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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.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Meter companies raided as bid-rigging probe widens

Authorities from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office simultaneously raided on Feb. 5 more than a dozen offices of firms making water meters to collect evidence over alleged bid-rigging in connection with Tokyo Metropolitan Government contracts.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Bureaucrats reprimanded for taking gifts

The Finance Ministry's deputy vice minister was issued a verbal reprimand and the head of the Tax Bureau received a strict written warning Jan. 31 for careless conduct that raised doubts over the moral standards of civil servants.Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said verbal action was taken against...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Marines want Okinawa rape appeal reinstated

The two U.S. Marines convicted along with a navy seaman of abducting and raping a 12-year-old Okinawa girl in September 1995 want to reinstate an appeal for reduced sentences, saying they were coerced into withdrawing the appeal by a marine officer, it was learned Jan. 31.The marines' lawyer, Michael...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Asahara again abusive in court

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara disrupted his trial again Jan. 31, blurting out comments about the presiding judge, his defense attorneys and even people in the gallery.His reckless behavior had brought him to the brink of eviction Jan. 30 for a third time from the Tokyo District Court, and the...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Nishioka denies party members took Tomobe money

Shinshinto Secretary General Takeo Nishioka on Jan. 31 denied media reports that some of the party's members received illegal money from Tatsuo Tomobe, an Upper House member who was arrested on Jan. 29 on suspicion of fraud. "All of 15 senior Shinshinto members who served as members of our party's electioneering...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Ministry warned Orange Kyosai fund was illegal

The Education Ministry had pointed out in 1995 that the Orange Super Fund, an alleged fraud scheme operated by arrested Upper House member Tatsuo Tomobe and his family, could be in violation of the Investment Law, one of the firm's internal documents revealed Jan. 31.After May 1995, ministry officials...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Shiseido to offer lifetime employment in junior year

From this spring, the guarantee of a job for life will be granted one year before students seeking to join cosmetics giant Shiseido Co. graduate from college, a policy that is expected to be copied at other firms.The firm announced Jan. 31 that it plans to interview in March college juniors who are...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Commission preserves Aum Shinrikyo from ban

Public Security Commission decided unanimously Jan. 31 to turn down a request to outlaw Aum Shinrikyo under the Antisubversive Activities Law.The seven-member commission, an extra-ministerial board of the Justice Ministry, had discussed whether the law, which was enacted in 1952, should be invoked against...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

GM Japan chief wary of weak yen

Douglas Herberger, president of General Motors Japan Ltd., expressed concern Jan. 31 over the yen's recent depreciation, saying the firm would have to reassess its strategies in Japan if the trend continues."If that trend continues, I will be very concerned," Herberger said, adding that he hopes exchange...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Diet passes 2.67 trillion yen supplementary budget

Despite opposition parties' mounting demands for revisions, a 2.67 trillion yen supplementary budget plan was enacted Jan. 31 without revisions at a House of Councilors plenary session.The Social Democratic Party voted for the extra budget package for fiscal 1996, helping the ruling Liberal Democratic...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Confessions, cooperation helped Aum evade antisubversive law

The Public Security Commission's decision Jan. 31 not to invoke the Antisubversive Activities Law against Aum Shinrikyo reflects tremendous changes the cult has gone through in the past few years, including the arrests of its key figures and fugitives and its declaration of bankruptcy.When the Public...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

JR, rescuers hold underground drills

OSAKA -- About 250 railway workers, police officers and firefighters took part in a fire drill Jan. 31 at the JR Tozai Line's underground Mitejima Station, which will open March 8 to link Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and Osaka's Kyobashi district.Because a 10.2 km length of the 12.5 km train line will...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Suit filed over site of ticket office

A group of citizens who oppose the planned construction of a bike-racing ticket office in the Shimbashi district of Tokyo's Minato Ward filed lawsuits Jan. 29, demanding that the project's promoters and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry suspend the plan.Four suits, two against the builders...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Three airlines OK'd for Korea runs

Japan and South Korea agreed Jan. 30 during their three-day civil aviation talks to add three Japanese airlines to the bilateral aviation market, Transport Ministry officials said.The two governments also agreed to allow airlines of both nations to open new routes between three South Korean cities --...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Seibu puts store in woman's hands

Seibu Department Stores, Ltd. is promoting a 38-year-old division manager to head of its popular Yurakucho branch -- and she's a woman.Yoshino Tominaga, chief of sales training at the firm's head office, will be the first-ever woman head of a department store in Japan, according to the firm. She will...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Britain still in running for investment, Toyota head assures

Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., said his company has made no decision on future investment in Europe and Britain remains one of many possible options.In a statement issued Jan. 30, Okuda said, "The Toyota Motor Corp. position regarding future investment in Europe is now under study and...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Euro debut will not upset currency markets, EU official says

The 1999 introduction of a single currency in the European Union will not have a destabilizing effect on international currency markets, according to a senior EU official on monetary issues.Herve Carre, director for monetary matters at the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Auto exports log 11th annual fall in '96

Continuing on its 11-year downward spiral, Japan exported 3.71 million automobiles in 1996, or roughly half the number it exported in 1985, an industry association reported Jan. 30.Exports of passenger cars, trucks and buses in 1996 dropped 2.1 percent from the previous year, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

PC shipments continue upswing

Global shipments of personal computers grew 21.7 percent in 1996 from the previous year to 72.2 million units, paced by purchases in the U.S. by corporate buyers, a major Japanese think tank reported Jan. 30.Nomura Research Institute, affiliated with Nomura Securities Co., predicts that global PC shipments...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Flights may go all night at Haneda

The Transport Ministry is looking at turning Tokyo's Haneda airport into a 24-hour-a-day operation, ministry officials said Jan. 30.International charter flights would be allowed once the hours of operation are extended, they said. Currently, the airport operates between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.According...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1997

Tomobe arrested for fraud as Diet strips him of immunity

Tatsuo Tomobe, an Upper House Diet member and the main figure in an alleged mutual fund fraud, was arrested on Jan. 29 after the Diet revoked his immunity by unanimous vote earlier the same day.Metropolitan Police Department investigators arrested Tomobe, a 68-year-old former Shinshinto member who is...

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