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BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2005

Key gauge for May climbs over the boom-or-bust line

A key gauge of the current state of the economy stood at 55.6 percent in May, climbing above the boom-or-bust line for the first time in two months, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2005

New war memorial is old idea back in the spotlight

The concept of a new national memorial for the war dead, on ice for years for political reasons, has returned to the spotlight as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi finds himself in a regional diplomatic deadlock.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2005

Koizumi nixes Yasukuni replacement

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday rejected a suggestion that the government set up a new war memorial as a substitute for Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2005

Tax Commission to boost exemptions for donations to NPOs

The Tax Commission, an advisory panel to the prime minister, said Friday in a report that it will increase exemptions for donations made to nonprofit organizations.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2005

Did Nakayama apologize over sex-slave gaffe?

Education minister Nariaki Nakayama apologized Tuesday for "causing trouble" to the government with his recent remark hailing the removal of references to wartime sex slaves for Japanese troops from revised history textbooks, top government spokesman Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2005

January-March growth revised down to 1.2%

The economy expanded a real 1.2 percent in the January-March period compared with the previous quarter, the government said Monday, revising the initially reported growth of 1.3 percent downward due to slower than expected inventory growth and a fall in exports.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Koizumi dismissals stir up Kasumigaseki

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last month abruptly dismissed two senior Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry officials he believes were not cooperating with his effort to privatize the postal services.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 14, 2005

'Double standard' beef plan may fuel consumer anxiety

Although the Japanese government is poised to exempt cattle 20 months or younger slaughtered in the United States from screening for mad cow disease, local governments here plan to continue checking all slaughtered cattle.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2005

Are dress codes key to global warming?

Just as a 1,000-km journey begins with a single step, it seems that the arduous process of reducing Japan's greenhouse gas emissions starts with the simple removal of a few neckties.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2005

59% want Koizumi to stay put until 2006

Almost 60 percent of respondents to a recent poll want Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stay in power until his term as Liberal Democratic Party president expires in September 2006.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2005

Postwar reconciliation with rest of Asia in peril

Bilateral relations between Japan and the United States during the four years Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been in office have often been characterized as a "honeymoon."
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2005

Postal reform plan is watered down but moves forward

The government Monday accepted a set of demands from top executives of the Liberal Democratic Party to further water down Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's contentious postal privatization plan.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2005

Agency inspects 39 Aum facilities

The Public Security Investigation Agency inspected 39 Aum Shinrikyo-related facilities in 2004, later sharing pertinent data with 49 municipal governments, according to a government report released Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2005

Coincident index revised upward

The Cabinet Office said Tuesday it has revised upward the index of coincident economic indicators, the key gauge of current economic conditions, to 30 percent for February from the preliminary 16.7 percent announced April 6.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2005

Postal issue keeps LDP at loggerheads

The Liberal Democratic Party continued late Monday night trying to put together a set of requests for modifying the government's plan to privatize postal services by 2017 by splitting Japan Post into four units.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2005

70% don't want to serve on juries in new system

Seventy percent of respondents to a government questionnaire on the new jury system to be introduced for criminal trials by 2009 said they do not want to become "citizen judges," as participants will be called, the Cabinet Office said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2005

Wholesale prices post first rise in seven years

Wholesale prices for fiscal 2004 rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier for the first increase since fiscal 1997.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2005

Watanuki draws 100 others in LDP to defy posts reforms

A group of 101 Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers met Wednesday to reiterate their opposition to the government's postal privatization plan and ruled out any compromise on the issue.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2005

Progress in Baghdad

After what seemed like interminable delay, Iraqi politicians have agreed on the country's top leaders. The posts have been filled by representatives from all of Iraq's main religious and ethnic groups, creating as inclusive a national leadership as possible. The agreement hints that deals have also been...
Rugby
Apr 9, 2005

Government backs bid for Rugby World Cup

The Japan Rugby Football Union's hopes for hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2011 were boosted on Friday with news that the Japanese government was officially backing the bid.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2005

Watanuki draws 95 foes to postal reform

The political tug-of-war over the government's postal privatization plan continued Thursday as a senior Liberal Democratic Party official gathered 95 LDP Diet members for a protest meeting.
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2005

Mr. Koizumi's privatization battle

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration, which has just completed a skeleton draft bill to privatize postal services, is trying hard to iron out the remaining differences with the Liberal Democratic Party -- a crucial process that will largely determine the nature and direction of postal privatization....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2005

Prime minister's new quarters a step up

Built more than 70 years ago, it had only three rooms for private use that get little sunshine and was inhabited by mites and cockroaches. A previous occupant had been assassinated there.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2005

Postal reforms get nod only from LDP execs

Liberal Democratic Party executives reacted positively Tuesday to the government's postal privatization scheme unveiled the previous day, while rank-and-file members continued to voice opposition.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2005

Clause to delay postal plan drafted as counter to LDP

Six Cabinet ministers involved in the plan to privatize the postal system agreed Saturday that the plan might have to be delayed beyond its scheduled start in April 2007, officials said.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2005

GDP edged up 0.1% in third quarter

The economy expanded a real 0.1 percent in the October-December period from the previous quarter for the first expansion in three quarters.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Economist to join BOJ policy panel

The government plans to appoint Kiyohiko Nishimura, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo, to the Bank of Japan's policy-setting panel in April, government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 13, 2005

Little progress on Japanese gender equality

Last weekend the Cabinet Office released the results of its latest gender-roles survey, which it has been carrying out irregularly since 1979. About 3,500 adult men and women offered their opinions about who should be in charge of the home and who should do the breadwinning. The results were reported...
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2005

Economic gauge indicates contraction

The key gauge of the current state of Japan's economy fell below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in December, following a reading of 60 percent in November, the government said Friday.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan