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JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Auto sales headed below 6 million units

Domestic automobile sales for 1998 are now projected to drop 12.3 percent from last year to 5.9 million units, slipping below the 6 million level for the first time in 12 years, an industry group said on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Lawmakers take aim at credit-rating firms

A Lower House committee will hold discussions today on the activities of international credit-rating companies, which critics say have unreasonably fueled financial turmoil in Japan and the rest of Asia.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Kids with asthma at 50-year high: poll

Record high percentages of children in all grades levels from kindergarten to senior high school have asthma, according to a survey released Thursday by the Education Ministry.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1998

Obuchi backs missile strikes on Iraq

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed support Thursday for U.S.-British missile strikes against Iraq, saying that Iraq violated agreements with the United Nations to cooperate with arms inspections by the world body.
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

Automakers see November output rise

Four of the nation's five major automakers increased domestic output slightly in November, thanks to an increase in exports and sales of new minivehicles, according to statistics separately released by the firms Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1998

Gist of LDP's tax revision plan

1) Individual income tax cuts worth 4 trillion yen
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1998

Bank failure panel takes reins of recovery

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi launched the Financial Reconstruction Commission Tuesday by appointing five members to deal with the collapse of financial institutions and to resuscitate the nation's troubled banking sector.
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

Hormone disrupter meeting attracts 1,100 participants

Staff writerKYOTO -- In an attempt to exchange the latest research on one of the most critical environmental issues today, more than 1,100 scientists and government officials from eight countries gathered Friday in Kyoto for a three-day symposium on endocrine disrupters.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1998

Kinki Nippon to sell HQ for retiree pay

Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. will sell its headquarters to Kinki Nippon Railway Co. later this month to raise retirement funds for personnel retiring early under its streamlining efforts, officials announced Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1998

Masumi Hayashi held in Wakayama curry killings

WAKAYAMA -- Police served Masumi Hayashi with a warrant Wednesday, charging her with murdering four people and attempting to kill 63 others by poisoning a vat of curry served up during Wakayama's Sonobe district summer festival.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1998

Miyazawa urges speedy Diet approval of budget

The 5.677 trillion yen third supplementary budget for fiscal 1998 was submitted Friday to the extraordinary Diet session, and Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa called for a swift passage in his policy speech.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1998

Four LDP factions to merge, support coalition government

Four conservative groups within the Liberal Democratic Party agreed at a meeting on Friday to merge by Dec. 14 and to support Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's initiative to form a coalition government with the Liberal Party.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1998

LDP-Liberal Party rift grows

Staff writers
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1998

Seeking Refuge: Arbitary policy shutters window to asylum

Last of a three-part series on Japan's refugee policy
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1998

Kids today tuckered out by TV, not sports

It doesn't take much to exhaust today's Japanese kids, who are too busy watching TV, playing video games or reading comic books to play outdoors, according to an Education Ministry survey released Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 1998

Supreme Court rules speech restraint constitutional

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that it is constitutional to place restraints on court judges' freedom of expression.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 1998

Ex-Aum doctor testifies for Inoue defense

A former doctor for Aum Shinrikyo, currently serving a life sentence, testified for the defense Friday at the trial of the cult's former intelligence chief, Yoshihiro Inoue.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 1998

Kobe mayor targeted after city hall stomps plebiscite push

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 27, 1998

Jiang praises Japan's pacifism, reiterates pains of war

Chinese President Jiang Zemin reiterated Friday evening in a speech at a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that Japan inflicted tremendous damage on the Chinese people during World War II.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 1998

Auto exports dropped 7.9% in October

Dampened by the current economic crisis in Asia, automobile exports in October dropped 7.9 percent compared with the same month last year, the sixth consecutive year-on-year monthly decrease, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 1998

No favors given for Fuji Heavy bribes, Norota says

The alleged bribe paid in 1996 to Yojiro Nakajima, then parliamentary vice minister of the Defense Agency, from Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. does not seem to have resulted in favorable treatment for the defense contractor, Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota claimed Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1998

New Komei comes out against nonexistent budget

The government's annual budget for fiscal 1999 hasn't been compiled yet, but Takenori Kanzaki, leader of New Komeito, is already against it.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 1998

15 major banks to seek funds

Of the nation's 18 major banks, 15 will apply for public funds injections within the fiscal year under the provisions of the new bank recapitalization law, the banks announced Tuesday with their midterm earnings results.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 1998

Frozen pizza entrepreneur opens doors for female execs

22nd in a series of occasional articles about venture businesses
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.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1998

Honda, Mazda outshine competition at midterm

Honda has come out a winner and Mazda has made a dramatic comeback, while all other major automakers suffered shrinking sales in the domestic market.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’