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JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Cipriani urges Osaka firms to aid Peru's needy

OSAKA -- Roman Catholic Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani asked the businesspeople of Osaka on Oct. 14 to work more closely with grassroots organizations to establish a relief fund directly accessible to the needy in Peru.Speaking at the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cipriani especially called...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Banker takes aim at reluctance to privatize postal savings

Postal savings should be privatized even though the public generally wants the service kept under state control, the head of the commercial banking industry said Oct. 14.Naotaka Saeki, chairman of the Federation of Bankers Associations of Japan, said discussion of postal savings should include the advantages...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Panel plots measures to ease land use

A government panel will compile a set of measures by the end of the month to promote effective land utilization as part of efforts to boost the economy, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Oct. 14.The panel, consisting of Cabinet members and policymakers from the ruling alliance, on Oct. 14 discussed...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

JICA looking for volunteers

The Japan International Cooperation Agency is recruiting 800 volunteers for 140 kinds of jobs in its Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers program.Volunteers will be sent to 50 countries for two years after taking exams and undergoing training. Applicants should be between 20 and 39 years old with Japanese...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Reported crimes set postwar record; homicides decline

The number of reported crimes in 1996 hit a postwar record of 2.466 million, up about 30,000 from the previous year, according to a Justice Ministry report released Oct. 14.The 1997 white paper on crime, which includes an overview of postwar trends, was submitted to the Cabinet by Justice Minister Kokichi...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Hashimoto backpedals on postal deregulation

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Oct. 14 left the door open to keeping all three postal services of the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry under government control, backpedaling on a partial privatization proposal by a governmental panel."There are various arguments (about the privatization plan),"...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Toyota touts Prius hybrid car

Toyota Motor Corp. will become the world's first automaker to mass-produce and market a hybrid passenger car when it debuts the Prius in Japan later this year.The car, which combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor, will go on sale domestically Dec. 10 and retail for 2.15 million yen, the company...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

19% in Tokyo allergic to pollen

Spring may bring happiness to some, but for one in five Tokyo residents, it also carries a little something extra in the air, according to a survey released Oct. 14 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.The number of people allergic to cedar pollen has doubled over the past 10 years, raising the ratio...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Navy port calls raise eyebrows

Was there something going on under the surface when U.S. Navy ships recently made an unprecedented string of calls across the nation?There's no evidence of that, but plenty of speculation by military analysts and elements of the general public.The port calls -- the official line is that the navy was...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

LDP rips Koizumi for stance on postal services dispute

Members of the Liberal Democratic Party's executive council criticized Junichiro Koizumi, the health and welfare minister, on Oct. 14 for commenting that bureaucratic influence has led LDP members to oppose the privatization of postal services.Koizumi made the remark on a TV talk show Oct. 12.During...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Vending machine banditry continues; man arrested

A 26-year-old Malaysian man has been arrested on suspicion of using fake 500 yen coins in vending machines, it was learned Oct. 14.Several tampering incidents have been reported in recent weeks as it has become known that certain Korean and Hungarian coins are roughly the same size as a 500 yen coin....
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Talks to mark World Food Day

A symposium on the global food crisis will be held Oct. 16 in Yokohama to coincide with World Food Day. Featured will be a keynote speech by Dr. Amos Namanga Ngongi, deputy executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, as well as a lecture and panel discussion.The event will be held from 1 to 5...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Bad-loan troubles force Kyoto bank to liquidate

OSAKA -- Kyoto Kyoei Bank said Oct. 14 that it will begin liquidation procedures and transfer its operations to Osaka-based Kofuku Bank by next Oct. 1, after using funds from the Deposit Insurance Corp. to get rid of its nonperforming assets.Kofuku, another second-tier regional bank with bad loans of...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

China to get $1 million to save relics from dam

Staff writerJapan will provide up to $1 million in financial aid to China to conserve and restore innumerous cultural relics that will be submerged by the controversial Three Gorges dam project, government sources said Oct. 14.The assistance will be funneled to Beijing through a special cultural assets-preservation...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Japan and Mercosur agree on economic cooperation

Delegates from Japan and Mercosur, the South American common market that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, agreed Oct. 14 to promote further economic cooperation as they recognized the potential to further develop trade and investment between the two regions."The Mercosur side remarked...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

22 homeless people apply for Tokyo job counseling

After a number of clashes over the years with homeless people living in Shinjuku Station's underground concourse, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has organized a job counseling program that accepted applications Oct. 13 at a briefing for the concourse dwellers.Such a service has been hindered partly...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

JCP wants Yamasaki summoned before Diet

The Japanese Communist Party on Oct. 13 insisted that Taku Yamasaki, the LDP's policy chief, be summoned to the Diet, saying a recently completed investigation has deepened suspicion that he violated laws in receiving political donations from oil wholesaler Junichi Izui.Izui, now on trial on suspicion...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Automakers unveil newest models ahead of show

Hoping to stimulate Japan's auto market prior to the Tokyo Motor Show slated for next week, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Saab Japan announced their new models Oct. 13.Mitsubishi has announced that its new Chariot model, fully redesigned for the first time in about 6 1/2 years, will go...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Small companies less confident, credit banks say

Confidence among small firms worsened in the July-September quarter, and they expect the dismal situation to continue through the next three months, according to results from a survey released Oct. 13 by the National Association of Shinkin (credit association) Banks. The results reaffirmed the gloomy...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Current account surplus surged 78% in August

The nation's current account surplus for the month of August grew 77.7 percent over the same month last year to 817.8 billion yen, according to provisional figures released Oct. 13 by the Finance Ministry.This marks the fifth straight month in which the figure has increased on a year-on-year basis, and...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Guidelines 'clarify' SDF role, Hashimoto explains

the government has not changed its interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution in relation to the newly reviewed Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Oct. 13.Rather, Hashimoto said, the government has clarified the Self-Defense Forces' roles in emergencies.The...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Tokyo stocks sink to new low for year

Tokyo share prices slid broadly in trading Oct. 13 amid incessant concerns over the strength of the economy, leaving the market's benchmark index at its lowest level this year.The 225-issue Nikkei average fell 172.22 points -- roughly 1 percent -- to end the day at 17,204.70. The previous closing low...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

New energy proposal dictates 'drastic' changes in lifestyle

As part of its initiative to tackle global warming, the government on Oct. 13 announced a series of energy-conservation measures it says will cause "drastic changes" to people's lifestyles.The proposed measures, however, would only stabilize carbon dioxide emissions at the 1990 levels by 2010 and fall...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Massive police raids descend on warring gangs' lairs

OSAKA -- Massive raids on gangster offices were launched by Osaka Prefectural Police on Oct. 13 targeting mobsters associated with the warring and Nakano-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicates.Approximately 1,300 prefectural officers were mobilized at 200 locations in the largest operation ever launched...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

Doctors, citizens rap impending organ transplants

Medical professionals and other citizens called Oct. 10 for more careful consideration to be taken before organ transplants from brain-dead donors are allowed in Japan.At a meeting in Tokyo of those concerned about such medical treatment, Tetsuo Furukawa, a neurologist at Tokyo Medical and Dental University...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

Japan, Korea make progress in fisheries dispute

Japan and South Korea have made progress in their fisheries dispute but differences still remain, Foreign Ministry officials said Oct. 10.The officials said the progress is not "major" but that the two sides deepened understanding of each other's stance. During three days of talks in Tokyo that ended...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

Thailand urged to bolster economy

Top officials of three Japanese banks with close ties to Thailand on Oct. 10 urged the Thai government to continue trying to implement economic measures that would restore global trust in its battered economy.The calls came during the second day of separate meetings between visiting Thai Prime Minister...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

Alberta lends Tokyo advice on restructuring

Alberta is committed to sharing its experiences in successful fiscal and government restructuring with Japan, one of its priority markets, according to provincial Premier Ralph Klein.Speaking at a news conference and at a Tokyo luncheon Oct. 9 sponsored jointly by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

World brewers toast Osaka beer festival

OSAKA -- It's the summit gathering where everyone's an ambassador.International Beer Summit '97 Osaka, which kicked off here late Oct. 9, is being hailed by international microbrewery experts as one of the world's top beer festivals. More than 100 different brews, from ales to lagers to exotic concoctions...
JAPAN
Oct 10, 1997

Number of Tokyo's homeless people rising

The number of homeless people living in Tokyo's Sanya district and surrounding areas such as Ueno, Asakusa and near the Sumida River increased 30 percent from last year to 1,400, a homeless supporters' group said Oct. 10.The group, which helps homeless people in Taito and Sumida Wards, conducted the...

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