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Reports on developments in the trade negotiations between the governments of the United States and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa's resistance to the trade concessions demanded by President Bill Clinton; Effect of the continuous appreciation of the Japanese yen against the dollar; Hosokawa's focus on political reform; Trade experts' advice to Clinton to bypass the Japanese bureaucrats.

Discusses the personal handyphone system (PHS), a minicellular phone developed in Japan. Advantages over traditional cell phones; Support from the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications; Potential as a low cost local phone system.

Focuses on American Telephone & Telegraph Co.'s entry into Japan's telecommunications industry. Reputation; Customized offerings; Appointment of Louis C. Golm to lead operations in Japan; Technical issues; Comments from industry executives.

Discusses the reasons for new wave of Japanese investment in the United States. Japanese companies investing in the US; Office of Technology Assessment's study; Conclusion that Japanese investment in the US has grown to three times that of the American investment in Japan.

Features Frank Sanda, the head of Apple Computer Japan Incorporated. Sanda's profile and management skills; Apple computer's share in the Japan's personal computer market; Sanda's task to seek an alliance with major Japanese computer maker to license the Mac technology.

Focuses on Japan's campaign to unload second-hand machinery abroad from excess Japanese production capacity. Array of idle equipment; Country's undergoing of a transformation from an Asian dynamo to a more mature economy; Sales of plants a shift from Japan's former island-fortress business mentality.

Reports on the trends toward price cuts and cost reduction in the retail industry in Japan due to the proliferation of discounters. Discounters' use of American-style distribution shortcuts; Projected increase in consumer spending due to low prices of goods; Benefits of the trends to the United States and other trading partners of Japan; Emergence of mass-merchandising practices. INSET: A mixture of economic trends....

Reports on Japanese banks' effort to write off their loans. Sakura Bank Ltd.'s writing off of bad loans; Salting away of bad debt at the Cooperative Credit Purchasing Co.; Banks' raising of capital; Enlistment of Americans to put pressure on regulators to adopt more sophisticated ways to dump troubled properties.

Reports on Japan's investments in the information superhighway. Japanese businessmen's absence from Vice President Al Gore's Superhighway Summit in January 1994; Reliance of arrangements on cooperative development partnerships; Japanese economy as reason for Japanese corporations' reluctant approach towards the information superhighway; Aim to gain expertise to eventually create a Japanese Superhighway. INSET: SAMURAI SUPERHIGHWAY.

This article focuses on the current so-claimed revolutionary development of Japanese industries as compared to that of the U.S. General Motors Corp.'s Automotive Components Group, reportedly, will sell $75 million worth of antilock brake systems to Toyota Motor Corp., Isuzu Motors Ltd., and Suzuki Motor Corp. Most will be installed in the U.S., but Suzuki Motor Corp. will use 60,000 of them for cars made and sold in Japan. The General Motor group expects total sales to Japanese makers to double from $1 billion to$2 billion by 1998. In electronic industry, where supplier-buyer links were never as tight as in automobiles, nearly every major company is forging new partnerships. Not only are American-made chips going into Japanese electronics but more Japanese companies are selling finished American goods under their own labels. According to the authors, these signs signify how deeply the recession is revolutionizing the way Japanese companies operate.

Reports on the status of Japan's stock market. Slowdown of the Japanese economy; Tepid recovery projected; Fall in the Nikkei stock average; Impact on the stocks of steelmakers and big banks; Ichizo Yamauchi's favorite stocks; Long-term growth potential of big electronic companies; Upside potential offered by consumer stocks.

Reports on American securities underwriting in Japan. Performance of Morgan Stanley Japan Ltd.; Long-standing relationships between Japanese issuers and underwriters; Complaints by US Treasury officials that Japanese regulators keep a clamp on innovative use of derivatives in tailoring products to issuers' needs; Japanese complaints.

This article discusses the Japan trade policy formulated by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993. Investment record of foreigners in Japan is dismal. According to the House Wednesday Group, a congressional Republican caucus, Japan is the second-largest economy of the world but it has the lowest level of per capita foreign direct investment and foreign corporate participation in the industrialized world. If you do not have plants, design centers and a sales force in Japan, it is hard to establish credibility, said Tatzuya Terazawa.

Discusses how with the yen soaring again as the United States and other Group of Seven allies scream for Japan to reduce its $115 billion trade surplus, Japan may finally be moving on its long-awaited domestic overhaul. Surplus swells despite the plunging dollar; Can ill afford another currency shock; Goals for reform in the country.

Discusses various issues related the current state of the entertainment industry of Japan. Discussion on the adversaries associated with MCA Inc.; Arguments pertaining to the prospect of Japanese software industry; Information on cartoons created by Japanese companies; Information on the market segments; Discussion on the relationship with the entertainment industry of the United States.

Analyzes the economic impact of the Kobe earthquake of January 17, 1995 on Japan. Effect on Nikkei stock index; Effect on consumer spending on optimistic view; Insight into 1994 industrial strength; Effect of supply disruption on inflation; Remarks by industry experts.

Discusses the economic consequences of the January 17, 1995 earthquake that hit Japan. Effect of the earthquake on businesses; Stock market statistics; Effect on inventory management; Measurement of the earthquake on Richter scale; Estimated cost of the damage caused by the earthquake; Information on quake codes of Japan; Impact of quakes on financial markets of Japan; Extension of cheap loans to insurers by the Bank of Japan; Impact of the quake on the inventory system and export machine of Japan; Need for strict building codes in the country.

Reports that the Johnan Shinkin Bank in Japan has introduced time-deposits that pay prizes based on random drawings. Defiance of the Japanese bank regulators; Lifting of ban on cash prizes by the Federation of Bankers' Associations.'

Reports on the possibility of Japan's Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata of being a pawn to Ichiro Ozawa's power plays. Restructuring of Japanese politics by Ozawa; Aim; Inability of Hata to negotiate with the United States concerning trade; Effect of Ozawa's power plays on the government; Reason behind Ozawa's inability to step in as Prime Minister.

Focuses on the economic conditions of Japan. Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa's introduction of a stimulus package benefiting the ordinary citizens as well as big business and banks; Mandating a $55 billion annual income tax cut; Restoration of buying power of consumers resulting to normalization of production and avoidance of plant closures; Other encouraging political signs for business.

Reports on Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa's meeting with President Bill Clinton and Asian heads of state about economic cooperation. Bureaucrat's refusal to block the Nikkei's dive; Squeeze on profits; Japanese bank's reaction on policy shift; Finance Ministry rescue operation.

Reports on Japanese financiers' reticence in entering Asia's emerging stock markets. Reluctance in underwriting Asian stocks and bonds; Japan's innate conservatism; Westerners' domination in the region; Japanese weaknesses; Uncomfortability with the complex deals sweeping Asia; Japanese manufacturers' expansion in the region.

Focuses on the retail trade trend towards discount chains in Japan. Step Co.; Unavailability of free service offered by traditional department stores; Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa's plans to reduce the trade surplus; Increase in sales; Requirement for foreign-made products to bear seals identifying the importer; Problems with manufacturers.

Discusses the ways in which Japan could possibly benefit from the appreciation of the Japanese yen. While such export industries as automobiles and electronics are already meeting stiff price resistance overseas, other industries will benefit mightily as the yen's rise slashes the cost importing raw materials. The global influx of cash into yen may even allow the Bank of Japan to lower interest rates. And that will give the state's $117 billion economic stimulus plan an extra boost. Many economists are skeptical about the bet that a higher yen will curb the trade deficit. They say the strong currency will spur companies to even greater efficiency and induce them to build more plants overseas to cut manufacturing costs.

Discusses how the Nikkei has risen 10 percent in three weeks, and suddenly, a growing number of market watchers are saying that the three-year bear market is finally over and that stocks will continue moving higher. This new optimism is being fed by the government's two-pronged effort to bolster the market. Finance Ministry accelerating plans to pump billions in government-controlled savings into stocks and easing reporting restrictions.

Discusses how the Japanese Finance Ministry and Tokyo Stock Exchange now want to shut down the foreign index arbitrageurs. It could spell the end of a lucrative source of profits for an illustrious roster of foreign firms: Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, and Swiss Bank among them. Details.

States that according to some estimastes, up to $300 billion in bad real estate loans now burden Japan's once-buoyant banks. Refusal of tightfisted Ministry of Finance regulators to mount a wide-ranging relief-and-restructing campaign; Risks posed to economy by low-key approach to the banking problem.

This article focuses on consumer spending in Japan as of November 1992. The government has its $87 billion economic stimulus package being launched in 1992. There is even a proposal in the works to help Japan's hard pressed banks. Consumer spending in 1992 is a write-off. It is expected to grow marginally at best, squeezed by the downturn in such key industries as autos and consumer electronics. Department-store sales are showing a year-to-year decline. With sales weak and corporate profits sinking, Japanese companies are putting the squeeze on their workers. Overtime, which generates a large chunk of blue-collar pay, is falling. And salaried workers, bonuses, which account for a third or more of take-home pay are likely to take a hit too. Major companies ranging from Nihon Unisys to Japan Air Lines are already warning employees that bonuses are likely to be lighter in 1993.