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JAPAN
Jul 22, 1997

Japanese don't eat dog sushi or burp after meals

Before teacher Paul MacLeod left the U.S. to visit Japan, his students gave him some advice.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 1997

Teen held in Kobe crimes may be insane

KOBE -- Police and lawyers for the 15-year-old boy being held for the slayings of Jun Hase and Ayaka Yamashita, as well as for violent assaults on other children in Kobe, came to the conclusion July 21 that the teen-ager may be insane.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 1997

Thieves take 8 million yen in jewels

CHIBA -- Jewels worth some 8 million yen were stolen early July 21 from a jewelry shop in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, police said.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 1997

Youth dies in car crash; three others injured

KITAKYUSHU -- An 18-year-old company employee was killed and three others injured, one seriously, when their car collided with a utility pole early July 21 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

MITI chief complains about low interest rate

Trade chief Shinji Sato voiced skepticism July 18 over continuation of the current low interest rates.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

Laborer's police brutality suit fails

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court has rejected an appeal by a local day laborer who charged that he was illegally detained and beaten by Osaka police following a 1992 riot in Nishinari Ward.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Defense challenges inconsistencies

Lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara challenged on July 18 the testimony given by a former key cultist for the prosecution, in which he spelled out the role Asahara played in the 1989 murder of a Yokohama lawyer and his family.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

Ford CEO says friction nearing as surplus rises

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Friction with the United States may be triggered by Japan's increasing trade surplus in the near future, the head of Ford Motor Co. warned July 17.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Attack on Sakamoto detailed

A former Aum Shinrikyo follower who confessed to being involved in the murders of an anticult lawyer and his family gave detailed testimony July 18 concerning what he and five other cultists did immediately before the attack on Nov. 4, 1989.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 1997

MITI to hand small firms public works contracts

The government will aim to provide small and medium-size firms with public contracts worth a record 5.159 trillion yen during fiscal 1998, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said July 18.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 1997

ASDF aircraft return from Thailand empty

Three Air Self-Defense Force transport planes sent to Thailand for the possible evacuation of Japanese nationals from Cambodia arrived at Naha airport in Okinawa Prefecture on late July 17 without evacuees.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 1997

Keizai Doyukai contemplates future of Japanese business

KARUIZAWA, Nagano Pref. -- Business leaders exchanged opinions July 17 on Japan's international economic relations and the role of the private sector in the ongoing structural reforms at the 12th summer seminar of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai).
JAPAN
Jul 17, 1997

The Asahara Trial: Defense team attacks follower's testimony

Defense lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara cross-examined former cult follower Kazuaki Okazaki on July 17 and pointed out inconsistencies between his testimony and the depositions of other cult members over the killing of an anti-Aum lawyer and his family.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 1997

Ogasawaras ready to get their goats

Western technology and ideas weren't the only things Commodore Matthew Perry brought when he and his "black ships" ended Japan's policy of self-imposed seclusion in 1853. He also brought goats -- at least that's one explanation for their conspicuous presence on the Ogasawara island chain, roughly 900...
JAPAN
Jul 16, 1997

KKC chief denies swindling investors

Ichiro Yamamoto, former chairman of Keizai Kakumei Club, which was raided in June 1996 for allegedly swindling investors out of 178 million yen, pleaded not guilty July 16 to charges of fraud before the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 1997

Open debate on disaster bills urged

KOBE -- People pushing for a disaster compensation bill, including well-known author Makoto Oda and several Diet members, visited the Hyogo governor and Kobe mayor earlier this week to explain the bill and seek support. "This is the first time we've met the governor and the mayor in this manner," said...
JAPAN
Jul 16, 1997

Departing German envoy discusses mutual benefits

Even though Germany is home to a number of Japanese culture centers and various collections of East Asian art, Japan should do more to promote its image there and in Europe as a whole, said departing German Ambassador Heinrich-Dietrich Dieckmann in a recent interview.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 1997

Nomura facing stiff punishment

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission on July 15 issued a recommendation to the finance minister to take punitive action against Nomura Securities Co. and four former Nomura executives for making illegal paybacks to a "sokaiya" corporate racketeer.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 1997

Defense Agency urges crisis-response legislation

Japan should adopt comprehensive legislation to deal with armed conflicts in neighboring areas and continue to watch military trends in North Korea and China, according to the 1997 Defense White Paper.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 1997

Azabu executives indicted over hidden funds

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office indicted on July 15 the president of Azabu Building Co. and an executive in charge of financial matters on suspicion of concealing some 1.3 billion yen in a secret account to prevent creditors from claiming its assets, office sources said.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 1997

Tokyo may consult IMF on Thai baht turmoil

If necessary, Japan will hold discussions with the International Monetary Fund over how to deal with the recent instability of the Thai baht, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said July 15.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 1997

Experts comb site of mysterious GSDF training deaths

AOMORI -- Chemical experts of the Ground Self-Defense Force were analyzing air samples July 14 from a site where three soldiers died from apparent gas poisoning during a training drill late July 12.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 1997

Bankruptcies set record for half-year period

Nearly 8,000 companies went bankrupt between January and June with combined liabilities of 6.37 trillion yen, a record high for a half-year period, a private research company said July 14.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 1997

Shinshinto loses another lawmaker

Shinshinto, the largest opposition party, is losing another member, it was announced July 11.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 1997

Financier-reduction plan shot down by experts

Experts criticized a set of proposals July 11 announced by the Liberal Democratic Party for cutting government-affiliated financial institutions because they lack meaningful principles on which such downsizing can be based.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 1997

New MITI vice minister calls for change

As the global community enters an age of overwhelming competition, Japan must increase its efforts to revamp economic structures and create a new system with greater efficiency, according to Osamu Watanabe, who on July 11 was appointed vice minister for international trade and industry.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 1997

Ministerial conference to combat 'sokaiya' planned

Government ministers will soon hold a conference to discuss problems related to "sokaiya" corporate extortionists as the reverberations of payoff scandals involving leading financial institutions continue to shake Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said July 11.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 1997

ASDF planes fly to Cambodia for evacuation mission

Two Air Self-Defense Force transport planes were dispatched early July 12 to Thailand via Manila to prepare for the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Cambodia, where political uncertainty continues, government officials said July 11.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 1997

Tokyo, Kanagawa bow to wiretap ruling

The central government and Kanagawa Prefecture said July 10 they will not appeal a June 26 high court ruling ordering them to pay about 4 million yen in damages for the 1986 wiretapping of the home phone of then Japanese Communist Party official Yasuo Ogata.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 1997

Unlicensed bus firms raided

The Metropolitan Police Department and local police raided hotels and operators of duty-free stores July 10 for operating unlicensed tourist bus services in violation of the Land Transport Law, police sources said.

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