Hokkaido Governor Tatsuya Horii, accompanied by Yoshihiro Kato, head of activists for the return of the four southernmost islands of the Kurile chain to Japanese rule, visited Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to step up Government efforts for their cause. "We hope Japan and Russia will soon solve this territorial issue, an obstacle to a peace treaty between the two countries, and establish a lasting friendly relationship," said the governor.
Hashimoto responded positively: "In the coming autumn, I will be the first Japanese prime minister to visit Russia officially in 25 years. Then, in reply to a proposal I made to Mr. Boris Yeltsin at Kawana, Japan, last April, he is to give me his counterproposal."

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto met at his official residence Mr. Kenny Anthony, prime minister of St. Lucia, a Caribbean island country. Mr. Anthony expressed his support for the Japanese initiative to reform the UN Security Council and to include Japan among its permanent members. He also expressed thanks for Japanese offers to help St. Lucia with its fishing industry and send Japanese "youth corps" for various technical aid projects.

The week of June 4 is an annual occasion for Japanese dentists to remind the nation of dental health. Four "HAppy Smiling Girls" of the local Dentists' Association ("HA" meaning teeth in the Japanese language) paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and pleased him with their smiles revealing pearly white teeth.
Happy himself, Hashimoto commented: "My teeth are shaky now since I practice Kendo, but I'm quite familiar with sportsmen's dental hygiene."

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto joined a dinner of a 2-day international exchange party sponsored by the Nikkei Shimbun, a national financial daily, to discuss the "Asian Future." In his speech there, Hashimoto spoke on his theme that a new global framework should be established to stop nuclear proliferation.
Among other celebrities present was Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia, who said to Hashimoto:
"I thank you for having heard us out before attending the Summit talks and for having sent us then a special envoy to explain the outcome of the talks."

The National Diet Library of Japan ("Diet" meaning parliament) celebrated its 50th anniversary with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and other high officials attending.
This library, located close to the Parliament building in Tokyo, was set up on the basis of a special law in 1948 and now holds as many as 6,700,000 books and documents.
A program to add a "digital annex" to this library is in progress to cope with the ever increasing electronic publications.
On June 9 to 20, a commemorative exhibit of "rare old documents" including Chinese and Japanese books and the "Great Japanese Coastal Map"compiled by Tadataka Inou was held at the library.

The "Task Force to Promote Measures Against Global Warming" headed by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto met at his official residence and formally decided on a set of "basic preventive measures." Included are energy-saving, increased nuclear power generation, adoption of "summer time" to save daylight, and tax incentives for fuel-efficient cars.
Inspired by this initiative, Hashimoto resolved that he would help in earnest, the matter being "one of the top priority issues of my administration."

Prime Minister's Annual Awards of Merit were given at the hall of his official residence to local individuals or organizations who have made significant contributions to the "greening" of the country.
At this year's ceremony, a total of 24 awards were given, including Shoichi Okada of Ishikawa Prefecture; the "Hana Ippai" (Flowers Everywhere) association of Omiya City, north of Tokyo; and Kaseda Jojun High School of Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu.

The new "Administrative Reform Task Force" chaired by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto met for the first time at his official residence. It will streamline the present organization of the Japanese Government into 13 ministries and agencies, each reporting directly to Prime Minister. The task force is working out relevant new bills to be presented to Parliament, possibly by April 1999.
The Government Reform Council that was formed in November, 1996, and also headed by the prime minister, met for the last time and was dissolved on the same day (June 23). Its duties will be taken over by the new task force.