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JAPAN
Apr 21, 1997

Group seeks assistance for '95 quake victims

Representatives of a citizens' group and lawmakers submitted a petition April 21 to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto calling for legislation to financially support survivors of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 1997

German Import Fair comes to Osaka

OSAKA -- The German Import Fair, the first ever of its type in Osaka, will be held at the Umeda Sky Building complex here from May 16 to 18.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 1997

Aid views: 'Abductions a frame-up; food comes first'

Allegations that North Korean agents have abducted Japanese are a frame-up and Tokyo should pledge money to the United Nations to help the state's starving citizens, according to a former senior U.N. official who teaches at Saitama University.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Brain death splits Lower House

Although debate at the Lower House Health and Welfare Committee has nearly come to an end, committee legislators are still divided over whether brain death should be legally recognized as death.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Mitsuzuka urges pension reform

The public pension system needs to be reformed -- through such steps as cuts in payments to high-income earners -- if it is to withstand the effects of a rapidly aging population, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said April 15.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1997

Osaka, Northeast England business chambers link

OSAKA -- The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Britain's North East Chamber of Commerce, Trade and Industry on April 15 signed a joint statement to strengthen cooperation in facilitating trade and investment, as well as to develop links between universities in the regions.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

NTT Data, MCI, BT to offer global Net access for travelers

NTT Data Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and British Telecom PLC will jointly offer a new Internet Dial Roaming Service to give their subscribers easy local access to their Internet accounts while traveling abroad, the three companies said April 10.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 1997

Cohen, Hashimoto seek to ease Okinawa burden

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto agreed April 9 on the need for both governments to further collaborate to ease the military burden on Okinawa, where most of the U.S. troops in Japan are based, government officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 1997

Talks on U.S.-Japan ties focus on China instead

Distinguished American and Japanese financial, media and foreign policy experts, including former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Jeffrey Garten and former Ambassador to the U.S. Yoshio Okawara, met in Tokyo's Akasaka district earlier this week for a symposium on bilateral relations, but instead spent...
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1997

Congressman tells of North Korea's plight

A U.S. congressman who recently visited North Korea said April 8 in Tokyo that he met with starving citizens there and witnessed a serious fuel shortage in the flood-stricken country.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1997

Lack of vision stalls Ex-Im Bank merger with aid fund

More than two years after the government decided to merge the Export-Import Bank of Japan and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, officials involved in its preparation are now unable to find a good way to unite the two institutions.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1997

True reform means embracing competition

The Japanese government's deregulation package is a "good first step" but a lot of work still remains to be done, said Glen S. Fukushima, vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1997

State plans to win final rights to base land

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated April 7 that his government will try in the future to grant itself legal and ultimate authority to forcibly rent land for use by U.S. military bases.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1997

3,000 rally against revision of Okinawa land lease law

About 3,000 unionists rallied late Apr. 2 in Tokyo to protest a planned legal revision that would enable the government to continue the forced use of land in Okinawa Prefecture for U.S. military installations after the land lease contracts expire in May.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1997

4,590 taxis across Japan revise initial fares

As a result of deregulation, 88 taxi companies in Tokyo, Chiba, Okayama, Hiroshima and Tokushima on Apr. 1 reduced their minimum fares to between 330 yen and 410 yen for the first kilometer.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1997

Red Cross looking for language helpers

The Japanese Red Cross Language Service Volunteers are seeking volunteers to help with management, planning, translation and other activities.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1997

Akita governor quits over wining, dining shame

Akita Gov. Kikuji Sasaki, who held office for nearly 18 years in Tohoku Prefecture, resigned Mar. 31 to take responsibility for the local government's illegal spending on wining and dining.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1997

Revision of base law moves to fast track

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Mar. 31 announced that he will try to revise a law -- hopefully by late this month -- to enable the government to legally continue providing land for use by U.S. military bases in Okinawa after leases for some plots expire.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1997

Okamitsu admits taking bribes in nursing home scandal

A former top bureaucrat at the health ministry and two others pleaded guilty Mar. 26 in their first trial hearing to bribery charges in connection with the construction of special subsidized nursing homes.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1997

Outdoor 'camp' helps workers fight postbubble frustration

When asked to draw a symbol of their company, participants in Anthony Willoughby's courses often draw pictures of sinking ships and burning buildings. "We've even gotten some fire-breathing dragons," Willoughby added.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1997

District Court orders Osaka to name those wined, dined

OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court ruled Mar. 25 in favor of a citizens' group seeking greater transparency in administrative spending, ordering the Osaka Municipal Government to disclose the names of those who were wined and dined by the city with taxpayers' money.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1997

Japan vying to be China's choice for high-tech railway

China has yet to decide which country's technology it will adopt for a planned new high-speed rail system between Beijing and Shanghai, and hopes to have more exchanges of technology and experts on the subject with Japan, an executive member of China's Ministry of Railways said recently.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 1997

Tomobe denies misuse of Orange Kyosai funds

Upper House member Tatsuo Tomobe, who has been indicted on suspicion of massive fraud, denied on Mar. 21 allegations that he misappropriated funds collected by Orange Kyosai Kumiai, a mutual aid society run by his family, to buy a Diet seat.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1997

Daiei head urges 'new' Kobe as global city

OSAKA -- Rather than compete with Osaka as a business center, Kobe should be rebuilt as a city that offers a pleasant living environment, and priority should be given to economic development of the bay area, according to Isao Nakauchi, chairman, president and CEO of Daiei Corp.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Two nonhemophiliacs settle lawsuit over HIV

OSAKA -- A court-mediated settlement was reached Mar. 18 in a suit filed against the central government and Green Cross Corp. by two nonhemophiliacs who became infected with HIV through unheated blood products.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1997

Long-term radiation effects difficult to gauge, experts say

TOKAI, Ibaraki Pref. -- While facts continued to trickle out about the nation's worst radiation leakage, which occurred at the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant here last week, officials of the governmental Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. (PNC) kept claiming the leak posed no serious bodily...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1997

Weekend quake biggest to hit Aichi since '26

An earthquake that shook the Chubu, Kansai and Kanto regions on Mar. 16 was the strongest tremor to be recorded in eastern Aichi Prefecture since record-keeping began in 1926, according to Meteorological Agency officials.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 1997

LDP panel releases reform plans

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's task force for administrative reform on Mar. 14 announced a set of comprehensive plans to promote deregulation.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 1997

No-show by defense counsel halts Asahara trial

The trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara took another twist Mar. 14 when the Tokyo District Court opened but then canceled the proceedings because the defense counsel boycotted the session.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1997

Mexico gets loans of 24.13 billion yen

Tokyo will extend up to 24.13 billion yen in yen loans to Mexico for a water supply and sewage project to help the Latin American country's efforts to protect the environment, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto told Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo on Mar. 12, according to Foreign Ministry officials....

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?