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JAPAN
May 22, 1997

Editor rues not probing Aum for body-burning story

The deputy editor of the Sunday Mainichi weekly magazine testified in court May 22 that he regrets not pursuing rumors that Aum Shinrikyo was burning bodies in an incinerator in 1989.
JAPAN
May 22, 1997

ANA feud takes new twist: Wakasa to resign from board

Tokuji Wakasa, the powerful and controversial 82-year-old honorary chairman of All Nippon Airways, will resign as a board member next month in an apparent move to take responsibility for a recent feud that shook the firm's top management.
JAPAN
May 20, 1997

Many voices join in battle over 'comfort woman'

Nationwide debate over "comfort women" will probably not end soon. Did wartime Japanese authorities really abduct Korean women for sex slavery, and is it the key question? Should school textbooks cover the issue and should Japan alone be mentioned regarding such practices?
JAPAN
May 16, 1997

Wakasa likely to resign over ANA reshuffle

Tokuji Wakasa, honorary chairman of All Nippon Airways, is likely to resign as a board member to take responsibility for confusion over the airline's personnel change in senior management, sources said May 16.
JAPAN
May 15, 1997

Lawmakers to form group on revising Constitution

Lawmakers from noncommunist parties will next week form a new group with the intention of creating a regular Diet committee and holding talks on revising the Constitution.
JAPAN
May 14, 1997

Bill to aid Hanshin quake victims submitted

A nonpartisan group of lawmakers submitted a bill May 14 aimed at providing financial aid to households hit by the Great Hanshin Earthquake in January 1995.
JAPAN
May 13, 1997

Pyongyang's ADB bid to get due consideration, bank chief says

FUKUOKA -- North Korea's bid to gain membership in the Asian Development Bank will not be affected by other ongoing diplomatic negotiations concerning the country, ADB President Mitsuo Sato said May 13.
JAPAN
May 12, 1997

Annan hints Japan has good shot at UNSC seat

There is a strong possibility that Japan will become a permanent member on the U.N. Security Council as part of the body's future reform, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan hinted May 12.
JAPAN
May 9, 1997

Tepco promises rate cuts next year

Tokyo Electric Power Co. will reduce electricity rates early next year as a result of the utility's progress in streamlining management, Tepco President Hiroshi Araki told a news conference May 9.
JAPAN
May 7, 1997

Aboriginal leaders hit Asian Development Bank projects

Three leaders of Asian indigenous peoples said at a news conference May 7 that their human rights and environment are being violated because of development projects partially funded by Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 1997

Disclosure for disposal of arms left in China urged

The government must make public information on how it will dismantle poison gas weapons abandoned in China at the end of the war, a citizens' group holding exhibitions on Japan's wartime development and use of poison gas demanded April 28.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 1997

Questions raised over Japan's crisis management system

The hostage crisis in Lima ended with the release of all but one of the hostages by Peruvian forces, but questions have been raised about Japan's readiness to deal with a similar situation in the future.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1997

Vote looms on legality of brain death, transplants

After years of inaction, members of the Diet must make the difficult decision of whether brain death should be stipulated as human death to pave the way for allowing organ transplants from brain-dead donors in Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Police unit boasts Snakehead arrest

OSAKA -- The new warrant served on Wang Yunfeng, who lives in Osaka and is allegedly a key member of a Chinese Snakehead syndicate that works with the yakuza to smuggle Chinese into Japan, marks the first major arrest since the prefectural police here set up a special task force earlier this month to...
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

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

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 4, 1997

Upper House plans bill on war tragedies

A nonpartisan group of Upper House members will introduce a bill aimed at unearthing tragedies caused by Japan before and during World War II and assessing the damage of such events, Diet sources said Apr. 4.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1997

EU report reshapes relations with Japan

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, is preparing a new "communication" policy report on relations with Japan to replace one adopted by the 15 union nations nearly two years ago, Japanese government officials said Apr. 3.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1997

Politicians' 11 million yen junket attracts criticism

Nine Osaka Prefectural Assembly members, including chairman Yoshio Matsui, are on an overseas junket to promote Osaka's 2008 Olympic bid and to study administrative reform, despite opposition from fellow assembly members and a local citizens' group.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1997

3,000 rally against revision of Okinawa land lease law

About 3,000 unionists rallied late Apr. 2 in Tokyo to protest a planned legal revision that would enable the government to continue the forced use of land in Okinawa Prefecture for U.S. military installations after the land lease contracts expire in May.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1997

DPJ lobbies for HIV-AIDS support

The Democratic Party of Japan submitted a set of requests to health minister Junichiro Koizumi on Mar. 31, demanding better treatment for people with HIV or AIDS and measures to eradicate public prejudice and discrimination against those with the human immunodeficiency virus.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1997

JNR debt should be figured into reform, panel chief says

Ways to repay the 28 trillion yen debt the nation incurred in connection with the now-defunct Japanese National Railways should be found to take advantage of the government's fiscal structural reforms, according to a key Liberal Democratic Party member.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1997

State interrogates ex-Aum policeman

Prosecutors have begun interrogating a 31-year-old former police officer who confessed last spring to the March 1995 shooting of National Police Agency chief Takaji Kunimatsu, according to investigation sources.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1997

New group to fight wartime revisionism

In an attempt to counter moves to "denounce descriptions of Japan's wartime misconduct in history textbooks," 26 intellectuals set up a group Mar. 25 to protect freedom of expression and ensure accurate history is disseminated.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1997

Japan vying to be China's choice for high-tech railway

China has yet to decide which country's technology it will adopt for a planned new high-speed rail system between Beijing and Shanghai, and hopes to have more exchanges of technology and experts on the subject with Japan, an executive member of China's Ministry of Railways said recently.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1997

Aum's Joyu gets three years on perjury, forgery

Aum Shinrikyo spokesman Fumihiro Joyu was sentenced to three years in prison Mar. 24 for his role in covering up the cult's illegal land purchase in Namino, Kumamoto Prefecture, in 1990.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1997

Trilaterals reaffirm roles in world of change

An annual meeting of business, political and academic leaders from Japan, Europe and North America ended Mar. 24 in Tokyo with a reaffirmation of the importance of the trilateral leadership in dealing with global challenges.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 1997

China WTO talks near final stage, Ruggiero says

Negotiation on China's accession to the World Trade Organization is now approaching its final stage, Renato Ruggiero, director general of the WTO, said Mar. 21 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 1997

Exec tied to Tomobe scandal skips Diet testimony

Real estate company head Mamoru Saito, who is allegedly deeply involved in the Orange Kyosai Kumiai mutual aid society fraud, suddenly refused to give sworn testimony Mar. 21 before the Diet, claiming poor health.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
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