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JAPAN
May 14, 1997

Osaka hospital sued over suspicious death

OSAKA -- Sisters of a female patient who died under suspicious circumstances at Osaka Ensei Hospital in Higashi Sumiyoshi Ward here filed a lawsuit May 14 with the Osaka District Court against the hospital's medical corporation, seeking 11 million yen in damages.
JAPAN
May 13, 1997

Powerful quake rocks southern Kyushu, injures 27

KAGOSHIMA -- A powerful earthquake rocked Kyushu late May 13, injuring 27 people, officials said.
JAPAN
May 13, 1997

Majority of Okinawa landlords content living with bases

IE-JIMA, Okinawa Pref. -- In the northwest corner of this 22-sq.-km coral island lies the U.S. Ie-Jima Auxiliary Airfield, where Marine Corps units from mainland Okinawa hold drills using Harrier vertical takeoff and landing jets around the clock.
JAPAN
May 13, 1997

Private earthquake aid still lacks accounting

KOBE -- Neither the Japan Red Cross nor a local distribution committee has any accounting of what happened to donations sent by individuals and groups of Americans to help survivors of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
JAPAN
May 13, 1997

Pyongyang's ADB bid to get due consideration, bank chief says

FUKUOKA -- North Korea's bid to gain membership in the Asian Development Bank will not be affected by other ongoing diplomatic negotiations concerning the country, ADB President Mitsuo Sato said May 13.
JAPAN
May 12, 1997

Business Show '97 opens today at Big Sight

Business Show '97 Tokyo will open May 13 at Tokyo Big Sight in Ariake, featuring many exhibitions on intranet and Internet networking, according to the organizing groups.
JAPAN
May 12, 1997

Earthquake in Tohoku interrupts trains

A strong earthquake measuring 4 on the Japanese seismic scale to 7 jolted a wide area of northeastern Japan on early May 12, interrupting railway and expressway services. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
JAPAN
May 12, 1997

SDF may be used for war on terrorism

Relaxing legal restraints on the Self-Defense Forces may be necessary to enable the government to better combat terrorism overseas, Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said May 12.
JAPAN
May 12, 1997

Callback services draw telecom giants' ire

Callback services, though introduced in Japan almost five years ago, continue to thrive under a certain veil of mystery.
JAPAN
May 9, 1997

Osaka holds municipal job seminar for non-Japanese

OSAKA -- A preparatory course for non-Japanese residents hoping to take the city's employment exams started here May 9 after the Osaka Municipal Government recently lifted the nationality clause in its employment rules.
JAPAN
May 8, 1997

Religious group Ho-no-Hana failed to report income

A controversial religious group in Shizuoka Prefecture has failed to report some 4.7 billion yen in income, tax officials said May 8.
JAPAN
May 8, 1997

Making sense of the tax mystery for foreigners

Japan's tax system appears to be one of the most difficult concepts for foreigners to understand. It would come as no surprise if a foreigner working in the country -- in particular someone employed without a proper visa -- knew little or nothing about income tax returns.
JAPAN
May 8, 1997

Submit your own reform plan, Muto says

Management and Coordination Agency chief Kabun Muto dealt with spotted resistance to change May 8 by instructing each state ministry and agency to submit individual proposals for administrative reform, according to top government spokesman Seiroku Kajiyama.
JAPAN
May 7, 1997

Attending the Nagano Games will be no easy feat

As opening day of the 18th Winter Olympics in Nagano Prefecture draws closer, many sports enthusiasts are beginning to wonder how they will be able to experience the Games.
JAPAN
May 7, 1997

Japan Red Cross reveals details of quake funds

OSAKA -- The American Red Cross was unaware that some of the 800 million yen it sent to help survivors of the Great Hanshin Earthquake was set aside for other uses until the Japan Red Cross was specifically asked to translate its reports into English.
JAPAN
May 7, 1997

Japan restates reluctance to give food to North Korea

Tokyo reiterated its reluctance to extend food aid to North Korea at a senior officials' meeting May 7 among Japan, South Korea and the United States, Foreign Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
May 7, 1997

Tokyo ready to set up non-Japanese advisory council

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will launch this fall a council of about 25 foreign residents.
JAPAN
May 6, 1997

Coalition allies reach agreement on health insurance reform

The Liberal Democratic Party scored a political victory May 6 when it reached an agreement with its two non-Cabinet allies on a bill that would at least double medical bills, starting Sept. 1.
JAPAN
May 2, 1997

Osaka unveils guideline for hiring non-Japanese

OSAKA -- The Osaka Municipal Government introduced a new guideline May 2 allowing foreigners with permanent residency to engage in virtually all municipal jobs except posts involving policymaking or unilateral decision-making in matters concerning local residents' rights.
JAPAN
May 2, 1997

Hashimoto to visit Lima May 9 to voice thanks

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto plans to visit Peru between May 9 and 12 to personally express his gratitude to President Alberto Fujimori for the rescue of all 24 Japanese held in captivity by leftist rebels, government and Liberal Democratic Party sources said May 2.
JAPAN
May 1, 1997

May Day events sidestep thorny politics

An estimated 2 million people gathered for May Day celebrations May 1 at about 1,000 locations throughout the country, according to sponsors of the events.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1997

Fukui disbands oil-spill task force

FUKUI -- The Fukui Prefectural Government disbanded its special oil-spill task force on April 30 as the clean-up of crude oil spilled from a Russian oil tanker in the Sea of Japan is nearly complete and the bow of the ship removed.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1997

Hokkaido officials return taxpayers' money

Officials at the Hokkaido Prefectural Government on April 30 refunded a total of 180 million yen, including interest, to the government's finance office.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1997

Nurse recounts sex slave system of Imperial Navy

Chiyo Nakazato, 71, a former nurse for the Imperial Japanese Navy, remembers that during the war, her male colleagues at the navy hospital on Hainan Island in the South China Sea were so anxious to go out at night they queued up by the door even before 6 p.m., when they were officially off duty.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1997

Chief determined to build JR West into truly private enterprise

While Masataka Ide, the former president of West Japan Railway Co., was seen as a man of action, Shojiro Nanya, 55, who took over the JR West helm on April 1, is seen as a man of quiet resolve.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1997

Supporters of homeless held after clash with police

Two supporters of homeless people living at Shinjuku Station were arrested early April 29 on suspicion of battery and obstructing justice.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1997

ODA for Cambodian industrial park in works

Japan plans to conduct a feasibility study on the development of a major industrial park at a site close to Sihanoukville Port, Cambodia's only seaport for international commerce, through official development assistance, government officials said April 29.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 1997

Disclosure for disposal of arms left in China urged

The government must make public information on how it will dismantle poison gas weapons abandoned in China at the end of the war, a citizens' group holding exhibitions on Japan's wartime development and use of poison gas demanded April 28.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 1997

Dollar continues to rise despite intervention talk

The uptrend in the dollar's value continued unabated April 28 in Tokyo, with an intervention threat by finance officials from the Group of Seven industrialized nations going largely unheeded.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 1997

G-7 agrees to constrain dollar, surplus

WASHINGTON -- The Group of Seven industrialized nations, warning against a further upswing of the dollar against the yen, joined hands April 27 in an attempt to check the U.S. currency's rise and to keep Japan's external surplus from increasing markedly.

Longform

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