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JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

The Asahara Trial: Ishii details sexes' regard for guru

Hisako Ishii, formerly a close aid to Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, testified in court April 8 that there was a difference in the way male and female followers regarded Asahara.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Hilton execs looking to expand presence in Japan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

OECD forecasts negative growth

Japan's economy will decline 0.3 percent in 1998 -- its first minus growth in 24 years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said April 8.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Aid to curb Myanmar opium could total up to 700 million yen

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

IMF official calls for big income tax cuts

Japan should map out an economic stimulus package that includes large-scale income tax cuts, a senior official of the International Monetary Fund said April 8 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Sanwa cuts pay over bribe scandal

Sanwa Bank said April 8 it will cut the salaries of five executives and senior managers, including Chairman Hiroshi Watanabe and President Naotaka Saeki, by 20 percent to 30 percent for three months in connection with the bank's alleged bribery of Finance Ministry officials, it said.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Isle venture with Russia a possibility

Vice Foreign Minister Shunji Yanai said April 8 that Japan is willing to consider a Russian proposal to jointly develop disputed islands off Hokkaido, adding it is a difficult issue because it involves both countries' conflicting stances on sovereignty.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Breast milk dioxin tops safe level but poses no risk, ministry says

The amount of cancer-causing dioxin contained in breast milk consumed by babies can be as much as seven times higher than the safety standard for adults, according to an interim report on a recent survey by the Health and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

New defense bills upset LDP's allies

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its two small non-Cabinet allies -- the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake -- began discussions April 8 on bills covering new defense cooperation guidelines between Japan and the United States.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Diet passes 77.67 trillion yen budget

The 77.67 trillion yen fiscal 1998 national budget was passed by the Diet late April 8 in a House of Councilors plenary session vote.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Stargazer plan dims city lights, lets Tokyo skies sparkle

The Environment Agency has compiled guidelines that could bring back twinkling stars to the nation's urban skies.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1998

Sales tax report angers ruling bloc

Executive members of the ruling alliance on April 8 grew angry over a newspaper report that said the U.S. is getting even more specific in its suggestions on how Japan should fix its ailing economy.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Keidanren official appointed ambassador to Hungary

The government on April 7 appointed Kazuo Nukazawa, senior managing director of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), as new ambassador to Hungary, Foreign Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Diet approval would hamper SDF dispatch, Kyuma says

Defense Agency chief Fumio Kyuma reiterated April 7 that the government must not be hampered by the need to get the approval of the Diet before dispatching the Self-Defense Forces during an emergency near Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Child pornography bill receives cautious welcome

A draft bill to clamp down on child pornography and prostitution -- if enacted into law -- would mark a major, but imperfect, step forward for Japan, according to experts at a meeting to discuss the topic.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Indiana governor affirms business ties

Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, who is in Japan in an attempt to attract more investment, said he is committed to maintaining strong business ties here despite the country's economic woes and the Asian financial crisis.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Greenhouse emission rights trade with Russia in works

Russia has notified Japan that it is willing to discuss Tokyo's proposal for joint implementation of energy-saving programs and trading of greenhouse gas "emission rights," which were provided for in the protocol adopted at a key global warming conference in Kyoto last December, government officials...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Big Business urges Tokyo to listen more closely to U.S.

The Japanese government may view U.S. proposals on reviving the Japanese economy as unwanted foreign pressure, but it should listen to such proposals this time, Japanese business leaders said April 7.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Executive leaders of new DPJ chosen

The newly expanded Democratic Party of Japan will effectively begin operating today under a new executive lineup headed by current DPJ head Naoto Kan.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Radicals put on wanted list over leaked Kobe boy documents

The Metropolitan Police Department on April 7 placed six ultra-leftists on a nationwide wanted list on suspicion of trespassing and stealing copies of prosecution depositions on a 15-year-old boy charged with murdering two children in Kobe early last year.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Top banker wants to keep post to protect industry's image

The president of the scandal-tainted Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi hinted April 7 that he should be kept on as the head of the banking federation to avoid amplifying foreigners' distrust in Japan's banking sector.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

21st century a time to end war: Dalai Lama

KYOTO -- The 21st century should be a time of effective dialogue to bring the conflicts of the world to an end, the Dalai Lama said here April 7.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

U.S. feminists turn defeat into victory

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1998

Matsunaga cautious on income tax cuts

Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga took a cautious stance April 7 toward the use of large-scale income tax cuts as an economic stimulus measure, noting that personal spending is falling even though disposable income is not declining.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

More trapped prostitutes seeking help

Police received 32 calls for help from foreign women forced into prostitution in 1997, more than triple the figure for the previous year, the National Police Agency said April 6.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Survey shows Tokyoites gloomier on economic outlook

The number of Tokyo residents expecting their economic condition to worsen, based on their household budget, hit a record high of 40.7 percent of those surveyed in an annual government poll.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Citizens, LDP may forge compromise on disaster relief bill

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Marusan Securities probed for possible breach of trust

Police have questioned Marusan Securities Co. about its rationale for shouldering most of a loss incurred by an affiliated company, the president of the midsize brokerage house said April 6.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Alleged bribery of MOF draws 'severe reprimand' at Sumitomo

Sumitomo Bank has "severely reprimanded" an employee in connection with the alleged bribing of Finance Ministry officials, the bank said April 6.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

More tax cuts coming, Hashimoto implies

The government will soon implement more tax cuts after revising the Fiscal Structural Reform Law, which at present imposes strict financing restraints, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto implied during a Diet session April 6.

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