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JAPAN
Jan 8, 1998

Agency rates 20 life insurers' ability to pay claims

Amid growing public concerns about financial institutions, the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) on Thursday released a ranking of 20 major life insurance firms in terms of ability to provide payouts.The list included 10 life insurers whose ratings had been previously released in accordance with paid...
JAPAN
Jan 7, 1998

Brokers' shady deals target of amendment

Steps to amend the Securities and Exchange Law will be submitted to the upcoming Diet session so that profits made by brokerages through shady means such as market manipulation can be confiscated, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Tuesday.The proposed revision is part of the ministry's package...
JAPAN
Jan 2, 1998

Tokyo, Pyongyang bending to renew ties

Staff writerPositive developments have been emerging between Japan and North Korea in their efforts to resume negotiations aimed at establishing diplomatic ties, but a bumpy road still lies ahead, partly because of the deterioration of the South Korean economy.A resumption of full-scale normalization...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1997

'Big Bang' will expose scrimpers' savings to big risks

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1997

Keep reform momentum going, Toyoda urges

BY SAYURI DAIMON
JAPAN
Dec 30, 1997

Vacationing masses forgo holiday exodus

The annual yearend and New Year's holiday exodus from major cities to hometowns has been slow-moving, making traffic less congested than in previous years.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 1997

Tokyo avoids disclosure of wining and dining expenses

The Tokyo District Court rejected on Friday a lawsuit seeking to force Gov. Yukio Aoshima and other Tokyo municipal officials to make public all documents on entertainment expenses.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 1997

Ascii to join CSK group

Ascii Corp., a major game software maker and a publisher of computer magazines, will become part of the group led by major information service firm CSK Corp. by issuing new shares to CSK and game machine giant Sega Enterprises Ltd., the three companies announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 1997

Osaka reveals abuse of 1.33 billion yen in taxpayers' funds

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama formally announced here Thursday that 1.33 billion yen in taxpayers' money was misused by the prefectural government between 1994 and 1997.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 1997

Feature: Horse-drawn globe-trotters come to Japan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 19, 1997

Three scientists awarded Japan Prize

Three scientists, one Japanese and two Belgians, were selected as recipients of the 1998 Japan Prize, the Tokyo-based Science and Technology Foundation of Japan announced Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Ozawa hints that dissenters should leave

Ichiro Ozawa, leader of Shinshinto, the largest opposition party, indicated Tuesday he would accept splitting the party if members disagree with his policy proposals.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1997

Business leaders hail tax reforms, finance package

Most business leaders, who have demanded corporate tax cuts of 10 percentage points, welcomed the tax reform package and financial stabilization measures hammered out by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 1997

Plan for new government bond issue wins tentative approval

A Liberal Democratic Party task force expressed its support Thursday for the principles of a plan to set up a 10 trillion yen fund through bond issues to help protect depositors.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Some hope dreamland will arise from returned base sites

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. -- On some 480 hectares of land in the heart of this subtropical island prefecture, a futuristic urban center, touted as an Asian hub for international exchanges, has been envisioned.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Nago battles over U.S. heliport plebiscite

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- This sleepy northern Okinawa city is gearing up to hold the first plebiscite in the nation on allowing the introduction of a U.S. military base, and the campaigns for and against the planned U.S. Marine Corps offshore heliport are getting heated.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1997

Koike pleads guilty to taking massive payoffs

Ryuichi Koike, the "sokaiya" corporate extortionist at the center of a huge financial scandal, pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking about 12.4 billion yen in illicit payoffs from the Big Four brokerages and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 1997

Japan travel industry does some soul-searching

The Japanese travel industry has yet to decide whether it will print information about the dangers of certain destinations on travel brochures, the chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Muraoka defends Finance over broker's collapse

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka defended the Finance Ministry on Tuesday over the collapse of Yamaichi Securities Co., saying it would have been impossible for ministry officials to discover the brokerage had been conducting irregular, off-the-book trading.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Nomura execs plead guilty to 'sokaiya' payoffs

A former president and two former managing directors of Nomura Securities Co. pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to pay 370 million yen to a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist in one of the biggest financial scandals to rock the nation this decade.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1997

'86 photos detail dumping at Universal site

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1997

Japanese curriculum planning takes worldly shift

In preparation for adopting a five-day school week in 2003, an advisory council to the education minister submitted a midterm report Monday urging fewer mandatory classes in the fundamental subjects to create additional room for general studies that foster humanity, creativity, originality and international...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 1997

Patent chiefs collaborate on global certificates

KYOTO -- Officials in charge of the patent system in Japan, the United States and Europe agreed Friday to cooperate to reduce the costs and time needed to grant patents.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 1997

Leading ICBL figure to give lecture on land mines

In the runup to next month's signing of a treaty to ban antipersonnel land mines, Sophia University, the Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Jesuit Social Center will organize a lecture by a leading figure in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines tomorrow at Sophia University's No. 10 Auditorium....
JAPAN
Nov 12, 1997

Li annoyed by Japan's vagueness on Taiwan Strait

Chinese Premier Li Peng expressed displeasure Wednesday with Japan's vagueness over how Taiwan will be treated under the newly revised Japan-U.S. defense cooperation scheme.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1997

Marubeni earns ISO approval

Marubeni Corp. said Thursday that it has become the nation's first trading firm to qualify for an ISO certification for international quality management.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Aum follower spread sarin 'out of fear'

Former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Yasuo Hayashi told the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday that he was driven to spread deadly sarin gas on the Tokyo subway in March 1995 out of fear of what would happen if he refused.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1997

MMC chief denies links to 'sokaiya' but intends to resign

The chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said on Wednesday that he knew nothing of the company's involvement with two "sokaiya" corporate extortionists or alleged illegal payoffs, but will step down from the chairmanship to take responsibility.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 1997

Dome in the dunes ready for desert study

TOTTORI -- Scientists are now busy working in a gigantic new glass dome at the famous Tottori Sand Dunes, which silently covers a 16-km stretch of the Sea of Japan coast.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 1997

Muraoka shoves ministries toward deregulation

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka pressed 12 ministries Thursday to work harder to swiftly compile deregulatory measures to boost the economy.

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A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake