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JAPAN
Apr 18, 1997

JR firms doing just fine without government

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JAPAN
Apr 18, 1997

Tokyo governor eyes a cleaner metropolis

Tokyo Gov. Yukio Aoshima, who will enter the last half of his four-year term next week, said April 18 that his priority in the remaining tenure will be a fight against garbage and changing Tokyo into a city of recycling.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 1997

Nuclear corporation could face the ax

Extensive reform -- including possible elimination -- of the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. (PNC) must be considered, according to Riichiro Chikaoka, director general of the Science and Technology Agency.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 1997

WTO sought on Indonesia car row

Japan has initiated procedures to file a request with the World Trade Organization to set up a dispute settlement panel to examine Indonesia's national car policy, according to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 1997

Japan to drop 1994 public works pledge

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and the three-party ruling alliance decided April 18 to renege on a 1994 public works pledge made by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama to the United States, sources said.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 1997

Aoshima to ask return of Akasaka plot

Tokyo Gov. Yukio Aoshima reiterated his intention April 18 to seek return of a 4,300-sq.-meter plot in Tokyo's Akasaka district that the U.S. Army in Japan has continued to use as a heliport despite a 1983 agreement.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

More travelers expected during Golden Week

More people will take a trip during the coming Golden Week holiday than last year, but the average travel expenditure will drop, a recent survey conducted by Japan Travel Bureau indicates.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Police unit boasts Snakehead arrest

OSAKA -- The new warrant served on Wang Yunfeng, who lives in Osaka and is allegedly a key member of a Chinese Snakehead syndicate that works with the yakuza to smuggle Chinese into Japan, marks the first major arrest since the prefectural police here set up a special task force earlier this month to...
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Clerics query organ transplant bill

A group of religious leaders issued a statement April 17 calling for careful deliberations on a human organ transplant bill now in the final stage of legislative action.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Havana willing to grant asylum to Peruvian rebels

Cuba is willing to grant asylum to Peruvian rebels holding 72 hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina Gonzalez reaffirmed April 17 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Trade surplus falls 29.6% but gap with U.S. climbs

Japan's customs-cleared trade surplus for fiscal 1996 fell 29.6 percent from the previous year to 6.42 trillion yen, logging the fourth straight year of decline, according to figures released April 17.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

German Import Fair comes to Osaka

OSAKA -- The German Import Fair, the first ever of its type in Osaka, will be held at the Umeda Sky Building complex here from May 16 to 18.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Mitsui Marine may support NCB

Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. is leaning toward complying with a request from Nippon Credit Bank for new capital to support its restructuring efforts, the president of the nonlife insurer said April 17.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

JAMA says industry will not boost exports

Japan's auto industry has no intention of increasing exports to take advantage of the yen's recent fall against the dollar, the head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said April 17.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

Showa park sprouts new garden

A garden complete with a tea ceremony house opened April 17 in the National Showa Memorial Park, which is dedicated to the Emperor Showa and spans the two Tokyo municipalities of Tachikawa and Akishima.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Aid views: 'Abductions a frame-up; food comes first'

Allegations that North Korean agents have abducted Japanese are a frame-up and Tokyo should pledge money to the United Nations to help the state's starving citizens, according to a former senior U.N. official who teaches at Saitama University.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Komei rep open to Shinshinto-LDP alliance

Tomio Fujii, a representative of Komei, a political party consisting of Upper House members and about 3,000 local assembly members, indicated on April 16 that the party would accept a possible alliance between Shinshinto and the Liberal Democratic Party if it is formed to carry out economic reforms and...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

G-7 may use Internet to publicize green efforts

The top leaders from the Group of Seven major industrialized economies and Russia are considering using the Internet at their June summit in Denver to appeal for more efforts at all levels to preserve the environment, Japanese government sources said April 16.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Aid views: 'Aid just props up regime of oppression'

Japan should not send food aid to North Korea unless Japanese citizens allegedly abducted by the country's agents are freed and a perfect system to monitor the distribution of food to civilians is in place, according to one of Japan's most vocal critics of the communist country.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Oracle head sees future in networks

Personal computers will soon be replaced by network computers, which are simple and less costly, the head of Oracle Corp. said April 16 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Interviews to set reform blueprint

An administrative reform panel decided April 16 to interview representatives from each government ministry and agency on the possibility of integrating some organizations and entrusting some ministerial tasks to independent agencies or private firms. The interviews will start next month.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Upper House eatery holding to pre-hike prices

Upper House members do not like the consumption tax. This may be why the chamber's restaurant has kept prices to what they were at before the levy was hiked to 5 percent on April 1.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Criminal charges sought against PNC, officials

The Science and Technology Agency has asked police to take criminal action against Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. and some PNC officers over a series of accidents and ensuing coverup attempts at its atomic facilities, agency chief Riichiro Chikaoka said April 16.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Japan to finance Egypt bridge project with 12 billion yen

Japan will provide Egypt with about 12 billion yen in grant-in-aid to help the Middle East nation build a bridge across the Suez Canal as part of its efforts to develop the Sinai Peninsula, government officials said April 15.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Brain death splits Lower House

Although debate at the Lower House Health and Welfare Committee has nearly come to an end, committee legislators are still divided over whether brain death should be legally recognized as death.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Komae mayor also admits taking bribes

Former Mayor Mitsuo Ishii of Komae, Tokyo, who stepped down last June after amassing huge gambling debts, pleaded guilty April 15 to charges of bribe-taking in his first trial hearing before the Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Yasato mayor fined for taking bribes, walks

Former Mayor Tateo Sakurai of Yasato, Ibaraki Prefecture, was given a three-year prison term, suspended for five years, and fined 25 million yen for taking bribes from contractors to help them land municipal public works projects.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Mitsuzuka urges pension reform

The public pension system needs to be reformed -- through such steps as cuts in payments to high-income earners -- if it is to withstand the effects of a rapidly aging population, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said April 15.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Osaka, Northeast England business chambers link

OSAKA -- The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Britain's North East Chamber of Commerce, Trade and Industry on April 15 signed a joint statement to strengthen cooperation in facilitating trade and investment, as well as to develop links between universities in the regions.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

1997 likely to be critical for banks

The upcoming year will be a critical one for domestic banking as the industry decides on a new grand design for Japanese financial institutions operating in the global markets, the head of the nation's banking community said April 15.

Longform

Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh