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Politicians pay tribute to the late JCP leader Kenji Miyamoto

TOKYO, Japan - Representatives of major political parties in Japan pay tribute to the late Japanese Communist Party leader Kenji Miyamoto at a memorial service held in Tokyo on Aug. 6. From L to R: JCP chairman Kazuo Shii, House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono, former JCP Chairman Tetsuzo Fuwa, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa (two persons away from Fuwa), Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and New Komeito deputy leader Chikara Sakaguchi.

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Ruling camp calls for 2 tril. yen tax hike in FY 2006

TOKYO, Japan - Hakuo Yanagisawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's tax research panel, speaks at a press conference as his new Komeito party counterpart Chikara Sakaguchi listens. The governing coalition unveiled its tax reform outline for fiscal 2006, calling for a 2 trillion yen tax increase in the year beginning in April while alluding to raising the consumption tax in fiscal 2007.

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Opposition to submit no-confidence motion against Cabinet

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (C) presides over a Cabinet session in the Diet building on June 15, flanked by Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki (L) and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (R). The opposition bloc is set to submit a no-confidence motion against the Koizumi cabinet, but the motion is expected to be voted down by the ruling coalition.

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Sakaguchi not part of pension scheme in 1984-1985

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakuguchi, who is in charge of Japan's pension schemes, tells a House of Councillors committee he did not participate in the national pension plan in 1984 and 1985 before lawmakers were required to join it in April 1986.

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Gov't maintains upbeat economic assessment in May report

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Labor and welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, attend a conference to assess the state of Japan's economy at the premier's office in Tokyo on May 21. The government left its upbeat assessment of the nation's economy unchanged in its monthly report issued the same day.

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(2)Pension bills clear Diet panel

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) shakes hands with Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi in the Diet building on April 28 after government-sponsored pension reform bills were approved at House of Representatives Health, Labor and Welfare Committee session.

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3 ministers have not paid mandatory pension premiums

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi (C) awaits the resumption of a House of Representatives panel discussing a new pension system which was suspended after three cabinet ministers admitted the same day that they have not made mandatory payments into the national pension system despite repeated government calls on the public to pay premiums.

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(1)DPJ boycotts deliberations on pension reform

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi (back, standing) explains a government-sponsored bill for pension reforms at a House of Representatives committee. The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan boycotted deliberations in protest against a statement by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The premier said it is desirable that several pension programs be simplified into one system in the future, although he treated the schemes separately in the bill recently compiled by his administration.

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Diet deliberations on pension reform bill start

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi gives a briefing on a government-sponsored bill to reform pension systems during a House of Representatives plenary session April 1.

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Gov't urges business leaders to hire more youth

TOKYO, Japan - Labor minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L) urges top business leaders Jan. 14 to hire more young people. He told them difficulties young Japanese face in finding jobs poses a threat to the future of the Japanese economy.

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Gov't, ruling parties agree on pension premium

TOKYO, Japan - Health and welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi (R) leaves the prime minister's office on Dec. 17 after a deal was made by he government and the ruling parties to set the upper limit of employee pension scheme premiums at 18.35% of income when reforming the pension system.

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(2)Cabinet approves basic policy for FY 2004 budget

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (C) is flanked by Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki (L) and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi at a special cabinet session called Dec. 5

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Gov't, ruling bloc agree to keep pensions above 50% of pay

TOKYO, Japan - Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi speaks to reporters on Dec. 3 after cabinet ministers and executives of the ruling coalition parties agreed in principle to keep future pension payment above 50% of workers' income when reforming the public pension system.

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Evans meets Sakaguchi in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans (L) shakes hands with Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi prior to their talks at the health ministry on Oct. 30.

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Sakaguchi remains as health minister

TOKYO, Japan - Chikara Sakaguchi speaks at a press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Sept. 22 after being reappointed as health, labor and welfare minister in the reshuffled cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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Gov't declares Japan free of SARS

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi tells a press conference in the Diet in Tokyo on May 23 that Japan is basically free of SARS 10 days after a Taiwan tourist with the disease left the country.

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Japan eyes setting up task force on SARS

TOKYO, Japan - Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi (2nd from L) and other cabinet ministers meet at the prime minister's office May 1 to discuss tougher measures to counter the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic. They decided to set up a task force headed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to fight the spread of SARS.

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Sakaguchi discusses SARS with Chinese Ambassador Wu

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese health minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L) shakes hands with Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Dawei at his ministry in Tokyo on April 23 prior to their talks. They discussed how to fight severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

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Smallpox vaccine to be distributed nationwide

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's health minister, Chikara Sakaguchi, (standing) addresses the first meeting of the ministry's headquarters for issues related to Iraq in Tokyo on March 31. The ministry decided to distribute the smallpox vaccine nationwide as a precaution against possible use of the smallpox virus in terrorism in connection with the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

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Health ministry panel urges tobacco consumption cuts

TOKYO, Japan - Masaaki Terada (L), head of a government advisory panel, hands a report to Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Chikara Sakaguchi on Dec. 25. The report urged the health minister to see reduction of tobacco consumption and reinforce measures to counter passive smoking to promote health.

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Gov't accepts ruling to help A-bomb survivors abroad

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi speaks at a news conference on a government decision Dec. 18 not to appeal a high court ruling ordering it to pay medical allowances to Kwak Kwi Hoon, a Korean atomic-bomb survivor who left Japan to return to his home in South Korea.

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Diet approves bill to support Japanese abducted to N. Korea

TOKYO, Japan - Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L, front) bows in the House of Councillors plenary session Dec. 4 after it passed into law a bill that will enable the government to provide financial support to Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea who return to their homeland.

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Gov't, Keidanren, Rengo agree to promote work sharing

TOKYO, Japan - Representatives from government, business and labor sectors compiled a document Dec. 4 aimed at ensuring job security in the deteriorating labor market by means such as promoting work sharing. The representatives -- (from R to L) Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi, and Kiyoshi Sasamori, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) -- held a news conference after their meeting in Tokyo.

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Sakaguchi to seek funds for employment steps in FY 2003 budget

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi speaks at a news conference after jobless statistics for September were released Oct. 29. Sakaguchi said he will ask for more budgetary resources to fund measures to create jobs under the fiscal 2003 state budget.

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Japan's July jobless rate unchanged at 5.4%

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi speaks to reporters at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 30 about the severe job situation after the ministry announced that Japan's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.4% in July.

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Report says downside risks to economy increasing

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) is flanked by Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (C) and Labor Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L) at a meeting of economic cabinet ministers at his office Aug. 8. The meeting endorsed a monthly report on the state of the economy for August. The report warned that downside risks to the Japanese economy stemming from the volatility of global financial markets are increasing.

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Vice minister Miyaji quits post over influence scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Kazuaki Miyaji (C), senior vice minister at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, is surrounded by reporters at the ministry in Tokyo on July 15 after informing Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi of his intention to step down. Miyaji allegedly used his authority to help a supporter's grandson get into Teikyo University School of Medicine.

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Miyaji quits post over influence scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Senior vice health minister Kazuaki Miyaji fields questions from reporters in Tokyo on July 15 after informing Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi of his intention to step down. He allegedly used his authority to help a supporter's grandson get into a medical school.

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Japan's jobless rate hits record high 5.2% in FY 2001

TOKYO, Japan - Labor minister Chikara Sakaguchi holds a news conference at the Diet on April 26 after the government reported the same day that Japan's average unemployment rate hit a record-high 5.2% in fiscal 2001, up 0.5 percentage point from the previous year.

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Musashimaru joins kindergarten children

TOKYO, Japan - Yokozuna Musashimaru (C) joins welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi (R), kindergarten children and their mothers in pulling the rope to put up carp streamers during an event held at the ministry April 22 to mark the annual ''Children's Welfare Week'' beginning May 5.

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(2)Panel adopts final report on mad cow handling

TOKYO, Japan - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe (R) and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (C) bow in appreciation to Masao Takahashi, chairman of a special panel on mad cow disease, after receiving the panel's report April 2.

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Gov't, labor, management reach accord on job-sharing

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroshi Okuda (L), chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers Associations, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (C) and Kiyoshi Sasamori (R), president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation shake hands March 29 after announcing an agreement to pave the way for introducing work-sharing amid Japan's deteriorating employment situation.

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State, CJD plaintiffs sign settlement

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L) shakes hands with representatives of plaintiffs who sued the state and companies for failing to ensure the safety of human dura mater transplants at the ministry in Tokyo on March 25 after singing a settlement. Patients represented developed the fatal brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease following transplant operations.

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Gov't accepts court settlement in CJD lawsuits

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi announces at the Diet on March 1 that the government accepts a court-brokered settlement of lawsuits filed by on behalf of 20 people who contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) from transplants of infected dura mater. The first CJD lawsuit was filed at the Otsu District Court in 1996 and the second the following year at the Tokyo District Court.

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Medical payments hike in Japan agreed upon

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi is surrounded by reporters at a Tokyo hotel Feb. 11 after the government and ruling coalition agreed to revise the health insurance law calling for a rise to 30% from 20% in the amount salaried workers pay in fees to medical institutions from April 1, 2003.

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Koizumi, Sakaguchi agree to raise medical fees to 30%

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi is surrounded by reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Feb. 5 after talks with Prime Minister Juichiro Koizumi. Sakaguchi and Koizumi agreed to boost the share of medical costs paid by patients at medical institutions to 30% from the current 20% for salaried workers from April next year.

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Japan's jobless rate hits record high 5.6% in Dec.

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi gives a news conference at his ministry Jan. 29 as Japan's unemployment rate climbed to a record high of 5.6% in December in the government's preliminary report. The figure pushed the average jobless rate for 2001 to a record high of 5.0%.

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Health minister, ex-leprosy patients agree to settle

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (R) shakes hands with Kazumi Sogano, who heads a group of former leprosy patients and their bereaved families, at his ministry Jan. 28 in Tokyo after signing an agreement. The accord calls on the government to pay compensation to former patients and the families of deceased patients. The settlement is expected to be officially reached at the court Jan. 30.

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Health minister meets with CJD plaintiffs

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (R) meet with plaintiffs in lawsuits filed by patients and bereaved families of victims of the fatal Creutsfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) at his ministry Jan. 15. Standing to address Sakaguchi is Sanichi Tani, 52, who heads the suit filed with the Otsu District Court. The plaintiffs are seeking a total of around 3 billion yen in damages in two suits that are pending at the Otsu and Tokyo district courts.

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Gov't announces acceptance of leprosy suit settlement

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi speaks to the media in Sapporo on Dec. 26. He said the government will accept a court proposal to compensate former leprosy patients who were not forced into sanitariums under the government's one-time quarantine policy as well as the kin of dead leprosy patients.

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Kazakstan envoy hands over 2nd list of Japanese detainees

TOKYO, Japan - Kazakstan Ambassador to Japan Tleukhan Kabdrakhmanov (L) shakes hands with Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi on Dec. 7 after submitting to Japan a list of the names of 2,585 Japanese people who were detained in Kazakstan after World War II. It is the second time Kazakstan has handed over such a list to Japan since 1994.

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Sakaguchi says state aims at early settlement of CJD suits

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi tells reporters at the Diet in Tokyo on Nov. 22 that the government will try to reach an early settlement in two damages suits over Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) contracted from transplants of infected dura mater. The Tokyo and Otsu district courts delivered opinions earlier this month which held the government partly responsible for 28 people in Japan contracting the brain-wasting disease.

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(1)Health ministry finds 2nd mad cow case in Hokkaido

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi is surrounded by reporters in the Diet building Nov. 21 in Tokyo after his ministry confirmed Japan's second case of mad cow disease.

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Health ministry begins extensive screening of cows

TOKYO, Japan - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe (L) and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (R) speak at a news conference Oct. 18. The health ministry has began nationwide screening of cows to be processed for human consumption for any signs of the deadly brain-wasting mad cow disease. The two ministers declared domestic beef safe to eat, saying that Only cows that test negative will be distributed on the market.

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2nd cow suspected of having mad cow tests negative

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi announces at a midnight news conference at his ministry Oct. 12 that Japan's second cow suspected of having mad cow disease has tested negative for the brain-wasting illness. The test result came after the Tokyo metropolitan government announced the discovery of a suspected second case earlier in the day, rekindling consumer and industry fears.

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Health minister speaks on mad cow scare

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi speaks to reporters Oct. 12 on a Tokyo metropolitan government announcement that a cow slaughtered at Tokyo's central wholesale market is suspected of being infected with mad cow disease. Sakaguci said, ''There is no confirmation yet, but I think there is a strong possibility'' that it is a case of mad cow disease.

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Farm minister insists beef, dairy products safe

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe eat steak in Tokyo on Oct. 2 to show Japanese beef is safe. Consumer confidence in the safety of beef and dairy products has been deteriorating after Japan's first case of mad cow disease was confirmed last month.

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1 mil. cows in Japan to be tested for mad cow disease

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi addresses a ministry panel in Tokyo on Sept. 19. The panel decided to test about one million cows in Japan for mad cow disease by adopting methods used in Europe.

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Sakaguchi meets his counterpart in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea - Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi (L) is greeted by South Korean Health and Welfare Minister Kim Won Gil in Seoul.

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Gov't panel discusses support for overseas A-bomb victims

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi addresses a meeting of a government panel convened August 1 to discuss support measures for A-bomb victims living overseas and the issue of revising the current Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law. Sakaguchi requested at the meeting that panel members, who expressed support for equal treatment for overseas victims, reach a conclusion by the end of the year.