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November 26, 2024

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JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Nissan to reduce auto platforms to five

Nissan Motor Co. plans to reduce the number of platforms for its automobiles to five by around 2005, Nissan President Yoshikazu Hanawa said Tuesday.In an effort to reduce costs and shorten development lead time for new models, the company has been planning to consolidate major platforms, Hanawa said....

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Japan to help revitalize trans-Siberia railway

The Japanese government will promote cooperation to revitalize the trans-Siberia Railway as part of Tokyo's efforts to encourage economic reform in Russia, Japanese officials told their Russian counterparts Tuesday at a meeting to discuss work on the railway.Japan will promote such measures as feasibility...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Celebrity's brother held over drugs

Takayuki Kuroyanagi, 41, brother of media celebrity and UNICEF Ambassador Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, was arrested in connection with drug possession and turned over to prosecutors Monday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.A small amount of stimulants was found Sunday night in his car, which was...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Prosecutors raid banks embroiled in bribe scandal

Prosecutors raided the head offices of the Asahi, Dai-Ichi Kangyo, Sanwa and now-defunct Hokkaido Takushoku banks Tuesday in connection with a scandal that has emerged following the arrests of two Finance Ministry inspectors Monday over bribery.The raid comes only a day after the Tokyo District Public...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Specify priority ODA sectors, panel tells Obuchi

The nation needs to specify priority sectors in extending official development assistance because its resources are under restraint due to tight fiscal policy, according to a final report released Tuesday by a 10-member private consulting body to Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi."Japan's ODA has been well...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Tax official admits guilt in taking bribes

A former tax officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting 4 million yen in bribes to help an acquaintance carry out a tax-dodging scheme.Akio Tobinai, 52, formerly with the Kamakura Tax Office in Kanagawa Prefecture, pleaded guilty in his first hearing before the Tokyo District Court. According to prosecutors,...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Banker wants 'MOF-tan' abolished

Banks should consider abolishing positions specifically created to maintain close contact with Finance Ministry officials, the head of the banking industry federation said Tuesday.Naotaka Saeki, president of Sanwa Bank and chairman of the Federation of Bankers Associations of Japan, put forward the...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Keidanren seeks easing of share buyback rules

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) on Tuesday urged the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to establish a law to ease rules governing companies' share buybacks until March 2000 to revitalize the sluggish stock market.Takashi Imai, a Keidanren vice chairman, made the request in a...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Mitsuzuka to step down over bureaucrat arrests

Giving in to pressure from both the opposition and allies of the Liberal Democratic Party to step down, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka announced Tuesday that he will resign to take responsibility for the arrests of two ministry inspectors accused of taking bribes.The decision was conveyed to Prime...

JAPAN

Jan 27, 1998

Competition, investment needed in Japan, EU envoy says

By Mitsuko Nashima

Staff writerGreater competition stimulated by more foreign investments is what Japan needs to revive its sagging economy, according to Jorn Keck, departing ambassador of the European Union."Japan, now more than ever, needs foreign investment in order to improve the efficiency of many areas of industry,"...

JAPAN

Jan 26, 1998

Merging U.S. guarantors to set up shop in Tokyo

MBIA Inc. and CapMAC Holdings, two major U.S. financial guarantors set to merge in March, will set up an office in Tokyo this summer to enhance their business in the Japanese market, the firms' CEOs announced Monday.Financial guarantors assure investors of the principal and interest of municipal or...

JAPAN

Jan 26, 1998

DPJ seeks to use gender-based quotas in fielding candidates

The Democratic Party of Japan, the nation's largest opposition party, announced Monday it plans to introduce a gender-based quota system for selecting candidates for national and local elections."It is the first time for a political party to introduce the system in this country, where it is widely known...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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