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BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2002

No growth without reforms, report says

Persistent deflation and massive bad loans in the nation's banking system have weakened Japan's economy and no improvement will be seen until structural reforms are implemented, according to an annual government white paper released Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2002

Mr. Sharon on his own

I srael's "Unity" government has collapsed. The marriage of the Likud and Labor parties ended when Labor Party members followed their leader, Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, out of the Cabinet in a dispute over the budget. While the stated reason for the departure was fairness to the poor and...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2002

4,632 people win awards for contributing to Japan

The government announced Sunday a list of 4,605 Japanese and 27 foreign nationals to be decorated this autumn for their contributions to the state and society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2002

Okinawa election again boils down to two themes

With Okinawa's Nov. 17 gubernatorial election looming, voters are gauging the progress made during the first term of Gov. Keiichi Inamine in addressing local concerns over the concentration of U.S. military bases and efforts to boost the prefecture's economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2002

Relatives demand details on abductees, rap Koizumi

The families of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea met for the first time with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday and demanded that the government confirm the information from the Stalinist state regarding the fates of the missing people.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2002

Abductees' kin, supporters call for results

The families of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea and Diet members working to help them reaffirmed Thursday their demand that the government take a firm stance on the issue.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002

State to draw up new economic plan

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced plans Friday to come up with a fresh economic package aimed at preventing a further decline in Japanese stock prices, following their fall to a 19-year low.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2002

Panel will attempt to curtail government waste in R&D

A Cabinet Office panel plans to eliminate money-wasting undertakings by reassessing some 90 government-run research and development projects.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2002

Koizumi rating up amid dearth of alternatives

The popular approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has inched up to 45.2 percent, according to the results of a Kyodo News opinion poll released Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2002

Consumer sentiment improved in June

Consumer confidence improved in June from three months earlier for the second quarter in a row in a sign that the nation's export-driven upswing is improving sentiment, a government survey showed Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2002

Rules adopted to limit influence of lawmakers

The government established a set of rules Tuesday that outline proper relationships between politicians and bureaucrats, hoping to prevent lawmakers from exerting undue influence on policymaking matters.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2002

Mark of Koizumi's mettle

At the end of the recent Group of Eight summit in Kananaskis, Canada, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed confidence in successfully implementing his reform programs, including plans for highway administration and postal services. Koizumi said, "My G8 partners praised and encouraged me when I...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Koizumi lashes out at old boys' network

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday urged stricter standards for appointing executives of public corporations, in an effort to curb the notorious practice of "amakudari," the hiring of retired bureaucrats as heads of those entities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Howard's hesitation on ICC draws fire

SYDNEY -- A split in the Howard Cabinet ranks over whether to join the United States in refusing to support an International Criminal Court is the most serious threat yet to the dream run so far enjoyed by the Canberra government.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Suzuki faces arrest over lumber bribe

Public prosecutors may question senior lawmaker Muneo Suzuki next week on allegations he received 5 million yen in bribes from a Hokkaido lumber firm when he was deputy chief Cabinet secretary in 1998, and seek his arrest, law enforcement sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2002

Opposition seeks Fukuda's head

Four major opposition parties agreed Monday to demand the resignation of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda over his suggestion last week that Japan could abandon its three nonnuclear principles.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2002

Nonpublic officials take more honors

The government on Monday announced recipients of its biannual awards, with nonpublic officials accounting for a record high 35 percent of the 4,624 Japanese honored.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

LDP acquiesces on bills for postal deregulation

The Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday backed down from its crusade to block a package of bills on postal services deregulation, saying it would approve the legislation's submission to the Diet.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2002

Government sees economy approaching bottom

The economy is showing increasing signs of bottoming out, the government said Wednesday, upgrading its assessment for the second straight month.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2002

Machinery orders dive 15.6%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 15.6 percent in January to 763.8 billion yen, due to a sharp fall in orders from nonmanufacturers, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2002

Poll eyes wages of people forced to seek new jobs

People who have taken between one and six months to secure employment after being laid off have generally managed to maintain their pay levels in their new jobs, according to the results of a Cabinet Office poll.
COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2002

Koizumi fast losing his luster

The entire affair involving Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dismissal of Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Jan. 29 reminded me of an old saying that "nothing is predictable in politics." Following Koizumi's move, his government's public-approval rating plummeted to about 50 percent after remaining...
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Shiokawa says pressure likely at G7

Japan will probably come under pressure to fix its economic problems, including its dismal bad-loan situation, when top financial ministers and officials of the Group of Seven industrial powers gather in Ottawa for a two-day meeting, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2002

Finance Ministry tries to regain past clout

The Finance Ministry, which once enjoyed the prestige of being the nation's top bureaucratic body but saw its power and influence erode in the late 1990s in a series of scandals, appears to be aligning with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's political initiatives to regain its former status.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2001

Shiokawa repeats budget vow

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa reiterated his view Wednesday that it would be ineffective to compile a second supplementary budget to finance pump-priming stimulus measures.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Surname law now said out of sync

After years of debate and shifting social trends, legislation that would allow Japanese married couples to keep separate surnames may finally hit the Diet floor.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2001

Tanaka faces fresh hailstorm

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka attracted another barrage of criticism from across the political spectrum Friday after she pushed back a meeting with a foreign dignitary by 40 minutes the night before.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2001

Key economic health gauge hit zero in August

The key gauge of economic health came to zero in August, remaining well below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent for the eighth straight month, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2001

Tanaka to return 250,000 yen over latest ministry scandal

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Friday she will return 50 percent of one month's salary, or 250,000 yen, to the government to take responsibility for the latest scandal involving a former ministry official in a fraud case.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2001

State maintains dismal view of economy

The government on Thursday left its dismal view of the Japanese economy unchanged for the second straight month but slashed its outlook for the global economy due to the U.S. slowdown.

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