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JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

Bolivia's Lima envoy knew of Tupac Amaru threat

Bolivian Ambassador to Peru Jorge Gumucio, one of the hostages in the 127-day Lima crisis, said he knew Bolivian officials in Peru could be kidnapped at any time by the leftist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.Gumucio first alerted his government to the danger in December 1995, when Bolivian authorities...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 1997

Pump-priming package leaves analysts disappointed

The package of pump-priming measures decided Oct. 21 by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party does not seem capable of giving the sluggish economy a quick jolt because it lacks sufficient stimulus targeting personal consumption.Disappointment over the measures forced the benchmark Nikkei average of the...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Foreign students bring new life to traditional dances

Staff writerKimono-clad Ang Chooi Kean floats gracefully along, accompanied by 1,400 years of Japanese tradition. Performing the "kokiriko," a traditional Japanese dance, the Malaysia native, 5,300 km from home, seems an unlikely candidate to be preserving and spreading Japan's ancient arts.Ang is one...
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 14, 1997

Hashimoto backpedals on postal deregulation

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Oct. 14 left the door open to keeping all three postal services of the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry under government control, backpedaling on a partial privatization proposal by a governmental panel."There are various arguments (about the privatization plan),"...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

Doctors, citizens rap impending organ transplants

Medical professionals and other citizens called Oct. 10 for more careful consideration to be taken before organ transplants from brain-dead donors are allowed in Japan.At a meeting in Tokyo of those concerned about such medical treatment, Tetsuo Furukawa, a neurologist at Tokyo Medical and Dental University...
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

Hashimoto announces plans to stimulate economy

Describing the state of the economy as "extremely bad," Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Oct. 3 the government will cut corporate tax rates and accelerate the decontrol of land transactions to give it new life.A comprehensive package of such measures will be worked out and announced by the end...
JAPAN
Oct 3, 1997

SDP doubts worth of postal reform proposal

The Social Democratic Party, one of two non-Cabinet allies of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, questioned on Oct. 3 the wisdom of a government panel's proposal to break up the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.During an Upper House plenary session debate, SDP policy chief Kazuo Oikawa said in...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1997

Hokkaido Takushoku left to solve its own problems

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Sept. 30 that his ministry is not at present planning to help the troubled Hokkaido Takushoku Bank increase its capital.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 1997

Broker Sanyo seeks extra bank financing

Ailing Sanyo Securities Co. disclosed Sept. 26 that it is seeking additional financial assistance from the three banks with which it has close ties in an effort to improve its balance sheets.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 1997

Group calls on public to oppose defense shift

A group of intellectuals issued an appeal Sept. 25 in Tokyo calling on citizens to oppose the new Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines and for the government and politicians not to seek legislation designed to implement the accord.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 1997

Toyoda supports corporate tax cut

The head of the nation's most powerful business group on Sept. 25 called for a cut in corporate taxes, stressing that such a move would invigorate corporate activity, lead to greater tax revenues and not run counter to the government's fiscal reconsolidation efforts.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 1997

Ueno zoo giant panda dies of kidney failure

Huan Huan, one of three giant pandas at the Ueno Zoological Gardens, died of kidney failure Sept. 21, the zoo announced Sept. 22.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 1997

Oki says agreement possible at Kyoto global-warming talks

As host of the third United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Kyoto in December, Japan should work out an achievable target for all parties in an effort to curb emissions of global-warming gases, says Hiroshi Oki, newly appointed general director of the Environment Agency....
JAPAN
Sep 18, 1997

Pioneering life of missionary remembered

A three-day international conference opened Sept. 24 at the United Nations University in Tokyo to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Luis Frois, a 16th century Jesuit who lived in Japan for 34 years until his death in Nagasaki.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1997

Survey finds Japan youths well-traveled

About 62.6 percent of Tokyo residents in their 20s have been to a foreign country at least once, according to a Tokyo Metropolitan Government survey released Sept. 16, which showed a sharp increase from the 34.5 percent of residents surveyed in 1989 who had been overseas.
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 10, 1997

SDP attacks administrative reform report

The Social Democratic Party held its first meeting on administrative reform Sept. 10, criticizing a report compiled last week by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's blue-ribbon government panel.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1997

LDP tribal lawmakers oppose Hashimoto's reform proposals

Diet members from the Liberal Democratic Party, one day after backing Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto for a second term as party president, turned against him Sept. 9, voicing fierce opposition to his administrative streamlining proposals.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 1997

Tough challenges await prime minister

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 8, 1997

Reclamation takes away favored nesting ground

The tidelands of Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, were home to the largest number of migrant birds in Japan in 1996 -- a year before a controversial reclamation project cut it off from the bay's life-giving waters with a gate, the Environment Agency said Sept. 8.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 1997

Analysts forecast slow growth in July-September quarter

The economy will return to a growth path in the July-September quarter after a sharp plunge in the April-June quarter that think tank analysts have linked to the consumption tax increase in April.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1997

Group urges ban on school animal pens

A Tokyo animal rights group requested Aug. 29 that the government discontinue the practice of keeping rabbits and other animals at primary schools.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 1997

Division of posts ministry proposed by reform council

The Administrative Reform Council has proposed privatizing the life insurance business operated by the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry and placing two of its other major operations -- postal savings and delivery -- under a new governmental agency.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 1997

Panel gives glimpse of next government

The government's blue-ribbon panel on administrative reform concluded Aug. 21 that the government should be revamped into a Cabinet Office, 10 ministries and two agencies by January 2001.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1997

Reform bang may be too soft to shake up insurance sector

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Draft plan aims to cut ministries to 15

Japan's 22 ministries and agencies will be reorganized into either 13 or 15 by January 2001, with a new Economic Ministry to be created by a merger of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the monetary policy division of the Finance Ministry, according to a draft plan being discussed by...
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1997

Poll reveals a sleep-needy populace

If you had one extra hour a day, how would you spend it?
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1997

Man admits harassing female Diet member

A 54-year-old man from Sapporo was arrested August 5 on suspicion of making repeated harassment calls to a Lower House lawmaker, police said.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami