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Mayumi Negishi
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005
Bureaucrats fear not the loss of pull on politics if they join in
The road from bureaucrat to politician is well-paved.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005
Sales tax hike best solution, and it's urgent: expert
Raising the consumption tax may be considered political suicide.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2005
Thai FTA defers sticking points
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his visiting Thai counterpart, Thaksin Shinawatra, agreed Thursday on a basic accord to lower mutual trade barriers that left key decisions on high tariffs on Japanese cars and Thai rice unresolved.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2005
Budget ax poised to swing as agencies vie for shrinking pie
Starting Thursday, officials from government ministries and agencies will line up in the hallway outside the Finance Ministry Budget Bureau to make their annual pitches for hunks of the 2006 general account budget.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2005
Ministries requesting 85.3 trillion yen for fiscal 2006 budget
The government as a whole is seeking 85.3 trillion yen in fiscal 2006 to finance public services and institutions and pay down its mammoth debt, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2005
Oil-triggered slump in U.S. is the worry in Japan
Crude oil prices around $60 to $70 a barrel for the next six months will have little direct impact on the Japanese economy, but look out for indirect hits if higher prices hurt consumption in the U.S., economists say.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Aug 21, 2005
Not fade away
On stage, Takashi Ugawa, 47, feels lighter than air. One reason is that the young and pretty tarento (showbiz personality) Eiko Koike has just flashed his band a smile. Another is that for a whole month now, he's avoided food and beer after 9 p.m.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2005
China to swoop on Iran oil field if Tokyo pulls support: firms
On the brink of tapping into one of the world's largest known oil reserves, Japanese companies are fretting over the possibility of further rivalry with China.
JAPAN / 60 YEARS,AND ONWARD
Aug 14, 2005
War's end brought cash to Hokkaido
When the 77th Division of the 9th Army Corps landed in Hakodate, Hokkaido, on Oct. 4, 1945, it began a low-key U.S. presence in Japan's northernmost prefecture which continues to this day.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2005
Economy grew 0.3% in April-June quarter
The nation's economy grew by a less-than-expected 0.3 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said Friday, but economists said better business and consumer spending, along with strong exports, suggest Japan's recovery this time may last.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2005
Welfare costs lift leeway for '06 budget
The Cabinet on Thursday approved a 47.5 trillion yen cap on core policy-related outlays for fiscal 2006 budget requests.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2005
Government seeks to keep 3% cost cut target in budget
The government hopes to trim public-works spending by at least 3 percent in the fiscal 2006 budget, the same modest cost cuts made for this fiscal year, according to budget compilation guidelines submitted Wednesday to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 60 YEARS AND ONWARD
Aug 10, 2005
Daylight-saving time always a tough sell
Pity the proponents of daylight-saving time. Late last month, the third bill drafted to revive the energy-saving practice was put on the Diet's back burner, delayed by filibustering over postal privatization.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2005
Japan eyes retaliatory tariffs for U.S. steel
Japan may impose retaliatory duties on U.S. steel products, including ball bearings, in September to counter subsidies paid out to steel firms by Washington under an antidumping program that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2005
Crude oil price spike dents trade surplus
Japan's merchandise trade surplus for the first half of 2005 shrank 26.4 percent from the previous year to 4.53 trillion, yen the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2005
Pension program invested into black
The public pension program cleared its books of red ink in fiscal 2004, with a weak yen helping it offload foreign stocks and bonds for a profit, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2005
Teikoku Oil gets drilling rights in East China Sea
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry granted Teikoku Oil Co. rights Thursday to explore in disputed waters in the East China Sea near Chinese drilling platforms.
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2005
Oil-price rises may hold recovery hostage: experts
Rising oil prices have yet to faze Japan. But with oil experts projecting further hikes to as much as $80 a barrel, the nation should brace itself for direct and indirect hits on its recovery in the not-so-distant future, economists say.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2005
'04 tax revenue up 5.3% as jobs, dividends grow
In a sign the economy is growing stronger, tax revenues in fiscal 2004 rose 5.3 percent from the previous year to 45.59 trillion yen for the first increase in four years, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2005
'Mr. Yen' sees symbolic yuan gesture by yearend
China may make a "symbolic" gesture of addressing overseas complaints about its currency policy by slightly loosening the yuan's peg to the dollar before the end of the year, a former top currency guru said Tuesday.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?