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BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Ministers, party execs agree on local subsidy cuts

Following weeks of turf battles, Cabinet ministers and ruling coalition executives finally reached agreement Wednesday on how the national government will cut its subsidies to local government projects by 1 trillion yen in fiscal 2004.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Will planned new law really protect whistle-blowers?

The government outlined a bill Wednesday to protect whistle-blowers in both the public and private sectors but provides no punishment for violators and says the protection must be pursued in lawsuits.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Mixed signals sent on SDF Iraq duties

The government is giving unclear explanations about when Self-Defense Forces troops will be sent to Iraq and whether they will transport arms and ammunition for other forces in the U.S.-led coalition.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2003

Koizumi's credibility placed on the line

There is arguably no profession that places a greater premium on the credibility of a person's words than politics.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2003

Key economic gauge at 100% for October

A key gauge of the current state of Japan's economy stood at 100 percent for October, way above the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2003

Ishiba briefs Koizumi on fact-finding mission, slips away

Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday reported the results of a fact-minding mission to Iraq to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2003

A victory for hardliners

Hardliners from both ends of the political spectrum are the winners of elections held in Northern Ireland last week. The polarization of politics is a sign of weariness and wariness on the part of voters and is another blow to the tattered Good Friday peace accords.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2003

Despite deaths, Koizumi determined to send SDF

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Sunday that the deaths of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq, possibly at the hands of terrorists, will not change his plan to send troops to the war-torn country.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Japan crime hit record high in 2002

A record 3.69 million crimes were committed in Japan in 2002, according to a government report released Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2003

Ozawa takes DPJ vice presidency but keeps his distance from party

Veteran Diet lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa continues to make headlines, even for things he doesn't do.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2003

Kin want missing persons cases reinvestigated

The families of several missing people considered very likely to have been abducted to North Korea asked the government Thursday to reinvestigate their cases.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2003

New U.S.-style law schoolsmay not get state subsidies

The Finance Ministry is planning to refuse to provide state subsidies to U.S.-style law schools that are to be established next spring to address a shortage of practicing lawyers in Japan, ministry sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2003

Tanaka gets a stage in Diet as DPJ ally

The Democratic Party of Japan may have obtained a powerful weapon Tuesday to wield against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 16, 2003

From manifest destiny to voter apathy

The media kept referring to last week's House of Representatives poll as the "manifesto election," because it was the first time Japan's political parties had spelled out their platforms. The inexperience showed. In their printed versions, the manifestos were considered all but incomprehensible, and...
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2003

Fukuda says SDF will head to Iraq before end of year

Japan will send Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq before the end of the year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday, the first clear public statement from the government regarding the timing of the controversial dispatch.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2003

Bilateral talks must include abductions: Fukuda

Bilateral talks over compensating North Korea for Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula must also include the abduction issue, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Private-sector machinery orders fall for third straight month

Core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in September from a month earlier for the third consecutive monthly decline.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2003

A viable two-party system?

In Sunday's election, the voters opted for stability -- with a twist. They gave the three-party ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party a continued mandate to run the country but, at the same time, handed the LDP a slap on the wrist: the loss of a majority in the 480-seat influential Lower...
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 5, 2003

Fate of justices in voters' hands

In the shadow of intense campaigning for Sunday's Lower House election, nine people are quietly waiting for voters to decide whether they deserve to stay in the nation's top judicial posts.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2003

Battle for power waged on voters' screens

The leader of the Democratic Party of Japan is fleetingly portrayed in a recent TV commercial as the stern-faced chairman of a fictitious Cabinet meeting, the scene accompanied by upbeat rock music.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Kan rules out specter of DPJ-JCP coalition

Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, denied Tuesday that his party plans to form a governing coalition with the Japanese Communist Party.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2003

Nakasone reportedly ready to bow out

It appeared almost certain Sunday night that former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone will not run in the upcoming general election and will retire from politics, according to sources close to his support group.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2003

Japan to send civilians to help reconstruct Iraq

Japan plans to send civilians including government personnel and private-sector experts to Iraq, possibly by the end of the year, to help renovate schools and set up clinics and businesses, government sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2003

SDF to continue in antiterror efforts

Japan on Tuesday extended its naval logistic support for U.S. antiterror operations in Afghanistan by another six months.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2003

Government says economy remains on track for recovery

The government said Wednesday the economy remains on a recovery track, but it cautioned against a possible adverse impact from fluctuations in the foreign-exchange and stock markets, as well as turbulence in the global economy.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2003

Settling for less than peace

The Israeli government's recent announcement that it planned to build more than 600 homes in West Bank settlements is another stake through the heart of the "road map" for peace between Palestinians and Israelis. There is no reason to expand this construction -- other than a desire to create "facts on...

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