CHRONOLOGY

JANUARY– FEBRUARY 2006

JANUARY

4 At a New Year’s press conference, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichirô responds to Chinese and South Korean criticism of his visits to Yasukuni Shrine, saying, “I don’t think this should be made into a diplomatic problem. I do not understand why a foreign government would interfere in a concern of the heart of one politician.”

A revision to the Antimonopoly Law aims to reduce illegal bid rigging and price fixing by imposing heavier penalties on violators and providing protection for whistleblowers.

Figures for new vehicle sales in the United States indicate that Japanese automakers attained a record-high market share of 32.2% in 2005.

4–5 Minister for Foreign Affairs Asô Tarô visits India and Pakistan. In a meeting with Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, the two agree to begin strategic dialogue as well as discussions on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. In Pakistan, he meets with his counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, to discuss the fight against terrorism and other security issues.

6 The Ministry of Justice releases statistics showing that 7,451,000 foreigners visited Japan in 2005, up 690,000 from the year before and an all-time high. The marked increase is primarily due to the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan.

9–12 Prime Minister Koizumi visits Turkey. On January 10 he meets with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders agree to consider cooperative efforts to aid the reconstruction of Iraq.

13 A trader at Daiwa Securities SMBC mistakenly sells 25,000 shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group stock. Upon realizing the error, Daiwa is able to partially cancel the order and buys back the remaining shares but incurs losses of ¥500 million.

The Cabinet Office reports that savings rates for Japanese families in 2004 fell to 2.8% of annual income, the lowest figure since the office began collecting such statistics in 1955.

16 The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office searches both the headquarters of Livedoor Co. and the home of the company’s president, Horie Takafumi, on suspicion that a Livedoor subsidiary had violated the Securities and Exchange Law by disseminating false information and overstating earnings. On January 20, Miyauchi Ryôji, along with two other Livedoor board members, appears before police investigators for voluntary questioning. On January 23, authorities arrest Horie, Miyauchi, and two other Livedoor executives.

The Bank of Japan reports that the index of corporate goods prices rose 1.7% in 2005, the largest increase in the 16 years since the consumption tax was introduced in 1989.

18 The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspends trading due to a surge in transactions in response to the Livedoor scandal. It is the first time in its history the bourse has been forced to suspend trading due to system capacity limitations.

20 The Japanese government reinstates a ban on US beef imports after a shipment of American beef containing prohibited spinal column material was discovered by inspectors. On January 30 Minister of Agriculture Nakagawa Shôichi apologizes before the House of Representatives Budget Committee for not conducting promised on-site inspections of meatpacking plants before the ban was lifted last December.

Prime Minister Koizumi delivers his general policy speech at the opening of the 164th session of the Diet. Reiterating his commitment to reform, the prime minister declares that the government will cut the number of civil servants by more than 5% and integrate, abolish, or fully privatize eight government-run financial institutions.

23 Japan Post Corp., a new joint-stock company, is launched in preparation for the privatization of Japan Post, a 10-year process that is set to begin in October 2007. Japan Post Corp. will be in charge of business planning and strategy during this transitional period.

25 A Russian military aircraft violates Japanese airspace seven times, after which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodges an official complaint with the Russian embassy. The following day it is revealed that the plane was tracking a Russian ship that had violated domestic law.

27 The government decides to extend the Self-Defense Forces’ participation in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights through September 30, 2006.

Authorities search Yamaha Motor Co. headquarters in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, on suspicion of unauthorized exports of remote-controlled helicopters to China. It is also learned that one of the helicopters was shipped to a weapons manufacturer affiliated with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

FEBRUARY

1 It is announced that 173 Diet members have signed a petition expressing their opposition to the submission of a bill that would revise Japan’s Imperial House Law to allow females and their descendants to ascend the throne.

8 Bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea in Beijing end with an agreement to meet again, but without any specific progress on three key issues: North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens, normalization of relations, and nuclear arms.

The Bank of Japan releases figures showing that lending by Japanese banks posted a year-on-year increase of 0.02% in January, the first positive figure since the BOJ began recording such data in January 2001. The average daily lending balance for January was ¥446.49 trillion.

9 Following the February 7 announcement of Princess Akishino’s pregnancy, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party decides that it is not appropriate to reconsider Japan’s tradition of male-only imperial succession at the current time and postpones plans to introduce a bill to amend the Imperial House Law to permit female succession.

10 The Bank of Japan reports that the corporate goods price index for January was 99.0, up 2.7% year on year.

14–15 Scholars and officials from 26 nations attend the Biological Weapons Convention Tokyo Seminar, jointly conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Institute of International Affairs’ Center for the Promotion of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

16 At a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Nagata Hisayasu claims that former Livedoor Co. President Horie Takafumi, who ran for a Diet seat as an independent in the September 2005 general election, ordered the transfer of a ¥30 million “election consulting fee” to the son of LDP Secretary General Takebe Tsutomu. On February 28 Nagata apologizes for having been unable to prove the veracity of his accusation, and an internal DPJ investigation determines the e-mail upon which Nagata based his claims was not authentic.

It is reported that the government is preparing a withdrawal plan for the Ground Self-Defense Force contingent currently engaged in reconstruction efforts in southern Iraq. The withdrawal is expected to begin in late March and to be completed by the end of May.

Flights begin operating out of the new Kobe Airport in Hyôgo Prefecture. It will face stiff competition from Osaka International Airport and Kansai International Airport, both located in neighboring Osaka Prefecture.

16–17 Participants from 73 countries gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) Conference on Consolidation of Peace, co-organized by the government of Japan, to share ideas and proposals for establishing peace on the continent.

17 The Cabinet Office announces that Japan’s gross domestic product in October–December rose by 1.4% in real terms over the previous quarter. This translates into an annualized growth rate of 5.5% and marks the fourth straight quarter of growth.

21 Vital statistics for 2005 released by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare indicate that Japan experienced a natural population decline for the first time since the ministry began gathering data in 1899.

22 The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office arrests Horie Takafumi and three other former Livedoor Co. executives a second time on suspicion that they window-dressed the company’s September 2004 financial statements by some ¥5.3 billion to hide a deficit. Current Livedoor Representative Director Kumagai Fumito is also arrested.

23 Ministry of Finance trade statistics for January reveal that imports exceeded exports by ¥348.9 billion, marking the country’s first monthly deficit in five years. Officials explain that much of the deficit is due to high oil prices and a decrease in exports over the New Year holidays.

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission questions an employee in Nihon Keizai Shimbun’s advertising department whom they suspect participated in insider trading using data gathered from companies’ legal notices prior to publication.

28 A government panel submits a report to Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzô that proposes the creation of a cabinet committee to oversee Japan’s official development assistance. It also recommends that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation be dissolved, its overseas economic cooperation operations integrated into the Japan International Cooperation Agency and its international financial operations absorbed into a new governmental financial institution. The government intends to include this policy in the administrative reform bill it plans to introduce to the Diet in March.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry announces that the industrial production index climbed to 105.2 in January, a 0.3% increase from the month before. The index has now risen for six consecutive months.

© 2006 Japan Echo Inc.