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JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

LDP approves 750 billion yen package of tax cuts

The Liberal Democratic Party effectively completed a package of tax revisions Tuesday for fiscal 1998 that would allow tax cuts worth about 750 billion yen.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Election for SDP helm still void of candidates

The Social Democratic Party, one of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's two smaller non-Cabinet allies, decided Tuesday to postpone its Dec. 27 party leadership election because nobody stepped forward to toss a hat in the ring.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Intellectual property rights due for major boost

To provide stronger and more efficient protection for intellectual property rights, the Patent Office said Tuesday it will make major revisions to patent-related laws for the first time in nearly 40 years.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Ozawa hints that dissenters should leave

Ichiro Ozawa, leader of Shinshinto, the largest opposition party, indicated Tuesday he would accept splitting the party if members disagree with his policy proposals.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Open thermal power sector to competitive bidding, panel urges

All new thermal power development should be made subject to competitive bidding starting in fiscal 1999, a government advisory panel said in an interim report released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Business leaders hail tax reforms, finance package

Most business leaders, who have demanded corporate tax cuts of 10 percentage points, welcomed the tax reform package and financial stabilization measures hammered out by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Industrial output rose 0.1% in October

Industrial output in October rose 0.1 percent from the previous month, an upward revision from a preliminary 0.4 percent decrease, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a report released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Water quality in need of improvement, agency says

The quality of water in the nation's rivers, lakes and inland sea areas still needs substantial improvement, the Environment Agency said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

City's testing confirms toxins buried at site of theme park

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Japan, U.S. air out aviation differences

The United States and Japan ended the first day of round six of their official civil aviation talks Monday at the Transport Ministry by reconfirming their differences on key issues in the protracted dispute.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Happenings in and around Kansai

JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

LDP to approve 10 trillion yen bond package for DIC

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday finalized details of its financial stabilization package, featuring 10 trillion yen in government bonds for Deposit Insurance Corp. to help recapitalize troubled financial institutions.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Korean students seek right to enter national universities

A group of Korean students in Japan and their supporters Monday asked the Education Ministry for fair treatment and the right to take national university entrance examinations.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Election may mean end for Shinshinto

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Foley urges Mitsuzuka to take action on financial system

Japan should take measures to stabilize its financial system and stimulate the economy, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Foley urged Monday, stressing that the nation's economic performance greatly affects Asia and the rest of the world.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Japan to accelerate closure of liquor tax gap

Japan intends to speed up its timetable for reducing the disparity between taxes on whiskey and "Grade B" domestic "shochu" spirits by one year so that the rates will be almost the same beginning in October 2000, government officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Abuse claims spur transfer of disabled patients

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and 10 municipalities in Tokyo said Monday they will temporarily shelter 18 mentally disabled people at welfare facilities in Tokyo because their guardians and attorneys claimed they have been physically and mentally abused at a Fukushima facility.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Tokyo to take Seoul off special low-tariff list

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

'Tankan' survey shows business confidence worsening

Business confidence in most sectors has plunged sharply and may slip further, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey of business sentiment released Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Family of woman with CJD to file criminal complaint

KYOTO -- The family of a woman with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease will file a criminal complaint today with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office against two medical goods' suppliers.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

LDP panel formulates corporate tax cut agreement

The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel reached a rough agreement Monday to reduce the basic corporate tax rate by 3 percentage points in fiscal 1998, leading to a net reduction of roughly 330 billion yen in corporate taxes, senior panel officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

Tea-pouring deemed sexual harassment

The forcing of female employees to pour drinks at parties may be considered a form of sexual harassment, according to a report issued Monday by a Labor Ministry panel.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1997

OECD lowers 1998 growth forecast for Japan

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday revised downward its forecast for Japan's economic growth in 1998 by 1.2 percentage points to 1.7 percent, partly because of the worsening problems in the financial sector, the organization said.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Transport leans heavily on JR in battle over debt

The Transport Ministry will prepare a legal revision aimed at forcing Japan Railway group firms to bear an additional burden of the 27.8 trillion yen in debt left behind by the privatization of the former Japanese National Railways, Transport Minister Takao Fujii said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Bond issue sinks government's fiscal reform plan

The government plans to issue nearly 6.8 trillion yen in deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 1998 to finance a package of tax cuts aimed at boosting the economy and stabilizing the financial system, according to Finance Ministry sources. The bond flotation is nearly 750 billion yen smaller than that for...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Turmoil-filled Diet session concludes

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Renewed Japanese leadership needed for Seoul's economy

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Diet gets tough on port disputes

The Diet passed a bill on Friday to enable the government to quickly take retaliatory action against discriminatory measures imposed on Japanese maritime carriers by foreign countries.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Diet passes revision to Deposit Insurance Law

A government-sponsored bill to revise the Deposit Insurance Law was enacted Friday when the Upper House passed it on the final day of the 141st extraordinary Diet session.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Japan loans Vietnam 97.5 billion yen

Japan pledged 97.5 billion yen in aid to Vietnam on Friday to support Hanoi's economic reforms, Foreign Ministry officials said.

Longform

Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free