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Japan's Banking Crisis: Causes and Probable Effects

Description: Japan's banking sector currently is carrying between $400 billion and $800 billion in non-performing loans that threaten the solvency of certain financial institutions and weaken the Japanese financial system. This problem is of interest to the United States because the stability of Japan's banking system affects the health of that nation's economy, its rate of economic growth, and international capital flows. This, in turn, may affect American exports to, imports from, and investments in Japan… more
Date: October 6, 1995
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
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July 1992 Japanese Elections

Description: Elections for half of the 252 seats of the upper house of Japan's Diet (parliament) will be held in late July 1992. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) appears unlikely to regain the majority it lost in the previous upper house election in July 1989. It appears that continued, but sometimes difficult, cooperation between the LDP and some of the smaller opposition parties is one likely result of the 1992 election. On the other hand, there is a possibility that significant political … more
Date: June 5, 1992
Creator: Young, Jeffrey D
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Japan's Looming Bank Crisis: A Half Trillion Dollars in Non-Performing Loans?

Description: Japan's top 21 banks have reported Y13.6 trillion (US$136 billion) in non-performing loans, but experts consider the true figure to be in the range of Y40 to Y60 trillion (US$400 to US$600 billion). If 90, Japan's banks may take five to seven more years to write off their bad loans and restore health to their balance sheets. Current write-offs are being financed primarily by sales of stocks held by banks whose values have appreciated. This problem of bad loans is depressing Japan's economic gro… more
Date: August 19, 1994
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
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Japan's Budget: Role in Economic Policymaking

Description: The Japanese economy has been in recession for three years, making it the longest recession in Japan's post-war experience. Groups within and outside Japan are calling on Japan to adopt aggressive fiscal policy measures to boost the Japanese economy and to aid in the recovery of the world economy. Japan has enacted a number of limited measures to stimulate, but it is unlikely to move more aggressively to adopt deficit-financing measures to stimulate its economy for a number of reasons: politica… more
Date: March 29, 1994
Creator: Jackson, James K.
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Japan's Economy: From Bubble to Bust

Description: In the 1980s, Japan's economy posted strong economic growth, in stark contrast to the more pedestrian growth other developed economies experienced. In this period, referred to as the "bubble" economy, Japan experienced a sharp increase in the values of land and stocks. The fast paced growth came to a halt in 1991, however, as the Ministry of Finance grew concerned over prospects of a rising rate of inflation, and, accordingly, tightened the nation's money supply. Since then, Japanese economi… more
Date: March 8, 1994
Creator: Jackson, James K.
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Japan's Sea Shipment of Plutonium

Description: Japan's sea shipment of a ton of plutonium from France to Japan on Nov. 7, 1992, faced strong public opposition, as did a previous one in 1984, from various public interest groups, independent analysts, and Members of Congress. The shipment arrived safely in Tokyo Jan. 4, 1993. Several more shipments at intervals of about 3 years are expected. While the plutonium is owned by Japanese utilities, it was produced from uranium enriched in the United States and supplied under a U.S.-Japan agreement … more
Date: January 15, 1993
Creator: Donnelly, Warren H. & Davis, Zachary S.
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Japanese Participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

Description: Japan is positioned to deploy its troops overseas for the first time since World War II. Under a controversial peacekeeping operations (PKO) bill passed by the Japanese Diet (parliament) on June 15, 1992, Japan is allowed to dispatch Self-Defense Forces (SDF) soldiers abroad for noncombat service with United Nations peacekeeping forces (PKF). [1] The politically sensitive PKO legislation comes two years after Japan was stung by international criticism for its failure to send troops to th… more
Date: August 24, 1992
Creator: Shinn, Rinn-Sup
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Japan's Response to the Persian Gulf Crisis: Implications for U.S. -Japan Relations

Description: This report provides information and analysis for use by Members of Congress as they deliberate on the Japanese response to the Gulf crisis and, perhaps more important, what it may mean for future U.S.-Japanese relations. The first chapter briefly reviews Japanese government actions in response to the crisis, from August 1990 to February 1991. A second section examines in detail the various factors and constraints that affected Japanese policy. The final section offers conclusions and examines … more
Date: May 23, 1991
Creator: Niksch, Larry A. & Sutter, Robert G.
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Japanese Companies and Technology: Lessons to Learn?

Description: American companies are facing increased competitive pressures from foreign firms. Many observers feel that U.S. firms lag behind their foreign competitors in the development, application, and marketing of new technologies and techniques. The Japanese industrial enterprise is characterized by a large proportion of private sector financing and many other factors, which this report analyzes at length. The question being debated by Congress is whether or not U.S. government programs and policies ar… more
Date: April 15, 1991
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
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Japan: Resale Price Maintenance

Description: Resale price maintenance occurs when manufacturers control the prices charged by wholesalers or retailers of their products. In Japan, such activities are prohibited, although certain exemptions are allowed. The U.S. concern over the practice is that it could allow Japanese firms to generate a secure profit base in their home market in order to finance aggressive price competition abroad.
Date: March 28, 1991
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
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