JAPAN
Sep 11, 1997

Osaka likely to let toxic waste stay at Universal Studios site

OSAKA -- To ensure that the construction of Universal Studios Japan begins in 1998 as scheduled, Osaka city is likely to allow the nearly 700,000 tons of industrial waste to remain buried on the site.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 1997

Hashimoto seeks support on defense review

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto stressed Sept. 11 that the ongoing review of the Japan-U.S. bilateral defense guidelines must be carried out with broad support at home and from overseas.

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