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JAPAN
May 26, 2004

Ruling bloc, DPJ forge amendment on bill to bar North Korean ships

The ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan agreed Tuesday on an amendment to a bill designed to bar North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports.
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
May 25, 2004

LDP factions commanding less loyalty

The Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction, led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, held its annual fundraising party April 21 at a Tokyo hotel and generated the majority of its annual revenues -- all in one night.
JAPAN
May 20, 2004

Hosoda admits omission of donations from fund-report

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda admitted Wednesday that he failed to declare in political funding reports some 31 million yen that a scandal-tainted company shouldered as part of the salary for his chauffeur between 1996 and 2003.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2004

Ozawa backs away from bid for DPJ presidency

Ichiro Ozawa on Monday retracted his earlier consent to become president of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, saying he failed to pay into the National Pension Program for six years in the 1980s.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

DPJ names 33 pension delinquents; LDP mum

The Democratic Party of Japan said Thursday that 33 of its 244 Diet lawmakers did not pay mandatory premiums for the nation's basic pension system, leaving the Liberal Democratic Party as the only major party still refusing to disclose the payment records of its members.
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2004

Kan, and DPJ, pay for mistakes

Once again the Democratic Party of Japan is in disarray. Mr. Naoto Kan, the head of the largest opposition party, has resigned over his failure to make mandatory contributions to the national pension fund. In a reversal of the leadership contest that put Mr. Kan back in the saddle in December 2002, the...
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2004

Casualty of pension politics

The political battle over pension reform has taken an unexpected -- and ironic -- twist. Accepting responsibility for failing to make mandatory payments to the national pension program, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda resigned abruptly Friday. With national elections two months away, his departure...
JAPAN
May 9, 2004

Kan could step down Monday

The political uproar over nonpayment of mandatory pension premiums by several leading lawmakers continued Saturday, with opposition leader Naoto Kan likely to be pressured to step down as early as Monday.
JAPAN
May 8, 2004

Bureaucracy, politics in Hosoda's blood

A former bureaucrat at the then Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Hiroyuki Hosoda, the newly appointed chief Cabinet secretary, entered the world of politics following in the footsteps of this father, Kichizo, who served as transport minister.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2004

Koizumi, Fukuda repeat Iraq resolve

One year after the start of the U.S.-led war against Iraq, top Japanese officials are determined to keep ground troops in Iraq despite growing fears of terrorist attacks both at home and abroad.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2004

Koizumi treat for English speakers

The Cabinet Office will start sending out an English version of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's weekly e-mail magazine, beginning March 25.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2004

Bills on evacuation of civilians, U.S. cooperation wrap up defense package

The Cabinet approved and submitted to the Diet seven bills Tuesday that would define citizen evacuation procedures and update cooperation with U.S. forces stationed in Japan, wrapping up the nation's war-contingency legislation.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2004

Security boost at Koizumi residence

Security checks were tightened Monday on visitors to the Prime Minister's Official Residence amid rising concern over terrorist attacks both at home and abroad.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2004

LDP OKs weakened whistle-blower bill

The Liberal Democratic Party on Friday endorsed a watered-down bill that was drafted by the Cabinet Office to protect corporate whistle-blowers, party officials said.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2004

Whistle-blower law in the pipeline

Three decades after Hiroaki Kushioka exposed a price-fixing cartel involving his employer in the trucking industry, the government is working on what would become Japan's first-ever law to protect whistle-blowers in private-sector firms and government organizations.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2004

Investors burned by NPO eye criminal complaint

Investors burned by a government-registered organization are planning to file a complaint with the police for alleged investment fraud, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2004

Koizumi proposes new IT ministry to reduce red tape

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has instructed Cabinet ministers to consider integrating the various information technology sections of different ministries, possibly into a new ministry, to reduce red tape, sources familiar with the issue said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2003

Ministers finish fine-tuning draft budget for 2004

Cabinet ministers on Monday completed fine-tuning the 82.11 trillion yen draft budget for fiscal 2004, paving the way for its endorsement at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2003

Real growth seen at 1.8% in fiscal 2004

Japan's economy is expected to expand 1.8 percent in real terms and 0.5 percent in nominal terms in fiscal 2004, the government said Friday.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 10, 2003

First troop deployment to conflict area since WWII a foreign policy watershed

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signaled a historic foreign policy shift Tuesday when he authorized sending Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, becoming the first Japanese leader since World War II to dispatch troops to a nation effectively at war.
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2003

Machinery orders climb by 17.4%

Core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 17.4 percent in October, hitting 1.022 trillion yen, the government said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2003

500 to 700 ground troops to be sent to Iraq

Japan plans to dispatch between 500 and 700 personnel from the Ground Self-Defense Force to areas centering around Al-Muthanna province in southeastern Iraq, which include the city of Samawah, government officials told ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2003

High-ranking official sent to Mexico to get FTA on track

The government Sunday dispatched a team to Mexico led by a Cabinet Secretariat official to try to get stalled bilateral talks on a free trade agreement rolling, sources said.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2003

Government upgrades economic assessment

The government on Thursday upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months, owing to rising exports and production spurred by a robust recovery in the U.S. economy.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

State flip-flops yet again on SDF dispatch

The escalating violence in Iraq has forced the government to once again step back from its on-again, off-again schedule for an SDF mission to the country.
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2003

Another keyword in campaign

What should be done to rebuild Japan's tightly-knit, bureaucrat-led society? The question is gaining urgency as local governments clamor for greater autonomy. In response, the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is moving toward streamlining the complex system of grants and subsidies,...
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2003

LDP's support falls as DPJ narrows gap

Some 28 percent of eligible voters said they support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party but the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan was maintaining its support in a Kyodo News poll released Saturday, two weeks before the Nov. 9 general election.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2003

Tension mounts as GSDF kept in dark over Iraq

Frustration is mounting within the Ground Self-Defense Force, with personnel still in the dark -- at least officially -- over the timing, location and purpose of their expected mission to Iraq before the end of the year.
BUSINESS
Oct 9, 2003

Private-sector machinery orders decline 4.3%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in August from July, indicating that a recovery in capital spending may lose momentum in the months ahead, according to government data released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2003

Public support rise for Koizumi seen as vindication

The jump in approval ratings for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reshuffled Cabinet in several media polls is a vote of confidence from the public, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person