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JAPAN
Oct 21, 1997

GM execs call for balance, brawnier yen

Top executives of General Motors Corp. voiced support Oct. 21 for a stronger yen, continued investment in Southeast Asia and a "global solution" to greenhouse warming.John Smith, GM's chairman, president and CEO; Richard Wagoner, president of GM's North American Operations; and other executives were...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 1997

Pump-priming package leaves analysts disappointed

The package of pump-priming measures decided Oct. 21 by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party does not seem capable of giving the sluggish economy a quick jolt because it lacks sufficient stimulus targeting personal consumption.Disappointment over the measures forced the benchmark Nikkei average of the...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 1997

Five artists receive Praemium Imperiale

The Japan Art Association has awarded its ninth annual Praemium Imperiale award to five renowned artists, including British director Peter Brook.Brook, known for his stagings of Shakespeare as well as for experimentation with cross-cultural theater, received the award along with four artists in various...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

North Korea leaders woo ruling alliance

The Liberal Democratic Party and its two smaller non-Cabinet allies received an invitation Oct. 20 from North Korea's ruling party and are expected to send a delegation to North Korea in the near future.Officials of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan handed the letter of invitation...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Shippers set condition for paying U.S. fines

Japanese shipping companies told a U.S. government agency that they would consider paying fines accrued during September if the agency entirely removes port sanctions it imposed Sept. 14, industry sources said Oct. 20.The fines were due Oct. 15, but the shipping companies refused to pay, sparking the...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Global business convention opens at My Dome Osaka

OSAKA -- More than 700 businesspeople from 33 countries gathered here Oct. 20 for the opening of the annual Global Business Opportunities Convention.The three-day convention, which began in 1983 to offer Japanese small and medium-size companies the chance to meet potential business partners from abroad,...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Trade surplus soars to 5 trillion yen in first half

The nation's customs-cleared trade surplus for the first six months of the current fiscal year came to 5.1 trillion yen, up 75.9 percent from the same period last year, according to provisional figures released Oct. 20.It was the first time the figure rose in year-on-year terms since the latter half...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Foreign students bring new life to traditional dances

Staff writerKimono-clad Ang Chooi Kean floats gracefully along, accompanied by 1,400 years of Japanese tradition. Performing the "kokiriko," a traditional Japanese dance, the Malaysia native, 5,300 km from home, seems an unlikely candidate to be preserving and spreading Japan's ancient arts.Ang is one...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Carmakers hope drivers rally to environment-friendly push

Staff writerAutomakers have long tried to impress customers with design and driving performance, but now they are paying homage to the latest in added values: environmentally friendly technology.Stranded by lackluster domestic demand, automakers are hoping to stimulate sales by displaying a number of...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Canada plans to enliven APEC with infrastructure center

Staff writerThe Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will agree next month to establish a center to promote private-sector investment in public infrastructure projects of the group's developing economies, according to government officials.The agreement will be made at the ninth annual talks of the...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Brief slump, then recovery will resume, BOJ chief says

The economy will regain its recovery pace after a temporary slowdown, Bank of Japan Gov. Yasuo Matsushita said Oct. 20.Presenting the central bank's half-year assessment of the economy during a two-day meeting of BOJ branch managers at the bank's head office in Tokyo, Matsushita said export and fixed...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Hashimoto hints at ditching reform proposals

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated Oct. 20 that to accommodate demands from the Liberal Democratic Party, he may sacrifice some of the streamlining proposals suggested in an interim report drafted last month by a blue-ribbon government panel, which he heads.During the first meeting of a House...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

U.S. congressman urges more help for Pyongyang

Food aid by the international community is helping avert a disaster in North Korea, but the famine-threatened communist country needs more food and medicine, U.S. Congressman Tony Hall said Oct. 17 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Finance execs' fear of 'sokaiya' may have been physical

Fear of physical danger to management and employees from a corporate extortionist, rather than possible chaos at stockholders' meetings, must have played a bigger role in driving corporate executives to engage in illegal payoff scandals, the reform-minded head of the Nomura Securities Co. said Oct....
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Poverty forum suggests Japan refocus ODA strategy

Speakers at a poverty and development symposium raised calls Oct. 17 for Japan to reorient its official development assistance to facilitate human development toward eradicating poverty.The Open Symposium on Poverty Eradication and Human Development, held at the United Nations University in Tokyo, featured...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Ministers set to cooperate at COP3 in Kyoto

Four ministers involved in the upcoming international conference on global warming agreed Oct. 17 that they will cooperate closely with each other to make the meeting successful.Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said that he and the heads of the Environment Agency and foreign and trade ministries...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Industrial output fell 3% in August

Industrial output in August dropped 3 percent from the previous month, a downward revision from a preliminary decrease of 2.2 percent, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a report released Oct. 17.The production index for the nation's mines and factories, which takes 1990 as a base...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Pitfalls seen in plan to reduce JNR debts

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka announced Oct. 17 his opposition to the idea of issuing special bonds with tax benefits to help dispose of the huge debts left behind by the Japanese National Railways.Mitsuzuka said a bond-issue would run counter to the principle of fairness in taxation. Taxes needed...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Bulgarian president to visit Nov. 16

Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov is scheduled to visit Japan from Nov. 16 to 20 as a state guest to discuss bilateral and international issues with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Foreign Ministry officials said Oct. 17.The visit is intended to help strengthen relations between the two nations,...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Japan to sign investment pact with Saudi Arabia

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Kobe boy ordered to medical institution

KOBE -- The 15-year-old boy who has confessed to murdering two children and assaulting three others here earlier this year will undergo mental treatment at a juvenile medical institution, the Kobe Family Court said Oct. 17.Judge Yasuhiro Igaki said the boy, whose name is being withheld, may have a serious...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Hashimoto pushes economic reform rather than tax cuts

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated Oct. 17 his opposition to the use of deficit-covering bonds to finance any special income tax cuts for propping up the economy, stressing that increased efforts to change the nation's economic structure are more important in the longer term.Responding to questions...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Officer sentenced to three years for drug frameup

A former Tokyo police officer was sentenced Oct. 17 to three years in prison for trying to frame two innocent men on drug charges in April in conspiracy with two colleagues, who earlier received suspended terms.Nobuji Kawaguchi, 40, listened calmly as presiding Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka described his crime...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Western Canada, Kansai plan better ties

KOBE -- Government and business officials from the Kansai region and western Canada agreed Oct. 17 to strengthen private-sector-driven cooperation to revitalize and diversify their economies.Canadian participants at the Kansai-Canada West Business Forum said western Canada welcomes investment by Kansai-based...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Submarine tunnel connects Osaka to island

OSAKA -- A 2.2-km undersea tunnel for trains and vehicles linking Sakishima, a man-made island in Suminoe Ward, and Tempozan, in Minato Ward, was opened to road traffic Oct. 17.The tunnel is intended to provide easier access to the waterfront development district from the city center, local officials...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Counsel takes aim at Okazaki testimony

Defense counsel for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara cross-examined a senior cult figure Oct. 16 about his part in the killings of an anti-Aum lawyer, trying to disprove his contention he was simply following Asahara's orders.Kazuaki Okazaki, 37, one of six cultists accused of slaying Tsutsumi Sakamoto,...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

Include Ranariddh in Cambodia polls, Obuchi urges

The participation of ousted First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh and exiled parliament members in the upcoming Cambodia general election should be guaranteed, Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi told Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng on Oct. 16.According to Foreign Ministry officials, Obuchi also...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

Access, not glut, said vital in fight against hunger

Giving the poor greater access to food, rather than simply increasing food production, is the key to solving the world's hunger problems, said Dr. Amos Namanga Ngongi in a speech at Yokohama City University on Oct. 16.Ngongi, the Cameroonian deputy executive director of the World Food Program, a U.N....
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

LDP stimulus plan drops tax incentives

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's economic stimulus package due out next week is unlikely to include tax incentives worth around 300 billion yen, party sources said Oct. 16.LDP officials said the package, originally to be released on Oct. 20, would be made public Oct. 21. In effect, the pump-priming...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

State to slash hiring 35%; seeks diversified recruits

The government will hire 632 fast-track civil servants for fiscal 1998, about 35 percent fewer than the number hired annually for the past five years, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Oct. 16.The reduction was made in line with a Cabinet decision in July 1996 to try to cut the number of newly...

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