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JAPAN
Mar 20, 1997

Keidanren sets up policy think tank

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) will establish a nonprofit think tank on April 1 to propose policies on such issues as international relations and taxation system reform.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 1997

DPJ can't decide where grass is greener

The Democratic Party of Japan, only six months old, continues to experience growing pains as political forces pull it in two directions.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 1997

Volunteers may get academic credit

Cabinet ministers agreed Mar. 20 on a proposed legislative measure to grant academic credit to high school students who participate in certain extracurricular activities.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Japan urges Iraq to fulfill U.N. resolutions

Iraq should completely implement United Nations resolutions, enacted as a result of the 1991 Gulf War, to return relations between Japan and Iraq to what they were before the conflict, a senior Foreign Ministry official told a special envoy from Iraq on Mar. 19, according to ministry officials.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Nomura scandal won't hurt 'Big Bang,' new JSDA chief says

The recent scandal surrounding Nomura Securities Co. will not affect current efforts to implement the "Big Bang" of financial system reforms, the acting head of the Japan Securities Dealers Associations said Mar. 19.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Demand for one-on-one tutors seen rising

A local elementary school is not the primary place of study for 11-year-old Risa Hishinuma of Tokyo's Taito Ward.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

JAMA predicts drop in vehicle sales

Domestic sales of passenger cars, trucks and buses in fiscal 1997 are likely to drop 3.7 percent from the previous year to 7 million units, due to expected weakened demand after the consumption tax hike in April, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Mar. 19.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Immigration officer accused of fondling detainees

The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau filed a criminal accusation against one of its guards Mar. 19 at the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor's Office for allegedly molesting female detainees.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Reform must be gutsy to overcome less services: Mitsuzuka

Public understanding of the inevitable reduction in public services that will result from the government's drive for fiscal austerity must be won by showing a strong resolve to push forward with reform measures, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Mar. 19.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Use airport slots or lose them, ministry says

The Transport Ministry will confiscate landing and takeoff slots from airlines that have a high percentage of flight cancellations at Narita airport and redistribute them to other carriers starting in 1998, ministry officials said Mar. 19.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Daiei head urges 'new' Kobe as global city

OSAKA -- Rather than compete with Osaka as a business center, Kobe should be rebuilt as a city that offers a pleasant living environment, and priority should be given to economic development of the bay area, according to Isao Nakauchi, chairman, president and CEO of Daiei Corp.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Hashimoto urges revision of law on U.S. land use

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto reiterated Mar. 19 the need to revise the law on land use for U.S. forces in order to ensure the continued use of land at 12 U.S. military installations in Okinawa after their leases expire on May 14.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Leniency asked for man who killed son

The lawyer representing a 52-year-old man accused of murdering his delinquent son asked the Tokyo District Court for leniency on Mar. 18, saying the father was ultimately unable to deal with his son's violent behavior.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

FTC investigates Hokkaido newspaper

The Fair Trade Commission visited the headquarters and Hakodate bureau of The Hokkaido Shimbun on Mar. 18 and questioned company officials about a possible violation of the Antimonopoly Law.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

LDP to review agriculture budget

Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers closely associated with the nation's agriculture industry agreed on Mar. 18 to review the huge portion of the national budget set aside for helping farmers, in line with the government's financial reconstruction efforts.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

LDP panel proposes boost in crisis response

A panel within the Liberal Democratic Party drew up a proposal Mar. 18 for strengthening the government's ability to cope with crises such as natural disasters and war.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Two nonhemophiliacs settle lawsuit over HIV

OSAKA -- A court-mediated settlement was reached Mar. 18 in a suit filed against the central government and Green Cross Corp. by two nonhemophiliacs who became infected with HIV through unheated blood products.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Hashimoto orders steps for raising land liquidity

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Mar. 18 instructed Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka to draw up by the end of the month comprehensive measures to increase the liquidity of land held as collateral for loans.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Bill would allow organs from brain-dead donors

A bill to pave the way for the legal donation of organs from brain-dead patients was submitted Mar. 18 to the Lower House, almost three years after the original bill related to the issue was introduced. Deliberations on the bill start Mar. 19 at the Lower House Health and Welfare Committee.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Keidanren mission to visit South America

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) said Mar. 18 that it will send a six-day mission to South American countries starting Mar. 21, aimed at strengthening business ties with the region, which has entered a period of economic growth.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Long-term radiation effects difficult to gauge, experts say

TOKAI, Ibaraki Pref. -- While facts continued to trickle out about the nation's worst radiation leakage, which occurred at the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant here last week, officials of the governmental Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. (PNC) kept claiming the leak posed no serious bodily...
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Cultist tied to VX nerve gas, Kariya killings draws 15 years

Aum Shinrikyo follower Satoru Hirata was given a 15-year prison term Mar. 18 in connection with VX nerve gas attacks that targeted three people, including one who died, and the confining and killing of a Tokyo notary in conspiracy with other cultists.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Kobe gets quake-safe hotel

KOBE -- A 218-room business hotel fully constructed with quake safety in mind will open Mar. 18 in the Sannomiya district here, becoming the first major hotel to open in Kobe after 1995's Great Hanshin Earthquake.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Toyota to boost stake in Hino Motors

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Mar. 17 that it will increase its stake in truck maker Hino Motors Ltd. in order to expand its cooperation with the firm and strengthen the Toyota group as a whole amid intensifying competition.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

English school chief draws 2 1/2 years for embezzlement

A former school chairman was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Mar. 17 for embezzling some 900 million yen and committing breach of trust to the tune of 20 million yen.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Man arrested in slashing attack

A Tokyo man who has been receiving treatment for mental disease slashed a 71-year-old woman early Mar. 17 on a road in Nakano Ward.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Weekend quake biggest to hit Aichi since '26

An earthquake that shook the Chubu, Kansai and Kanto regions on Mar. 16 was the strongest tremor to be recorded in eastern Aichi Prefecture since record-keeping began in 1926, according to Meteorological Agency officials.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Foreign secretary Komura leaves with message for Peru

State Foreign Secretary Masahiko Komura left for Peru on Mar. 17, carrying a message from the prime minister that the Lima hostage standoff must be resolved via peaceful means.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Let the lesson buyer beware, Tokyo pamphlet warns

Coinciding with the debut of consumer protection guidelines, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government published a pamphlet Mar. 17 urging Japanese to be cautious before choosing a foreign-language school.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Manila OKs Korean defector's transit to Seoul

Manila will allow a high-ranking North Korean defector in China to use the Philippines as a transit point on his way to Seoul, Philippine Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon told his Japanese counterpart, Yukihiko Ikeda, Mar. 17 in Tokyo, according to Foreign Ministry officials.

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