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JAPAN
Aug 15, 1997

Suspected rightist kills self at MPD

A middle-aged man fired three bullets at the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department's headquarters Friday morning, shouted praise for the Emperor and then fatally shot himself in the head, MPD officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 1997

Hashimoto expresses remorse on anniversary of war's end

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto reiterated "deep remorse" Friday for Japan's wartime acts and voiced his condolences to the victims, particularly those elsewhere in Asia, on the 52nd anniversary of Japan's surrender to the Allies.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 1997

Seven ministers visit Yasukuni on anniversary

Seven Cabinet ministers went to Yasukuni Shrine on Friday morning to pay homage to Japan's war dead. One more Cabinet member was expected to visit the shrine later the same day and four other Cabinet ministers visited the shrine before Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 1997

Court drops territorial waters case

MATSUE -- The Hamada branch of the Matsue District Court in Shimane Prefecture dismissed an indictment Friday against the captain of a South Korean fishing boat seized in June on charges of operating in Japan's territorial waters.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 1997

LDP, Shinshinto to share candidate

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Shinshinto, the largest opposition party, decided Friday to jointly support an independent Upper House member as a candidate in October's Miyagi prefectural gubernatorial election.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Teenagers held in store tear-gassing

OSAKA -- Police arrested three teenagers Aug. 14 for allegedly releasing tear gas in a supermarket in Hirano Ward, Osaka, earlier this month, causing about 500 customers respiratory problems.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

'Date club' manager faces prosecutors

The Metropolitan Police Department will soon turn over to prosecutors the case of a manager of a "date club" in Shinjuku Ward who allegedly listed a 17-year-old girl as a client to skirt child-protection laws. The case represents the first implementation of an ordinance that went into effect Aug. 13...
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Draft plan aims to cut ministries to 15

Japan's 22 ministries and agencies will be reorganized into either 13 or 15 by January 2001, with a new Economic Ministry to be created by a merger of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the monetary policy division of the Finance Ministry, according to a draft plan being discussed by...
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Tokyo sharpens ax to cut 310 billion yen deficit

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, saddled with a deficit of roughly 310 billion yen this fiscal year, released a financial reconstruction plan Aug. 14 that singled out 30 items to be reviewed for possible budget reductions. The plan aims to cut the next fiscal year budget by 126.8 billion yen to 1.5...
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Provisional fisheries pact considered

Japan and South Korea agreed Aug. 14 to seek a provisional agreement in their fisheries talks by shelving the sensitive matter of the establishment of 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones in disputed seas, according to Foreign Ministry officials.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Typhoon 13 bears down on Okinawa

An extraordinarily large typhoon was nearing the Okinawa Islands late Aug. 14, the Meteorological Agency said. The storm was forecast to reach seas south-southeast of Minami-Daitoshima Island Aug. 15 and bring strong winds to the main island of Okinawa early Aug. 16, the agency said.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Sorge hanging was unfair: Yokohama lawyers

The November 1944 execution of convicted Soviet spy Richard Sorge and his accomplice, Hotsumi Ozaki, was unfair, the Yokohama Bar Association said in a report based on 10 years of research.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1997

Yamaichi employee dies after street stabbing

An employee of Yamaichi Securities Co. was stabbed in the stomach on a Tokyo street late Aug. 14. He was rushed to a hospital but died soon afterward from loss of blood, police said. The man, identified by business cards found on the body, was 57-year-old Koichiro Tarutani, chief of the securities company's...
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Nago voters petition for heliport plebiscite

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Residents in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, presented a petition with 19,734 voter signatures to the municipal election management commission on Aug. 13, calling for an ordinance to provide for a plebiscite on construction of a U.S. Marine Corps offshore heliport.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Japan should consider tightening money policy later this year: IMF

The International Monetary Fund suggested Aug. 13 that Japan should tighten its monetary policy later this year, saying that the current low level of short-term interest rates are not appropriate over the medium term.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Community cheers as Osaka's name announced

OSAKA -- Some 600 people including politicians, businesspeople and citizens gathered at the Osaka Municipal Central Public Hall to watch the live broadcast of the Japanese Olympic Committee's announcement that Osaka has been named as a candidate to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Parties and politicians jockey for power

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Strong quake hits near Miyakojima

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale struck around 1:45 p.m. Aug. 13 near Miyakojima Island, Okinawa Prefecture, the Meteorological Agency said. A possibility of tsunami was ruled out.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Osaka named candidate for 2008 Olympic Games

The city of Osaka defeated rival Yokohama 29 to 17 in a vote by the Japanese Olympic Committee and sports officials Aug. 13 to become the nation's candidate for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Old-style shopping areas fight to survive

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Win welcomed but some fear city's profile too weak

OSAKA -- While Osaka's business community wholeheartedly welcomes the city's victory in becoming Japan's candidate to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, concerns are growing over whether the city has enough international appeal to be chosen by world officials.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Officer fatally stabbed in Fukuoka police box

FUKUOKA -- A 42-year-old police officer was found stabbed to death Aug. 13 in his "koban" in Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, according to officials. A search is underway for a man who was seen fleeing the semirural area just before noon that day.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Group blesses 23 medical facilities for organ transplants

The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, a national group of medical experts, has publicized a list of 23 medical facilities that it said are appropriate hospitals to remove organs from brain-dead donors for transplants based on newly enacted legislation.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Thailand vows to protect creditors at 42 companies

Creditors and depositors at 42 financial companies to be closed by the Thai government will be protected, Thai financial authorities promised Japanese bankers Aug. 12.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Rites held for '85 JAL crash victims

MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. -- More than 200 relatives of those killed in the 1985 crash of JAL Flight 123 on Mount Osutaka, Gunma Prefecture, climbed the peak Aug. 12 to pray for the dead.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Man sentenced for killing doctor

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a 39-year-old man Aug. 12 to a 12-year prison term for gunning down a doctor at a railway station in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, in October 1994 because he felt he had been the victim of malpractice by the surgeon.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Kyushu robbery nets 15 million yen

KITAKYUSHU -- A man made away with about 15 million yen in cash Aug. 12 from a credit association in Kokura Kita Ward, Kitakyushu, after threatening a customer with a knife.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Nation takes to speedy, on-line, hassle-free transactions

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Corpse drifts ashore in plastic box

NAGOYA -- Police launched a full-scale investigation Aug. 12 after a body of an adult man was found in a plastic container box that drifted into Nagoya port Aug. 11.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1997

Congressmen denied true look at North Korea famine

A seven-member delegation from the U.S. Congress visited North Korea this week but was not permitted to visit any of the food aid distribution centers or the countryside of the impoverished nation, delegation members said Aug. 12.

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