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 Topic: PoliticsThe new items published under this topic are as follows.
Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 07:33 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ A bill to designate Feb. 22 as "Takeshima Day" under a prefectural ordinance was approved Thursday by the general affairs committee at the Shimane prefectural assembly, with an aim to raise public awareness of an island in the Sea of Japan claimed by Japan and South Korea. The island, lying between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, is currently under South Korean control. The move by the assembly committee will inevitably generate strong resentment from South Korean.
The bill will be enacted on March 16 after approval from the plenary session of the assembly. The prefectural government says Feb. 22 this year marked the centennial anniversary of the issuance in 1905 of a prefectural notice that declared the uninhabited island a part of the prefecture in line with a Cabinet decision.
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Read full article: ''Takeshima Day' ordinance bill approved at assembly committee' (100 bytes more)  
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 12:16 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Two U.S. senators will meet Japan's envoy here separately Friday and Monday to directly press Japan to lift its 15-month-old import ban imposed on U.S. beef due to mad cow disease, their offices and diplomatic sources said Wednesday. Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican from Colorado, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, will meet Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato on Friday and Monday, respectively.
Other senators are expected to accompany them in the meetings. With political pressure mounting in the U.S. Congress over the beef issue, President George W. Bush directly urged Japanese Minister Junichiro Koizumi by telephone Wednesday to lift the import ban. Allard initiated a joint letter of 20 bipartisan senators sent last month to Kato, threatening to pursue retaliatory economic actions if Japan fails to quickly resume beef imports.
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Read full article: 'U.S. senators to meet Japan envoy to press on beef issue' (992 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 12:14 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Japan will not contemplate acquiring missiles and other offensive capabilities to attack enemy bases as it would go against Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy, Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono told parliament Wednesday. "To extend the range (of missiles) to attack an enemy country is completely counter to Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy," Ono said. "We will not consider that, neither now nor in the future."
Japan's pacifist Constitution renounces war and the threat or use of force as a means to settle disputes. Japan, however, is engaged in joint research with the United States on a missile defense system that it plans to begin introducing from 2007. On the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, Ono stressed that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty will be upheld, saying, "We will tackle the issue within the framework of the bilateral security treaty. If it falls outside the treaty, we will discuss it and may turn down (the proposals)." He was referring to Washington's plan to relocate the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 1st Corps at Fort Lewis in the state of Washington to Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture. The headquarters covers operations from the Korean Peninsula to the Middle East.
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Read full article: 'Japan will not possess offensive capability to attack enemy: Ono' (540 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 - 07:16 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon said Wednesday the country would deal "sternly" with Japan's renewed claim over an island in the Sea of Japan, which is effectively controlled by South Korea. "This is an issue related to our territory and sovereignty and therefore it can be said that the issue takes precedence over (South) Korea-Japan relations and others," Yonhap News Agency quoted Ban as telling reporters.
Protests in South Korea have grown since a group of assembly members in Shimane Prefecture submitted a bill last month to set up a prefectural ordinance establishing "Takeshima Day." The uninhabited island, lying halfway between Japan and South Korea, is called Takeshima in Japan and Tokto in South Korea.
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Read full article: 'S. Korea to deal 'sternly' with Japan's claim over island' (620 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 - 12:10 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan urged Japan on Tuesday to settle its outstanding issues with China and "make efforts to promote friendly ties," Xinhua News Agency reported. Tang, a former foreign minister, made the remarks in a meeting with writer and businessman Takashi Tsujii, president of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association and head of a visiting Japanese business delegation, the report said. "The Chinese government attaches importance to good-neighborly, friendly relations with Japan," the report quoted Tang as telling the Japanese group led by Tsujii, whose real name is Seiji Tsutsumi.
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Read full article: 'Chinese State Councilor urges Japan to promote friendly ties' (419 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Tuesday, March 08, 2005 - 07:38 AM
Politics
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BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union gave Japan until June to reach a deal about who will host a revolutionary nuclear reactor, saying that otherwise it could press ahead with the project without Tokyo's support. Japan and France are vying to host the multi-billion dollar International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), one of the most exciting ventures in international science.
But talks among the six parties involved are deadlocked: the United States and South Korea support Japan's offer to build ITER in Rokkasho-mura, a northern Japanese village near the Pacific Ocean, while the EU, China and Russia back France's bid for it to be based in Cadarache, southern France. Research Minister Francois Biltgen of Luxembourg, which holds the rotating EU presidency through June, warned Monday that an agreement had to be reached before July.
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Read full article: 'EU gives Japan until June to reach deal on nuclear project' (1820 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Tuesday, March 08, 2005 - 07:34 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki on Tuesday skillfully avoided answering a reporter's question about his willingness to become the next prime minister, only saying, "I will do my best in executing my given tasks" of rebuilding state finances. But Tanigaki indicated he might have a chance to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi if he made progress in fixing Japan's debt-ridden finances to make it sustainable in the 21st century, an issue he said draws strong interest from the public. "Unless I make certain progress or contribution to my given tasks, people would see it as empty no matter what I say I will do next," he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "I have no choice but to devote all my energy to my given tasks."
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Read full article: 'Tanigaki avoids expressing willingness to become next premier' (1064 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 11:57 PM
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(Kyodo) _ The head of Japan's largest business lobby, Hiroshi Okuda, expressed concerns Monday about moves in the U.S. Congress to seek retaliatory steps against Japan's 14-month ban on beef imports from the United States imposed after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was discovered. "It's extremely undesirable for the issue to become international friction as a result of the prolonged ban," Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, known as Nippon Keidanren, said during a news conference.
Japan's Food Safety Commission should hold meetings more often to demonstrate it is actively tackling the issue without just leaving the ban intact, Okuda said. The commission, consisting of scientists, is discussing Japan's food safety measures related to mad cow disease as a basis for a decision by the government.
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Read full article: 'Top business leader worried on U.S. moves against beef import ban' (738 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 11:05 PM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Senior vice education minister Hakubun Shimomura on Sunday criticized the government's history textbook screening guideline that requires descriptions of historical accounts to be considerate of Japan's neighbors. Shimomura was speaking at a Tokyo symposium where he described the requirement was a form of "masochism" in historic views and said new history texts for use in junior high schools starting in the 2006 school year must be composed "in a proper manner."
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Read full article: 'Shimomura raps textbook criteria courteous to Japan's neighbors' (1639 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 11:05 PM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that Japan wants the issue of Taiwan to be resolved peacefully, despite China's criticism of Japan and the United States including such a goal in the scope of their security alliance. "Japan's basic policy is unchanged that we want a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue," Koizumi told reporters at his office, in response to objections Sunday by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing that the reference to Taiwan amounts to meddling in China's affairs.
"Japan and the United States both want a peaceful resolution and we only reaffirmed that," Koizumi said, referring to a joint statement last month in which Japanese and U.S. foreign and defense chiefs addressed the Taiwan issue.
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Read full article: 'Koizumi says Japan's Taiwan policy unchanged despite China's flak' (1355 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 11:05 PM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ A Foreign Ministry panel on foreign aid policy basically agreed Monday to propose that Japan end its yen loans to China in phases, a panel member said. At a meeting of academics and bureaucrats, most members agreed Tokyo and Beijing should agree on the proposal through bilateral consultations, the member said. "It is satisfactory for Japan's China-bound loans to be terminated in a phased manner instead of ending them in a stroke," the member said.
Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, who took part in the meeting, told the members the Japanese and Chinese governments have already begun discussing Tokyo's China-bound aid policy, including the possibility of Japan ending fresh yen loans to the country.
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Read full article: 'Panel to propose phased ending to Japan's loans to China' (603 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 09:25 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ U.N. officials asked Japan on Monday not to impose sanctions against North Korea over the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by the North as a reduction of aid would hurt vulnerable women and children. Japan should be "careful" with any sanctions so they do not hurt people who need food, said Pierette Vu Thi, the U.N. Children's Fund representative in North Korea.
"If they're not targeted very carefully, then it does tend to hurt the most vulnerable parts of the population," the representative said at a press conference in Beijing to discuss a 2004 U.N. nutritional survey.
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Read full article: 'U.N. cautions Japan against sanctions on N. Korea' (1351 bytes more)
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Posted by: tokyosweetie on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 01:01 AM
Politics
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Hospitals, traditionally cagey about even the slightest medical slipup, are being urged to stop being so secretive about accidents.
New guidelines, drawn up Thursday by a standing committee of the council of national university hospital presidents, call on hospitals to submit reports not just on instances of medical malpractice with grave consequences. Hospitals are also encouraged to report other cases, such as unexpected medical complications that crop up even when medical error has been ruled out.
Accidents involving malpractice, even if the patient later recovers, must also be announced, according to the guidelines. The committee noted that such cases usually are not made public.
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Read full article: 'LIVES ON THE LINE: Hospitals urged to release accident data' (1335 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 11:01 AM
Politics
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Yomiuri Shimbun
One focus of debate in the current Diet session is excessive preferential treatment of and questionable practices concerning public workers in local governments. In its Friday meeting, the House of Councillors Budget Committee discussed excessive perks lavished on employees of the Osaka municipal government. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged reform in the area, saying the city government "should deal with the situation so it can win back people's trust." Liberal Democratic Party member Kazuyasu Shiina said, "How could the city government spend so much taxpayers' money on labor under a tight budget?"
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Read full article: 'Perks for local public servants hot topic in Diet session' (2582 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 11:01 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura dismissed public concern Saturday that Japan's pacifist Constitution has to be revised to pave the way for the country to become a permanent U.N. Security Council member. "Japan can fully serve as a permanent U.N. Security Council member even on the assumption that we maintain the current Constitution," Machimura said at a town meeting on U.N. reform attended by several hundred citizens. He appealed for their support for the bid at the meeting.
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Read full article: 'Machimura plays down view Constitution bars Japan's U.N. bid' (2129 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 09:41 AM
Politics
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has lashed out at "explicit" sex education textbooks being used in Japan's elementary schools. "Do we really need to show them this much?" Koizumi asked rhetorically during a House of Councilors Budget Committee session while brandishing copies of the controversial textbooks. "This is too explicit." He later added: "Our generation didn't get any sex education at all. We just learned things as we went along. I'd like to have a think about what we're teaching our children."
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Read full article: 'Koizumi lashes out at 'explicit' sex-ed materials' (621 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 09:40 AM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Thursday China should "improve" its education on history, a rare proposal on the sensitive issue from Tokyo. "I have proposed an improvement on the state of China's history education," Machimura said during a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee. "I harbor a sense of crisis about the possibility that differences in national sentiments (between the two countries) may gradually be worsening," he said. "I will request an improvement be made where an improvement is due. When I have a chance to meet the Chinese foreign minister, I would like to specifically raise this point," he added. Machimura was responding to a remark by fellow Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Eriko Yamatani during the session.
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Read full article: 'Japan to urge China to 'improve' education on history' (843 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 03:10 PM
Politics
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TOKYO, (AFP) - Japan plans to terminate its main form of aid to China by 2008 when Beijing is to host the Olympic Games given its neighbour's growing economic and military power, a report said. Tokyo will gradually reduce the amount of low-interest yen loans, which account for some 90 percent of Japanese aid to China, and phase them out completely by the 2008 Olympics, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting government sources.
Since 1980, Japan's yen loans to China have exceeded three trillion yen (29 billion dollars) for projects including the building of highways, airports, sewage systems and other infrastructure.
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Read full article: 'Japan to terminate aid to China by 2008 Beijing Olympics' (1518 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 03:09 PM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ Japanese politicians reacted sharply to the arrest of former Kokudo Corp. Chairman Yoshiaki Tsutsumi on Thursday, with one saying the arrest has tarnished the "final phase" of his professional career. Tsutsumi, 70, who was arrested on suspicion of falsifying shareholders' information in Seibu Railway Co. and insider trading, comes from an influential political family and has extensive contacts with politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. His father, Yasujiro Tsutsumi, served as speaker of the House of Representatives from May 1953 to December 1954.
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Read full article: 'Politicians react sharply to Tsutsumi's arrest' (2016 bytes more)
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Posted by: Billy Bob Joe on Wednesday, March 02, 2005 - 02:36 PM
Politics
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(Kyodo) _ The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to ask U.S. military facilities in the capital to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to curb global warming, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Wednesday. "It cannot be tolerated for the U.S. military facilities in Tokyo to do something that goes against," Ishihara said in telling the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly of the metropolitan government's plan to reinforce measures to cut CO2 emissions. "I will have the Foreign Ministry persuade them."
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Read full article: 'Ishihara to ask U.S. military in Tokyo to cut CO2 emissions' (692 bytes more)
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