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COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2002

Time for redesigning tacky U.S. images

WASHINGTON -- This will, for obvious reasons, be the biggest Fourth of July ever. People who tally such things predict record numbers of flag displays, cookouts and youthful fingers blown off by cherry bombs. Expressions of gung-ho patriotic sentimentality are selling briskly, from Royal Doulton firefighter...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2002

Diet apathetic on political ethics

The regular Diet session, which was extended on Wednesday for 42 days through July 31, appears headed for further turmoil. The arrest of Lower House member Muneo Suzuki on the same day, immediately following a unanimous vote accepting a court request for an arrest warrant, has removed a big thorn in...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Lower House demands that Suzuki quit

The House of Representatives passed a motion Friday demanding the resignation of lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, who was arrested earlier in the week on corruption charges.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2002

Reforms seen weak in short-term

Although a package of reforms finalized by a key government panel on Friday may point Japan's economic and fiscal systems in the right direction in the long term, pundits are skeptical whether it can deliver the boost of confidence necessary now.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Yamarin escaped illegal logging penalties

Yamarin, the Hokkaido logging firm that allegedly bribed arrested lawmaker Muneo Suzuki in 1998, escaped punishment for unauthorized logging in national forests in 1997 and paid some 6 million yen in political donations to him that same year, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Cost of salvage may hit 5.9 billion yen

It may cost 5.9 billion yen to salvage the suspected North Korean spy ship that sank in the East China Sea in December, sources in the Japan Coast Guard said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Tanaka hit with suspension over LDP salary probe

The Liberal Democratic Party suspended former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka from the party for two years Thursday, effectively kicking the popular lawmaker out of the party.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Improved PR urged for Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry could improve its handling of public relations matters by reinforcing the role of senior officials in charge of dealing with the media, an advisory panel said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2002

Mr. Suzuki's arrest

Lower House member Muneo Suzuki was arrested Wednesday on charges of receiving 5 million yen in cash from a Hokkaido lumber company in August 1998 when he was the deputy chief Cabinet secretary. According to investigators, Mr. Suzuki is charged with accepting a bribe in return for working on Forestry...
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2002

Koizumi to attend memorial service in Okinawa

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will attend a war memorial service this weekend in Okinawa, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2002

Mizuho ordered to improve its operations

The Financial Services Agency on Wednesday ordered Mizuho Holdings Inc. to improve its operations in the wake of a massive computer system failure that left its operations in chaos.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jun 20, 2002

Politics of homeland security

WASHINGTON -- The specter of terrorism that has hung over America since Sept. 11 has created an enormous public demand for security. Homeland security has become a massive governmental program, a political issue, a growth industry, a rationale for all sorts of governmental spending and constitutional...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2002

Preventing a new dark age

On May 8 an American citizen with alleged ties to the al-Qaeda terror network was arrested on suspicion of plotting to build and detonate a radioactive "dirty" bomb in the United States. On May 31, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda of Japan -- the emotional touchstone of antinuclear sentiments for...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

New Kansai runway faces delay

The transport ministry on Friday sharply lowered its forecast for passenger demand at Kansai International Airport off Osaka, indicating that the scheduled opening of a second runway in 2007 could be delayed.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Emperor, Empress to visit Europe

The government decided Friday on the itinerary for Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko's official visit to Poland and Hungary, and stopovers in the Czech Republic and Austria, next month, government officials said.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Ruling bloc rams medical bills through committee

The ruling coalition rammed a set of medical reform bills through a House of Representatives committee meeting Friday, laying the groundwork for an increase in the ratio of medical expenses paid by salaried workers.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2002

Opposition parties begin Diet boycott

Four opposition parties boycotted Diet deliberations Thursday after senior leaders of the ruling bloc rejected claims they forced the Defense Agency to withhold a full report on the information disclosure scandal.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Nonnuclear policy to stay as is: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Wednesday that his administration will never change the nation's nonnuclear weapons policy.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Komura named Imperial attendant

Former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura will be the top attendant for Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko's official visit to Europe next month, government officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2002

BOJ board votes to keep ultra-easy monetary policy

The Bank of Japan Policy Board voted Wednesday to maintain its ultra-easy monetary grip.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jun 13, 2002

Revival abroad, not policies, aiding economy

Real gross domestic product grew at an annualized 5.7 percent during the January-March period. The revised GDP growth figure, to be released in August, is expected to be lower due to revisions to consumption figures for single people, who boosted their spending during the first quarter.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Yamasaki suppressed defense report

Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, effectively admitted Wednesday that he instructed the Defense Agency to withhold its full in-house report on how the agency systematically compiled private data on individuals seeking public information.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2002

78% of consumers distrust food labels: poll

Seventy-eight percent of consumers across the country do not trust information provided in food labels, according to a recent survey by the Japanese Consumers Cooperative Union.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Shiokawa to fill in G7 on tax-cut plans

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that he will tell Japan's Group of Seven partners that the nation is ready to bolster its fragile economy by cutting taxes and accelerating the disposal of bad loans held by Japanese banks.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Lower taxes by March possible, Fukuda states

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda sounded a hopeful note Tuesday that tax cuts could be introduced by the end of March.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2002

Flaws in Japan's nuclear-arms debate

The ongoing debate in Japan on nuclear arms lacks sophistication. On May 31, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said if the international situation were to change, public opinion might favor a nuclear-armed Japan. He was commenting on the government's long-standing three nonnuclear principles of not...
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2002

Nonnuclear principles to stay: Fukuda

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, who provoked an uproar by suggesting that Japan's ban on nuclear weapons could be reviewed, told a Diet panel Monday the government has no intention of abandoning the "three principles" of not possessing, manufacturing or allowing nuclear arms on its soil.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2002

Labour's dearth of dissent

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be suffering from the first signs of the madness of princes. It is paranoia, and it afflicts almost every political man who has ambition but does not have the security of the divine right of kings (the madness of kings being grandiosity or megalomania.)...
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2002

State targets single moms in bid to fight divorce rate

In reaction to the growing number of divorces in Japan, the government said Friday it will restrict single mothers' eligibility to receive child-care benefits.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building