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JAPAN
Apr 3, 1998

Yen continues to retreat

The yen took a battering in Tokyo interbank trading Friday amid concerns over the nation's ailing economy.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1998

U.S. rebuts low-level flight drill criticism

The U.S. military issued a memorandum to correspondents recently in response to Japanese media criticism of "inconsiderate low-level flight training in Japan."
JAPAN
Apr 3, 1998

Ministry punishes Nikko for payoffs to lawmaker

The Finance Ministry slapped Nikko Securities Co. with a maximum one-month partial suspension of operations Friday for offering trading profits to a Diet lawmaker who killed himself earlier this year.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1998

BayStars bench gun-salute opener

YOKOHAMA -- In an abrupt turnabout, Yokohama BayStars, a Central League pro-baseball club, on Thursday scrapped plans to have the National Defense Academy's honor guard fire a gun salute at its season opener today at Yokohama Stadium.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1998

Business groups unhappy with government steps

Reflecting the poor business sentiment shown by the Bank of Japan's latest "tankan" survey, business leaders Thursday criticized the government for its vague economic measures.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1998

Neighbors agree to Kita-Shinjuku homeless shelter

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will open a temporary homeless shelter late this month in Kita-Shinjuku for people forced to leave a JR Shinjuku Station shantytown after a fire.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1998

BOJ board reveals economic beliefs

In a move that may symbolize the central bank's new transparency, newly appointed members of the Bank of Japan Policy Board on Wednesday clearly expressed their opinions about interest rates and the economy.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1998

Yamato center helped refugees break the ice with locals

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

Toyota to turn up output at Indiana plant

Toyota Motor Corp. will expand the production capacity at its new plant in Indiana from about 100,000 units to about 150,000 units by the fall of 2000, the firm announced March 31.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

Kan appointed leader of new DPJ

Naoto Kan, leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, will become head of the newly expanded version, leaders of the four parties involved decided at a meeting March 31.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

State may relinquish Aum claim for victims' sake

Policy chiefs of the ruling alliance agreed March 31 to submit a bill to the Diet next week to have the government abandon its claim of about 460 million yen against Aum Shinrikyo to give other victims suing the cult a better chance of obtaining greater amounts of repayment or redress.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

Japan to aid Karen refugees in Thai camps

In a move that threatens to displease Myanmar's military regime, Japan will provide between 5 million yen and 10 million yen in grant-in-aid to help relieve the suffering of Karen refugees in Thailand, Foreign Ministry sources said March 31.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

Firms feel banks' loan policies getting tighter

Roughly 60 percent of the firms responding to a recent Finance Ministry survey believe that lending by the nation's top 19 banks became more stringent toward the end of March, the ministry said March 31.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

Tokyo stocks end year on lackluster note

The Tokyo stock market ended fiscal 1997 on a dour note March 31, with the key market gauge stopping far short of last year's level.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1998

Deregulation plan launched to activate economy

A three-year plan was launched March 31 that targets 15 industrial sectors for deregulation, including domestic airline operations, electric power retailing and digital broadcasting, government officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1998

Foreign hires bring hope for improved workplaces

Japanese businesspeople hope that the hiring of non-Japanese employees will lead to the introduction of the merit system, according to a survey released Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1998

Tokyo's riskiest districts named

Because of fears of a large earthquake hitting the Tokyo region, the metropolitan government's disaster vulnerability survey released Monday may warrant a close look.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 1998

Osaka subway worker dies in fire

OSAKA -- A construction worker died from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out early March 27 at Honmachi Station on the Midosuji Subway Line here, police said.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Cultist says he buried VX to stop attacks

Former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Yasuo Hayashi testified March 27 that he volunteered in April 1995 to bury deadly VX nerve gas produced by the cult so it would not be used in a terrorist attack.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 1998

Displaced brokers embark on uncertain career paths

Early this month, a 55-year-old manager at the failed Yamaichi Securities Co. had a job interview with Merrill Lynch, a major U.S. brokerage that has launched a new campaign to penetrate the Japanese market.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 1998

MMC pushes back market-share target six years

KYOTO -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is set on obtaining a 15 percent share in the domestic market by 2006, not 2000 as originally targeted, MMC President Katsuhiko Kawasoe said March 27.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1998

Ceramics-maker turns bottles into bucks

Sixteenth in a series of occasional articles on venture businesses
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1998

Rogue copper trader draws eight-year prison term

Yasuo Hamanaka, a former chief copper trader at Sumitomo Corp., was sentenced to eight years in prison March 26 for fraud and forgery that eventually cost the trading giant some $2.6 billion -- the largest trading loss ever.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Cultist says he hoped for post-attack probe

A senior Aum Shinrikyo follower testified March 26 that he had hoped police would launch a full-scale investigation into the cult after the 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, because he believed a probe would have kept the cult from committing further crimes.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1998

Banks adopt U.S.-style disclosure rules

The banking industry federation decided Tuesday that from this fiscal year, all member banks will need to disclose information about their bad loans according to stricter standards, in line with those of the United States.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1998

Effects of tax cuts are overestimated, Yamasaki insists

and MARI KOSEKI
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1998

Unlicensed liquor dealer loses appeal

The Supreme Court dismissed Tuesday an appeal by a former liquor dealer charged with selling liquor without a license in the early 1980s, in violation of the Liquor Tax Law, and upheld his suspended prison term.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1998

Former Yamaichi chiefs indicted for hiding debt

Former Yamaichi Securities Co. Chairman Tsugio Yukihira and Atsuo Miki, the firm's former president, were indicted Tuesday on charges of violating the Securities Transaction and Commercial Code by hiding about 270 billion yen in debts and still paying about 6 billion yen in dividends to shareholders,...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1998

Panel advises schools to get help on violence, delinquency

To fight increasing student delinquency and violence of recent years, an Education Ministry council submitted a report Tuesday urging schools to take a firm stance against serious crimes and to seek specialized assistance from other organizations.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1998

Number of mobile computer users ready to rise

In the 2000 business year, the number of users of mobile computers in Japan , excluding voice-service users, will be 20 times what it is in the current business year and is likely to total 13.63 million people, an industry group reported Tuesday.

Longform

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