Search - works

 
 
JAPAN
Sep 17, 1997

Hashimoto comes out in favor of legislated spending limits

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and his Conference on Fiscal Structural Reform on Sept. 17 endorsed a draft bill that would oblige the government to reduce key expenditures to achieve its self-imposed fiscal reform targets by fiscal 2003.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 1997

Mitsuzuka firm on budget austerity measures

Suggestions by some U.S. officials that Japan should slacken the pace at which it implements budget austerity are understandable but go against the nation's interests, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 1997

Government leaders adopt draft of reform bill

Top government and ruling party leaders basically agreed Sept. 10 on the draft of a bill that puts into law specific measures to achieve the government's self-imposed fiscal reconsolidation targets.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1997

Nation can't afford more pump-priming

There is no possibility that an economic pump-priming package will be drawn up in the latter half of this fiscal year due to financial constraints, a top Finance Ministry official said Sept. 1.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 1997

Supreme Court backs Ienaga in textbook suit

The Supreme Court on August 29 ordered the central government to pay 400,000 yen in damages to 83-year-old historian Saburo Ienaga in the last of his three lawsuits against the Education Ministry, although it ruled that the system of screening school textbooks is constitutional.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 1997

'98 budget to need deficit-covering bonds again

For the fifth straight year, the government will probably be forced to issue the deficit-covering bonds that have helped drive the nation into fiscal crisis, a senior Finance Ministry official indicated August 28.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1997

Panel to prioritize bullet train work

A panel examining the construction of bullet train networks agreed August 26 to decide by late November which of seven sections of four bullet train lines in the Hokkaido, Hokuriku, Kyushu and Tohoku regions will have priority.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1997

Public corporations under reform microscope

The number of executives and employees at 95 government-affiliated corporations should be cut by 10 percent, and another 10 percent cut should be applied to expenditures on public works projects under their umbrella, according to a proposal made August 26 by a panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party....
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Tokyo sharpens ax to cut 310 billion yen deficit

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, saddled with a deficit of roughly 310 billion yen this fiscal year, released a financial reconstruction plan Aug. 14 that singled out 30 items to be reviewed for possible budget reductions. The plan aims to cut the next fiscal year budget by 126.8 billion yen to 1.5...
JAPAN
Jul 30, 1997

Analysis: Bank's penalty an attempt to assuage public

Finance Ministry's decision July 30 to order Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank to refrain from extending loans to new customers until the end of the calendar year was an attempt to show that it is seriously trying to tackle wrongdoing in the financial markets.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

MITI to hand small firms public works contracts

The government will aim to provide small and medium-size firms with public contracts worth a record 5.159 trillion yen during fiscal 1998, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said July 18.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 1997

Japan Art Association honors five for cultural contributions

The Japan Art Association on July 9 announced five recipients of the Ninth Praemium Imperiale awards.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 1997

Hashimoto presents budget-writing rules

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on July 8 outlined basic rules for fiscal 1998 budget requests that include three special spending brackets to channel 550 billion yen into key areas as well as roughly 240 billion yen in general expenditure cuts.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1997

Chugoku Focus: Reclamation foes find new target

MATSUE, Shimane Pref. -- As the controversial project to fill in Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture takes its toll on the marine environment, local residents here are battling against another unwanted public works project that appears to serve no purpose.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 1997

Manufacturers found upbeat in latest 'tankan' survey

The Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey startled most market analysts June 25 by reflecting unexpectedly strong business sentiment among the nation's principal manufacturing firms.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 1997

Nike 'doing it' well in Japan

When sporting goods giant Nike, Inc. opened its Niketown superstore in New York last November, the company anticipated that about 100 journalists would attend the opening day ceremonies.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 1997

Reclamation claims Isahaya ecosystem

ISAHAYA, Nagasaki Pref. -- As far as the eye can see, cracks running through dried soil have taken over what was a resource-rich wetland only 50 days ago.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 1997

Ruling parties make last-minute spending cuts

The Liberal Democratic Party and its two non-Cabinet allies came up with several budget-paring measures June 2, one day before a key fiscal reform report is due out.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 1997

Shizuoka sports fans fall for 'futsal' fever

TENRYU, Shizuoka Pref. -- When Mario Yasumitsu, a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian, moved to Japan from Latin America, he packed the daily necessities and one "futsal" ball.
JAPAN
May 29, 1997

Hospitals free to inflate charges for uninsured patients

A 54-year-old Filipino woman living in Inage, Chiba Prefecture, was taken ill in April and had to use an ambulance to go to a hospital in the city of Chiba. She was suffering from acute appendicitis and needed immediate surgery.
JAPAN
May 14, 1997

DPJ urges review of Isahaya Bay project

The Democratic Party of Japan has urged the government for a drastic review of an ongoing public works project to reclaim part of Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, for agricultural use.
JAPAN
May 9, 1997

Mitsuzuka 'not satisfied' with yen's level

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka implied May 9 that he would like to see a further strengthening of the yen against the dollar, saying he was "not yet satisfied" with current foreign exchange levels.
JAPAN
May 6, 1997

Lower House approves environmental impact bill

The Lower House approved a bill May 6 to create Japan's first law to assess the environmental impact of construction projects.
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 22, 1997

Yokoyama faces up to Osaka's cash woes

OSAKA -- Two years since he became governor of Osaka Prefecture on a wave of public outrage over political corruption involving his predecessor, former comedian "Knock" Yokoyama finds himself the target of discontent over the prefecture's financial problems.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Police unit boasts Snakehead arrest

OSAKA -- The new warrant served on Wang Yunfeng, who lives in Osaka and is allegedly a key member of a Chinese Snakehead syndicate that works with the yakuza to smuggle Chinese into Japan, marks the first major arrest since the prefectural police here set up a special task force earlier this month to...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 1997

Man held for blackmailing molestation, stalking victim

OSAKA -- Police on Friday arrested a 33-year-old man from Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, on suspicion he that tried to blackmail a woman into going out with him after repeatedly molesting on crowded trains.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1997

Mayor re-elected on antidam policy

The incumbent mayor of Kito, Tokushima Prefecture, was re-elected Apr. 1 on a platform of continued resistance to the Construction Ministry's plan to dam a river running through the village.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1997

Business confidence on plus side for first time since 1991

Business confidence among principal manufacturing companies has taken a turn for the better for the first time in more than five years, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey released Apr. 2.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 1997

Cabinet approves environmental impact bill

The government of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto approved at a Cabinet meeting Mar. 28 a bill proposing the creation of Japan's first law for assessing the impact of construction projects on the environment.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan