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Minister eyes legal revision over Comsn business handover plan

TOKYO, Japan - Health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa testifies before a House of Representatives panel on June 8, pledging to study a legal revision in response to an apparent attempt by nursing-care firm Comsn Inc. to dodge government punishment using a legal loophole over fraudulent business license applications. The government move came a day after Comsn concluded an agreement with NSS Corp. to hand over its business to one of its group companies. Comsn had obtained some of the licenses through fraudulent applications.

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Face-off over pension bills starts in upper house

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (fore) presents pension-related bills at a plenary session of the House of Councillors, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks on on June 4. Aiming to get the bills passed as a package by the end of the current Diet session on June 23, the ruling coalition camp got the bills through the House of Representatives last week after killing a series of filibuster attempts by the opposition.

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Rengo holds 'May Day' rally in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park

TOKYO, Japan - Members of labor unions affiliated with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, hold a ''May Day'' rally in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park on April 28 to voice concern on growing income gaps and to call for the creation of a fair and just society in Japan. Health and labor minister Hakuo Yanagisawa and Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa addressed the gathering.

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Japan aims to cut suicide rate by 20% in 10 years

TOKYO, Japan - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki (C) speaks at a Cabinet panel meeting convened on April 27 to address Japan's high suicide rate. The meeting approved a draft proposal for a policy outline aiming to cut suicide rate by 20 percent in 10 years. Shiozaki is flanked by health and welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (L) and Sanae Takaichi, state minister in charge of declining birth rate.

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Opposition to submit no-confidence motion against Yanagisawa

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa, the target of a no-confidence motion from the opposition camp over his remark comparing women to ''birth-giving machines,'' testifies before the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Feb. 20.

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Japan OKs trade sanctions on Iran amid nuke standoff

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Cabinet approved on Feb. 16 a set of measures to implement a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution that bans trading with Iran in items that could contribute to the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. (From L to R) are Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Aso and welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa.

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Yanagisawa apologizes for remark on women but refuses to resign

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (far left) apologizes during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session on Feb. 7 for his controversial remarks about women as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (far right) and other Cabinet members look on. But Yanagisawa refused to bow to opposition calls to resign, saying he will remain in the post and deal with the problem of Japan's declining birthrate.

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Yanagisawa apologizes for remark on women but refuses to resign

TOKYO, Japan - Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa bows to apologize during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session on Feb. 7 for his controversial remarks about women.

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Abe rejects Diet calls for Yanagisawa's resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rejects an opposition demand for welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa's resignation over his controversial remarks about women at a House of Representatives Budget Committee session on Feb. 7.

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Diet returns to normalcy with opposition ending boycott

TOKYO, Japan - The Diet (parliament) returns to normal proceedings on Feb. 7, with the opposition parties ending their weeklong boycott to press for the resignation of welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa over his sexist remarks. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (top center) speaks in reply to an opposition question at a House of Representatives Budget Committee session.

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Yanagisawa draws flak again, saying 'healthy' people have 2 kids

TOKYO, Japan - Health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa responds to questions from reporters on Feb. 6 after he drew more flak from opposition lawmakers and some critics for saying ''healthy'' young people want to have at least two children just as the dust seemed to be settling over his earlier gaffe describing women as breeding machines.

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'Arrogant' regime needs to go, SDP's Fukushima says

TOKYO, Japan - Social Democratic Party chief Mizuho Fukushima speaks during the party's national convention in Tokyo on Feb. 3. She reiterated her call for the resignation of health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa, who called women ''birth-giving machines.''

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Opposition parties boycott lower house budget panel session

TOKYO, Japan - The House of Representatives Budget Committee in business without opposition lawmakers on Feb. 1 as opposition parties boycotted the committee's session in a bid to force the ouster of welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa for his comments comparing women to ''birth-giving machines.'' Speaking at the podium is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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LDP upper house caucus calls for Yanagisawa's resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (fore) offers his apology in the House of Councillors on Jan. 31 for his comments comparing women to ''birth-giving machines'' as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (upper right) and Foreign Minister Taro Aso (L) listen. The Liberal Democratic Party's upper house caucus urged the ruling bloc's leadership to ask for his resignation.

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LDP upper house caucus calls for Yanagisawa's resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (fore) offers his apology in the House of Councillors on Jan. 31 for his comments comparing women to ''birth-giving machines.''

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LDP upper house caucus calls for Yanagisawa's resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Welfare minister Hakuo Yanagisawa walks into the House of Councillors chamber on Jan. 31 as the Liberal Democratic Party's upper house caucus called for his resignation over his comments comparing women to ''birth-giving machines'' in a recent speech.

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Women's groups rally in Tokyo to protest minister's remarks on women

TOKYO, Japan - About 30 representatives from various women's organizations rally in front of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Jan. 30 to demand health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa's resignation. Yanagisawa sparked an outcry after making remarks comparing women to ''birth-giving machines.'' Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Jan. 30 rejected a demand from opposition leaders to sack Yanagisawa.

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Opposition calls for health minister'resignation

TOKYO, Japan - Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima, Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa and People's New Party leader Tamisuke Watanuki (L to R) meet at the Parliament on Jan. 30 and agree to press health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa to resign over his remark comparing women to ''birth-giving machines.''

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Women lawmakers protest at health minister's comment on women

TOKYO, Japan - Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima (3rd from R), along with other opposition parties' women lawmakers, hands a protest note at the Diet building to health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (C) on Jan. 29 over his remarks calling women ''birth-giving machines.'' (Pool photo)

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Health minister apologizes over his gaffe

TOKYO, Japan - Health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (front) apologizes at a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Jan. 29 for his gaffe of calling women ''birth-giving machines.'' At right in back is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yanagisawa

TOKYO, Japan - Hakuo Yanagisawa, newly appointed health, welfare and labor minister, arrives at the prime minister's office on Sept. 26.

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Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yanagisawa

TOKYO, Japan - Hakuo Yanagisawa, newly appointed health, welfare and labor minister, speaks at a press conference at the prime minister's office on Sept. 26.

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Mongolian Hakuo wins 2 prizes at spring sumo tournament

OSAKA, Japan - Mongolian sekiwake Hakuho poses with his parents after winning the Outstanding Performance Prize and the Technique Prize in the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka on March 26.

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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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Hubbard meets with Yanagisawa

TOKYO, Japan - Glenn Hubbard (R), chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers, and Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa shake hands before their talks in Tokyo on Sept. 13.

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IMF chief urges Japan to bolster banks

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (L) shakes hands with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Horst Koehler at the Financial Services Agency in Tokyo on Sept. 9 prior to their meeting. Koehler stressed the importance for Japan to bolster its financial institutions.

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FSA unveils stock market plan to attract individual investors

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks at a news conference Aug. 6 on a new stock market reform plan aimed at luring more individual investors to the stock market.

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FSA panel to seek fully protected deposit for settlements

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks at a general meeting of the Financial System Council at the Financial Services Agency in Tokyo on July 31.

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Panel calls for shift to direct financing

TOKYO, July 12 Kyodo - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (L) receives a report from Shoichi Royama, president of Takaoka National College and chairman of a government advisory panel. The report called for a shift in Japan's financial system to direct financing centered in the capital markets from indirect financing channeled through bank lending.

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Yanagisawa, TSE's Tsuchida agree on need to boost stock market

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa looks into the terminal screen during his visit to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) on April 25. He agreed with TSE President Masaaki Tsuchida on the need to make efforts to boost the sagging stock market

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Gov't to start special probe of Mizuho fiasco

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa says April 19 that the Financial Services Agency will launch a special inspection of the Mizuho financial group to look into the massive computer problem that disrupted the operations of the group's two banks.

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Banks' credit costs for FY 2001 soar to 7.8 tril. yen

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks at a press conference April 12 at the Financial Services Agency in Tokyo about the results of the agency's special inspections of Japan's major banks.

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Yanagisawa confident about financial strength in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks at a news conference at his office April 1. He indicated Japanese banks' financial conditions are strong enough to withstand any consequences of the government's abolition of the full guarantee for time deposits.

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Yanagisawa speaks on Chubu Bank case

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks with the media on the application for insolvency proceedings filed March 8 by Chubu Bank

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Yanagisawa urges banks to provide enough funds to small firms

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa urges bankers March 7 to provide sufficient funds to small- and medium-sized companies to help them cope with seasonal fund shortages toward the March 31 fiscal year-end. ''I would like to ask you to ensure smooth provision of funds toward the fiscal year-end,'' Yanagisawa told a Tokyo meeting of financial institutions.

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Yanagisawa speaks on Ishikawa Bank insolvency

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks with the media on application filed by Ishikawa Bank for insolvency proceedings Dec. 28. He expressed support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reported intention to bail out the banking sector with public funds to avoid a financial crisis.

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Japan to accept IMF probe into financial sector

WASHINGTON, United States - Japanese Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks to journalists at the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Sept. 5 following his meeting with IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler. Yanagisawa said he had told the IMF chief Japan will accept an IMF investigation into its bad loan-crippled financial sector.

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Panel unveils guidelines for banks granting debt waivers

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa addresses a joint study panel of the Japanese Bankers Association and the Federation of Economic Organizations held in Tokyo on June 29. The panel unveiled an interim report, setting guidelines for when a bank forgives loans to a corporate borrower.

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IMF chief urges Japan to strengthen financial system

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (L) shakes hands with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Horst Koehler at the Yanagisawa's office in Tokyo on May 29. During talks with Yanagishawa, Koehler urged Japan to strengthen its financial system to contribute to the stability of the international financial system.

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Yanagisawa speaks in interview

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks during an interview with the media April 27. He said the government will devise criteria for the use of public funds in times when Japan's financial system falls into a crisis.

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Yanagisawa reiterates resolve to cure bad-loan woes

TOKYO, Japan - Retained Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa speaks at a news conference April 26. Yanagisawa reiterated his determination to resolve the colossal bad-loan problem that has depressed the banking sector and the entire economy.

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FSA gives preliminary approval to Ito-Yokado's IY Bank

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Agency Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (L) gives to Toshifumi Suzuki, president of the Ito-Yokado Co. retailing group, preliminary approval to establish a banking subsidiary at the agency in Tokyo on April 6. IY Bank will operate via a network of automatic teller machines at the group's retail outlets.

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Sony receives preliminary approval for Net bank

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa (L) hands to Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei preliminary approval for establishing an Internet bank in Tokyo on March 23. Upon receiving official approval, Sony Bank Corp., to be launched in June, will be the first bank set up by a nonbanking-sector company.

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Mori tells ministers to study stock, bad debt remedies

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa is surrounded by reporters at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on March 13 after returning from the prime minister's official residence. Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori summoned Miyazawa, Hakuo Yanagisawa, minister in charge of financial affairs, and Taro Aso, minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, and instructed them to soon study ways to boost the free-falling stock market.

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N. Korea-linked credit union declared insolvent

TOKYO, Japan - Hakuo Yanagisawa, chairman of the government's Financial Reconstruction Commission, declares Chogin Kinki Shinyo Kumiai, the largest pro-Pyongyang credit union in Japan, insolvent at a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 29.

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Gov't panel issues guidelines for entry into banking sector

TOKYO, Japan - Hakuo Yanagisawa (L), chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission, receives a report from Keimei Kaizuka, chairman of the Financial System Council, at the Financial Services Agency in Tokyo on Dec. 21. In the report, the advisory panel to the finance minister lays down guidelines for non-financial firms' entry into the banking and insurance sectors.

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FRC declares Kansai Kogin, Tokyo Shogin insolvent

TOKYO, Japan - Hakuo Yanagisawa, chief of the government's Financial Reconstruction Commission (FRC), declares at a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 16 Kansai Kogin and Tokyo Shogin insolvent, believing the credit unions are severely undercapitalized, and will appoint administrators to oversee them. The two will be allowed to continue operations under the administrators with their deposits fully protected, but will likely see many of their customers queuing up on Dec. 18 at their counters to withdraw deposits.

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Gov't takes control of Niigata Chuo Bank

TOKYO, Japan - The government's Financial Reconstruction Commission puts failed Niigata Chuo Bank, a second-tier regional bank based in Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast, under its control Oct. 2. Lawyer Tetsuya Sunada, certificate accountant Koichi Matsumura and the DIC as administrators, responsible for the bank's administration, operations and asset management, the commission's chief Hakuo Yanagisawa told a press conference.

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Ripplewood-led group picked as possible LTCB buyer

TOKYO, Japan - The Financial Reconstruction Commission, in a meeting in Tokyo on Sept. 28, decides to open priority negotiations with an investor group led by U.S. investment house Ripplewood Holdings LLC on sale of the nationalized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan (LTCB). Second from L is commission chairman Hakuo Yanagisawa.

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Yanagisawa meets Fed chief in Washington

WASHINGTON, United States - Hakuo Yanagisawa (R), chief of Japan's Financial Reconstruction Commission, shakes hands with U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan prior to their talks at the head office of the Fed in Washington on Sept. 7.