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JAPAN
Mar 3, 1997

ACCJ urges persistence to remove trade barriers

The U.S. government should continue playing an active role in Japan-U.S. trade issues and help U.S. companies gain greater access to the Japanese market, the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a report released Mar. 3.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 1997

Budget ax may fall on defense layout

The government will review its plan to spend 25.1 trillion yen on defense-related programs between fiscal 1996 and 2000 in an effort to rebuild the nation's debt-stricken fiscal health, the government's top spokesman said Feb. 27.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 1997

January industrial output rose by record 5.3%

Japan's industrial output in January rose by a record 5.3 percent from the previous month, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report released Feb. 27.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 1997

Huge seismic reading in Shizuoka said to be error

An earthquake meter at Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture, recently reported a strain in the Earth's crust greater than any ever before observed in the prefecture, the Meteorological Agency said Feb. 26 before quickly retracting the announcement.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 1997

'Asian G-7' to be discussed by regional finance chiefs

High-ranking financial officials from six Asia-Pacific states and regions will meet in Tokyo next week for discussions on financial and foreign currency matters as a step toward creating an Asian version of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Feb. 25.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 1997

Sato to carmakers: don't cut export prices

The nation's automakers should refrain from cutting export prices even if the yen falls against the dollar, trade chief Shinji Sato said Feb. 25.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 1997

Life insurers opposed to banks moving in

The nation's life insurers joined ranks with their nonlife counterparts Feb. 21 in voicing opposition to the entry of banks into the insurance market through holding companies.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 1997

JR West president to step down

Masataka Ide, president of West Japan Railway Co., will step down April 1 and Vice President Shojiro Nanya will take his place, Transport Minister Makoto Koga announced Feb. 21.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 1997

Chinese community grieves Deng Xiaoping

People in Yokohama's Chinatown, the largest Chinese community in Japan, and elsewhere around the country grieved over the death Feb. 20 of Deng Xiaoping.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 1997

Insurance leader speaks out against allowing banks

Banks' entry into the insurance business would reduce competition and should not be permitted, even through holding companies, the head of the nation's nonlife insurance industry said Feb. 20.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 1997

Special tax measures mulled for NTT split

Special tax measures may be temporarily applied for the planned breakup of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. but they will not be applied to consolidated earnings, a top Finance Ministry official said Feb. 20.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 1997

Financial leaders play down worries, give support to banks

Financial authorities continued Feb. 19 to play down concerns that the nation's financial system is in dire straits, stressing that they will support banks while urging them to continue restructuring efforts.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 1997

No law planned for NTT breakup, minister says

The splitup of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. through the formation of a holding company will not be handled by the creation of a separate taxation law, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Feb. 18.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 1997

Banker raps holding-company rules

Less stringent limitations than those currently proposed should be placed on financial holding companies to be allowed under a revised Antimonopoly Law, the head of the nation's banking industry said Feb. 18.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 1997

TV Asahi hit over radio left at hostage site

TV Asahi came under government fire Feb. 17 for having left a radio device at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima for about one month in attempt to communicate with captives being held inside the compound by Marxist rebels.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 1997

Hashimoto apologizes to Ota for bullet disclosure delay

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto apologized Feb. 17 to Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota over the government's delay in disclosing an incident in which the U.S. military fired uranium-depleted bullets during training near the southernmost prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 1997

Reform of fiscal investment program to offer 'no sanctuary'

All aspects of the government's fiscal investment and loan program will be scrutinized "with no sanctuaries" to ensure the system is overhauled in line with administrative reforms, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Feb. 14.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 1997

Tokyo may revise law on U.S. land leases

The government may revise a special law so that it can smoothly extend forced leases on land used for U.S. military facilities in Okinawa Prefecture, Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama hinted Feb. 13. It is the first time that Kajiyama, who is responsible for affairs related to U.S. bases there,...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 1997

FEMA urges Japan to form joint disaster unit

Japan should cooperate with the U.S. government and industry to form a unit like the American National Urban Search and Rescue Response system to improve reaction times to major disasters, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said Feb. 12.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 1997

Mitsuzuka vows to control yen's fall

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, in response to the dollar's rally Feb. 12, said the government will monitor the foreign exchange market and take "appropriate steps" to control it.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 1997

Use tax funds to save depositors, banker urges

Taxpayer money should be made available to rescue depositors if financial institutions fail, the head of the nation's regional banks said Feb. 12.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 1997

Russia to join in tanker bow probe

Japan and Russia agreed Feb. 10 to jointly examine in Japan the bow section of the Russian tanker that has spilled thousands of kiloliters of oil into Japanese waters, Transport Ministry officials said Feb. 10.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

JAMA chairman rebuts excessive export claims

In an apparent effort to nip another potential trade problem in the bud, Yoshifumi Tsuji, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Feb. 6 rebutted recent U.S. claims that the yen's drop is helping Japanese automakers increase U.S.-bound exports, noting that Japanese exports actually...
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 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
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

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 29, 1997

Extra budget clears committee vote

The 2.67 trillion yen supplementary budget for fiscal 1996 got the green light Jan. 29 from the House of Representatives Budget Committee after the main opposition parties failed to delay a vote on the plan.While the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its ally the Social Democratic Party, and 21st Century,...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 1997

Public works budget up for review

The government's top spokesman on Jan. 27 hinted at the possibility of reviewing a plan to spend 630 trillion yen on public works projects between fiscal 1995 and 2004."As the government is now working to reconstruct the nation's fiscal situation, the government may need to delay (the implementation...
JAPAN
Jan 24, 1997

Yen to stop falling: Kajiyama

The government's top spokesman tried to talk down the dollar's exchange rate Jan. 24 by saying he is "convinced" that the yen will go no lower than 120 to the dollar."There has been a shared view within both political and economic circles that the (appropriate) yen-dollar range is around 110 yen, and...

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