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JAPAN
Aug 31, 1998

North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan

North Korea launched a new long-range ballistic missile that flew over northeast Japan on Monday and into the Pacific ocean, according to the U.S. military in Japan.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1998

LTCB chief recants Diet statements on bank's solvency

The president of the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan told the Diet on Monday that he "believes" his bank is solvent, only to recant the statement later in the day.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1998

State smoking panel concludes it has no recommendations

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1998

Preservation of historic plane urged

A group of aircraft enthusiasts is campaigning to permanently preserve the first mass-produced model of a historic Japanese airplane that may be scrapped after 33 years of flights.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1998

Calls rise for Kobe airport plebiscite

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1998

Sakura seeks to raise 300 billion yen in share issue

Sakura Bank plans to increase its capital by about 300 billion yen within this fiscal year by requesting major firms under the Mitsui group, the bank's largest shareholder, and other clients to purchase new shares, bank officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 1998

Firearms workshop set for September

A workshop to explore ways of restricting small firearms will be held Sept. 7 to 9 in Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 1998

Death toll from slides, floods hits 13 as typhonic rains hit

Landslides and flooding triggered by the torrential rains of an approaching typhoon killed 13 people between Thursday and Friday and left four others missing, according to local officials.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 1998

40 trillion yen set aside for small business loans

The government said Friday it will ensure that 40 trillion yen will be available for state financial institutions and credit insurers to help small businesses that are suffering from tight lending by banks.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 1998

State mulls partial release of LTCB inspection data

The government will consider disclosing some financial data of the troubled Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa indicated Friday before a Lower House special committee on financial system stabilization.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 1998

Foreign teachers push for equitable pensions

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1998

Sickly firm's payouts to ex-bureaucrats spark vacations

Nihon Haika Corp. gave four former executives a total of about 42 million yen in retirement pay last summer, despite the company's nonretrievable debt of 2.7 billion yen, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1998

Factional politicians 'out of touch' with people, Tanaka says

Politicians must act in response to the public's will, not to power struggles with rival factions, and be held accountable for the outcome of their policies, Lower House lawmaker Makiko Tanaka said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1998

10 killed by landslides in Fukushima, Tochigi

At least 10 people were killed and four others are missing after torrential rain triggered landslides in Fukushima and Tochigi prefectures early Thursday, officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1998

Return program serves as bridge for youths

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1998

Multilingual disaster aides sought

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will hold meetings in September to recruit multilingual volunteers to aid non-Japanese residents in the case of disasters, such as a massive earthquake, government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1998

Environment agency requests funds to fight dioxin

Reflecting growing public concerns over possible environmental contamination from dioxin -- believed to cause cancer -- the Environment Agency will make fiscal 1999 budget requests worth about eight times initial fiscal 1998 outlays to tackle the problem, agency officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1998

Debris offers clue to fate of ASDF jets

Floating debris found in the Pacific early Wednesday was confirmed as pieces of one or both of two Air Self-Defense Force F-1 fighter jets that disappeared after apparently colliding Tuesday during evening low-altitude drills, a Defense Agency spokesman said.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1998

Bureaucrat may face three years for bribes

Prosecutors demanded a three-year prison term and 3.38 million yen fine Tuesday for a former Finance Ministry official accused of receiving bribes from brokerages and a major bank.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1998

Race set to target junior yacht ranks

The 8th International Goodwill Junior Yacht Regatta will be held Sept. 12 off the Wakasu Yacht Kunren Center in Wakasu Kaihin Koen-nai, Koto Ward, Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1998

Minister's new home defended as legitimate buy

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Muneo Suzuki purchased a new house in Tokyo's Minato Ward last June while serving as chief of the Hokkaido and Okinawa Development agencies, despite an informal agreement that serving ministers would refrain from such purchases, it was learned Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1998

Two ASDF jets missing over Pacific

Two Air Self-Defense Force F-1 support fighters disappeared off the coast of Iwate Prefecture on Tuesday during night-flying practice over the Pacific Ocean, a Defense Agency spokesman said.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 1998

Nissan remodels its Avenir for domestic wagon market

Nissan Motor Co. launched the fully revamped Avenir wagon to the domestic market Monday, featuring smoother handling and better use of space, top executives of the firm said.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 1998

Russia jitters send yen, Nikkei tumbling

Tokyo share prices and the yen tumbled Monday amid concerns over Russian political turmoil.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 1998

Views solicited on war memorial

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will begin accepting public feedback in September about a controversial peace memorial hall to be dedicated to victims of massive U.S. air raids during World War II, officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 1998

Agency adds farm toxins to guidelines

The Environment Agency has decided to enact a set of comprehensive measures to regulate nitrate nitrogen, a chemical released into the environment from livestock excreta and agricultural fertilizers made of nitrogen, ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 1998

Theft suspect admits break-ins, rape spree

Police served a fresh arrest warrant Friday to a 32-year-old South Korean man suspected of being behind a string of break-ins and rapes.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 1998

Japan doesn't know whether it supports U.S. missile attacks

Japan expressed its support Friday for Washington's "firm attitude" against terrorism but reserved its position on the U.S. bombing of terrorist-linked sites in Sudan and Afghanistan.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 1998

Kyoto 'machiya' open to gain public support

KYOTO -- Five "machiya," or traditional wooden houses, in central Kyoto were opened to the public Friday in an effort to gain public appreciation for their preservation.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1998

BOJ recaptures leading spot on list of corporate earners

The Bank of Japan is once again the highest corporate income earner, according to statistics for fiscal 1997 released Thursday by Teikoku Databank.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan