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JAPAN
Apr 13, 1998

Drugs increasingly used in treating appendicitis

In the past, appendicitis usually meant a patient had to undergo surgery. But doctors are now steering away from the traditional appendectomy and more toward anti-inflammatory drugs, according to a survey by the Health and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 1998

Tokyo faces wary G-7 reaction

Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga departs today for Washington where he will attend a series of financial meetings, including a gathering of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 1998

Plan to alter austerity law draws opposition fire

Opposition parties grilled Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on April 13 over ambiguities concerning the extent to which he plans to revise the fiscal austerity law.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 1998

Rise in banks' interest rates inevitable: Kato

Interest rates will become "inevitably higher" as Japanese banks compete with foreign financial institutions following the nation's "Big Bang" financial reforms, Koichi Kato, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, predicted April 13.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

Japanese 'security council' to decide emergency support for U.S.

The Security Council of Japan, an advisory body to the prime minister, will basically decide which emergency situations will warrant Japanese support for U.S. forces under the new defense cooperation pact with the United States, Defense Agency officials said April 10.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

LDP maneuvers to delay ethics bill one more week

The ruling party has asked its two allies -- the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake -- to postpone their self-imposed deadline to April 17 for a bill to ban lawmakers from raising funds through influence-peddling.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

Raid on leftist lair yields police radio recordings

Police confiscated several thousand recordings April 10, many including conversations between investigators, during a search of a hideout of the ultra-leftist Kakumaru-ha (Revolutionary Marxist Faction).
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Doctor tells how he saved sarin victim

Defense lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara on April 10 cross-examined a doctor who treated a man seriously injured in the March 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

BOJ reprimands 98 officials over bribery scandals

The Bank of Japan punished 98 officials April 10, including two executive directors, for their connections to the bribery scandal hanging over the central bank as well as other questionable conduct involving financial institutions.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

ANA chief asks for understanding amid strike

The president of All Nippon Airways Co. on April 10 asked for public understanding regarding the ongoing strike by the carriers' flight crew union.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1998

Tokyo stocks ignore stimulus action

Tokyo share prices turned lower April 10, with the just-announced package of economic stimulus measures going largely unheeded. The dollar also fell sharply against the yen amid indications the Bank of Japan returned to the currency market to keep the Japanese currency from falling.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Cultist says water sales mulled in Kobe quake

A senior Aum Shinrikyo figure told the Tokyo District Court on Thursday that soon after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995, he was ordered to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for water to sell in Kobe.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 1998

Arianespace inks satellite contract for 2000 launch

France-based Arianespace announced in Tokyo on Thursday that it has signed a contract with Japan's Space Communications Corp. to launch a telecommunications satellite in the early part of 2000.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 1998

Kansai execs still tout affinity with Asia

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 9, 1998

Acquisitions process said key barrier to foreign investment

While there are effectively no legal barriers, difficulty in carrying out corporate acquisitions poses a major obstacle to boosting foreign investment in Japan, says James Abegglen, a leading expert on Japanese business affairs.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Hospital chief supplied drug to son

A director of a Chiba hospital has been questioned by police on suspicion that she supplied her son with a government controlled drug to help him study and prepare for a dentist license exam, it was learned April 8.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

21st century global leader is U.S.: poll

Which country will be the most influential in the next century? The answer, if you guessed: the United States.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Ishii details sexes' regard for guru

Hisako Ishii, formerly a close aid to Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, testified in court April 8 that there was a difference in the way male and female followers regarded Asahara.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

IMF official calls for big income tax cuts

Japan should map out an economic stimulus package that includes large-scale income tax cuts, a senior official of the International Monetary Fund said April 8 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Stargazer plan dims city lights, lets Tokyo skies sparkle

The Environment Agency has compiled guidelines that could bring back twinkling stars to the nation's urban skies.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Child pornography bill receives cautious welcome

A draft bill to clamp down on child pornography and prostitution -- if enacted into law -- would mark a major, but imperfect, step forward for Japan, according to experts at a meeting to discuss the topic.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Top banker wants to keep post to protect industry's image

The president of the scandal-tainted Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi hinted April 7 that he should be kept on as the head of the banking federation to avoid amplifying foreigners' distrust in Japan's banking sector.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Survey shows Tokyoites gloomier on economic outlook

The number of Tokyo residents expecting their economic condition to worsen, based on their household budget, hit a record high of 40.7 percent of those surveyed in an annual government poll.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Citizens, LDP may forge compromise on disaster relief bill

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Marusan Securities probed for possible breach of trust

Police have questioned Marusan Securities Co. about its rationale for shouldering most of a loss incurred by an affiliated company, the president of the midsize brokerage house said April 6.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Train experts convene for transcontinental freight debate

Railway experts from some 20 countries April 6 discussed the feasibility of transcontinental railway corridors for the smooth and fast transport of cargo through Asia and Europe.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Fish haulers, riders take to world's longest suspension span

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, which opened Sunday, began serving as a key link early April 6 in regional public transportation as commuter buses carried passengers and trucks brought fresh food from Shikoku and Awaji Island to Hyogo and Osaka prefectures.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1998

Enterprise Spirit: Entrepreneur cashes in on Internet telephony

17th in a series of occasional articles on venture businesses
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1998

Hashimoto coming under pressure to change policy

In an effort to recover public confidence in the nation's plummeting economy, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto next week might announce a shift from his austerity policy to one of economic stimulation.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1998

New institute to focus on social values

About 40 business leaders, scholars, bureaucrats and leaders of nongovernmental organizations on Friday inaugurated an institute to enrich their understanding of contemporary issues and to find important values for the 21st century through discussions of great philosophical and classic literary works....

Longform

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