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JAPAN
Jan 13, 1999

Miyazawa urges monitoring of exchange rate

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa called for continuous monitoring of the currency market Wednesday despite the seeming stabilization of the yen-dollar exchange rate.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 1999

More than just a lot of hot air

Last month, we became accustomed to seeing daily more riveting images of a huge, upside-down-pear-shaped bag: now rising from the Moroccan desert, now sailing over the Himalayas, now poised photogenically above Mount Fuji.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 1999

Miyazawa to attend ASEM powwow

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa will depart for Frankfurt Thursday to attend a two-day meeting of finance ministers from Asia and Europe.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 1999

New Cabinet security group discusses Pyongyang, Aum

Top government officials discussed North Korea and doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo on Monday at the first Cabinet Information Conference, a forum established last October to strengthen the government's gathering and analysis of intelligence regarding security.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 1999

Partial treaty for two isles' return denied

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka denied a media report that Japan is considering proposing an interim treaty with Russia to ensure the return of two of the four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 1998

81.86 trillion yen budget for '99 gets Cabinet nod

The Cabinet on Friday approved the final version of an expansionary 81.86 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 1999 that calls for an 11 percent increase in public works spending.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 1998

New Cabinet to be picked by Jan. 6

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi plans to reshuffle his Cabinet before he leaves for Europe on Jan. 6, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1998

Fuji Heavy chief quits over defense project bribes

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Chairman Isamu Kawai has resigned to take the blame for his alleged role in a bribery scandal over a defense project, the Tokyo-based company said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1998

Defense Agency reprimands 42 for hiding files before raid

The Defense Agency reprimanded 42 senior Self-Defense Forces officers on Tuesday for the hiding of documents by uniformed SDF personnel around the time of a September raid on the agency.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1998

Obuchi to give back half of bonus

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told a regular Cabinet meeting that he plans to return half of the bonus he received earlier this month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 1998

82 trillion yen spending spree drafted

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet on Monday approved a draft 81.86 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 1999 that calls for an 11 percent rise in public works spending.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Stimulus slowing economy's decline: BOJ

Japan's economic deterioration has slightly eased, mainly due to increased public works spending, but a self-sustained recovery of the private sector has yet to develop, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Court cans lawsuit against Harajuku lights

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by 55 Harajuku residents demanding an injunction against a local business association to force them to pull the plug on their annual Christmas light display.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Three U.S. scientists win Japan Prize

Three scientists from the United States who have contributed to the fields of information technology and life sciences have won the 1999 Japan Prize, its selection committee announced Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

LDP finalizes record 9.3 trillion yen tax cut plan

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party finalized a large package of tax revisions Wednesday allowing for a record 9.3 trillion yen in tax cuts for fiscal 1999.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Government wary of sales tax welfare role

The government Tax Commission, in a set of recommendations to the prime minister finalized Wednesday, called for cautious discussions about limiting the use of consumption tax revenues for welfare purposes.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

Believe the 'convoy system' is over: Miyazawa

The nationalization of Nippon Credit Bank must have given foreign observers the impression that the "convoy system" era in financial policymaking is over, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 1998

Foley voices concern over rice tariff plans

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Foley expressed strong concern Monday over Tokyo's plan to impose heavy tariffs on imported rice, saying it could fuel bilateral trade tensions.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 1998

NCB 'very regrettable,' Finance bureaucrat says

Vice Finance Minister Koji Tanami expressed regret Monday over the nationalization of Nippon Credit Bank but defended his ministry's decision last March to infuse public funds into the bank.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 1998

Government presents LTCB restructuring plan

The troubled Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, now under temporary state control, submitted a restructuring plan to the government pledging more job cuts and decreased overseas operations, the president of the LTCB announced Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 1998

KEDO deal may collapse, Komura warns

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura expressed concern Friday that the agreement to provide North Korea with two light-water reactors may collapse unless Pyongyang cooperates to resolve suspicions about its missile and nuclear activities.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 1998

Conservatives create league to back coalition

Four conservative groups within the Liberal Democratic Party formally launched a new group Friday, demanding a large-scale Cabinet reshuffle and a new party lineup when the LDP forms a coalition with the Liberal Party.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1998

Obuchi says bureaucrats should speak for Diet members

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed his intention Wednesday to leave some room for bureaucrats to answer questions during Diet sessions, rather than having only Diet members do the job, as proposed by Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1998

Clarify constitutionality of Japan PKO role: Ozawa

Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa reiterated on Wednesday that the government should clarify its stance on interpreting Self-Defense Forces' participation in United Nations military peacekeeping operations, as it pertains to the Constitution.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1998

Nonaka seeks Okinawa visit for breakthrough on bases

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Wednesday he hopes to visit Okinawa later this month to seek ways to resolve issues over the reorganization of U.S. military bases in the prefecture and to help revive the ailing local economy.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1998

Genden Engineering to dissolve over fake nuclear data

Genden Engineering Services and Construction Co., which in October was found to have falsified data on a container for transporting mixed oxide fuel to be used in a planned thermal neutron reactor, announced on Thursday it will dissolve by next summer as a result of the scandal.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1998

Economy shrinks 0.7% in quarter for fourth straight decline

The economy shrank 0.7 percent in real terms during the July-September quarter compared with the previous three months, marking its fourth consecutive contraction, the longest ever in the postwar years, the Economic Planning Agency announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 1998

State maintains SDF position in rebuttal to Ozawa

The government still maintains its interpretation of the Constitution barring Japan from engaging in collective defense, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Tuesday, rebutting an earlier remark by Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1998

Miyazawa rules out consumption tax cut

The 5 percent consumption tax will not be lowered at least for the time being, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa reiterated Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1998

ANA taken to task for maintenance violations

The Transport Ministry took the rare move of imposing administrative measures against All Nippon Airways Co. over the carrier's violation of its own maintenance regulations, ministry officials announced Friday.

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