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JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Bullying victim, 16, takes own life

NAGANO -- A 16-year-old high school boy from Mochizuki, Nagano Prefecture, was found dead hanging from a tree in a forest near his home and a floppy disk among his possessions suggests the youth took his life because he had been bullied, police said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

SDP duo break ranks on base bill

Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and Katsuhiko Yokomitsu, both Social Democratic Party members in the Lower House, did not oppose a government-proposed bill to empower the government to continue leasing, even forcibly, land for U.S. military facilities in Okinawa Prefecture, despite the party's...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Osaka opens more jobs to foreigners

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Government has drawn up a report to allow about 70 percent of jobs related to civil engineering, architecture and hygiene engineering in the prefectural government to be opened to long-term non-Japanese residents.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Saito denies buying Diet seat

Real estate company chief Mamoru Saito, who is allegedly involved in the Orange Kyosai Kumiai mutual aid society fraud, repeatedly denied Friday that he distributed money to politicians to buy a Diet position for Upper House member Tatsuo Tomobe.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Aoshima qualifies scope of disclosure

Tokyo Gov. Yukio Aoshima unveiled a new set of guidelines Friday to widen information disclosure on wining and dining expenses at meetings, but said he will exclude names of metropolitan assembly members from the disclosure for three months -- in an apparent bid to save them from being affected in the...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Yeltsin welcomed to 'G-8' summit

Despite earlier reluctance, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto is ready to welcome Russian President Boris Yeltsin at the Group of Seven summit in Denver, Colo., in June, Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda told a visiting senior Russian official Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

OECD outlines steps for regulatory reform

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has drafted a report recommending eight policy principles for regulatory reform in member countries to help spur their economic growth and promote international trade and investment.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Foreign nonlife insurers want review

Foreign nonlife insurers called Friday for a review of Japan's insurance rating system that would allow insurers to set premium rates through their own efforts. The Foreign Nonlife Insurance Association of Japan voiced concern that debate surrounding reform of the current rating system, which was pledged...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Polls show Okinawans oppose lease bill

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- A majority of Okinawa residents are against a bill aimed at giving the central government the power to continue leasing land for U.S. military bases, even if landowners refuse to renew the contracts, according to opinion polls conducted by two of the prefecture's local newspapers....
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Mitsuzuka says Japan ready to halt yen's plunge

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka repeated Friday his intent to take timely action against the yen's excessive weakness. The yen's fall against the dollar until Thursday was "apparently excessive," Mitsuzuka told reporters after a regular Cabinet meeting.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Majority approval sends bill on base leases to Upper House

A government-sponsored bill that will enable the state to continue forcibly leasing land for U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture was sent to the Upper House Friday after receiving overwhelming support in the Lower House.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Man held for blackmailing molestation, stalking victim

OSAKA -- Police on Friday arrested a 33-year-old man from Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, on suspicion he that tried to blackmail a woman into going out with him after repeatedly molesting on crowded trains.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

JR Tokai seeks exchange listings

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) filed a provisional application Friday to list its shares on the Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto stock exchanges, according to JR Tokai officials. JR Tokai, one of seven Japan Railway group companies created when Japanese National Railways was privatized in 1987, plans...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Okinawa activists protest base lease bill

Following the Diet's passage Friday of a controversial bill designed to allow the central government to legally renew Okinawan land leases for U.S. military forces, several Okinawan lawmakers and grassroots activists protested what they claim is a "violation of Okinawans' human rights."
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

ANA to help Skymark obtain license

All Nippon Airways has signed a contract with Skymark Airlines to provide technical assistance to help Skymark obtain a license to begin business, ANA President Seiji Fukatsu said Friday. In a news conference, Fukatsu said that the contract was signed in late February and that ANA will help Skymark procure...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Fatal stabbing in Ashiya investigated

KOBE -- Police on Friday began investigating the fatal stabbing the previous night of a company president in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture. According to police, Akitoshi Hashimoto, 48, was stabbed in the back outside his home at around 8:10 p.m.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Osaka delegation to visit sister cities

OSAKA -- Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura will lead a 15-member delegation to San Francisco next week for an eight-day trip to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Osaka-San Francisco sister city relationship.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Cohen quote on troop levels denied

Naoaki Murata, administrative vice minister of the Defense Agency, on April 10 flatly denied recent media reports that U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, during his visit here, insisted on the need to maintain the U.S. Marines in Okinawa to ensure security in the Taiwan Straits.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Killing suspect mum on motive

OSAKA -- A man arrested April 9 in connection with the fatal stabbing the same day of an 8-year-old girl refuses to elaborate on a motive for the attack, investigators said April 10.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Spill from tanker wreck hits shores of Tsushima

NAGASAKI -- Crude oil apparently spilled from a sunken South Korean tanker was seen washing ashore April 10 on the northwestern and eastern shores of Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

NCB plans tieup with Bankers Trust

Nippon Credit Bank and Bankers Trust New York Corp. announced April 10 their intention to forge a business tieup that would transfer NCB's overseas business to the U.S. bank and initiate a cross-shareholding arrangement between the two firms. The contract for the tieup, expected to be formally signed...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Banned candidate to run from adjacent constituency

AOMORI -- A candidate banned from running in his constituency after being found guilty of a guilt-by-association clause in a revised Public Office Election Law will run in the neighboring district in the next prefectural assembly poll, it was learned April 10. Isamu Moriuchi, 59, is the first candidate...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Semiconductor meeting to convene in Hawaii

Four major semiconductor trade powers -- Japan, South Korea, the United States and the European Union -- are to convene April 11 in Hawaii for the first meeting of the Semiconductor Council, a new multilateral framework group for industry-to-industry cooperation.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Ota 'respects' heliport study

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota said April 10 that he would respect a decision by the municipal government of Nago to approve a feasibility study for a new offshore heliport for the U.S. Marines in northeastern Okinawa.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Tokyo water, sewage charges to fall

To ease the burden of the 2 percentage-point consumption tax hike, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will exempt Tokyoites from a total of 908 million yen in additional tap water charges and 34 million yen in sewage charges from June through December, metropolitan government officials said. The exemption...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

NTT Data, MCI, BT to offer global Net access for travelers

NTT Data Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and British Telecom PLC will jointly offer a new Internet Dial Roaming Service to give their subscribers easy local access to their Internet accounts while traveling abroad, the three companies said April 10.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Top officials back yen; currency's fall halted

Mindful of U.S. warnings against the recent rise in Japan's surpluses, high-ranking financial officials April 10 launched a sudden tirade of comments that the recent fall of the yen is excessive and hinted at corrective action. Their remarks effectively halted the yen's plunge against the dollar, pushing...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Flying farmer not licensed: police

URAWA, Saitama Pref. -- Police have sent papers to prosecutors regarding a farmer suspected of flying an unlicensed airplane for eight years, it was learned April 10.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Okinawa base lease bill clears Lower House panel

With the backing of major opposition parties, a government-sponsored bill aimed at giving Tokyo the power to continue forcibly leasing land for U.S. military bases in Okinawa easily passed a Lower House special committee without amendment April 10.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

LDP, allies agree on Okinawa aid plan

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its two smaller non-Cabinet allies agreed April 10 on a program designed to promote the economic development of Okinawa Prefecture and help it achieve financial independence. The program suggests that a large part of the island prefecture be turned into a free-trade...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan