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EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 1999

Complacency is the threat

Two years ago today, the world got its first exposure to "bahtulism." The Asian contagion then circled the globe, infecting governments in Northeast Asia, Russia and South America. The crisis that followed was the worst since the Great Depression and has shaken the foundations of the world economic architecture....
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

State posts '98 surplus despite revenue shortfall

State tax revenues for fiscal 1998 totaled 49.42 trillion yen, falling 747.1 billion yen short of estimates and slipping below 50 trillion yen for the first time in 11 years, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

Weaker deposit safety net worries Nonaka

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka on Friday said measures to help small businesses in the event of bank failures need to be drawn up after the government introduces a ceiling on guaranteed deposits in April 2001.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

DoCoMo launches English-language pager

NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc., commonly known as NTT DoCoMo, has launched an English pager service to directly deliver a variety of information to foreign residents in the Kanto region as well as in Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata prefectures.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 1999

Yamaichi bankruptcy lawyers may sue former auditor

The head of a team of lawyers assigned with liquidating assets of failed Yamaichi Securities Co. hinted Thursday that they may sue the brokerage's former auditor, Chuo Audit Corp.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 1999

Norota urges tighter SDF discipline

Defense chief Hosei Norota told some 650 agency officials at a hastily arranged meeting Thursday to tighten discipline following a recent series of scandals involving members of the Self-Defense Forces.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 1, 1999

'Liberation' of birth control proves a bitter pill to swallow

On Aug. 16, the Health and Welfare Ministry announced that it had finally approved the low-dosage birth control pill, which will likely become available through prescription in the fall. Oral contraceptives for women have been available in the West for close to 40 years, but in Japan they've always been...
JAPAN
Jun 28, 1999

New Komeito role weighed as LDP, Liberals huddle

The Liberal Democratic Party on Monday began moving aggressively to expand its coalition government to include New Komeito — and secure a majority in the Diet's Upper House.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 1999

Ishihara now wants all base land back

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Monday asked Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to take steps to achieve one of his most important election pledges: the return of Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo or its joint use by airlines.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 1999

Scientists move closer to proving neutrino mass

An international group of scientists announced Monday that they were on the way to determining that neutrinos have mass, a finding that could overturn the current understanding of the universe.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 1999

Cracks in the wall of silence

Physicians in this country seem so confident of their group strength that they can afford to ignore public opinion. So, at least, say critics of the powerful medical establishment in the wake of this week's failure by a subcommittee of the government's medical reform council to agree on a proposal to...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 1999

Obuchi expected to ask New Komeito to join bloc

In a move heralding the formation of a tripartite coalition, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki are expected to hold talks before the second opposition party's July 24 convention.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 1999

No quick sale forecast for LTCB

The nationalized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan will not be able to find a buyer by the end of the month, Financial Reconstruction Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa indicated Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 1999

Recession not sole cause of suicide

All Daisuke Tajima could think about was ending it all. One day the 49-year-old salaried worker walked out of his office in a city in northern Japan, and for weeks his family had no clue as to his whereabouts.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 1999

Toy makers join hands on e-commerce venture

Heads of the nation's top four toy makers announced Thursday that they will launch a joint venture with Softbank Corp. to sell toys over the Internet beginning in November.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Bank inspections weak, Miyazawa admits

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Wednesday admitted that the ministry's bank inspections were opaque and ineffective.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Dam plebiscite worries still run deep

TOKUSHIMA — The Tokushima Municipal Assembly's passage of an ordinance Monday to hold a plebiscite on the controversial Yoshino River dam project was realized after three groups in the assembly in favor of the vote reached a compromise with New Komeito.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Miyazawa puts official spin on BOJ dollar-buying

Monetary authorities were not trying to prop up exports in their repeated sales of yen for dollars in the past few weeks, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Kanzaki slams bill to cut Diet seats

New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki on Tuesday opposed plans by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, to submit to the Diet today a bill seeking to cut 50 Lower House seats.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 1999

New wing cracks in F-2 prototype found

New cracks were discovered on the left wing of a prototype of Japan's next-generation F-2 fighter jet after a recent strength test on the ground, the Defense Agency announced Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 1999

Miyazawa pleased by New Komeito tax-for-welfare scheme

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa expressed his appreciation Friday for the recent decision by New Komeito, a de facto ally of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to push for applying consumption tax revenues only for welfare purposes.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Leaders agree to extend Diet by 57 days

Leaders of the government and Liberal Democratic Party-Liberal Party coalition formally decided Wednesday to extend the Diet session by 57 days until Aug. 13 to pass legislation on jobs creation and reviving industrial competitiveness.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Shorter extension of Diet session likely

The proposed extension of the current Diet session will likely be limited to early August, as key government and Liberal Democratic Party leaders on Tuesday expressed their resolve to work quickly on urgent spending matters.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

NCB picks up Morgan Stanley as adviser

Nippon Credit Bank, currently under state control, has selected U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley as its financial adviser, NCB President Takuya Fujii said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 1999

Business, labor groups elated

The nation's five major business and labor organizations expressed appreciation Friday for the government's package to boost the job market and improve industrial competitiveness, according to government officials.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 1999

Strong GDP data fails to impress Miyazawa

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa gave a cautious assessment Friday of the nation's reported economic growth of 1.9 percent in the January-March quarter.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 1999

GDP expanded 1.9% in January-March quarter

The nation's economy grew 1.9 percent in the January-March quarter — an annualized rate of 7.9 percent — breaking a string of five consecutive quarters of contraction, the Economic Planning Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 1999

Coalition talks sought with New Komeito

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, must discuss common policies with New Komeito before the latter holds its convention in late July, when it is expected to decide whether to join the ruling bloc, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 1999

Help for battered wives is overdue

With a series of shootings apparently related to an underworld gang battle taking place in various parts of the Kanto area and a constantly rising volume of illegal stimulant drugs to deal with, Japan's police forces would seem to have a busy enough summer ahead of them. That may be why some observers...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 8, 1999

The 'nobody' who changed Japan

RYOMA: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, by Romulus Hillsborough. Ridgeback Press, San Francisco, 1999, 614 pages, $40 (cloth). Every country needs its heroes. Unfortunately, the great Japanese hero seems to have been a casualty of World War II. To this day, Japan tends to look all the way back to the Edo...

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