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JAPAN
Dec 19, 2001

Supreme court gets second female justice

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Tuesday that Kazuko Yokoo, a former ambassador to Ireland, will be appointed to the Supreme Court, making her the second female justice to serve on the top court.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2001

Hunt off for missing Japanese: Pyongyang

Tokyo reacted with concern Tuesday to news that North Korea has suspended its search for missing Japanese believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2001

Tokyo, Beijing enter last-ditch round of trade talks

Japan and China will hold sub-Cabinet-level talks in Tokyo today in a last-ditch effort to resolve a lingering trade dispute.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2001

65% worried or uncertain about their lives: survey

About 65 percent of Japanese people are worried or feel uncertain about their lives, the highest rate on record, apparently due to the continuing sluggish economy, according to a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2001

End of the line for Mr. Arafat?

Violence in the Middle East has claimed many political careers, but throughout the long struggle that pitted Arab and Palestinian against Israeli, Mr. Yasser Arafat has been a survivor. He overcame internal factional struggles and Israeli assassination attempts to lead the Palestinian people within reach...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Koizumi is hoping to stay abreast of U.S. ABM pullout

Although the U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty with Russia is essentially an issue between the two countries, Tokyo hopes to keep abreast of developments, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

Extra budget includes 'green' funding

A proposed second supplementary budget of 2.5 trillion yen for fiscal 2001 includes 656 billion yen for environmental protection and 628 billion yen for urban redevelopment, government officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Financial entities' overhaul may be shelved, Fukuda says

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda hinted Friday that the government could establish a panel to decide on reforms of state-backed financial entities, a decision that would effectively postpone a conclusion on the contentious issue.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2001

Sri Lanka's chance of ending conflict is bigger than ever

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the newly installed Sri Lankan prime minister, has been in a tense struggle to form a government of national consensus.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Obituary: Kichiro Tazawa

Former Liberal Democratic Party politician Kichiro Tazawa died Wednesday night of esophagus cancer at a hospital in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, his family said Thursday. He was 83.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Lift age for retirement, medical services: proposal

A government strategy drafted with Japan's graying society in mind proposes increasing the mandatory ages for retirement and eligibility for medical services, according to the draft outline obtained by Kyodo News.
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2001

Challenges to Afghan peace

ISLAMABAD -- Afghanistan's warring factions have finally found common ground on which to build a new government almost two decades after their country was invaded by troops from the former Soviet Union. The civil war that followed the withdrawal of the Soviets has claimed thousands of lives and left...
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Over 60,000 fires reported in the last year, up 6.7%

A total of 62,454 fires were reported in the year through September, up 3,928, or 6.7 percent, from a year earlier and cracking the 60,000 mark for the first time in three years, according to an outline of a 2001 white paper complied by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2001

Aid in works for hibakusha living abroad

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering earmarking about 500 million yen from the budget to help hibakusha living overseas come to Japan for treatment beginning in fiscal 2002, ministry officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2001

China starts dumping probe of firms

China began an antidumping probe Friday into imports of raw nylon material from Japan, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2001

Breaking with Keynesianism

The government's economic and fiscal report released Tuesday focuses on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's program to resuscitate Japan's moribund economy. No wonder its writers -- selected public economists -- have made a great effort to rationalize the prime minister's "no reform, no growth" agenda....
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Japan to go to work on its image as a looter of cultural treasures

After years of foot-dragging, Japan is taking its first significant step toward shedding its reputation as a looter of cultural assets.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2001

Deregulation panel seeks to relax medical advertising curbs

A final report currently being drafted by a government deregulation panel says restrictions on advertising by medical institutions should be relaxed by the end of March, panel sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Aoki goes under with 522 billion yen in liabilities

The construction industry was dealt another blow on Thursday when general contractor Aoki Corp. effectively went bankrupt, filing for court protection from creditors under a civil rehabilitation law.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Dec 6, 2001

Dollar-positive factors may push yen down

The failure of U.S. energy giant Enron Corp. has rattled corporate bond markets around the world, prompting the Bank of Japan to inject trillions of yen into the banking system to offset liquidity concerns.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2001

Government to allow 11 refugees

Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said Tuesday that 11 applications for refugee status submitted by foreigners will shortly be accepted, bringing the total number of such accepted applications to 21 this year.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2001

Koizumi asks for restraint in Mideast

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed concern Tuesday about the recent surge of violence in the Middle East and called on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to exercise restraint and return to the negotiating table.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2001

'Happoshu' hike opposed by Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced opposition Tuesday to a Finance Ministry proposal that the tax on low-malt "happoshu" beverages be increased.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2001

Nago likely to offer reef as site for new airport

The city of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture is likely to choose a reef off the island as the site for a military-civilian airport that will accommodate the heliport functions of the U.S. Futenma Air Station in the prefecture, the city mayor said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Online history archive opens with LDP spin

History buffs can learn more about Asian issues of yesteryear via a newly launched online archive based on a proposal by the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, but references to Japanese wartime military activities in Asia were cut due to pressure from Liberal Democratic Party members....
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Proposed SDF gun rules constitutional: defense chief

Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani said Monday that the softened weapons-use rules being proposed for Self-Defense Forces personnel engaged in U.N. peacekeeping activities do not violate the Constitution.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2001

Chirac's competitive edge

PARIS -- So far, 10 men and two women have entered the race for the French presidential election in April and May. Only one of them has a small chance of being present in the second round -- Jean-Pierre Chevenement, former socialist minister for domestic affairs, whose hostility to the European Union,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2001

No change in stormy economic outlook

Political and economic conditions at the end of November seem to be in a lull or stalemate both in Japan and abroad. But this is only a passing phenomenon. It may be the case that signs of turmoil and instability are only temporarily receding below the surface as the yearend and New Year approach.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2001

Ministry seeks early passage of consolidated tax

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday that his ministry will try to introduce a consolidated corporate tax system as early as possible in fiscal 2002 and make it retroactive to April 1.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2001

45 public firms rack up 306 trillion yen in liabilities

Forty-five public corporations financed by the "zaito" government fiscal investment and loan program held roughly 306 trillion yen in total liabilities as of the end of fiscal 2000, according to a Board of Audit report submitted Friday to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Longform

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