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JAPAN
Jan 16, 1997

Japan unlikely to freeze fund money to sex slaves

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said Jan. 16 that it would be difficult for Japan to comply with a request by South Korea to suspend compensation payments to South Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers before and during World War II.Yosano, at a regular news conference,...
JAPAN
Jan 16, 1997

Opel chief says imports will gain equal footing

The differences between domestic and imported brands will become indistinguishable, and the successful companies will be those that pay attention to the customer, according to the representative general director of Opel Japan.David Dunahay predicts that intensifying competition and rapidly changing...
JAPAN
Jan 16, 1997

Revival of holding firms made easier

The Fair Trade Commission is considering greater liberalization once it lifts the ban on holding companies than had been initially planned by the organization's study panel.FTC Chairman Yasuchika Negoro indicated Jan. 16 that the FTC, in cooperation with government agencies, will soon work out a draft...
JAPAN
Jan 16, 1997

EU to take Japan to WTO over fish, pork, ports

The European Union, in an apparent sign of its tougher trade policy, has informally notified Japan of its intention to take bilateral disputes over marine products, pork, and port transportation to the World Trade Organization, government sources in Tokyo said Jan. 16.The sources said the 15-nation...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Search continues for 10 fishermen

NAGASAKI -- Maritime Safety Agency officials said on Jan. 15 that they have found no sign of 10 people who are missing from a Japanese fishing boat that capsized after colliding with a Panamanian-registered freighter Jan. 13 off South Korea's Cheju Island.The MSA dispatched cruisers and helicopters...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Tough times continue in Kobe

KOBE -- Two years after the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit this port city on Jan. 17, 1995, Kengo Tanaka has depleted his savings as well as the 3.5 million yen he borrowed from the national government's relief fund."I cannot foresee my future," said Tanaka, 52, who lives with his 75-year-old mother and...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Oil from ruptured tanker hits Noto Peninsula

KYOTO -- Oil spills caused by a ruptured Russian tanker washed up on a beach in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Jan. 15 on the northwestern part of the Noto Peninsula.The Maritime Safety Office in Niigata fears oil from the tanker Nakhodka will hit the northern tip of the peninsula Jan. 16 and move toward...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Veterinarian puts experience to work helping waterfowl

FUKUI -- While oil from a ruptured Russian tanker continues to wreak havoc along much of the picturesque Sea of Japan coastline here and in adjoining prefectures, emergency crews are tending to the growing number of victims with oil-soaked feathers.Kunitoshi Baba, 48, is one of the veteran veterinarians...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Flu epidemic may be worst in decade

An outbreak of influenza, often rampant around this time of year, could be the worst in a decade, the Health and Welfare Ministry warned Jan. 15.According to recent statistics released by the ministry, the number of people who appear to have contracted the virus in the latter half of December reached...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Two held over bribe to enter school

YOKOHAMA -- Two men have been arrested in a bribery case involving the alleged exchange of 1 million yen to ensure a racehorse enthusiast would be admitted to a school for trainers, police said Jan. 15.On Jan. 14, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested Sakae Nishiuchi, 57, a former official of a horse-race...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 1997

Oil spill's effects could linger for decades

The delicate ecosystem along the Sea of Japan coast is on the verge of collapse as oil slicks from a ruptured Russian tanker continue to take their toll.The number of seabirds soaked in oil and needing treatment is on the rise, and it is feared other marine life along the beach will continue to suffer...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Ikeda to visit Seoul to prepare for talks

Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda will make a one-day visit Jan. 15 to South Korea to prepare for a summit between Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and South Korean President Kim Young Sam later this month.Ikeda will exchange views with South Korean Foreign Minister Yoo Chong Ha on a variety of issues,...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Arrest sought over mutual fund fraud

Investigative authorities have decided to seek permission from the Diet to arrest Upper House member Tatsuo Tomobe in connection with a scandal involving the bogus Orange Kyosai Kumiai mutual fund, informed sources said Jan. 14. They have concluded that Tomobe was directly involved in the operation...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

1971 bombing suspects awarded redress

The Tokyo District Court on Jan. 14 ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay 3 million yen to five plaintiffs for unlawfully investigating them in connection with the planting of a time bomb at the official residence of the head of the Metropolitan Police Department. The plaintiffs, including...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Oil in tanker's bow to be extracted

The government will begin removing the remaining oil in the bow section of a wrecked Russian tanker as soon as possible, Transport Minister Makoto Koga said Jan. 14. The government, in its second meeting to deal with the spill from the Russian tanker Nakhodka, which sank northeast of the Oki Islands...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Mongolian prime minister to visit

Mongolian Prime Minister Mendsaikhani Enkhsaikhan will in late February make his first visit to Tokyo since he took office following last June's landmark election in which his opposition coalition ousted the former Communists from power, Japanese government officials said Jan. 14.Speaking on condition...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Shinshinto backs expanding SDF role

Shinshinto lawmakers gave the go-ahead Jan. 14 -- some reluctantly -- to the proposal by the party's leadership to back legal revisions to enable Japanese troops to take part in U.N. operations that go beyond normal peacekeeping missions.The endorsement was given after lengthy debate at a general meeting...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Israeli envoy looking to boost trade

Israel Ambassador Moshe Ben-Yaacov said Jan. 14 that economic relations between Japan and his country are growing quickly, thanks to improved peace prospects in the Middle East.Bilateral trade has reached $2.2 billion, and increasing numbers of cars and other Japanese products are flowing into Israel,...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Ambassador Panov to survey damage

Russian Ambassador Alexander Panov will visit Fukui and Ishikawa prefectures Jan. 15 to map out further measures for dealing with damage caused by oil spilled from a wrecked Russian tanker, Panov told Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda on Jan. 14, according to Foreign Ministry officials.Panov told Ikeda...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

1.82 million people come of age

A total of 1.82 million people turned 20 during the one-year period ending Jan. 15, the Management and Coordination Agency said Jan. 14, the eve of the national holiday Coming of Age Day.The number of new adults decreased 60,000 from last year, accounting for 1.4 percent in the total population, the...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Stock market props ruled out

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka indicated Jan. 14 he does not see an immediate need for new stimulus measures to help prop up the flailing stock market. Authorities are viewing the situation with keen interest and will keep a close eye on movements in the stock market, Mitsuzuka told a news conference....
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Keep firm pressure on trade promises, ACCJ tells U.S.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan urged Washington to stand firm and keep the pressure on the Japanese government to fulfill its commitment to bilateral trade agreements.In a report released Jan. 13 the chamber says, however, that sanctions should be used only when the cause is just and the...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Seoul talks to go on despite sex-slave row

Talks between Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda and his South Korean counterpart, Yoo Chong Ha, will be held Jan. 15 in Seoul as scheduled despite renewed tension between the two countries over a deal made between Japan and former sex slaves of the Imperial Japanese Army, the Japanese government's top...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Big comet expected to put on a show

A comet 100 times brighter than Halley's comet is approaching Earth.At present, the Hale-Bopp comet cannot be seen in the sky over Japan because it is below the horizon, but it will be visible here in the last half of this month. But in April, the comet will make its closest approach to the Sun and...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Saito makes wanted list of Aum fugitives

The Metropolitan Police Department on Jan. 13 placed a 34-year-old Aum follower on a nationwide wanted list.According to investigators, Akemi Saito is suspected of assisting the flight of a 33-year-old convict linked to the shooting of Takaji Kunimatsu, the National Police Agency's director general....
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Prominent novelist faces plagiarism suit by professor

A university professor filed a lawsuit Jan. 13 against Toyoko Yamasaki, a prominent novelist, claiming Yamasaki has plagiarized her work in her famed piece, "Daichi-no-ko" ("The Child of the Earth"), which dealt with Japanese children left in China in the aftermath of World War II.Homare Endo, 56, demanded...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Use of antisubversive law facing uncertainty

The Public Security Commission will probably not outlaw Aum Shinrikyo under the Antisubversive Activities Law despite a request from the Justice Ministry's Public Security Investigation Agency, sources close to the commission said Jan. 13. About half of the commission members reportedly oppose applying...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Funada returns to 'reform' LDP

Hajime Funada, a former Economic Planning Agency chief, on Jan. 13 formally announced his intention to rejoin the Liberal Democratic Party, leaving behind Nijuisseiki (the 21st Century), a small parliamentary group he formed two months ago."I have decided to return to the LDP to reform the party from...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Current account surplus continues steady decline

Japan's current account surplus for November fell 15.4 percent from a year earlier to 664.1 billion yen, according to preliminary statistics released Jan. 13.It was the second lowest November figure since 1985. The current account surplus has continued to drop since December 1994 with the exception...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Astronaut kicks off earthquake symposium in Tokyo

With the second anniversary of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake approaching, an international earthquake symposium in Tokyo got under way Jan. 13 attended by several quake experts and volunteers.Apollo 13 skipper James A. Lovell Jr. opened the meeting with a speech that stressed the importance of leadership,...

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