POSTWAR60: Language is barrier for returnees from China
December 19, 2005Bullying in elementary and junior high schools is still a fresh memory for 21-year-old Zhao Shu Ming, whose Japanese grandmother was left behind in China during the closing days of World War II. At age 8, he was admitted to a second-grade class at an elementary school in Tokyo. He could not understand Japanese at all.
POSTWAR60: Medical network to help returnees from China created
December 19, 2005(EDS: THIS IS THE SECOND OF THREE POSTWAR60 NEWS FOCUS STORIES ABOUT WAR-DISPLACED PEOPLE) For aging Japanese who were displaced in China toward the end of World War II but returned to their homeland later, medical treatment has become an increasingly serious issue.
POSTWAR60: War-displaced seeking redress from state
December 19, 2005Noriko Suzuki, 76, of Tokyo, who was left behind in China at age 15 in the final days of World War II, is one of the few witnesses able to recount this tragic time in Japanese. ''The most painful parts of my life were the escape before and after the war, and a 28-year-long period spent in China in a marriage against my will,'' she said.
S. Korea proposes holding informal six-party talks in January
December 19, 2005South Korea has proposed holding an informal meeting in January of chief delegates to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, visiting South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong Young said Monday. The proposal follows Seoul's earlier unrealized offer for such a meeting on Dec. 19 in the South Korean resort island of Jeju in a bid to boost the momentum for resuming the full six-party talks.
Koizumi calls Abe 'major' candidate to succeed him next year
December 19, 2005Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday played up Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe as a ''major'' candidate to succeed him as Japanese premier next year. ''He is widely regarded as a major candidate for post-Koizumi leader and deserves attention,'' Koizumi told reporters at his office when asked his view of the U.S. magazine Newsweek's choice of Abe as among newsmakers in 2006.
Japan to set FY 2006 budget at 79.7 tril. yen, lowest in 8 yrs
December 19, 2005Japan will set next fiscal year's state budget at 79.7 trillion yen, down from 82.1 trillion yen in the current fiscal year for the lowest budget in eight years, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Monday. The government will also limit the issuance of new government bonds below 30 trillion yen in the state budget for fiscal 2006, down from 34.4 trillion yen for fiscal 2005, Tanigaki said.