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JAPAN
May 26, 1998

Disgraced Finance officials take pension cuts

Two senior Finance Ministry officials who resigned in connection with a wining-and-dining scandal have applied for and been granted retirement allowances reduced below standard levels, Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga said Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Boosting ties in every area best road to treaty: Panov

Unless Japan and Russia boost efforts to improve relations in every possible field, the two countries may not be able to attain their goal of signing a peace treaty by the end of 2000, Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Panov said Monday.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Panel ends debate on proposed air raid memorial

An advisory council to the Tokyo governor on Monday effectively ended all deliberations over a controversial planned memorial hall dedicated to victims of the U.S. air raids on Tokyo during World War II.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Pop Star Seiko Matsuda weds daughter's dentist

Pop star Seiko Matsuda, 36, who has gained fame as much for scandal as for her music, announced her marriage to a dentist six years her junior Monday at Tokyo's Takanawa Prince Hotel in Minato Ward.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Former Finance inspector admits to charges of graft

A former Finance Ministry official accused of giving favors to the Big Four brokerages in return for being lavishly entertained owned up to the charges Monday during his first trial hearing before the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Government inters unidentified war dead

The remains of 2,332 unidentified people who died abroad during World War II were laid to rest at Tokyo's Chidorigafuchi war memorial Monday in a serene, government-sponsored ceremony, nearly 53 years after the war's end.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Greenback climbs to 137 yen on comment by Rubin

For the first time since August 1991, the dollar on Monday hit 137 yen in Tokyo after reports spread that U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said he could tolerate a yen as weak as 140 yen or 150 yen to the dollar to prevent the Japanese economy from collapsing.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Donations sought for Bolivia quake victims

The AMDA, an Okayama-based nongovernmental organization of medical professionals, is seeking donations for earthquake-hit cities in Bolivia.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Sour loans at 18 banks add to 21.78 trillion yen

Troublesome loans at the nation's top 18 banks totaled 21.78 trillion yen as of the end of March, according to fiscal 1997 earning reports released by Monday.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

JAS logs loss of 1.5 billion yen for fiscal 1997

Japan Air System reported 1.5 billion yen in pretax losses on sales of 325.5 billion yen for the business year that ended in March, due to a drop in per-passenger fares forced by intensifying competition, officials of the nation's third-largest airline said Monday.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Voters elect second female mayor

Akiko Higuchi was elected the nation's second female mayor Sunday in Hasuda, Saitama Prefecture, beating out incumbent Katsuo Ishikawa in an election with a record-low voter turnout of 52 percent.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Nissan announces launch of fully remodeled Skyline

Amid continued sluggishness in the domestic auto market, Nissan Motor Co. announced Monday that it has started to sell the fully remodeled Skyline, the 10th generation in the series.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

HSBC gearing for expansion into Japan retail operations

Financial conglomerate Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. will seek to expand its Japanese operations into the retail market "in the not-too-distant future," the chairman of HSBC Holdings said Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Hashimoto vows full regulatory review by 2001

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Monday that the government will review all its regulations by the end of this century.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Diet member loses seat over aide's vote-buying

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Monday nullified the 1996 election of a Diet member from the Liberal Democratic Party and barred him from running for office in the same constituency for five years, after his secretary was convicted of buying votes.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Last Indonesia evacuation flights canceled

The last two of 20 special commercial flights ordered by the government to evacuate Japanese nationals from Indonesia were canceled due to a lack of passengers, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Chinese seek war labor redress of 840 million yen

A 70-year-old Chinese man demanded in court Friday that Japanese corporations and the government admit wrongdoing and pay redress for labor he claims he and 41 others were forced to perform in coal mines and elsewhere in Japan during World War II.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

High-pressure system brings in summertime heat

A migratory high-pressure air mass from Eurasia brought hot weather Friday to various parts of western Japan, raising temperatures to summer levels.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Hashimoto lights spark on bad loan resolve

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto appealed Friday for increased efforts to resolve financial institutions' bad loan problems as soon as possible to facilitate economic recovery.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Commerce slams Universal for excluding U.S. from bids

OSAKA -- A visiting senior official of the U.S. Commerce Department has lashed out against Universal Studios Japan for excluding American firms from the construction bidding process.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Credit situation remains tight for smaller firms

Financial institutions appear to have loosened their lending stance toward large companies, but small and midsize firms continue to suffer from the credit crunch, Mitsuo Horiuchi, head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, said Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Corporate profits fall first time in four years; city banks see red

Profit levels at most corporations declined for the first time in four years in the 1997 business year to March 31, with at least six of the nation's nine giant "city banks" falling into the red, according to earnings results released through Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Seoul urged to express concern over India bomb tests

Japan told South Korea on Friday that the two governments should keep expressing strong concerns over India's nuclear tests last week and Pakistan's suspected preparations for its own tests so that North Korea will not be encouraged to follow suit.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Osaka Gov. Yokoyama faces another big pay cut

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama may be taking home a salary of just 150,000 yen for June, one-tenth of his regular monthly pay, after voluntarily accepting his third wage cut since last year to take responsibility for scandals and other problems surrounding his administration.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Free counseling sessions available to foreigners

Multilingual volunteers and specialist advisers will hold free counseling sessions today for foreigners as part of an international citizens' festival at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Lower House passes fiscal reform bill

A bill for revision of the fiscal reform law was passed in the Lower House on Friday, bringing an economic stimulus package worth more than 16 trillion yen one step closer to implementation.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Kamakura takes on tourist traffic jams

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

J. League contender Tokyo Gas bent on survival

As dwindling attendance figures raise concerns over the future of Japan's only professional soccer league, one local Tokyo team busily preparing to join the new second division of the J. League next year is hoping that careful management will ensure its success.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Merging banks first to take advantage of DIC law revision

The planned merger between Fukutoku Bank and the Bank of Naniwa, two Osaka-based regional firms, will mark the first case in which merging banks, both ailing, receive financial help from the government-backed Deposit Insurance Corp., the Finance Ministry announced Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 1998

Policeman pleads guilty in Daiwa bribes case

A former officer with the Metropolitan Police Department pleaded guilty on Friday to receiving bribes worth 4.48 million yen from Daiwa Securities Co. in return for information about a case involving the brokerage.

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