January 11, 1996

Japanese Prime Ministers have tended to be weak and faceless, men who stand forlornly at the edge of the group photograph when world leaders gather and whose policies are soon forgotten even by their own countrymen after they leave office. But as Parliament met today and formally elected him Prime Minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto made it clear that he aspires to be different. Sharp-tongued, short-tempered and arrogant, and instantly recognizable with his slicked-back hair and sideburns, Mr. Hashimoto promises to bring a more assertive style of leadership to Japan and to give his nation a more prominent role in the world.

About 75 refugees from a fuel spill went back home yesterday after a sleep over at the local high school. The residents were evacuated from their homes Tuesday after a freight train hit a tanker truck stuck at a snowy crossing in this Bergen County community.

The stock market plunged yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 97.19 points, capping the largest two-day decline in more than four years. The selling, which affected nearly all sectors of the market, came as long-term interest rates were rising and reflected Wall Street's anger and disappointment that the budget negotiations in Washington had once again stalled with no sign of a deal on the horizon.

WHAT is the latest status symbol of the ultra rich? A spectacular residence they purchase for millions, reconfigure with the world's leading architects and interior designers for even more millions, then elect not to live in. Such is the fate of one of Manhattan's largest town houses, a majestic stone mansion at 9 East 71st Street. Possessing some 21,000 square feet, the house was recently the uninhabited domain of Leslie H. Wexner, the founding chairman of the Limited Inc., the retailing company.

LAST Jan. 17, the world looked on in horror at images of Kobe's devastating earthquake. Among the casualties was the Takatori Catholic Church, a plain wooden structure that was leveled by a fire that followed the quake, leaving the congregation of 600 Vietnamese immigrants, ethnic Koreans and poor Japanese with little hope of restoring their sanctuary. Still, the church ruins became a haven for the newly homeless, who clustered around bonfires they made and built rudimentary shelters in the courtyard. "We were all reduced to a primitive state," recalled Koichi Wada, a church member, "but our hearts were together."