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JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

North Korean presence strengthens on city panel

KAWASAKI -- The foreign residents' advisory panel to the mayor of Kawasaki has agreed to add three resident North Koreans and a South Korean as observers to the body, correcting what has been criticized as a disparity in the representation of the two rival ethnic groups.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

Revised foreigner info booklets available

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has published revised versions of free information booklets in Chinese, Korean and Spanish for foreign residents that offer various basic data on everyday life in Japan, metropolitan officials said Feb. 10.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

U.S. college in Kobe plans to stay

The operator of the Kobe campus of Edmonds Community College, based in the state of Washington, has denied reports in the U.S. that the school plans to shut down its Japanese branch in March due to a decline in the number of students.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

U.S. was tardy reporting radioactive bullets mishap

U.S. Marine Corps jets accidentally fired 1,520 radioactive bullets near Okinawa during training exercises about a year ago, but the Japanese government was not informed until last Jan. 16, Foreign Ministry officials said Feb. 10.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

Plummeting land prices drowning waterfront project

Three companies jointly founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the private sector for a waterfront development project are close to financial collapse.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

Russia to join in tanker bow probe

Japan and Russia agreed Feb. 10 to jointly examine in Japan the bow section of the Russian tanker that has spilled thousands of kiloliters of oil into Japanese waters, Transport Ministry officials said Feb. 10.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

KDD to build telecom cable around Japan archipelago

KDD has decided to construct a large-capacity fiber-optic cable that will encircle the Japanese archipelago on the ocean floor, the telecommunications giant said.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Kajiyama says bikes, phones musts for ministers

Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said Feb. 7 that he has instructed each Cabinet minister to have a bicycle and a mobile phone as part of the government's efforts to increase preparation for massive disasters.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Tokyo metro assembly poll slated for July 6

The election for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, which takes place every four years, will be held July 6, the Election Administration Commission of the Tokyo said Feb. 7.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Five credit firms tighten easy loan operations

Five major consumer credit firms announced jointly on Feb. 7 a package of measures to deal with criticism that they are pushing up the number of personal bankruptcies by extending loans too easily.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Yen's fall tops agenda for Japan at G-7 talks

As the finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet Feb. 8 in Berlin to discuss a host of economic issues, Japan's greatest concern going into the talks is how they assess the continued fall of the yen against the dollar.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Toyota plants back in operation

NAGOYA -- Toyota Motor Corp. fired up all its assembly lines on Feb. 7 after a recent fire at an affiliated parts supplier sparked a shutdown, company officials said.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

3,000 to sue U.S., Japan over Yokota takeoffs, landings

A group of about 3,000 residents in 10 cities in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture will file a suit Feb. 14 against the Japanese and U.S. governments to seek suspension of night and early morning landings and takeoffs at Yokota Air Base, it was learned Feb. 7.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Organizers turn to safety of oil cleanup volunteers

MIKUNI, Fukui Pref. -- Five volunteers helping to clean up the oil spill on the Sea of Japan coast have died of either a heart attack or stroke, prompting the largest citizens' headquarters coordinating the operations to place increased emphasis on safety.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 1997

Change to Japan accounting standards advised

An advisory body to the finance minister on Feb. 7 proposed changing the nation's corporate accounting standards to place greater weight on consolidated statements to better match global standards.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

NEC develops the first four-gigabit DRAM

NEC Corp. announced Feb. 6 it has developed the world's first four-gigabit dynamic random access memory chip, capable of storing approximately the same amount of data as a CD-ROM.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

JAMA chairman rebuts excessive export claims

In an apparent effort to nip another potential trade problem in the bud, Yoshifumi Tsuji, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Feb. 6 rebutted recent U.S. claims that the yen's drop is helping Japanese automakers increase U.S.-bound exports, noting that Japanese exports actually...
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

Car and truck imports log 4.1% increase in January

Passenger cars and trucks imported into Japan in January rose 4.1 percent from a year before to 24,178 units, posting a record high for the month, the Japan Automobile Importers' Association reported Feb. 6.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

Ex-bureaucrat given vacant, high-ranking audit post

A long-vacant, high-ranking post at the Board of Audits will be filled by a former career bureaucrat just as the government had wanted, despite cries from opposition parties against appointing an ex-civil servant to the post.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

Business leaders get lesson in reform

KYOTO -- Take the first step early and make it a big one, former New Zealand Treasurer Sir Roger Douglas advised Japan as the country tackles the problems of deregulation and economic reform.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

Confessed cop shooter fingers Inoue

The former police sergeant who confessed last spring to gunning down National Police Agency head Takaji Kunimatsu in Tokyo in March 1995 has claimed he carried out the ambush after taking a white pill given to him by Yoshihiro Inoue, a senior Aum Shinrikyo figure, police sources said Feb. 6.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

Japan wants arms transfer registration system augmented

Japan will propose expanding the United Nations registration system for conventional arms transfers to include domestically produced weapons to promote transparency in assessing military capabilities of member countries, government officials said Feb. 6.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

BOJ autonomy urged in panel's final report

An advisory body to the finance minister Feb. 6 proposed sweeping changes to the decades-old Bank of Japan Law that would give the central bank more autonomy in policymaking.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

MITI urges utilities to cut power costs

Trade chief Shinji Sato urged electric power utilities Feb. 6 to make every effort to reduce electricity costs so Japan can remain competitive in the global market.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Ministry to boost flu vaccine stocks to ready for 'big one'

Ministry officials said Feb. 5 that a ministry task force set up last month to handle such national crises as the scandal involving HIV-tainted blood products will take up the issue of depleted flu vaccine stocks in its second meeting on Feb. 14.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Bangkok meeting to seek cooperation on civil aviation

Government officials and airlines from 18 nations in the Asia-Oceania region will gather in Bangkok on March 5 and 6 seeking cooperation in the field of civil aviation, Transport Ministry officials said Feb. 5.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Hosokawa denies taking money from Tomobe

NARITA, Chiba Pref. -- Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa on Feb. 5 flatly denied an allegation that he received money from Tatsuo Tomobe, a House of Councilors member who is under arrest on suspicion of fraud, to ensure Tomobe was elected in the July 1995 Upper House election.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

TSE wooing foreign firms in effort to halt exodus

During the asset-inflated bubble economy of the late 1980s, when the Tokyo stock market was enjoying rocketing prices, brisk transactions and a high reputation, securities authorities did not have to worry about how to invite foreign companies to list. But times have changed.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Intersolv sets up Japanese subsidiary

Intersolv Inc., a computer software solution supplier based in Maryland, announced Feb. 5 that it has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Compensation for sex slaves pushed

Japanese lawmakers and citizens supporting efforts to win redress for former sex slaves vowed Feb. 5 to work closely with their South Korean counterparts to push for passage of a compensation law for the aging victims.

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