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JAPAN
Dec 10, 1997

Workers sue contractors for 'black lung' disease

A group of 72 former tunnel workers and family members of workers who have died joined about 180 others from two other groups Wednesday to demand a total of 2.3 billion yen in damages from their employers for a work-related lung disease.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Aum doctor breaks down on stand

Aum Shinrikyo's former chief doctor, Ikuo Hayashi, weeped bitterly Wednesday at the Tokyo District Court as he testified on the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1997

Most civil servants receive bigger bonus

Most civil servants received slightly more in their yearend bonuses this month. But the pay slips handed to Cabinet ministers and some others were unchanged from last year as administrative and fiscal reform began to take hold.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1997

SESC says Nikko, Daiwa should be punished over 'sokaiya'

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Wednesday to the finance minister that punitive action be taken against Nikko Securities Co. and Daiwa Securities Co. for compensating a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist for his stock losses.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1997

Public highway firms assessed for entertainment outlays

OSAKA -- Two affiliates of Hanshin Expressway Public Corp. spent more than 2 million yen for entertainment, accounting for it as conference expenses, and 1.5 million yen in private taxi fares for business purposes, Osaka Regional Tax Bureau sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1997

Yamaichi chief gives Diet testimony on 'tobashi' trades

Ten corporate customers were involved in Yamaichi Securities Co.'s dubious "tobashi" dealings to hide losses that eventually led to the collapse of the brokerage, Tsugio Yukihira, chairman of the failed firm until last August, said Tuesday in unsworn testimony in the Diet.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1997

Toyota selects France for home of second European plant

Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday announced its decision to build a new car plant in the northern French city of Valenciennes.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 1997

Education white paper calls for creative R&D

The level of Japan's science and technology research has steadily improved in recent years to equal that of Western industrialized nations, and now creative research and development must be promoted to keep up the progress, the Education Ministry said Friday in its 1997 white paper on education.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1997

Yamaichi to continue paying employees

Yamaichi Securities Co. will pay wages and retirement money to its employees in accordance with their labor contracts, an executive of the failed brokerage asserted Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1997

Son admits killing dad after taking exam

OSAKA -- A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of his father, who was found bleeding from a knife wound to the neck in their home in Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture, police said.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Cultist recounts Sakamoto slayings

Defense lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara cross-examined a senior cult figure Thursday who stands accused of taking part in the 1989 murders of an anti-Aum lawyer and his family.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1997

JR again approached about JNR debt

Vice Transport Minister Masahiko Kurono on Thursday urged the JR group firms to reverse their stand and bear an additional burden in a scheme to repay 27.8 trillion yen in debt left by the former Japanese National Railways.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Doctor testifies on gassing victim

A doctor who treated a woman seriously injured in the March 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system testified in court Thursday that the patient still suffers a speaking disorder and cannot eat without help.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Top banker praises public funds plan

The leader of the nation's top banking association welcomed on Tuesday the government's intention to use public funds for future financial crises, describing the plan as a "safety valve" for contingencies that fall beyond the capacity of the existing system tasked with dealing with such problems.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Some hope dreamland will arise from returned base sites

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. -- On some 480 hectares of land in the heart of this subtropical island prefecture, a futuristic urban center, touted as an Asian hub for international exchanges, has been envisioned.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Yamaichi collapse didn't faze 'sokaiya'

Ryuichi Koike, who on Tuesday went on trial for allegedly extorting huge sums from five of Japan's biggest financial institutions, showed no emotion when he heard about the recent collapse of Yamaichi Securities Co., according to sources.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Nago battles over U.S. heliport plebiscite

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- This sleepy northern Okinawa city is gearing up to hold the first plebiscite in the nation on allowing the introduction of a U.S. military base, and the campaigns for and against the planned U.S. Marine Corps offshore heliport are getting heated.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Koike pleads guilty to taking massive payoffs

Ryuichi Koike, the "sokaiya" corporate extortionist at the center of a huge financial scandal, pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking about 12.4 billion yen in illicit payoffs from the Big Four brokerages and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Obuchi will go to Canada to sign mine-ban pact

Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi is to leave today for Ottawa to sign a global treaty banning antipersonnel land mines.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 1997

Seven suspected in land sales fraud

Police arrested six people and put another on a wanted list Monday on suspicion of swindling 10 million yen from elderly people who had earlier suffered losses from fraudulent sales of undeveloped rural property.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 1997

Japan travel industry does some soul-searching

The Japanese travel industry has yet to decide whether it will print information about the dangers of certain destinations on travel brochures, the chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 1997

G-8, labor groups wrestle with global unemployment

Staff Writer
JAPAN
Nov 28, 1997

Izui tells Diet he gave 278 million yen to LDP lawmakers

Junichi Izui, an oil wholesaler now on trial for income tax evasion and fraud, said Friday in sworn testimony before the Lower House Budget Committee that he provided 278 million yen to lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including LDP policy chief Taku Yamasaki.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1997

Tokuyo City Bank folds in fourth collapse of month

Tokuyo City Bank, suffering from the weight of 58.8 billion yen in nonperforming loans, effectively collapsed Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Muraoka defends Finance over broker's collapse

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka defended the Finance Ministry on Tuesday over the collapse of Yamaichi Securities Co., saying it would have been impossible for ministry officials to discover the brokerage had been conducting irregular, off-the-book trading.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Shock over Yamaichi closure sends stocks, yen reeling

Tokyo share prices fell broadly Tuesday as investors reacted with shock and concern to Yamaichi Securities Co.'s decision to shut down.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Diplomats given explanation of Tokyo's recycling plans

Diplomats from the embassies of 28 countries, including the ambassadors of Fiji and Malawi, gathered Tuesday for an annual seminar sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and listened to a briefing on the government's recycling policies.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Nomura execs plead guilty to 'sokaiya' payoffs

A former president and two former managing directors of Nomura Securities Co. pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to pay 370 million yen to a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist in one of the biggest financial scandals to rock the nation this decade.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Sentences upheld for gangsters' attack on Itami

The Tokyo High Court dismissed appeals Tuesday by two gang members found guilty of inflicting bodily injury on movie director Juzo Itami in 1992.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Environmentalists march in Tokyo ahead of U.N. conference

Pedestrians paused on the sidewalks and curious storekeepers emerged from boutiques at the sound of marching band music echoing through the streets of Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.

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’