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JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

'Tankan' finds broad improvement in business confidence

Companies turned more optimistic in December amid improved exports and firm domestic consumption, demonstrating that the economy is continuing its gradual upswing, according to the Bank of Japan's "tankan" quarterly business survey released Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2005

Small government vs. welfare

The government is striving to downsize itself. With debts owed by the central and local governments amounting to 800 trillion yen, it stands to reason that, where possible, much of the work presently being carried out by government should be delegated to the private sector. But to uniformly pursue "small...
Features
Dec 11, 2005

Discordant history mars neighbors' friendship overtures

Japanese actress Yoshino Kimura was the lone main guest at the Chuo Kokaido Hall in Osaka in October. She appeared without her Korean counterpart in the opening ceremony to celebrate this year's 40th anniversary of the 1965 Japan-South Korean Treaty that normalized Tokyo-Seoul relations.
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2005

Road tax revenue to be freed up

The government and the ruling parties agreed Friday to devise ways to widen the uses for auto-related tax revenue away from only road construction.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

Civil servants' get modest increase in bonus this year

Employees of the central and local governments received Friday slightly larger winter bonuses than last year.
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2005

Second quarter GDP downgraded

Japan downgraded its real GDP growth figure Friday for the July-September quarter to 0.2 percent from the previously reported 0.4 percent.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2005

Dutiful extension in Iraq

The government has extended by another year the deployment of Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops in Iraq. The extension, decided at Thursday's Cabinet meeting, came about by changing the basic plan under an ad hoc law that allows SDF soldiers to engage in noncombat activities in Iraq. The decision follows...
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005

SDF mission in Iraq extended; June exit planned

The government formally endorsed a revised plan Thursday to extend the Ground Self-Defense Force's humanitarian mission in Samawah, southern Iraq, for another year while at the same time signaling the troops' withdrawal by next summer.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005

Did Koizumi court DPJ on reformist alliance?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi contacted Democratic Party of Japan President Seiji Maehara via a close aide in late September to sound him out on forming a grand coalition, sources claimed Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005

Over decade after accident, Monju may be reborn

channel 9 and through 26 public address towers set up inside the city limits," said Fumiyoshi Kato, an official in the municipal nuclear power safety section. The evacuation areas are mostly elementary schools and public halls. However, Kato said they do not contain much in the way of emergency supplies....
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2005

Machinery orders rebound to 4.8%

Core private-sector machinery orders grew a seasonally adjusted 4.8 percent in October from the previous month, rebounding from the 10 percent drop in September but failing to meet the market's forecast of a 5.9 percent gain, the government said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2005

Time not ripe for BOJ policy shift: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday that the time is not yet ripe for the Bank of Japan to lift its super-easy monetary policy.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2005

Panel OKs SDF's Iraq extension

A key policy panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved on Wednesday a one-year extension for the Ground Self-Defense Force's mission in Iraq.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

Tokyo plans to pull GSDF from Iraq by Aug. 31

Tokyo told Washington in November that it will begin withdrawing the Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq in June and finish by the end of August, government and ruling coalition sources revealed Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2005

Japan ready for pain at WTO: Nikai

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai said Tuesday that Japan is ready to accept a painful outcome from the difficult market-opening negotiations taking place in the World Trade Organization's Doha Round, hinting that Tokyo may make concessions in its heavily protected agricultural sector....
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

8 billion yen outlay eyed to repair shoddy condo fiasco

and land minister Kazuo Kitagawa, addresses a government meeting Tuesday on aid for condominium owners in the shoddy building scandal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

Asbestos payout set at 3 million yen

The government on Tuesday accepted a ruling coalition proposal to give 3 million yen in condolence money and funeral fees to people who lost family members to asbestos-linked diseases, 200,000 yen more than the government's initial proposal.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2005

LDP, New Komeito agree to create Defense Ministry

The secretaries general and policy chiefs of New Komeito and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party officially agreed Monday to draft a bill to turn the Defense Agency into a ministry.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2005

Abe suggests income tax breaks may stay in place

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe voiced support Monday for a proposal to delay the cancellation of income tax cuts if it would harm the economy.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2005

Koizumi plans tour of Middle East

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Israel, the Palestinian territories and Turkey in early January, the government announced Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2005

New Komeito to go along with Defense Ministry

New Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, will conditionally accept a proposal by the LDP to upgrade the Defense Agency as a ministry, party sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2005

Panel to ponder overseer to handle foreign aid loans

The government on Friday appointed former Prosecutor General Akio Harada as head of an advisory panel tasked with discussing which entity should handle foreign-aid loans, a pending issue in the process of consolidating state-run financial institutions.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2005

Weak yen OK, reflects state of economy, Tanigaki figures

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki signaled Friday that a weak yen is acceptable because it is a true reflection of the state of Japan's economy.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2005

Nukaga heads to GSDF Iraq camp

Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga left for Iraq on Friday of the Ground Self-Defense Force troops stationed in Samawah, Iraq.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2005

Government nudging BOJ to introduce inflation target

The Cabinet Office on Thursday effectively called on the Bank of Japan to introduce an inflation target if it terminates its quantitative monetary easing policy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Host communities blast U.S. realignment plan

Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga have been visiting communities with military bases to gain their approval of an interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, but strong local opposition persists.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Condo repairs to cost at least 14 billion yen

The cost of repairing hotels, condominium complexes and other structures built with false quake-resistance data has so far been tallied at over 14 billion yen, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

One-year extension seen for SDF mission in Iraq

The government plans to extend the reconstruction mission of Self-Defense Forces troops in Iraq for another year, sources said Wednesday.

Longform

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