CHRONOLOGY

JANUARY — FEBRUARY 2008

JANUARY

4 During a visit to India, Japan’s Minister of Finance Nukaga Fukushiro agrees with his Indian counterpart Palaniappan Chidambaram on plans to conclude a bilateral pact for each country to provide up to $3 billion in foreign reserves in a swap arrangement to prevent the value of either the yen or the rupee from falling in the event of a crisis.

7 The Japan Automobile Dealers Association reports that 3.43 million vehicles were sold in 2007, 7.6% fewer than in 2006. It was the fourth consecutive year of declining vehicle sales, resulting in the lowest figure in 35 years.

10 The Cabinet Office reports that the index of coincident indicators in November 2007 fell to 33.3%, the first dip below the boom-bust dividing line of 50% in eight months.

11 The House of Councillors votes unanimously to enact a bill to give aid across the board to those infected with hepatitis C because of use of contaminated blood products, with compensation ranging from ¥12 million to ¥40 million per patient. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on January 8.

Just hours after it is voted down by the House of Councillors, the House of Representatives reapproves the government’s bill to resume refueling operations by the Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Indian Ocean in support of the forces fighting terrorism in Afghanistan. Having been approved by a two-thirds majority in a second vote by the lower house, the antiterrorism bill becomes law. The refueling was halted in November following the expiry of the earlier Antiterrorism Special Measures Law.

Goodwill Inc., the leading dispatcher of temporary workers in Japan, is ordered to cease its dispatch operations by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare after 67 of its 708 branches are confirmed to have violated provisions of the Worker Dispatch Law, including limits on the types of work that may be assigned to dispatched workers and the prohibition of double dispatching (redispatching workers to a third party). All branches will be closed for two months from January 18, and the 67 branches cited will remain closed for an additional two months.

15 Mizuho Corporate Bank reveals that it will acquire a $1.2 billion equity stake in Merrill Lynch & Co., a giant US securities firm reeling from the subprime mortgage meltdown. MCB becomes the first Japanese bank to invest in a major US financial institution since the Japanese bubble economy burst in the 1990s.

16 The Bank of Japan announces that wholesale prices rose by 1.8% in 2007 as measured by the index of corporate goods prices. The rise was driven by higher prices for materials like crude oil and grains and for semimanufactured products.

17 In response to a request from the Japanese government, an Australian customs vessel picks up two activists from a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctic waters that they boarded without authorization on January 15. Australia has called for a halt to Japan’s whaling activities, which are a sore point in the bilateral relationship.

18 Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo addresses both houses of the National Diet as it opens its ordinary session for 2008, delivering a policy speech in which he pledges to move Japan toward "a society in which the people and the consumers play leading roles" and announces plans for the launch of a powerful new government organ to handle consumer affairs on a unified basis. The prime minister also promises a global strategy aimed at making Japan more open and promoting international flows of people, goods, money, and information.

22 With world markets nervous about prospects of a slowdown in the US economy, the Nikkei average of share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange continues on its downward trend, plummeting by more than 750 points to close below 13,000 for the first time since September 2005.

24 A preliminary report from the Ministry of Finance indicates that Japan’s trade surplus rose by 37% in 2007 to ¥10.8 trillion, the first increase in three years. The value of trade with China (exports plus imports) was just shy of ¥28 trillion, topping the annual figure for trade with the United States for the first time.

25 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announces that the December 2007 consumer price index, excluding perishable foods, rose to 100.9, a 0.8% increase from a year before. It is the third consecutive month of year-on-year increases, the first such string of advances in nearly 10 years.

26 Prime Minister Fukuda speaks at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, focusing on new initiatives to counter climate change after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Fukuda calls for a 30% improvement in global energy efficiency by 2020 and proposes a multilateral fund to help developing countries reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.

28 The Japan National Tourist Organization announces the fourth consecutive record-breaking year for visitors from overseas. Almost 8.35 million foreign tourists visited Japan in 2007, up 13.8% from the previous year. The government’s goal is to raise the figure to 10 million by 2010.

30 It is reported that at least 10 people in Chiba and Hyôgo Prefectures have become sick after eating gyôza dumplings from a plant in China; the frozen dumplings are found to have been contaminated with a pesticide. The number of related cases leaps to more than 500 across dozens of prefectures within days, resulting in recalls and returns of frozen food products from China.

FEBRUARY

6 The House of Representatives enacts a ¥1.78 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2007, overriding the measure’s rejection in the House of Councillors by approving it again with a two-thirds majority.

According to preliminary figures released by the Cabinet Office, the index of coincident economic indicators was 66.7% in December, over the 50% boom-or-bust line for the first time in two months. The leading index was 40.0%, suggesting a slowdown five or six months in the future.

7 Former sumô stable master Tokitsukaze and three wrestlers from his stable are arrested in connection with the beating death of Tokitaizan, a 17-year-old wrestler, last June.

11 A US marine in Okinawa is arrested by police on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old local girl the night before. Two days later the Okinawa City and Chatan Town assemblies pass resolutions of protest, calling for the US military and Japanese government to adopt measures to prevent a recurrence, and US Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer and US Forces Japan Commander General Bruce A. Wright call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Koumura Masahiko to express their regret for the incident. The marine is released on February 29 after the girl withdraws her accusation.

12 Prime Minister Fukuda convenes the first meeting of the Council for Promoting Consumer Policy. The purpose of the expert council is to consider unifying the administration of consumer affairs, which are now handled by various central government organs.

13 The Ministry of Finance releases preliminary figures showing that the nation’s current account surplus in 2007 rose by 26.0% to a record high of ¥25 trillion.

The Bank of Japan releases preliminary figures showing that the corporate goods price index in January was up 3.0% from a year ago to 105.6, the largest such increase since March 1981, mainly because of the higher prices of oil and raw materials.

15 The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology unveils revised education curriculum guidelines for elementary and middle schools. The revised guidelines will increase class hours for the first time in 40 years, and they will also place more stress on math and science.

16 Toshiba Corp. announces that it will cease production of HD DVD players, effectively ceding the high-definition DVD format war to the rival Blu-ray format, which has been promoted by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., and Sharp Corp.

19 The MSDF Aegis destroyer Atago strikes a small fishing boat off the coast of Chiba before dawn, leaving the boat scuttled and two fishermen missing. In the immediate aftermath, the Ministry of Defense declares that the Atago crew only spotted the fishing boat two minutes before the collision, but it is later revealed that the initial sighting was actually 12 minutes before.

20 Shinginko Tokyo, a bank established in 2005 by the Tokyo metropolitan government, formally asks Tokyo for ¥40 billion in funds to deal with losses from nonperforming loans. Plans to get the bank into the black by 2010 are pushed back two years.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare releases preliminary figures on the nation’s population in 2007. The number of births was down 1,341 to 1,120,937 after having edged up in 2006 for the first time in six years.

21 According to a preliminary report from the Finance Ministry, Japan posted a trade deficit of ¥79.3 billion in January, the first time the monthly trade balance has been in the red in 12 months.

The MSDF refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of multinational forces taking part in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan resumes after a hiatus of four months. The law that authorizes the mission is valid for one year.

24–25 Prime Minister Fukuda visits South Korea to attend the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak. At a summit meeting after the event the two leaders agree on various steps to strengthen bilateral ties, including resumption of shuttle diplomacy.

29 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications releases figures showing that the consumer price index for January was up 0.8% from the previous year, the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year rises.

© 2008 Japan Echo Inc.