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JAPAN
Feb 3, 1999

Nippon Life offers one-account plan

Nippon Life Insurance Company announced Wednesday it will introduce a new business scheme April 2, offering life insurance and other services under one account.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 1999

LDP may field joint candidate in Tokyo election

The Liberal Democratic Party should cooperate with other parties to field a joint candidate for the Tokyo gubernatorial election in April, rather than nominate one from its own ranks, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 1999

Giving power to the politicians

The government's top priority at the moment is to resuscitate the Japanese economy by stabilizing the shaky banking sector and pushing domestic business recovery through expanded governmental and consumer spending. At the same time, as the nation is poised to enter the 21st century, the urgent need to...
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Fukushima urges Japan, U.S. to talk over trade differences

Now that Washington has decided to revive the controversial "Super 301" procedure, Japan should start market-opening discussions with the U.S. to prevent trade conflicts, according to Glen S. Fukushima, a former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for Japan and China.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

JR Tokai coughs up 20.5 billion yen for JNR burden

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) officially announced Tuesday that it will accept the additional financial burden imposed by the government in a scheme to repay about 28 trillion yen in debts left behind by the former Japanese National Railways.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Dentsu to acquire stake in Nomura IR

In a bid to move into the potentially lucrative investor relations business, Dentsu Inc. announced Tuesday that it will acquire a 10 percent equity stake in Nomura Investor Relations Co., an affiliate of Nomura Securities Co.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Koike defense team requests suspended sentence

Defense lawyers for "sokaiya" corporate racketeer Ryuichi Koike, charged with receiving illegal payoffs from four securities firms and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, asked for leniency Tuesday in his final trial hearing before the Tokyo District Court, claiming their client did not play a major role in the crimes....
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Agency adds three pollutants to water-quality test

The Environment Agency will add three substances to a list of water quality standards, expanding the number of pollutants monitored to protect human health and the environment, the agency said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Crisis may end in two weeks: Sakakibara

Japan's financial crisis will be over in a week or two if prospects for the planned bank recapitalization become solid, Eisuke Sakakibara, vice finance minister for international affairs, said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

Credit-rating agencies, critics defend their views

Tokyo-based media recently met with rare opportunities to hear countering views on how credit-rating agencies operate and how they should operate, when officials from Moody's Investors Service defended their business and the head of a Japanese research institute detailed how it "rated" such agencies....
JAPAN
Feb 2, 1999

DPJ backs Hatoyama as candidate for Tokyo governor

Kunio Hatoyama, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, received his party's backing as an independent candidate Tuesday for April's Tokyo gubernatorial race, following Tokyo Gov. Yukio Aoshima's surprise announcement the previous day that he would not seek re-election.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Moroccan legislator visits Tokyo to improve ties

Morocco's success in balancing its monarchy with democracy has firmly planted a seed of full-fledged democracy and built a basis for a new stage of economic development, said the country's senior legislator, who is currently visiting Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

First Moldovan visit enhances relations

Visiting Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura signed a communique Monday pledging to further enhance bilateral ties based on universal values such as democracy and basic human rights.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Businessman survives Yamanote jump

A 46-year-old salaried worker was seriously injured after jumping off a Tokyo train platform in an apparent suicide attempt Monday morning.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Zen cowboy longs to be one with bulls

They say that in life you get 15 minutes of fame, but all Jin Shibahara needs is eight seconds — on the back of an angry, bucking bull.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

NCB concealed problem loans from BOJ

In its September 1997 report to the Bank of Japan, the now-nationalized Nippon Credit Bank pretended to have fewer bad loans than it actually had, it was learned Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Finance Ministry separation still in debate

Policy officials of the Liberal Democratic Party and two major opposition parties agreed Monday to work toward a conclusion on whether to strip the Finance Ministry of its policy-planning powers before the fiscal 1999 budget clears the Lower House.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Rover Japan chairman steps down

Rover Japan announced Monday that its chairman, Peter J. Woods, stepped down on Jan. 1.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

New auto sales drop for 22nd month

Sales of new automobiles in January dropped 6.2 percent from the corresponding period last year, marking the 22nd consecutive month of year-on-year decline, an industry group said Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Man sends dead cat to professor

Police arrested a former graduate student of the University of Tokyo on Monday on suspicion of sending threatening letters and a cat carcass to an assistant professor of the university in charge who judged his master's thesis.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Tokyo race thrown open as Aoshima withdraws

In a surprising move, Tokyo Gov. Yukio Aoshima announced Monday that he will not seek a second four-year term in the April 11 gubernatorial election.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 1999

Ex-minister Kamei to form new LDP faction

Former Construction Minister Shizuka Kamei said Monday that he will try to gather as many members as possible within the Liberal Democratic Party to become a driving engine to support Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's administration.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 1999

Influenza on the rampage

With more cold days and severe winter weather still ahead in many parts of the country, Japan is already suffering a major outbreak of influenza. At the moment the epidemic appears heavily concentrated in the Tokyo metropolitan area, where close to 9,000 cases have now been registered, but many other...
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 1999

Washington's pre-emptive trade strike

As a first impression, the rumblings from Washington are worrying. In his State of the Union speech last week, President Bill Clinton indicated his readiness to mount an aggressive defense of the U.S. steel industry and singled out Japan as a prime offender among countries "dumping" steel in U.S. markets....
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

Cultist says guru ordered botulin attacks

An Aum Shinrikyo figure testified in court Friday that cult founder Shoko Asahara ordered him to spray deadly botulin bacteria on government and other public buildings and on facilities belonging to other religious sects in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

Kobe facility gives quake orphans place to reach out

A black rainbow drawn by a 10-year-old boy who lost his father and sister in the Great Hanshin Earthquake four years ago has become a symbol of the psychological damage suffered by child survivors of the temblor.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

U.S. shown plan to ship MOX fuel unescorted from overseas

A plan to ship mixed-oxide fuel from Europe for the first time has been submitted to the United States, government officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

Osaka Gov. Yokoyama announces re-election bid

Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama officially announced Friday that he will seek re-election this April, saying he needs to carry on with his efforts to reorganize the finances of the prefectural government.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

Crisis team holds first meeting

The Liberal Democratic Party's project team on crisis management held its first meeting Friday, agreeing to discuss 10 issues ranging from North Korea's missile launch to responses to emergency situations to antiterrorism measures.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1999

Cadillac lures younger buyers in new campaign

1998 was a disastrous year for most automobile importers, with overall sales plunging 25 percent.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat