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Ex-Finance Minister Shiokawa calls it quits as lawmaker

TOKYO, Japan - Veteran lawmaker Masajuro Shiokawa (file photo), who was replaced as finance minister in the Sept. 22 cabinet reshuffle, said he will not seek reelection in the House of Representatives general election expected in November.

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Snow hails reforms in talks with Koizumi

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow (C) poses for a photograph with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) before their meeting in Tokyo on Sept. 1.

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(3)New banknotes to be issued in July 2004

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa checks a sheet of new 10,000 yen banknotes, for which printing began at a National Printing Bureau plant in Tokyo on July 29. Shiokawa said that new 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen bills will be issued in July 2004 along with the 10,000 bill.

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(1)New banknotes to be issued in July 2004

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows the surface and back of a new 10,000 yen banknote (specimen) released by Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa at a news conference July 29. He said new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen bills will be issued in July 2004.

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(2)New banknotes to be issued in July 2004

TOKYO, Japan - Printing of a new 10,000 banknote begins at a National Printing Bureau plant in Tokyo on July 29. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said that new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen bills will be issued in July 2004.

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(2)Gov't leaves economic assessment unchanged for July

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2nd from L) presides over a meeting of his economic ministers at his office July 11, flanked by Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L), Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda (2nd from R) and Minister of Economy and Finance Heizo Takenaka (R).

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Finance ministers of Japan, S. Korea, China talk in Bali

BALI, Indonesia - South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Kim Jin Pyo (L), Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (C) and China's Finance Minister Jin Renqing join their hands for photographs prior to their meeting. The three finance ministers met on the sidelines of talks of finance ministers from the Asia-Europe Meeting in Bali.

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Indonesia's Megawati talks with Shiokawa

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) and visiting Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri shake hands June 24 at the State Guesthouse in Tokyo prior to their talks. Megawati is in Japan on a four-day state visit until June 25.

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Draft economic blueprint has little on controversial reforms

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka attend the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, the government's key economic panel, on June 12. The council released a draft 2003 economic blueprint calling for tax reforms and spending cuts but leaving out details on the controversial issue of revising money flows between Tokyo and local governments.

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Japan to issue silver coin to mark Amami Islands' anniversary

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa holds up at a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on June 10 colored 1,000 yen silver coins to be issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the reversion of the Amami Islands to Japan from the United States.

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Gov't panel draws up 7 pillars of 2003 reform blueprint

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka are seated at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on May 28. The government panel decided on seven pillars of a reform blueprint it will complete next month, including a call to overhaul the budget compilation process.

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U.S. requests 'considerable' help from Japan over Iraq

WASHINGTON, United States - Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks to reporters after his meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow in Washington on April 11. Snow ''asked Japan to provide considerable assistance'' in reconstructing Iraq, Shiokawa said.

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(3)Lower house clears 81.79 tril. yen FY 2003 budget

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa bow in appreciation after the House of Representatives passed an 81.79 trillion yen state budget for fiscal 2003 in a plenary session March 4, ensuring it will be enacted in time for the new fiscal year starting April 1.

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FY 2002 extra budget clears lower house

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa bow at the plenary session of the House of Representatives on Jan. 27 after the lower house passed a supplementary budget for fiscal 2002. The budget includes measures to ease negative effects of the accelerated banking-sector cleanup.

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Shiokawa makes pitch for extra budget

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa delivers a fiscal policy speech to the Diet at the start of its 150-day ordinary session Jan. 20. He made a pitch for a supplementary budget for fiscal 2002.

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Work to demolish empress's old home to begin Jan. 15

TOKYO, Japan - Work to demolish the former home (file photo) of Empress Michiko, given to the state in lieu of payment of inheritance tax, is scheduled to begin Jan. 15, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Jan. 14. The question of whether to pull down or preserve the building had been the center of a dispute between the Finance Ministry, which insisted on demolishing the building to sell the land, and local residents, who wanted the house preserved.

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Gov't adopts 81.79 tril. yen budget for FY 2003

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks at a news conference after the government adopted an 81,789.1 billion yen budget for fiscal 2003 in a cabinet session Dec. 24.

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81.79 tril. yen budget proposed for FY 2003

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks at a press conference after the cabinet endorsed the Finance Ministry's 81.79 trillion yen budget plan for fiscal 2003.

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Gov't, ruling bloc reach compromise on extra budget

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks at a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on Nov. 21 about a supplementary budget for fiscal 2002. Earlier in the day, the government and the ruling coalition parties agreed on the amount of public works spending to be included in the budget.

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Gov't downgrades economic assessment for Nov.

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka (2nd from R), also state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, presents a monthly report on the economy for November at a meeting of cabinet ministers Nov. 12. The government downgraded its overall assessment of the current economy for the first time in a year. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) sits beside Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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Diet debate on Koizumi policy speech begins

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (front), president of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, questions Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (back, R) on his policy speech in a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Oct. 21 with Koizumi, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (back, C) and Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama listening.

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Japan to issue colored silver coins for Winter Asian Games

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa at a news conference at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 4 holds up a sheet depicting a colored silver coin to be issued to mark the 5th Winter Asian Games to be held in Aomori Prefecture in February 2003. The 1,000 yen coins made of pure silver will feature a skier and a skater on the front, and apples, the games' symbol mark, in the back.

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Shiokawa flexible on revising law to replenish banks' capital

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks to a group of reporters at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 1, one day after he was reappointed to the portfolio in a reshuffle of the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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U.S. adviser Hubbard supports Japan's tax cut plan

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. economic adviser Glenn Hubbard (R) is in talks with Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa at the Finance Ministry on Sept. 12. Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, told Shiokawa he supports Japan's plan to carry out tax cuts to boost its economy.

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Shiokawa eyes 2 tril. yen tax cut

OSAKA, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa addresses a gathering in Osaka on Aug. 23. Hesaid he thinks a proposed net 1 trillion yen tax cut in fiscal 2003 should be carried out by coupling a tax reduction of 2 trillion yen and a tax hike of 1 trillion yen.

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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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Cabinet OKs belt-tightening budget framework for FY 2003

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (C), Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (R) and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi (L) prepare to attend a cabinet meeting at the premier's office in Tokyo on Aug. 7. The cabinet approved a belt-tightening fiscal 2003 budget request framework that includes a 3% cut in public works spending and a 2% decrease in discretionary outlays, such as foreign aid.

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Panel approves austere budget limit for FY 2003

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda are seated for a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Aug. 6 as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi walks behind to take his seat. The council approved a belt-tightening fiscal 2003 budget request framework of 48.1 trillion yen in core general expenditures, including a 3% cut in public works spending and a 2% decrease in discretionary outlays such as foreign aid.

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Shiokawa shows off 3 new banknotes

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa holds specimens of new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen bills to be issued in fiscal 2004 at a news conference at his office Aug. 2. ''If new bills come out, it will brighten people's sentiment,'' Shiokawa said.

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Karimov meets Shiokawa

TOKYO, Japan - Uzbek President Islam Karimov (L) shakes hands with Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa prior to their talks at a Tokyo hotel on July 29. (Pool photo)

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Mahathir meets with Shiokawa

TOKYO, Japan - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (R) is in talks with Japanese Finance Miniter Masajuro Shiokawa at a Tokyo hotel May 21.

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Laos premier meets Shiokawa

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Boungnang Volachit of Laos (R) shakes hand with Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (in this pool photo) prior to their talks at a Tokyo hotel May 20.

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Japan vows fresh contribution to ADB's antipoverty fund

SHANGHAI, China - A screen at an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Shanghai projects an address by Japan's Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa on May 11. Shiokawa pledged an additional contribution of 7.08 billion yen (about $50 million) to an ADB fund to help eradicate poverty in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Cabinet endorses emergency bills

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (C) is flanked by Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi (L) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (R) at a special cabinet meeting he called April 16 to act on three bills on Japan's response to a foreign military attack.

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Shiokawa ready to cut businesses' taxable minimum sales

TSU, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa indicates at a news conference in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, on April 15 that the government is considering lowering the sales threshold at which small businesses must pay consumption tax from the current 30 million yen a year.

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Mizuho president summoned to Diet to explain problems

TOKYO, Japan - Mizuho Holdings Inc. President Terunobu Maeda (R) bows to Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) in a gesture of apology as he was summoned to the House of Representatives committee on financial affairs to explain a series of computer problems involving two Mizuho banks.

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(3)FY 2002 budget becomes law with upper house approval

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R, front) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L, front) bow after the House of Councillors' lawmakers voted into law an 81.23 trillion yen general-account budget for fiscal 2002 on March 27.

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Lower house panel passes FY 2002 budget bill

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) bow to members of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on March 6 after the committee cleared the 81.23 trillion yen budget for fiscal 2002, beginning April 1, ahead of the house's plenary session, which is to pass the bill later in the evening.

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Gov't considering additional antideflation measures

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (standing) tells the House of Representatives Budget Committee on March 5 that the government will come up with additional antideflation measures by the end of this month.

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Shiokawa prioritizes reform to revitalize economy

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa delivers his fiscal policy speech to the House of Representatives on Feb. 4. He vowed to push ahead with fiscal and tax reforms to revitalize the nation's ailing economy.

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Diet endorses 2.5 tril. yen extra budget

TOKYO - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R front) and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa bow at the House of Councillors' plenary session in the Diet in Tokyo on Feb. 1 after the upper house approved the 2.5 trillion yen second extra budget for the current fiscal year. An electric board behind them shows 136 upper house members endorsing the budget, with 95 against it.

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Shiokawa, O'Neill start economic talks

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (L) and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill pose for picture before they begin talks at the Ministry of Finance on Jan. 22 on assessing economic developments in the world's two largest economies.

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Shiokawa vows to avoid deflationary spiral

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (foreground) delivers a fiscal policy speech at a plenary session of the House of Representatives in Tokyo on Jan. 21, the opening day of the 150-day ordinary Diet session, as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (background) listens.

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Koizumi promises U.S. to prevent financial crisis

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (2nd from L) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at a Tokyo hotel on Jan. 21, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill (L), Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa (3rd from R) and Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka (2nd from R) standing by. They briefly met before the start of a two-day international donors conference on Afghan reconstruction. The photo is a pool one.

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Gov't expects zero growth in FY 2002: Shiokawa

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo on Jan. 18. He said he expects the pace of Japan's economic growth to stand at zero as targeted by the government in fiscal 2002, a slight improvement from the estimated 0.1% contraction for fiscal 2001.

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Cabinet approves 81.23 tril. yen FY 2002 budget

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (C) heads into a cabinet meeting at his official residence in Tokyo on Dec. 24 to adopt an 81.23 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 2002. At left in the background is Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa.

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FY 2002 draft budget 81.23 tril. yen, smallest in 4 years

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa speaks at a press conference in the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 20 after the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi approves the ministry's 81.23 trillion yen budget plan for fiscal 2002.

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Japan to have another belt-tightening budget

TOKYO, Japan - Finance Ministry Masajuro Shiokawa speaks at a news conference Dec. 19 after his ministry drafted an 81.23 trillion yen general-account budget for fiscal 2002, 1.7% less than the initial fiscal 2001 budget and the smallest in four years. The draft budget is to be endorsed at a cabinet meeting Dec. 20.

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Dollar rises to 128 yen level, hitting new 3-yr high

TOKYO, Japan - A dealer at a brokerage in Tokyo's Koto Ward wears a Santa Claus outfit Dec. 17 while an electric board behind him shows the dollar being traded above the 128 yen level. The dollar rose to a new three-year high against the yen in Tokyo, on remarks by Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa and growing pessimism over the future of Japan's banking system.

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Vajpayee, Shiokawa agree to strengthen economic ties

TOKYO, Japan - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee (L) talks with Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa at a hotel in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Dec. 10. During the talks, they agreed to boost bilateral economic ties.