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LDP to expel ex-minister Norota, recommends 26 to leave party

TOKYO, Japan - Senior Liberal Democratic Party member Mayumi Moriyama (R) presides over the party's discipline committee to discuss how to cope with party members who voted against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills in Diet in August.

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S. Koreans burn 'Norota effigy'

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean demonstrators burn an effigy of Japanese lawmaker Hosei Norota at a Seoul park Feb. 28 in protest over his controversial remarks. Norota told his supporters earlier this month that ''colonialism in Asia was rooted out thanks to the Greater East Asia War,'' the phrase employed by the Imperial Japanese Army in its bid to create a Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere during World War II.

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Resolution submitted against budget committee chief

TOKYO, Japan - Representatives of four main opposition parties (L) hand a resolution calling for the dismissal of the chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee to Fukumaru Tani (R), secretary general of the House of Representatives secretariat, on Feb. 21. The resolution was submitted over the manner in which Hosei Norota has run committee sessions as well as for his remarks over the weekend justifying Japan's wartime aggression.

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China, S. Korea slam former Japanese defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Hosei Norota (R), a senior member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), chairs the House of Representatives' Budget Committee session in the Diet on Feb. 19. China lashed out at comments made a day earlier by Norota, calling his justifications for Japan's wartime aggression ''ridiculous.'' Norota told LDP supporters that a U.S. ''scheme'' forced Japan to launch military campaigns in Asia in the 1930s and 1940s and that those campaigns are still appreciated for the positive role they play in Southeast Asia.

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SDF can be sent to E. Timor if conditions met: Norota

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota, speaking at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Sept. 14, says that Japan can dispatch Self-Defense Forces personnel to East Timor only if conditions for Japanese participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, as stipulated in a domestic law, are met. Norota stressed Japan should first focus on humanitarian and financial assistance to the violence-torn territory.

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Cohen meets Norota

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (R) invites U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen (L) to take seat for their talks in a Tokyo hotel July 28. Norota and Cohen agreed that a missile launch by North Korea is not imminent.

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Cabinet convened to discuss unidentified ships

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (C) and other cabinet members, including Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (R), head to a cabinet meeting March 24 to discuss the intrusion into Japanese territorial waters of two unidentified ships in the Sea of Japan.

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Japan-U.S. defense bills presented to Diet

Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota presents government-sponsored bills for defense cooperation with the United States for deliberation in the House of Representatives on March 12 as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi looks on.

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U.S. coordinator Perry meets Nonaka

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka (R) shakes hands with William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator for North Korea, at Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's official residence on March 10 ahead of their meeting. Perry began talks with Japanese officials prior to finalizing a report due out later this month. After his talks with Nonaka, Perry will hold separate talks with Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota, Prime Minister Obuchi and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.

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Top defense officials discuss N. Korea

Japan's Defense Agency Director-General Hosei Norota (C), presides over an inaugural session of the agency's intelligence council on Jan. 21 to discuss the North Korean situation. The council was established following North Korea's launch of a rocket on Aug. 31 last year, parts of which flew over Japan and plunged into the Pacific.

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Cohen meets Norota

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota shakes hands prior to their talks at the Defense Agency on Jan. 13. They agreed to continue cooperation, along with South Korea, to prevent North Korea from possessing nuclear weapons.

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Defense Agency chief meets Okinawa Gov' in Naha

Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota (L) shakes hands with Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine (R) Jan. 12 prior to talks at the prefectural gov't building in Naha. Norota visited Okinawa Prefecture for the 1st time after he was named to the defense agency director general in November.

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Japan's defense chief meets President Kim

Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (L) talks with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung at the presidential palace in Seoul on Jan. 8.

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Japan, S. Korea defense leaders meet in Seoul

Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (L) shakes hands with South Korea's Defense Minister Cheon Yong Taek on Jan. 7 prior to their talks in Seoul. Norota arrived in the South Korean capital Jan. 6.

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Japanese defense chief visits Panmunjom truce village

Hosei Norota, director general of the Japanese Defense Agency, visits the truce village of Panmunjom on the Korean military border in the afternoon of Jan. 7. The photo shows Norota inspecting the military border zone at the House of Freedom in Panmunjom. The Japanese defense chief arrived in Seoul on Jan. 6 for a three-day visit.

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Vietnam defense minister, Japanese defense chief meet

Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra (L), Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (R) shake hands Dec. 1 prior to bilateral defense talks at the Defense Agency.

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Defense Agency chief-in-waiting

File photo of Defense Agency Director General-designate Hosei Norota, who was named on Nov. 20 by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to succeed outgoing Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga. Nukaga resigned on Nov. 20 to take responsibility for the agency's cover-up of a procurement scandal. Norota, 69, a former agriculture minister, was elected five times to the House of Representatives and served one term in the House of Councillors.

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LDP to expel ex-minister Norota, recommends 26 to leave party

TOKYO, Japan - Senior Liberal Democratic Party member Mayumi Moriyama (R) presides over the party's discipline committee to discuss how to cope with party members who voted against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills in Diet in August. (Kyodo)

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Cabinet convened to discuss unidentified ships

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (C) and other cabinet members, including Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (R), head to a cabinet meeting March 24 to discuss the intrusion into Japanese territorial waters of two unidentified ships in the Sea of Japan.

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Cohen meets Norota

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota shakes hands prior to their talks at the Defense Agency on Jan. 13. They agreed to continue cooperation, along with South Korea, to prevent North Korea from possessing nuclear weapons. ==Kyodo

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Japan-U.S. defense bills presented to Diet

Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota presents government-sponsored bills for defense cooperation with the United States for deliberation in the House of Representatives on March 12 as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi looks on. ==Kyodo

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S. Koreans burn 'Norota effigy'

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean demonstrators burn an effigy of Japanese lawmaker Hosei Norota at a Seoul park Feb. 28 in protest over his controversial remarks. Norota told his supporters earlier this month that ''colonialism in Asia was rooted out thanks to the Greater East Asia War,'' the phrase employed by the Imperial Japanese Army in its bid to create a Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere during World War II.

E

Resolution submitted against budget committee chief

TOKYO, Japan - Representatives of four main opposition parties (L) hand a resolution calling for the dismissal of the chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee to Fukumaru Tani (R), secretary general of the House of Representatives secretariat, on Feb. 21. The resolution was submitted over the manner in which Hosei Norota has run committee sessions as well as for his remarks over the weekend justifying Japan's wartime aggression.

E

China, S. Korea slam former Japanese defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Hosei Norota (R), a senior member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), chairs the House of Representatives' Budget Committee session in the Diet on Feb. 19. China lashed out at comments made a day earlier by Norota, calling his justifications for Japan's wartime aggression ''ridiculous.'' Norota told LDP supporters that a U.S. ''scheme'' forced Japan to launch military campaigns in Asia in the 1930s and 1940s and that those campaigns are still appreciated for the positive role they play in Southeast Asia.

E

SDF can be sent to E. Timor if conditions met: Norota

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota, speaking at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Sept. 14, says that Japan can dispatch Self-Defense Forces personnel to East Timor only if conditions for Japanese participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, as stipulated in a domestic law, are met. Norota stressed Japan should first focus on humanitarian and financial assistance to the violence-torn territory.

E

Cohen meets Norota

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (R) invites U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen (L) to take seat for their talks in a Tokyo hotel July 28. Norota and Cohen agreed that a missile launch by North Korea is not imminent.

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U.S. coordinator Perry meets Nonaka

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka (R) shakes hands with William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator for North Korea, at Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's official residence on March 10 ahead of their meeting. Perry began talks with Japanese officials prior to finalizing a report due out later this month. After his talks with Nonaka, Perry will hold separate talks with Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota, Prime Minister Obuchi and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.

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Top defense officials discuss N. Korea

Japan's Defense Agency Director-General Hosei Norota (C), presides over an inaugural session of the agency's intelligence council on Jan. 21 to discuss the North Korean situation. The council was established following North Korea's launch of a rocket on Aug. 31 last year, parts of which flew over Japan and plunged into the Pacific.

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Defense Agency chief meets Okinawa Gov' in Naha

Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota (L) shakes hands with Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine (R) Jan. 12 prior to talks at the prefectural gov't building in Naha. Norota visited Okinawa Prefecture for the 1st time after he was named to the defense agency director general in November.

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Japanese defense chief visits Panmunjom truce village

Hosei Norota, director general of the Japanese Defense Agency, visits the truce village of Panmunjom on the Korean military border in the afternoon of Jan. 7. The photo shows Norota inspecting the military border zone at the House of Freedom in Panmunjom. The Japanese defense chief arrived in Seoul on Jan. 6 for a three-day visit. ==Kyodo

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Japan's defense chief meets President Kim

Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (L) talks with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung at the presidential palace in Seoul on Jan. 8. ==Kyodo

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Japan, S. Korea defense leaders meet in Seoul

Japanese Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (L) shakes hands with South Korea's Defense Minister Cheon Yong Taek on Jan. 7 prior to their talks in Seoul. Norota arrived in the South Korean capital Jan. 6.

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Vietnam defense minister, Japanese defense chief meet

Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra (L), Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota (R) shake hands Dec. 1 prior to bilateral defense talks at the Defense Agency. ==Kyodo