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COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2000

Is the Bank of Japan right?

LONDON -- The governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaru Hayami, and the majority of the BOJ's policy council have drawn criticism from the Japanese government and leaders of Japanese industry for the decision to end the BOJ's zero-interest-rate policy. These criticisms have been echoed in the British press....
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2000

Capital gains tax system should stay: FRC chief

Hideyuki Aizawa, chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission, said Friday that he will call on the Finance Ministry to maintain the current capital gains tax system in order to prevent the ministry's proposed reforms from negatively affecting the domestic stock market.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2000

Updated environment plan to add new economic options

The Basic Environment Plan -- Japan's 5-year-old master plan for a more environmentally sustainable society -- is in the middle of a seismic revision.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2000

Defense Agency to seek tanker aircraft

The Defense Agency plans to seek government approval to acquire a tanker aircraft for aerial refueling for the Air Self-Defense Force in the next fiscal year.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2000

The summer 'silly season' everywhere

Europe is on holiday. Go to Paris and you will find half the restaurants shut. Many industries close down for weeks, and their workers flock to holiday resorts. Britain is not much different from the rest of Europe in this respect -- although British firms tend to stagger holidays more than in other...
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

Rally held to push issue of abductions

About 250 relatives and supporters of missing Japanese who were allegedly abducted by North Korean agents staged a demonstration march Sunday in Tokyo, asking Japan to push the matter in normalization talks this week.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

Hatoyama has no competition in DPJ race

Yukio Hatoyama was assured Monday of remaining leader of the Democratic Party of Japan after hopeful contenders failed to file their candidacies due to the lack of sufficient backing.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2000

Welcome end to the zero-rate policy

The Bank of Japan lifted its zero-interest-rate policy Aug. 11, despite strong resistance by the government, which exercised its right for the first time under the new BOJ law in its unsuccessful attempt to have the vote by the central bank's Policy Board postponed. One week later, the Nikkei-225 average...
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2000

Mori to embark on diplomatic tour in Asia

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori leaves today for an eight-day trip to four Southwest Asian countries, during which he is expected to call on India and Pakistan to sign an international treaty banning tests of nuclear weapons.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2000

China withdraws Morita's welcome

China has declined to accept a visit by Transport Minister Hajime Morita, in what some see as an indication of its displeasure over his visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2000

Government workers facing salary reductions

The National Personnel Authority on Tuesday recommended bonus reductions and a freeze on central government employees' basic monthly salaries, which would reduce government employees' annual income over the previous year for the second consecutive year.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2000

Arafat to arrive Thursday for visit

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will arrive in Japan on Thursday for a two-day visit, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono announced Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2000

Hands off the Bank of Japan

The Bank of Japan, at a policy meeting last Friday, lifted its controversial zero-interest rate policy, which was adopted in February last year amid mounting deflationary pressures. The decision is overdue, given that the economy has shown growing signs of recovery in recent months. The good news for...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2000

Rash media prolonging hostage crises

HONG KONG -- Recent hostage crises in Fiji and Sulu have been made more protracted by unprincipled journalism.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2000

Cuba's VP coming to Tokyo in fall

Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage plans to visit Tokyo in early October at the Japanese government's invitation to discuss with Japanese leaders ways to strengthen hitherto estranged relations between the two countries, diplomatic sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2000

Politicians know ordinary people best: Aizawa

The government will not delay again the sale of the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank to a Softbank Corp.-led consortium on Sept. 1, despite a controversial clause in the contract, the new chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2000

BOJ holds cards in 'zero-rate' maneuvers

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami is likely to urge the central bank's Policy Board to terminate the nearly 18-month-old "zero-interest-rate" policy at its policy-setting meeting today, monetary sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Mount Oyama erupts again, forcing residents to flee

Miyake Island's Mount Oyama erupted Thursday morning for the fourth time in just over a month, forcing nearby residents to evacuate, the Meteorological Agency said.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2000

Bangalore visit to show Mori's resolve on IT

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori will visit Bangalore, the bustling Indian version of the U.S. Silicon Valley, during his forthcoming trip to the South Asian country, government sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2000

BOJ under pressure on zero interest rate

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday came under heavy political pressure to keep its "zero-interest-rate" policy during a meeting with the government's most influential politicians on economic matters.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2000

Deflationary concerns nearly gone, Bank of Japan says

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami crept another inch closer to lifting the central bank's "zero-interest-rate" policy Monday by telling the Diet "an end to deflationary concerns is foreseeable."
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 8, 2000

The Bush machine rolls along

WASHINGTON -- There are three defining events for a candidate in the U.S. presidential campaign, events that reveal the candidate in a unique and important way. They are the selection of the vice-presidential candidate, the candidate's appearance at the convention, and the debates.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2000

India-Japan ties on Mori's agenda

Japan and India will agree this month to establish two high-powered joint panels -- one of prominent private-sector experts and another of high-level government officials -- to develop and strengthen bilateral relations, government sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2000

Construction bonds may be used for other projects: Mori

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori indicated his qualified support Friday for a Liberal Democratic Party plan to allow construction bonds to be issued to fund outlays on projects other than public works.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2000

Chinese naval operations could scuttle yen loan program

The Foreign Ministry plans to extend around 17.2 billion yen in loans to China under a program to help countries that were hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, ministry sources said.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2000

Construction Ministry to research fiber-optic network

The Construction Ministry will set up an expert committee to study ways to lay fiber-optic cables in sewer pipes to create a telecommunications network reaching a large number of households, ministry officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2000

Chongryun arranges trip to South Korea

A senior official of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) said Tuesday that the group intends to send its first group of members to South Korea, perhaps on Aug. 15.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2000

Kuze's excuses put spotlight on dubious LDP roster system

A day after Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's apology before the Diet appeared to alleviate the chaos over the resignation of a scandal-tainted Cabinet member, the opposition shifted its target Tuesday to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's dubious election roster system.
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2000

A decade of transformation

The 37th annual U.S.-Japan Business Conference that met in Tokyo last month reflected the vast changes that have taken place in the U.S.-Japan economic relationship over the past 10 years.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami