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JAPAN
Dec 8, 2004

Japan to lift arms-export ban for U.S. missile shield project

The government's new basic defense policy will limit arms exports to missile defense-related products developed with the United States, and America would be the only recipient, politicians and government officials involved in this issue said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2004

Police push IC cards to halt forgery

The National Police Agency has asked the Japanese Bankers Association and 12 other financial bodies to promote the use of cash and credit cards with integrated circuit chips to stem growing forgery, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2004

SDF officer's draft to alter Constitution said apolitical

A constitutional amendment drafted by a senior Self-Defense Forces officer is a private proposal and does not violate laws on the political activities of SDF members, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2004

LDP, New Komeito chiefs head to Samawah to assess security

The secretaries general of the Liberal Democratic Party and its ruling coalition partner New Komeito left Sunday for Iraq to check the security situation in Samawah, where Self-Defense Forces troops are based for reconstruction work.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2004

Defense Agency chief leaves for Iraq to visit SDF troops

Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono left Saturday for Iraq to visit the troops deployed in the southern city of Samawah -- just as the government prepares to extend the troops' mission, which started in January.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Trafficking victims to be given better treatment

As part of efforts to combat human trafficking, Japan plans to revise immigration legislation next year to exempt trafficking victims from being deported in the same way as foreigners who overstay their visas or illegally enter Japan, it was learned Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2004

Capital spending surged in third quarter

Capital spending by Japanese companies grew 14.4 percent in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said Friday, fueling hopes that Japan's economic growth data for the third quarter will be revised upward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Extra Diet session achieves little; critics declare democracy dead

The 53-day extraordinary Diet session ended Friday with little progress on key contentious issues -- namely a political money scandal and the war in Iraq.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Japan mulling offensive missile capability

The government wants to research long-range precision missile technology, according to a draft outline of the midterm defense buildup plan for fiscal 2005-2009.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 4, 2004

Toshiaki Hiwatari

When he was a child, Toshiaki Hiwatari loved nature. "I was born in 1945 in Hyogo Prefecture," he said. "In my boyhood I spent a lot of time walking around Mount Rokko." Those were the years when there were far fewer alternative claims for the attention of young boys and girls. Nature was still evident,...
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2004

Lack of self-cleansing power

Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto has indirectly admitted his involvement in a dubious flow of political funds to the faction led by himself. Going back on his previous denial that a 100 million yen check was accepted, Mr. Hashimoto said "it (the alleged acceptance) probably is a fact."
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2004

Koizumi says public would accept female on throne

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated his belief Thursday that the public would support a woman succeeding to the Chrysanthemum throne, amid signs that the government may begin paving the way for this possibility.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2004

Suzuki claims he got millions from firm via LDP -- all legit

Convicted former House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki said Thursday he received millions of yen in the late 1990s from a major company that was diverted through the Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2004

Ruling bloc pair's plan to visit Samawah riles ministry

The Foreign Ministry is baffled by the reported plans by New Komeito Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba -- and possibly his Liberal Democratic Party counterpart, Tsutomu Takebe -- to visit the area in southern Iraq where Ground Self-Defense Force troops are deployed.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2004

Anniversary of diplomats' slaying marked

Foreign Ministry officials offered a silent prayer Monday to mark the first anniversary of the assassinations of two Japanese diplomats and an Iraqi driver by unidentified gunmen in northern Iraq.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2004

Ono eyes Iraq exit in December 2005

Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono raised the possibility Sunday that the Self-Defense Forces' mission in Iraq will end in late 2005.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2004

Found in translation

I n the field of law, Japan certainly cannot yet be said to be sufficiently open vis-a-vis other countries. In order to improve this situation, a law-and-ordinance translation group set up within the government's Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform has unveiled a project to translate legislation...
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2004

Labour's path to nowhere

LONDON -- Tuesday was one of those quaint ceremonial occasions that cling like barnacles to the slow-moving body of the British ship of state: The queen announced the next year's legislative program.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2004

Koizumi an official at Yasukuni

The Thursday court ruling on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001 visit to Yasukuni Shrine indicates he may longer be able to continue to be ambiguous about the nature of his contentious visits, many scholars agree.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2004

Government seeking more FTAs, foreign minister says

The government plans to compile a trade policy next month that will advocate the pursuit of more free-trade agreements, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2004

Koda's passport found, handed over

The passport of Shosei Koda, a Japanese traveler taken hostage and beheaded in Iraq last month, has been found by U.S. troops in Fallujah and handed over to the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad, officials in Tokyo said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 26, 2004

Hosoda figuring to seek 'coordinated' currency-meddling

The government will consider seeking coordinated intervention with currency authorities of other countries to try to lower the value of the yen if the currency continues its sharp advance against the dollar, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda indicated Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2004

Political funds law revision on hold as graft trial proceeds

Lawmakers Wednesday postponed revising the Political Funds Control Law, having failed to agree on how to curb the money politics problem despite a recent donation concealment involving the largest faction of the Liberal Democratic Party.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 22, 2004

Firms think little of government statistics, questionnaire shows

Among government statistics detailing the condition of the Japanese economy, the Cabinet Office's quarterly estimates of gross domestic product, the Finance Ministry's report on corporate activity, and the "tankan" survey by the Bank of Japan are widely known. But there are many other economic statistics...
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2004

Dollar falls to 103.75 yen on remark by Snow

The dollar slipped close to its lowest level of the year Thursday in Tokyo, entering 103 yen territory as market players dumped the currency in the belief that the United States tacitly approves of its weakening.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2004

Constitutional changes eyed to let female on throne, legalize military

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has compiled an outline for revising the Constitution that would allow for a "military force for self-defense," the Emperor as head of state and a female on the Imperial throne, LDP sources said Wednesday.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?