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JAPAN
May 25, 1998

HSBC gearing for expansion into Japan retail operations

Financial conglomerate Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. will seek to expand its Japanese operations into the retail market "in the not-too-distant future," the chairman of HSBC Holdings said Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Hashimoto vows full regulatory review by 2001

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Monday that the government will review all its regulations by the end of this century.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Diet member loses seat over aide's vote-buying

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Monday nullified the 1996 election of a Diet member from the Liberal Democratic Party and barred him from running for office in the same constituency for five years, after his secretary was convicted of buying votes.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Last Indonesia evacuation flights canceled

The last two of 20 special commercial flights ordered by the government to evacuate Japanese nationals from Indonesia were canceled due to a lack of passengers, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Chinese seek war labor redress of 840 million yen

A 70-year-old Chinese man demanded in court Friday that Japanese corporations and the government admit wrongdoing and pay redress for labor he claims he and 41 others were forced to perform in coal mines and elsewhere in Japan during World War II.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

High-pressure system brings in summertime heat

A migratory high-pressure air mass from Eurasia brought hot weather Friday to various parts of western Japan, raising temperatures to summer levels.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Hashimoto lights spark on bad loan resolve

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto appealed Friday for increased efforts to resolve financial institutions' bad loan problems as soon as possible to facilitate economic recovery.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Commerce slams Universal for excluding U.S. from bids

OSAKA -- A visiting senior official of the U.S. Commerce Department has lashed out against Universal Studios Japan for excluding American firms from the construction bidding process.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Credit situation remains tight for smaller firms

Financial institutions appear to have loosened their lending stance toward large companies, but small and midsize firms continue to suffer from the credit crunch, Mitsuo Horiuchi, head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, said Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Corporate profits fall first time in four years; city banks see red

Profit levels at most corporations declined for the first time in four years in the 1997 business year to March 31, with at least six of the nation's nine giant "city banks" falling into the red, according to earnings results released through Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Seoul urged to express concern over India bomb tests

Japan told South Korea on Friday that the two governments should keep expressing strong concerns over India's nuclear tests last week and Pakistan's suspected preparations for its own tests so that North Korea will not be encouraged to follow suit.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Osaka Gov. Yokoyama faces another big pay cut

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama may be taking home a salary of just 150,000 yen for June, one-tenth of his regular monthly pay, after voluntarily accepting his third wage cut since last year to take responsibility for scandals and other problems surrounding his administration.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Free counseling sessions available to foreigners

Multilingual volunteers and specialist advisers will hold free counseling sessions today for foreigners as part of an international citizens' festival at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Lower House passes fiscal reform bill

A bill for revision of the fiscal reform law was passed in the Lower House on Friday, bringing an economic stimulus package worth more than 16 trillion yen one step closer to implementation.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Kamakura takes on tourist traffic jams

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

J. League contender Tokyo Gas bent on survival

As dwindling attendance figures raise concerns over the future of Japan's only professional soccer league, one local Tokyo team busily preparing to join the new second division of the J. League next year is hoping that careful management will ensure its success.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Merging banks first to take advantage of DIC law revision

The planned merger between Fukutoku Bank and the Bank of Naniwa, two Osaka-based regional firms, will mark the first case in which merging banks, both ailing, receive financial help from the government-backed Deposit Insurance Corp., the Finance Ministry announced Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Policeman pleads guilty in Daiwa bribes case

A former officer with the Metropolitan Police Department pleaded guilty on Friday to receiving bribes worth 4.48 million yen from Daiwa Securities Co. in return for information about a case involving the brokerage.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

A third of Tokyo women suffer domestic violence: report

One-third of women polled in Tokyo have been physically abused by their partners at least once, and about a quarter of such women are abused repeatedly, according to a report released Thursday by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Economy weak, not deflating, BOJ says

The domestic economy is currently not on the verge of entering a deflationary spiral, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Thursday, adding that he will monitor the effects of governmental pump-priming efforts.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Nonlife insurers post decline in revenues for '97

The combined annual premium revenue at the nation's five major nonlife insurance firms, for fiscal 1997, registered a year-on-year decline for the first time in the postwar era, earnings reports released Thursday showed.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Sharp president Tsuji to resign in management reshuffle

OSAKA -- Katsuhiko Machida, a managing director of Sharp Corp., will become president on June 26, succeeding Haruo Tsuji, who will become a counselor, it was announced here Thursday.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Local Indonesian students rejoice at Suharto's resignation

Students from Indonesia expressed surprise and hope for the reform of their country following President Suharto's announcement of his resignation Thursday.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Senior defense officials found moonlighting at costly supplier

Nine senior defense officials, including high-ranking uniformed officers, in the past decade became executives of a defense supplier that was allegedly involved in a bill-padding scandal that surfaced in September, Defense Agency Secretariat Yasuhiro Ogoshi said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Daiwa, Sumitomo declare losses for fiscal '97

Daiwa Bank on Thursday reported pretax losses of 151.2 billion yen for fiscal 1997 -- compared to pretax profits of 4.2 billion yen a year before -- due to its continued efforts to erase nonperforming loans from its balance sheets.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Government cancels empty escape flight

One of the last commercial flights chartered by the government to transfer Japanese nationals from Indonesia was canceled Thursday afternoon for lack of passengers, and the remaining charter may be canceled as well, government officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Daihatsu posts 7.5% rise in profit

Daihatsu Motor Co. announced Thursday that its unconsolidated net profit increased 7.5 percent over the previous year to 6.8 billion yen for the 1997 business year.
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Businesses unsure about Indonesia's new future

and SAYURI DAIMON
JAPAN
May 21, 1998

Hashimoto vows to keep close eye on Indonesia crisis

Japan will support Indonesia's new leadership, but will "keep a careful watch" as Jakarta tries to achieve social stability and economic recovery, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 20, 1998

Mapmakers pull foreign name switch

Staff writer

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals