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EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 1999

A regional test for Japan

If the International Monetary Fund today serves, in effect, as a tough lender of last resort globally, Japan last year gave itself the role of a friendly neighborhood bank in East Asia. That choice has proved timely, but it has become more challenging as the new year began. Unsettling news from two places...
JAPAN
Jan 19, 1999

Kansai Electric president tapped for Kankeiren helm

Yoshihisa Akiyama, president of the Kansai Electric Power Co. and a vice chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation (Kankeiren), will take over chairmanship of the federation from Yasuo Shingu, who will step down in May, it was announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 1999

Mitsui, Chuo Trust plan biggest trust bank in 2000

Mitsui Trust & Banking Co. and Chuo Trust & Banking Co. announced Tuesday that they have reached basic agreement to merge in April 2000 to become the nation's biggest trust bank with a combined capital of more than 40 trillion yen.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 1999

Solution for Japan Inc. on the way: Yosano

By the end of this month, the government will map out a concrete scheme to help resuscitate the competitiveness of the nation's manufacturing and other industrial sectors, Kaoru Yosano, international trade and industry minister, said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 1999

Coalition, government hold first coordination session

The government and the ruling parties held their first coordination session Monday since the Liberal Democratic Party entered into a coalition government with the Liberal Party last Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1999

32% approve of Coalition Cabinet; 44% don't

The just-launched coalition Cabinet of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party is supported by 32 percent of those polled by Kyodo News, the same support rating Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet received in July, it was learned Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1999

Ozawa urges state to define defense support area for U.S.

The government should clearly define the "areas surrounding Japan" in which Japan can provide support to the U.S. military, Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1999

Steel quotas out of the question: Yosano

Japan has no intention of setting a numerical target so its surging steel exports to the United States can be monitored, International Trade and Industry Minister Kaoru Yosano emphasized Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1999

Japan is prepared to help Brazil: Miyazawa

Should an international rescue package be prepared to help financially troubled Brazil, Japan is ready to contribute its fair share, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1999

Pyongyang would face 'strong warning' for missile move

Japan, the United States and South Korea should jointly issue a strong warning to North Korea if Pyongyang shows signs of attempting to launch another missile, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura agreed Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1999

Obuchi puts happy face on minority coalition launch

While the Liberal Democratic Party and Liberal Party will jointly tackle Japan's mounting problems, they will also try to seek support from other parties to stabilize the government, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Endo tags guru as Matsumoto mastermind

Former Aum Shinrikyo biologist Seiichi Endo, 38, told the court for the first time Thursday that cult founder Shoko Asahara ordered the 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 13, 1999

We ski, Web ski

I've got a problem, and rather than just let it smolder, I figured the best way to confront it is to go public
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.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight