CHRONOLOGY

JANUARY – FEBRUARY 1999

JANUARY

7 Prime Minister Obuchi Keizô meets with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris. The leaders agree on the importance of a stable yen-euro rate and a tripolar currency regime involving the yen, euro, and dollar, and on the establishment of a framework for exchange-market cooperation. Obuchi reaches similar agreements with Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema in Rome on January 9 and with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Bonn on January 12. Obuchi and Schroeder also pledge joint support to keep Russia from plunging into economic chaos.

8 The U.S. Department of Labor announces that American unemployment dropped 0.1 point to 4.3% in December 1998, a figure lower than the 4.4% total unemployment marked in Japan in November. This is the first time since statistics began being recorded in 1953 for Japan’s rate to top America's.

11 The Liberal Democratic Party and Liberal Party reach an accord on government reforms including an immediate end to bureaucrats standing in for ministers in Diet interpellations and the introduction in 2001 of a vice-ministerial system. On January 13 the parties forge a security policy agreement that would allow Japanese Self-Defense Forces to participate in United Nations peace-keeping operations not involving the use of force. A coalition cabinet is launched the next day, including Noda Takeshi of the Liberal Party as minister for home affairs.

19 Prime Minister Obuchi opens the 145th Diet session with a policy speech promising 0.5% growth in fiscal 1999 and outlining “five bridges” to prosperity, security, and other goals for Japan in the twenty-first century.

Teikoku Databank reveals that corporate bankruptcies in 1998 for firms with liabilities of ¥10 million or more leaped 17.1% from the previous year to 19,171, the second highest figure in the post-World War II era. Total liabilities reached an all-time high for the second consecutive year, coming to ¥14.38 trillion.

The Nara National Research Institute of Cultural Properties announces the discovery in Asuka Village of bronze coins predating the previously oldest known coins in Japan by some 25 years.

25 The Ministry of Finance reports a 40.1% annual increase in Japan’s merchandise trade surplus, which hit an all-time high of ¥13.99 trillion in 1998. Imports fell by 11.7%, the first drop in five years. Ministry figures released February 15 show a 38.7% year-on-year leap in the current account surplus, which hit a record ¥15.86 trillion in 1998.

27 Yomiuri Shimbun announces the results of a national opinion poll giving the Obuchi cabinet a 35.4% approval rating--the highest ever for the current administration.

TOP

FEBRUARY

1 Tokyo Governor Aoshima Yukio announces he will not seek a second term in the election slated for April 11. Hatoyama Kunio, vice-president of the Democratic Party of Japan, and the unaffiliated political scientist Masuzoe Yôichi throw their hats in the ring on February 12, joining candidates including the labor-movement veteran Mikami Man, backed by the Japanese Communist Party, former Upper House member Nozue Chinpei, and LDP-backed Akashi Yasushi, previously undersecretary general of the United Nations.

12 The Financial Reconstruction Commission announces it will inject ¥7.45 trillion into 15 major banks. Public funds will be used to bolster the institutions’ capital bases and strengthen the financial system as a whole.

16 The Economic Planning Agency releases its February report, noting signs of improvement in the corporate outlook, housing construction, and employment.

The total number of personal and corporate bankruptcies filed for in 1998 topped 110,000, with personal cases accounting for more than 100,000, according to figures announced by the Supreme Court. Both figures represent postwar records.

20 A meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors in Bonn results in a communiqué stressing the need for Japan to improve its domestic economy. At the meeting Japan indicates it will aim for 0.5% growth in fiscal 1999.

21 A meeting in Tokyo between Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kômura Masahiko results in little progress toward a World War II peace treaty between the nations. Both sides agree to hold further talks in early April to discuss territorial disputes and economic activities.

25 Doctors at the Kôchi Red Cross Hospital begin testing on a potentially brain dead patient. After an official determination of brain death on February 28, the patient’s heart, liver, kidneys, and corneas are given to six recipients across the country. These are the first transplants in Japan following the October 1997 passage of the Organ Transplant Law.

© 1999 Japan Echo Inc.