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JAPAN
Oct 24, 1997

San Francisco mayor leads delegation to sister-city Osaka

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown led a delegation of business and government officials to Osaka this week to strengthen business ties between the two cities and offer support for Osaka's bid for the 2008 Olympics.The sister-city relationship celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Last spring, Osaka...
JAPAN
Oct 23, 1997

Kan seeks out Prodi for political advice

Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, called on visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Oct. 23 to ask for advice on forming an alliance of center-left political parties.During their 30-minute meeting at a Tokyo hotel, Kan asked Prodi why his Olive Tree centrist-leftist ruling...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

DPJ leader wants SDP, Sakigake to join in electoral push

Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, on Oct. 22 called on the two non-Cabinet allies of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to break ranks and join an opposition electoral plan.Kan said he will consider cooperating with the two parties in the House of Councilors election next summer,...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

Auto show shifts into environmental gear

CHIBA -- The 32nd Tokyo Motor Show will showcase automotive technologies focusing on environmental protection and safety as automakers address growing concerns over air pollution and global warming.This year's show, previewed by reporters Oct. 22 at Makuhari Messe, comes amid a prolonged slump in auto...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

Bolivia's Lima envoy knew of Tupac Amaru threat

Bolivian Ambassador to Peru Jorge Gumucio, one of the hostages in the 127-day Lima crisis, said he knew Bolivian officials in Peru could be kidnapped at any time by the leftist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.Gumucio first alerted his government to the danger in December 1995, when Bolivian authorities...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

Suzuki mulls compact car for GM

Suzuki Motor Co. is considering giving General Motors Corp. a new compact car to be produced at Suzuki's plant in Hungary, a top Suzuki executive indicated Oct. 22.If the deal comes about, the new Suzuki would likely become a major model in the small car segment for GM, as it currently lacks a strong...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

U.S. requests investigation of glass distribution system

The United States called on the Japanese trade watchdog on Oct. 22 to investigate the glass distribution system, which Washington claims is manipulated by three major Japanese firms and limits foreign access.Japan's Fair Trade Commission took note of the request but remained noncommittal on whether...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

Civil servants may get to keep status after reform

A government panel on administrative reform agreed Oct. 22 that government employees transferred to newly created quasigovernmental organizations should be allowed to keep their status as civil servants for the time being.About 15 members of the Administrative Reform Council, headed by Prime Minister...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1997

Kobe mayor poll faces the quake factor

Staff writerKOBE -- The Kobe mayoral election is slated for this Oct. 26, but Tsuka Izuta would rather stay in that day than spend the 1,000 yen in transportation costs to get to a voting booth.Although she is a registered voter in Nada Ward, 68-year-old Izuta has abstained from voting in any elections...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 1997

Cabinet approves Hashimoto decentralization decree

The Cabinet approved on Oct. 21 a statement by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto expressing his determination to carry out government decentralization in line with four sets of recommendations made by an advisory panel."The government will pay the greatest respect to the recommendations to make the central...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Foreign students bring new life to traditional dances

Staff writerKimono-clad Ang Chooi Kean floats gracefully along, accompanied by 1,400 years of Japanese tradition. Performing the "kokiriko," a traditional Japanese dance, the Malaysia native, 5,300 km from home, seems an unlikely candidate to be preserving and spreading Japan's ancient arts.Ang is one...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Carmakers hope drivers rally to environment-friendly push

Staff writerAutomakers have long tried to impress customers with design and driving performance, but now they are paying homage to the latest in added values: environmentally friendly technology.Stranded by lackluster domestic demand, automakers are hoping to stimulate sales by displaying a number of...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1997

Brief slump, then recovery will resume, BOJ chief says

The economy will regain its recovery pace after a temporary slowdown, Bank of Japan Gov. Yasuo Matsushita said Oct. 20.Presenting the central bank's half-year assessment of the economy during a two-day meeting of BOJ branch managers at the bank's head office in Tokyo, Matsushita said export and fixed...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

U.S. congressman urges more help for Pyongyang

Food aid by the international community is helping avert a disaster in North Korea, but the famine-threatened communist country needs more food and medicine, U.S. Congressman Tony Hall said Oct. 17 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Japan to sign investment pact with Saudi Arabia

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 17, 1997

Officer sentenced to three years for drug frameup

A former Tokyo police officer was sentenced Oct. 17 to three years in prison for trying to frame two innocent men on drug charges in April in conspiracy with two colleagues, who earlier received suspended terms.Nobuji Kawaguchi, 40, listened calmly as presiding Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka described his crime...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Counsel takes aim at Okazaki testimony

Defense counsel for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara cross-examined a senior cult figure Oct. 16 about his part in the killings of an anti-Aum lawyer, trying to disprove his contention he was simply following Asahara's orders.Kazuaki Okazaki, 37, one of six cultists accused of slaying Tsutsumi Sakamoto,...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

State to slash hiring 35%; seeks diversified recruits

The government will hire 632 fast-track civil servants for fiscal 1998, about 35 percent fewer than the number hired annually for the past five years, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Oct. 16.The reduction was made in line with a Cabinet decision in July 1996 to try to cut the number of newly...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

Neurologist speaks out as transplant law kicks in

Staff writerDoctors may be committing unforgivable crimes by performing organ transplants from brain-dead donors, a neurology expert warns.Tetsuo Furukawa, a neurology professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences and Neurology at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, says it still has not been...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 1997

U.S. puts onus on developing nations in emissions talks

Developing nations must play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a senior U.S. official reiterated Oct. 16 in Tokyo, indicating that this will be a focal point in negotiations during a key U.N. conference on global warming to be held in Kyoto in December."The position that we have taken...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

Japan Securities official arrested over embezzlement

A former official of Japan Securities Agents Ltd. was arrested Oct. 15 in Tokyo on suspicion of embezzling 550 million yen worth of convertible bonds.Mikizo Uno, 63, is suspected of taking 550 of the bonds belonging to customers and using them as collateral for a loan. Uno, a former section chief at...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

Newspaper association calls for improved ethics

SENDAI -- The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association kicked off its 50th annual convention Oct. 15 in Sendai with the adoption of a resolution calling for further improvements in ethics in the industry.The resolution also says the current resale price system for newspaper subscriptions should...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

Mercosur and Japan to step up ties

Japan and Mercosur, the South American common market comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, will step up cooperation, according to Alvaro Ramos, the foreign minister of Uruguay and leader of the Mercosur delegation.After three days of meetings with public and private sector officials, Ramos...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

New Okinawa minister pushed by Hashimoto panel

Any Okinawa-related matters following the downsizing of the Okinawa Development Agency should be handled by a specially appointed minister, members of a blue-ribbon reform panel said Oct. 15.The Administrative Reform Council, headed by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, agreed with his proposal for a...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

Wife testifies in Unit 731 redress suit

A 75-year-old Chinese woman whose husband was killed by Unit 731 testified Oct. 15 that she did not know until 1986 that her husband died in Japanese medical experiments in the early 1940s.Guo Jinglan of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, is one of 10 Chinese war victims seeking a total of 120 million yen...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1997

16,600 cancel policies at Aoba Life

About 16,600 insurance contracts with the failed Nissan Mutual Insurance Co. had been canceled as of Oct. 14, according to Aoba Life Insurance Co., which took over Nissan Mutual's operations.Aoba began operations on Oct. 1, and the rush to cancel policies hit immediately, apparently out of apprehension...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Reported crimes set postwar record; homicides decline

The number of reported crimes in 1996 hit a postwar record of 2.466 million, up about 30,000 from the previous year, according to a Justice Ministry report released Oct. 14.The 1997 white paper on crime, which includes an overview of postwar trends, was submitted to the Cabinet by Justice Minister Kokichi...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1997

Hashimoto backpedals on postal deregulation

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Oct. 14 left the door open to keeping all three postal services of the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry under government control, backpedaling on a partial privatization proposal by a governmental panel."There are various arguments (about the privatization plan),"...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

22 homeless people apply for Tokyo job counseling

After a number of clashes over the years with homeless people living in Shinjuku Station's underground concourse, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has organized a job counseling program that accepted applications Oct. 13 at a briefing for the concourse dwellers.Such a service has been hindered partly...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1997

Automakers unveil newest models ahead of show

Hoping to stimulate Japan's auto market prior to the Tokyo Motor Show slated for next week, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Saab Japan announced their new models Oct. 13.Mitsubishi has announced that its new Chariot model, fully redesigned for the first time in about 6 1/2 years, will...

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo