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JAPAN
Oct 9, 1997

Digital cameras shaking up photo industry

Digital technology is evolving and product prices are declining at such stunning clips that hardly any new industry developments evoke surprise.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 1997

Tokyo adds medical aid to North Korea food offer

Japan will resume food aid to famine-hit North Korea after a 15-month hiatus, the Cabinet said Oct. 9, announcing that 67,000 tons of rice as well as 94 million yen in medical equipment will be handed over.Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Japan will donate $27 million to the United Nations...
JAPAN
Oct 9, 1997

Mayor has high hopes for Tokyo-Berlin ties

Despite being continents apart, Berlin and Tokyo have much to learn from each other, Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen said on a recent trip to Tokyo.In an interview with The Japan Times, Diepgen said he expects the Berlin-Tokyo relationship, unofficially established in 1985 and later formalized in a friendship...
JAPAN
Oct 9, 1997

Two Osaka banks to merge next year

OSAKA -- Fukutoku Bank and the Bank of Naniwa, two Osaka-based regional banks suffering from mounting bad loans, announced Oct. 9 they will merge next Oct. 1 to speed up restructuring and strengthen their foothold in the region.The merger is expected to become the first one subject to an expected revision...
JAPAN
Oct 9, 1997

Pyongyang lists names of wives allowed to visit

Japan has received a list from North Korea of Japanese women who will be allowed to make their first homecoming visit to Japan later this month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Oct. 9.The names of between 10 and 15 women were tentatively put on the list, which was obtained by the government...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 1997

Paying way for U.S. forces legal, state says

OSAKA -- The government asserted in a court reply Oct. 8 that because the Diet has given its approval, it is legal to use public money to cover the costs of stationing U.S. forces in Japan.With its reply, the government asked the Osaka District Court to dismiss a lawsuit lodged by a group of 296 people...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 1997

JR Tokai makes firm TSE debut

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) made a firm debut Oct. 8 on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, drawing an opening price of 383,000 yen per share.The initial price at the TSE was 24,000 yen higher than the 359,000 yen public offering price set for 800,000 shares. The stock closed the...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1997

Oil dealer may appear in Diet, Hashimoto hints

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto hinted to reporters Oct. 7 that he does not oppose the idea of summoning to the Diet an oil wholesaler who allegedly provided illicit political donations to several key members of the Liberal Democratic Party.Before the kick-off of the Lower House Budget Committee, which...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1997

$250 million pledged to Mongolia development effort

An international aid group on Oct. 7 pledged about $250 million to help the economic development of Mongolia, a country struggling in its switch from a Communist-style economy to a free market.The pledge for fiscal 1998 was made at the 6th Mongolia Assistance Group Meeting, held in Tokyo. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1997

LDP quest to boost economy faces skeptics, tax cut calls

As a council in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party considers an economic package without new fiscal spending, key party members are voicing doubts about such measures.At a regularly scheduled meeting of the party's key members Oct. 7, many called for introducing such measures as special income tax...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 1997

Sannai-Maruyama excavation illuminating Jomon life

Staff writerAOMORI -- Men wearing only a shred of coarse fur hunt animals in the mountains while women and children gather shells and forage for nuts.This was the prevalent image of people of the Jomon Period, which lasted from about 12,000 to 2,300 years ago. But when the Aomori Prefectural Government...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 1997

Firms harsh on theft, not sexual harassment

Japanese companies take strict disciplinary measures against employees who leak corporate secrets or commit financial wrongdoing, but are more lenient when it comes to cases of sexual harassment or office affairs, a private research organization said Oct. 6.The Labor Administration Research Institute...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 1997

Minnesota college living out bubble's burst in Akita

YUWA, Akita Pref. -- When the economic bubble burst in the late 1980s, more than 40 American-style colleges that peppered Japan's educational landscape went under, now leaving only four, one with an ambitious foothold in Akita.Among the universities possessing a campus, Minnesota State University --...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 1997

Maverick assemblyman fights dress code, graft

MISAWA, Aomori Pref. -- The city assembly here has attracted nationwide attention, not for its legislating, but for a member who was punished for his casual attire.He claims his dressing down symbolizes his crusade against corruption. "I know it all looked like a kindergarten-level farce," said Yuki...
JAPAN
Oct 3, 1997

SDP doubts worth of postal reform proposal

The Social Democratic Party, one of two non-Cabinet allies of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, questioned on Oct. 3 the wisdom of a government panel's proposal to break up the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.During an Upper House plenary session debate, SDP policy chief Kazuo Oikawa said in...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 1997

Arsonist-slayer's life term upheld

A woman's appeal of a life sentence for setting fire to the home of her lover and causing his two children to die was rejected Oct. 2 by the Tokyo High Court.The Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court ruled in January 1996 that although Yukie Kitamura, 31, was incapable of sound judgment after...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 1997

Japan to fund repair of Mongolian mine

Staff writerJapan will pledge about 4 billion yen in official loans to Mongolia next week to help rebuild the impoverished and energy-strapped country's Shivee-Ovoo Coal Mine, government officials said Oct. 2.The pledge for Shivee-Ovoo, Mongolia's second largest coal mine, will be made Oct. 7 in Tokyo...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 1997

LDP slams postal privatization plan

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party announced its opposition Oct. 2 to a proposal by a government advisory panel to privatize two of the three postal services currently provided by the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.During Diet debate, Kenji Manabe, policy chief of the LDP's House of Councilors...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 1997

Actions under defense pact not deemed collective defense

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said actions taken under the revised guidelines for Japan-U.S. defense cooperation will not be interpreted as collective defense, which is banned by the Constitution.Identifying emergency situations that "have an important influence on Japan's peace and security" as...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 1997

Cultist details role in 1989 killing of Sakamotos

The defense counsel for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara on Oct. 2 cross-examined an Aum figure who stands accused of taking part in the 1989 murders of a Yokohama lawyer and his family.Satoru Hashimoto, 30, appeared before the Tokyo District Court at Asahara's 51st trial hearing. He has admitted...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1997

Internet securities trade has couch investors jumping

OSAKA -- With convenience like late-night or early morning service and never having to leave one's own home, stock trading via the Internet has not surprisingly become increasingly active.It is also alluring to securities companies, who are able to expand their business without opening new branches...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1997

Bureau seizes 14 illegal Chinese immigrants

The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau is holding 14 Chinese, including one Snakehead-connected broker, for staying and working in Japan illegally, it said Oct. 1.The 14, including four women, are all from China's Fujian Province, bureau officials said, adding that they either smuggled themselves into...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1997

Indonesia looks to exporters, reforms to bolster economy

Staff writerDespite the gloomy cloud hanging over Southeast Asian economies following the recent currency turmoil that began in Thailand, the Indonesian government is on the right track in implementing a wide range of measures to shore up its economy, according to Hartarto, Indonesia's coordinating...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1997

War veteran gives Unit 731 testimony

An 84-year-old former Imperial Japanese Army police officer who was stationed in Japan's puppet state of Manchuria during World War II told the Tokyo District Court on Oct. 1 that the army conducted germ warfare experiments on innocent Chinese civilians.Yutaka Mio spoke before the court for Chinese...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1997

Yasuda hospitals lose licenses over fraud

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Government revoked Oct. 1 the medical license of the Yasuda Hospital group, which is embroiled in a multimillion yen medical funding fraud.This marks the first time a hospital has had its medical license revoked due to illegal conduct, according to the Health and Welfare...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1997

New Antigang Law to target gangsters' offices from today

The revised Antigang Law goes into effect Sept. 30, enabling authorities to crack down on the extent to which offices belonging to or affiliated with crime syndicates can be used.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1997

Sake association plans to promote taste of Japan overseas

Sake sales have been falling in recent years in the domestic market, and the Japanese industry is now hoping to make a breakthrough overseas, Haruo Matsuzaki, chairman of the new Sake Export Association, said Sept. 30.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1997

New liquor taxes start narrowing gap today

As the autumn chill diminishes the nation's thirst for beer and the search begins for something else to drink, imbibers should keep in mind that a bottle of premium brandy will now be a bit more affordable.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 1997

Hashimoto opens Diet with apology over Sato

In his policy speech before the Diet on Sept. 29, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto reiterated apologies to the public for appointing a politician once convicted of bribery to the Cabinet he formed earlier this month.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 1997

Groups wary of Osaka Olympics

Representatives of the city of Osaka and Osaka Prefecture, local sports federations and citizens' activist groups gathered Sept. 27 at a symposium to weigh the pros and cons of staging the Olympics in Osaka.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes