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JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

Diet flap over wiretap bills continues

The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, is planning a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet over Monday night's Upper House panel vote on wiretapping bills.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

ODA to be governed by national interests

The government intends to put greater emphasis on national and diplomatic interests in doling out official development assistance, according to a medium-term ODA policy guideline released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 1999

No progress but Obuchi, Ozawa continue talks

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa met Monday and confirmed they will "make efforts till the last minute to realize their policy agreement."
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Identity of 'Kimigayo' composer remains mystery

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Japan readies policy advice for Vietnam

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 4, 1999

LDP lawmakers want remittances to North halted

Japan should suspend cash remittances to North Korea if Pyongyang test-launches a second ballistic missile, Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 1999

Aum turns to bar for help against closed localities

Aum Shinrikyo followers, whose residency applications have been refused by municipalities nationwide, asked the Japan Federation of Bar Associations Tuesday to defend their human rights.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 1999

Teachers not teaching 'Kimigayo' face reprimand

Teachers who fail to guide students "appropriately" during ceremonies involving the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" can face disciplinary action, an Education Ministry official said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 1999

Selling out in Nagata-cho

"Japanese politics today lacks principles," former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi said when I met him recently as a member of a journalists' group. Koizumi also criticized government budget outlays of 80 trillion yen, against national and local tax revenues of only 50 trillion yen. He...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 1999

Second extra budget may be needed: Miyazawa

The government may have to prepare a second supplementary budget even if the 0.5 percent growth target for this fiscal year looks certain to be achieved in September, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa indicated Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 1999

U.S. to share tracking data if Pyongyang fires missile

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota agreed Wednesday to share information if North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 1999

Food aid to North comes at a price

North Korea should first try to resolve pending issues with Japan before requesting food aid, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 1999

Cohabitation still confounds

PARIS -- The French attach so much importance to their government institutions that they change them more often than any other people. They've had five republics and 16 constitutions in the past 200 or so years!
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

Norota urges new heliport site by yearend

Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota expressed hope Friday that the site to relocate U.S. Marine Corps helicopter operations at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa will be selected by the end of the year.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

LDP may have to walk political tightrope

Staff writers
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

ANA pilot slain during skyjacking

The captain of an All Nippon Airways jumbo jet bound for Sapporo was stabbed to death Friday by a knife-wielding hijacker who flew the plane for a short time after the stabbing, police said.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

Economy not so rosy: EPA chief

The economy most likely contracted in the April-June period, despite logging remarkable growth of 1.9 percent during the first three months of the year, Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya said Friday at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

No national consensus on national symbols

Staff writers
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

Kanzaki meets Ozawa as wheeling and dealing deepens

New Komeito head Takenori Kanzaki met Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa on Thursday to seek understanding now that his party is moving toward joining the coalition.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 1999

Experts ponder state's next great spending project

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 19, 1999

Upper House panel approves extra budget

A House of Councilors special committee Monday approved a 519.8 billion yen supplementary budget designed to generate 700,000 new jobs and cope with the falling birthrate.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 1999

New Komeito leaders stamp revised platform

Senior New Komeito officials approved a new action plan and policy platform Monday so it can join the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party in a new coalition government.
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 1999

Sierra Leone tests the world

After nine years of savage fighting, there is peace in Sierra Leone. In Togo last week, African nations mediated an agreement between the government and Revolutionary United Front guerrillas that offers the small West African nation of 4.5 million people a future. There are no guarantees, however. A...
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 1999

Break deadlock on base issues

U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed hope June 25 that all pending issues concerning U.S. military bases in Okinawa, including the issue of the Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, will be resolved before he attends a Group of Eight summit there in July 2000. "I don't want to go over there and have all...
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 1999

New Komeito's role

New Komeito will be holding a party convention July 24 that will surely be closely watched by politicians of all stripes, as well as by the public. If the party decides to join the LDP-LP coalition, it will give a major fillip to the government's legislative capacity. Together, the three parties control...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Ishihara to ban Aum members from facilities

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara told the metropolitan assembly Wednesday that he will not allow members of Aum Shinrikyo to use Tokyo's public facilities.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 1999

New life for Mideast peace

Emerging from arduous interparty negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak has presented his nation -- and a waiting world -- with a rainbow coalition whose sweeping diversity may just be what it takes to revive the dormant Middle East peace process.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Flag-anthem hearings held in Sapporo, Naha

The House of Representatives Cabinet Committee conducted hearings Tuesday in Sapporo and Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on the government-proposed bill to recognize the Hinomaru as the national flag and "Kimigayo" as the anthem.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Constitutional review panel approved by Lower House

The first Diet debate on the Constitution since it was written in 1946 could come in January.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 1999

Obuchi to seek Ozawa's nod for New Komeito entry

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Monday that Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will try to meet Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa before his scheduled visit to China on Thursday to secure his understanding on the entry of New Komeito into the current two-party coalition.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.