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Pressing need for a second 'restoration'
 In the centre of Tokyo there stands an elegant, wooden shrine to the Emperor Meiji who ruled Japan in the 19th century. It is a monument that now poses a critical challenge to his modern-day political successors. Slightly over a century ago Emperor Meiji gave his name to one of the most dramatic reformations that Japan has ever seen ...more
BANKING:
Repairs start, but there is a long haul
Is the trouble in Japan's banking system over? With the government's ¥60,000bn banking package last autumn, the nationalisation of Nippon Credit and Long Term Credit Bank and write-offs and provisions of over ¥10,000bn last year, one might expect that a crisis which has bedevilled the sector for years is finally on the mend. ...more
GOVERNMENT:
LDP is riding on a tide of change
The Japanese public has been watching recent political developments with a mixture of concern and bewilderment. In the past six months Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, has managed to push controversial legislation through Diet with greater ease than his predecessors could have dreamed. ...more
MIYAZAWA PLAN:
Opportunities may emerge to mobilise money
Japan's approach to international affairs has long been characterised by a seeming willingness to pay large amounts of money without taking responsibility for policy leadership. So it has been with the Asian economic crisis. ...more
FOREIGN POLICY:
Moving towards a more robust stance
The victory won by the maverick politician Shintaro Ishihara in this year's elections for the Tokyo governorship raised more than a few eyebrows outside Japan. Mr Ishihara has strong views about pacifist Japan's role in the world, believing that it should learn to take care of itself. ...more
EMPLOYMENT:
An unpleasant dilemma
This autumn the management of Kanematsu, an ailing Japanese trading company, will face a truly unpleasant task. In recent years, the company - has notched up debilitating losses. And Kanematsu's main bank, the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, has stepped in to impose a radical restructuring of the group. ...more
PRODUCTION:
Restructuring seen to gather pace
Has industrial Japan embarked on the road to fundamental restructuring? This is the question that has occupied analysts and economists in Tokyo in recent months. It is also the issue that many believe will be the key to a sustained economic recovery. ...more
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