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EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2001

A bold new start for the LDP

Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, who has long been regarded as an eccentric but reform-minded politician, has been elected president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party. When the four-way race started, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was the front-runner and odds-on favorite. Yet Mr. Koizumi caught...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2001

Koizumi promises to base appointments on ability

New LDP President Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday pledged to fill his Cabinet and party posts according to ability rather than factional concerns.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2001

Business confidence plunged in latest quarter

Business confidence in Japan deteriorated sharply in the January-March quarter amid declines in share prices and the deceleration in the U.S. economy, according to a government survey released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2001

Consumer confidence falls for second quarter

Consumer confidence took a turn for the worse in March as consumers, including free-spending singles, showed increasing concern about their employment and income prospects over the next six months, two government surveys showed Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Tokyo-Beijing relations expected to decline despite visa conditions

Although the government cited "humanitarian reasons" in deciding to issue an entry visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, the Foreign Ministry recognizes the decision will have political implications and will certainly serve Tokyo-Beijing ties yet another blow.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2001

Economic gauge revised downward

The government said Friday that it has revised downward its key gauge of the state of the economy for February due to weak production-related data.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2001

Shame on the government

The Mori administration and the Foreign Ministry in particular have been taking an ambiguous attitude toward a request for a Japanese visa from former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui. I must criticize this attitude categorically.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2001

'Gyudon,' PCs, phone fees tossed into new CPI mix

The government will soon add mobile phone fees, personal computers and "gyudon" beef bowls to items monitored when compiling monthly consumer price indexes as part of a reshuffle of the gauges' components, government officials said Wednesday. The new items will be used to calculate the CPIs starting...
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

LDP leadership shift key to market cheer

The Tokyo stock market is counting on an imminent change in Liberal Democratic Party leadership to provide impetus for a positive tone through this month and beyond.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2001

Crown Princess showing signs of pregnancy

The Crown Princess, 37, is showing signs that she might be pregnant, the Imperial Household Agency announced Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2001

Lee urges Japan to issue his visa

TAIPEI -- Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui strongly urged Tokyo on Sunday to issue him a visa for a medical checkup in Japan, saying his heart condition is worsening.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Seoul recalls ambassador over textbook controversey

South Korea's ambassador to Japan returned to Seoul on Tuesday in a move to protest Japan's approval last week of a history textbook that many Asian nations say brushes over descriptions of Japan's wartime atrocities.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2001

Ministers back curbs on China farm imports

Eight Cabinet ministers on Friday confirmed a policy of invoking a temporary emergency import curb on three agricultural products, mostly from China, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2001

Economy gauge dips below bust line

The government said Thursday that its key gauge of the state of the economy fell below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in February for the first time in three months.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

LDP election set for April 24

The Liberal Democratic Party will hold its long-awaited presidential election on April 24 to select the successor to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2001

Matsuo again arrested over missing cash

Police on Wednesday served Katsutoshi Matsuo, a former Foreign Ministry logistics chief, with a new arrest warrant on suspicion of defrauding the government out of roughly 119 million yen.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2001

Mori, Koga agree to hold poll before Golden Week starts

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and the No. 2 man of his Liberal Democratic Party agreed Wednesday to hold the party's long-awaited presidential election before Golden Week, which begins at the end of the month.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2001

Election of new LDP president to take place before April 27

The long-awaited presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party will be held no later than April 27, the party's No. 2 man said Wednesday after speaking with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2001

Poll shows LDP support down to 28%

Public support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has dipped to 27.9 percent, falling below the 30 percent mark ahead of the pivotal House of Councilors election in July, according to the latest Kyodo News poll released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2001

Income gap on rise as middle class deteriorates

Various data show that the income gap is widening in Japan, which has long prided itself on being a nation of equality, free of class struggle.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Stay with climate protocol, Mori warns U.S. in letter

Joining a barrage of criticism from around the world, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday warning against Washington's decision to pull out of the 1997 Kyoto climate change treaty, designed to stave off global warming.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Deregulation plan skirts issue of dismantling NTT structure

The government launched a new three-year deregulation program Friday that features measures to promote information technology but skirts the proposed dismantling of the holding-company structure of NTT Corp.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Matsuo indicted on state fraud charges

Katsutoshi Matsuo, a former Foreign Ministry logistics chief, was indicted Friday on charges of defrauding the government of 42 million yen in Cabinet Secretariat discretionary funds for diplomatic activities, prosecutors said.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Record-low 40 bureaucrats took 'amakudari' jobs in 2000

A record-low 40 former government officials were hired in 2000 by companies linked to the ministries and agencies they worked for, according to an annual report compiled by the National Personnel Authority.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2001

Mori unrepentant for missing king's reception

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori came under fire Wednesday for skipping a reception the night before hosted by Norway's visiting King Harald V, only to later dine at a sushi restaurant with his LDP colleagues.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2001

Direct elections are not the cure

The view that the prime minister should be elected by popular vote is gaining ground. Ironically, it is Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori himself -- one of the most unpopular prime ministers in memory -- that is contributing to this groundswell of opinion. It is not just ordinary citizens, academics and business...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

2001 budget set to clear Diet Monday

The ruling and opposition parties agreed Thursday to vote Monday on the fiscal 2001 budget both at the House of Councilors Budget Committee and during the chamber's plenary session, making it certain the budget will pass the Diet before the April 1 start of the new fiscal year.
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2001

No winner in France's vote

PARIS -- A year before the 2002 general and presidential elections, the results of the municipal and local elections that took place the last two Sundays represent a major development in French politics. They will not ease the relationship between President Jacques Chirac and his likely rival next year,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 20, 2001

Japan wasting its top resource

LONDON -- In Britain, the Equal Opportunities Commission is a powerful body that has been working hard to ensure that there is no discrimination in the workplace, particularly on grounds of gender. Women have still not achieved complete equality in pay and conditions, but much progress has been made....
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

BOJ revives 'zero-interest-rate' policy

The Bank of Japan decided Monday to effectively revive the "zero-interest-rate" policy, only seven months after abandoning it, as it tries anew to get a hold on the nation's faltering economy.

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