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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 13, 2002

Nisei woodworker follows grain of ancestral roots

His mailbox in Kikoba, where the town of Hayama meets Yokosuka City in Kanagawa Prefecture, reads "toco," the Portuguese word for log. Lengths of bamboo lean against an outside wall.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Japan's close encounter with the West

'By reading, hearing, and by observation in foreign lands, our people have acquired a general knowledge of constitutions, habits and manners as they exist in most foreign countries. . . . Japan cannot claim originality as yet, but it will aim to exercise practical wisdom by adopting the advantages, and...
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2002

Key gauge stayed above boom-bust line in May

The government said Friday its key gauge of the current state of the economy stayed above the boom-or-bust line in May for the fourth straight month.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2002

Hospitals and schools fear buildings not quake-proof

About half of Japan's schools and hospitals fear their buildings would not stand up to a major earthquake, a Cabinet Office survey shows.
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2002

Pork-barreling still rampant

Lower House member Muneo Suzuki was recently arrested by the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office on charges of accepting a bribe in an influence-peddling scandal. Following the arrest, the Lower House approved a nonbinding motion demanding Suzuki resign as a lawmaker. This was the second such motion approved,...
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2002

Former vice farm minister reportedly took 2 million yen from Yamarin

Yamarin, the Hokkaido timber firm at the center of a bribery probe, in 1998 paid Toshikatsu Matsuoka, a former parliamentary vice farm minister, 2 million yen the same day it allegedly paid a 5 million yen bribe to Muneo Suzuki, a former lawmaker now under arrest on bribery charges, sources said.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2002

Reduce public utility fees: report

Public utility charges need to be further reduced by introducing more competition into the market, which would in turn revitalize the economy, according to a report on public utility costs unveiled Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2002

Support for reshuffle builds

The regular Diet session has been extended for 42 days through July 31. On Wednesday, when the extension was approved, the Lower House voted unanimously to accept a request from the Tokyo District Court to issue an arrest warrant for legislator Muneo Suzuki. And later the same day, public prosecutors...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Council finalizes basic reform policy

The government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Friday finalized a basic economic reform policy that features such revitalization and tax reform measures as corporate tax cuts and consolidation of government expenditures in the fiscal 2003 budget.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Suzuki policy secretary arrested in bribe case

Prosecutors on Friday arrested the policy secretary of scandal-hit lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, who himself was recently arrested on suspicion of taking a bribe in 1998.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2002

Prosecutors nab Suzuki

Public prosecutors on Wednesday arrested lawmaker Muneo Suzuki on suspicion of bribery after his colleagues in the House of Representatives gave them the green light in a plenary session earlier in the day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2002

Suzuki denies taking money for favors

Embattled lawmaker Muneo Suzuki on Tuesday denied during his testimony before a Lower House committee session that the money he received from a Hokkaido-based lumber company in 1998 was in return for political favors.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2002

Economy still bottoming out, government says

The economy has bottomed out, the government said Monday, maintaining its basic assessment of the economy in its report for June.
COMMENTARY
Jun 17, 2002

Cracks in a nonnuclear core

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda's comment on Japan's three nonnuclear principles caused political confusion at home and deepened misunderstanding abroad.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Study on aging finds most seniors active, healthy

The majority of elderly people in Japan are physically in good shape and socially active, according to the fiscal 2001 white paper on aging in society submitted and approved at Friday's Cabinet meeting.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Fuji eruption evacuation map in works

A council working on measures to be taken in the event that Mount Fuji erupts met Wednesday and received a report by experts on the creation of a map of areas that could be affected.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2002

Koizumi to pursue basic food safety law

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he will seek enactment of a new basic food safety law next year in a bid to erase widespread public distrust stemming from the government's failure to keep mad cow disease out of Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Relocating capital functions unlikely anytime soon: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday made clear that his Cabinet will not address in the foreseeable future the proposed relocation of the nation's capital functions outside of Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2002

Business sentiment in minus territory but improving

Business sentiment for the current quarter improved in the latest government survey, released Wednesday, although companies whose conditions had deteriorated still outnumbered those whose had improved.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2002

Fukuda tells Diet government is not rethinking ban on nuclear weapons

The government has no intention of abandoning the nation's three nonnuclear principles, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a Diet panel Wednesday, five days after causing an uproar by saying Japan's ban on atomic weapons could be reviewed.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Opposition parties to demand Nakatani resign over info list

Secretaries general of the four biggest opposition parties agreed Tuesday to demand the resignation of Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani over his agency's systematic compilation of information on individuals who made information disclosure requests from the agency.
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2002

Despite heavy resistance, change is in the air

The reformist administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is in a crisis as a result of strong resistance to the slogan of structural reforms with no safe haven, under which he formed his Cabinet in April 2001.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2002

Suzuki allegedly received cash from firm that logged illegally

Lawmaker Muneo Suzuki in 1998 received around 5 million yen from executives of a Hokkaido logging firm who were apparently enlisting his help after the company was caught cutting down trees in a national forest without permission, sources close to the case said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2002

'Spy' ship salvage back on table

The government said Friday it will attempt before the typhoon season to salvage a suspected North Korean spy ship that sank in China's exclusive economic zone in December after a shootout with Japan Coast Guard vessels.
JAPAN
May 31, 2002

Ministry to reprimand top prosecutor over underling's gangland dealings

The Justice Ministry decided Thursday to reprimand the public prosecutor general over a bribery and fraud scandal involving a former senior official of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office, Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said.
JAPAN
May 31, 2002

Prosecutors seek prison for Nakao

Prosecutors on Thursday sought a 3 1/2-year prison term for former construction minister Eiichi Nakao, claiming he took 60 million yen in bribes from Wakachiku Construction Co. while he was a Cabinet member in 1996.
JAPAN
May 26, 2002

Kawaguchi seeks talks on islands

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is hoping to inject fresh momentum into bilateral peace treaty negotiations with Russia by holding talks with her Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, on the sidelines of the upcoming meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers in Canada, sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2002

Monetary policy to remain as is, central bank says

The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged Tuesday, deciding to keep the banking system awash with funds.
JAPAN
May 19, 2002

U.S. fears Sato leaked secrets to Russia

The United States is concerned that secret U.S. information was leaked to Russia through Masaru Sato, a Russian affairs expert at the Foreign Ministry who was arrested Tuesday, diplomatic sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Economy has hit bottom, report says

The Japanese economy has bottomed out, the government declared Friday for the first time during the current recession. The government gave no indication, however, of whether they expected economic recovery.

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