Kan's Cabinet resigns en masse, cites achievements

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned en masse at its final meeting Tuesday morning.

Kan has held the premiership for 449 days as of Tuesday, being in office for the 19th-longest period among the 32 postwar prime ministers.

By remaining in the post nearly three months after announcing his intention to resign, Kan kept his administration alive longer than the shorter-lived cabinets of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leader of the then-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and those who succeeded him as prime minister.

Nonetheless, Kan's administration, with its internal turmoil, has left deep wounds in both domestic and diplomatic affairs.

At its final meeting, the Cabinet adopted an informal statement made by Kan for its mass resignation.

The statement cites the Cabinet's achievements, such as mapping out a plan for integrated social security and tax system reforms; and realizing the "stable cooling" of reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Kan apologized to the public, saying, "We are very sorry, from the viewpoint that we didn't necessarily deal with issues well enough."

On the other hand, the statement praised the Cabinet's efforts, saying, "While letting posterity judge how we are viewed in a historic light, all members of the Cabinet, including me, have dealt with issues sincerely and with all our might."

On the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing nuclear crisis, the statement said: "There still remain many challenges. We hope the new Cabinet pushes further efforts for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, and bringing the nuclear accident under control."

Recalling dealing with the March 11 disaster, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, "I get the impression that I served as chief cabinet secretary for about three years."

Tatsuo Hirano, minister for reconstruction in response to the March 11 disaster, said: "A lot of things still need to be done. To be honest, we haven't reached the stage where we can say we did this or that."

At a press conference held after the meeting, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister-elect, answered jokingly when asked whether he has met his family since being elected DPJ head: "I haven't. I have to start by making a coalition at home first. When I phoned home, the answering machine was on."

View the original article here

Industrial Output Signals Slowdown - Wall Street Journal

See correction below.

Industrial production in Japan and South Korea fell short of expectations in July, the latest sign Asia's manufacturing sector may be losing momentum due to softening U.S. and European demand.

Japanese industrial output in July was up 0.6% from the previous month, a fourth straight month of expansion, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday. But the median forecast of economists by Nikkei and Dow Jones Newswires was 1.5%.

Japanese companies surveyed by the ministry said on average they expect to cut production by 2.4% in September after a 2.8% increase in August.

In Korea, ...

See correction below.

Industrial production in Japan and South Korea fell short of expectations in July, the latest sign Asia's manufacturing sector may be losing momentum due to softening U.S. and European demand.

Japanese industrial output in July was up 0.6% from the previous month, a fourth straight month of expansion, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday. But the median forecast of economists by Nikkei and Dow Jones Newswires was 1.5%.

Japanese companies surveyed by the ministry said on average they expect to cut production by 2.4% in September after a 2.8% increase in August.

In Korea, ...

View the original article here

AP Exclusive: Japan nuke holdout resolved to stay (AP)

TOMIOKA, Japan – Vines creep across Tomioka's empty streets, its prim gardens overgrown with waist-high weeds and meadow flowers. Dead cows rot where they were left to starve in their pens. Chicken coops writhe with maggots, a sickening stench hanging in the air.

This once-thriving community of 16,000 people now has a population of one.

In this nuclear no-man's land poisoned by radiation from a disaster-battered power plant, rice farmer Naoto Matsumura refuses to leave despite government orders. He says he has thought about the possibility of getting cancer but prefers to stay — with a skinny dog named Aki his constant companion.

Nearly six months after Japan's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, the 53-year-old believes he is the only inhabitant left in this town sandwiched between the doomed Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station to the north and another sprawling nuclear plant to the south.

"If I give up and leave, it's all over," he told The Associated Press. "It's my responsibility to stay. And it is my right to be here."

Matsumura is an anomaly in a country where defiance of the government is rare and social consensus counts above everything else. Yet, Matsumura's quiet civil disobedience speaks loudly of the dilemma facing the more than 100,000 silent "nuclear refugees" who were displaced by the March 11 disaster.

Tokyo was quick to establish evacuation zones around the plant but has been slow to settle the refugees. A government order forbids them from going back to their homes in a half dozen towns around Fukushima Dai-ichi that were declared off-limits after the tsunami-stricken nuclear plant started spewing radioactivity.

"We are already being forgotten," said Matsumura, a leathery but clean-cut man with the sturdy build of a farmer. "The rest of the country has moved on. They don't want to think about us."

Tomioka's city hall has been moved to a safer city in Fukushima prefecture, where thousands of its residents live in makeshift shelters. Thousands more have scattered across the country.

The town itself is sealed behind police barriers, which hide the heart of the nuclear no-go zone, an area that is officially too dangerous for human habitation.

Officers are sent into Tomioka each day to search for burglars or violators of the keep-out order. By law, anyone caught inside the zone can be detained and fined.

But authorities mostly turn a blind eye to Matsumura, though he says he has been confronted by the police a few times. If there are other holdouts, they have escaped detection.

"Some people stayed behind, some stayed with me in my house," he said. "But the last one left a few weeks ago. He asked me to take care of his cats."

Tomioka official Tomio Midorikawa, who is in charge of the town's living and environment division, said the last resident was persuaded to leave in early August — the same time Matsumura claims his neighbor left. He was not aware of Matsumura.

Without electricity or running water, Matsumura fires up a pair of old generators each night and draws his water from a local well. He eats mostly canned foods, or fish that he catches himself in a nearby river. He said that once or twice a month, he makes his way to a city outside the zone in his mini pickup truck to stock up on supplies and gas.

He has taken it upon himself to tend to the town's abandoned cats and dogs, including the wolflike Aki.

"I've gone to Tokyo a couple of times to tell the politicians why I'm here," he said. "I tell them that it was an outrage how the cows were left to die, and how important it is for someone to tend to the family graves. They don't seem to hear me. They just tell me I shouldn't be here to begin with."

Matsumura said he did leave once, but the ensuing experience only strengthened his desire to return.

"I drove to a relative's house thinking I would stay there," he said. "But she wouldn't let me in the door, she was too afraid I was contaminated. Then I went to an evacuation center, but it was full. That was enough to convince me to come home."

The tsunami disaster left nearly 21,000 people dead or missing and touched off fires, explosions and meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The amount of radioactive cesium released into the environment since has been estimated to be equal to 168 Hiroshimas, making it the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.

No one — including Matsumura — is suggesting the exclusion zone be lifted altogether. The connection between radiation and cancer or other health problems is well established, and experts agree it could be decades until the nuclear zone is safe. Some point to the example of Chernobyl, which 25 years later is still mostly void of human life.

"The contaminants will be there for decades, centuries, millennia," said Timothy Mousseau, a biologist with the University of South Carolina who has studied Chernobyl for more than a decade and recently returned from a preliminary research trip to Fukushima.

Even so, local authorities are increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress toward resolving the nuclear Diaspora.

Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of Namie, a partially evacuated town near Tomioka, said in an interview it was reasonable at first for Tokyo to establish a geometric ring extending outward from the center of the plant. But he believes data collected since should be used to fine-tune the exclusion area to reflect the actual amounts of contamination.

"We have invested millions in developing a system to measure radiation," he said. "But it is like the whole thing is being decided by someone behind a desk with a 500 yen ($5) compass."

Further fanning the anger among the displaced, compensation from the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that runs the plant, has stalled in a bureaucratic labyrinth.

Before the crisis began, the average annual income in Tomioka was about 3.5 million yen ($35,000).

Matsumura said he has received about 1 million yen ($10,000) in compensation, far less than he would have earned from selling his rice and other produce. TEPCO, reeling financially from the accident, has put off a final decision on further compensation until the plant is stabilized. The money already handed out will be subtracted from the amount it eventually settles on.

Officials say some restrictions may be lifted by the end of the year if the Fukushima reactors are brought to a stable shutdown.

Beyond that, the future remains a mystery.

"There are many tasks ahead before we will be able to return to our town, including decontamination and the rebuilding of our sewage system, roads and infrastructure," Tomioka Mayor Katsuya Endo said in a recent post on the town's website. "But we must maintain our hope, and gradually move forward."

Matsumura now likens himself to the Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender until decades after the end of World War II.

As a heavy rain began to fall, he walked down an overgrown mountain path to his rice paddy. He pulled up a plant by its roots, twisted it between his fingers then tossed it into an irrigation ditch with a resigned sigh.

There will be no cash crop this year. Or maybe ever again.

"It was strange being alone at first, but I am resolved to stay," he said. "I'm getting used to this life."

View the original article here

Japan's new leader Noda sparks wariness in China (AP)

TOKYO – Yoshihiko Noda was elected Tuesday as Japan's sixth prime minister in five years, facing such a staggering array of domestic problems that the last thing he needs is a sour relationship with China, his country's biggest trading partner.

Yet Noda is being viewed warily in China, whose media are playing up his comments supporting a controversial Tokyo shrine honoring World War II dead, including war criminals, and that Beijing's military buildup is creating regional unease.

"'Hawk' to become Japan's new prime minister," said the nationalistic Global Times.

Regarded at home as a smart but bland fiscal conservative from humble roots, Noda replaces the unpopular Naoto Kan, who quit amid widespread criticism over his administration's handling of the tsunami and nuclear disasters. A former finance minister, Noda will likely focus on those immense challenges, as well as reviving the stagnant economy and reducing Japan's massive national debt.

But in China, the media is portraying Noda as a right-wing nationalist and has predicted a rocky period for China-Japan relations. Even more liberal newspapers highlighted his comments, first made in 2005 and reiterated earlier this month, that convicted Japanese wartime leaders enshrined at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine should no longer be seen as criminals.

Yasukuni visits by postwar politicians have often enraged Japan's neighbors, who bore the brunt of Japan's colonial aggression and see the shrine as a glorification of militarism and a symbol of Tokyo's failure to fully atone for its past imperialism. When former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used to visit the shrine it triggered rage and a five-year chill in relations with China and South Korea.

Japan, long used to being the region's dominant power, has been unsettled by China's fast-accelerating power over the past decade, even as the countries — now the world's second- and third-largest economies — built thriving commercial relations. In this rivalry, Beijing has often appeared to test Tokyo's mettle, at times taking advantage of political transitions in Japan.

On Monday, after Noda was elected head of the ruling Democratic party, setting up Tuesday's parliamentary vote, China's official news agency warned him not to ignore Beijing's "core interests." In a harshly worded editorial, Xinhua demanded Noda not visit Yasukuni and said Tokyo must recognize China's claim over Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea known as Senkaku, or Diaoyutai in Chinese.

Ties between the countries deteriorated sharply last year when a Chinese fishing boat captain was arrested — and later released — by Japan after his boat collided with a Japanese patrol boat in disputed waters near the islands.

The territorial dispute could flare again. Last week, two Chinese fisheries patrol boats sailed into contested waters near the islands, drawing a rebuke from Tokyo.

Noda, 54, and the rest of Kan's Cabinet chose not to visit Yasukuni this year, and analysts in Japan believe Noda is unlikely to do so as prime minister, or make any strident statements about war criminals or Japan's wartime past.

"There's no way he is going to take some action on this," said Naoto Nonaka, a political science professor at Gakushuin University in Tokyo. "There's too much else to do."

Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said Noda is likely to play down his past comments.

"A lot of people learned a lesson from the Koizumi 'ice age,'" Nakano said. "He has no interest in complicating his situation by creating an acrimonious atomsphere when he needs to cooperate with Asian nations to get out of Japan's economic quagmire."

China has overtaken the U.S. as Japan's biggest trading partner, doing $176 billion worth of trade for the first half of the year. As China's middle class grows, the country's burgeoning market holds vast potential for Japanese exporters. Japan also is striving to draw more Chinese tourists.

Liang Yunxiang, a Japan expert at Peking University, said historical and territorial issues have been perennial sore spots, and so personalities and attitudes of leaders matter in whether these problems affect the broader relationship.

"Yoshihiko Noda has not been friendly to China, so it's not a good start," he said.

As is standard practice, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao sent a formal telegram congratulating Noda and urging that both sides work together to promote cooperation.

The mass circulation Asashi newspaper in Japan noted Tuesday that his past comments "that the A-class war criminals are not legally guilty of war crimes is causing some waves as he is taking the helm."

As prime minister, "Noda has to be more careful in how he addresses Japan shared history with Asia," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus.

"I don't think that this is a huge blunder that's going to undermine ties but I think that he needs to be very careful from now on," he said. "Clearly Japan's economic future is closely tied to China's rise and it's not helpful for the positive economic relationship to held hostage to history."

___

Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in Tokyo and Charles Hutzler in Beijing contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Japan's new leader Yoshihiko Noda to tackle post-tsunami crisis - The Independent

REUTERS

Finance Minister Noda will become Japan's next prime minister after defeating Trade Minister Banri Kaieda in the ruling party leadership run-off vote

A hawkish fiscal and foreign policy conservative who supports nuclear power will be sworn in today as Japan's sixth prime minister in five years.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 54, faces the huge task of clearing up after the March quake and tsunami, ending the nuclear crisis in Fukushima and tackling the country’s enormous public debt.

He was elected head of the ruling Democrats (DPJ) yesterday after beating Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, in a poll that exposed the party’s growing divisions. Mr Noda will replace Naoto Kan, who resigned last week following withering criticism for his government’s response to the March 11 disaster.

The new leader yesterday he urged the party and the disaster-hit nation to “sweat together” with him as he works to bail Japan out of its worst crisis in decades.

Mr Noda became the latest Japanese politician to rile Asia this month when he denied that Japan’s wartime leaders were criminals. Quizzed by reporters on August 15, the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two, Mr Noda refused to rule out a prime ministerial visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which honours the nation’s war dead, including 14 executed Class-A war criminals.

The statements were condemned in China and South Korea, where one newspaper called them reminiscent of “ultra-rightist and militaristic elements.

Mr Noda has warned about China’s growing military clout and strongly defended Japan’s half-century military alliance with the US, which he calls “essential for Japan’s security and prosperity.” His position marks a clear break with his DPJ predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, who favoured closer links with China and a more independent defence policy.

Yesterday’s election effectively terminates the DPJ’s left-leaning programme, which began two years ago after Mr Hatoyama ended over half a century of virtual one-party rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Mr Noda opposes large-scale welfare spending and wants to raise the consumption tax to pay for reconstruction. His foreign policy pronouncements put him closer to the old LDP.

Japanese voters are hoping for stable leadership after a string of short-lived prime ministers since 2006. Mr Noda’s predecessor Naoto Kan was the first leader in five years to last more than 12 months. The bickering and infighting that characterised his last months in office recalled for many the worst moments of the discredited LDP.

The prime minister’s first task will be uniting the divided ruling party, long dominated by a faction loyal to kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, one of its key architects. Mr Ozawa backed Mr Noda’s rival Banri Kaieda, who lost 177 to 215 votes, raising the long-threatened specter of the DPJ’s disintegration. He must also tackle the record-high strength of the yen, which is forcing many manufacturers to consider moving abroad.

Mr Noda has not backed Naoto Kan’s call for a rethink of nuclear power and says the nation’s reactors must be restarted. Yesterday Greenpeace called on the new leader to delay the opening of schools in Fukushima City this week after testing found high radiation levels from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in a pre-school, secondary school and child care centre.

View the original article here

Tax advocate seen as homely but stable leader

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda never hesitates to describe himself as a rather boring, homespun man, and that did not change Monday as he prepared to become prime minister.

Read all about it: Women pick up copies of an extra edition printed by the Sankei Shimbun in Osaka on Monday after Yoshihiko Noda secured his ascent to prime minister earlier in the day. KYODO PHOTO

"There is nothing that can be done even if a weatherfish tries to pretend to be a goldfish," Noda told a room packed with Diet members from the Democratic Party of Japan, who later elected him as the ruling party's new president. "Because of my looks, the support rate for us won't rise," he joked.

But comparing himself to a freshwater fish abundant in Japan's rice paddies and marshlands says a lot about the nature, background, political beliefs and leadership style of the man newly chosen to lead the country at this crucial moment.

Born in 1957 to parents who both grew up in farming households, Noda initially aimed to become a journalist. But the shy bookworm would soon learn the discipline needed to be a politician from novels that featured lower-class samurai, figures of integrity and strong will, he said.

After studying political science at Waseda University in Tokyo, Noda joined the first batch of students to study at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, a school for political hopefuls established in 1980 by the late founder of Panasonic Corp., Konosuke Matsushita.

"As homespun as weatherfish, I will work for the public," Noda said.

View the original article here

Investors Need Clarity, Changes in Japan's Renewable-Energy Law - Bloomberg

Enlarge image The Shinjuku district skyline rises behind solar panels at the solar power station on the rooftop of the Itochu Corp. headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

The Shinjuku district skyline rises behind solar panels at the solar power station on the rooftop of the Itochu Corp. headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Japanese companies may wait to invest in clean energy technology until the government determines renewable energy tariffs and a framework for deregulating the nation’s power industry, long monopolized by regional utilities.

The country’s parliament on Aug. 26 passed a clean energy bill that guarantees above-market rates for wind, solar and geothermal energy and will take effect in 10 months. The so- called feed-in tariff created a race to install solar panels when implemented in Germany and Spain.

“Though symbolically ground-breaking, there remain some unanswered questions regarding cost, surrounding infrastructure and regulation,” Naomi Fink, a Japan strategist at Jefferies Japan Ltd., said in a report on Aug. 25. on the bill.

The nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima plant has turned public opinion against atomic energy, according to newspaper polls. The passage of the bill is one of the first steps by Japan to expand its renewable energy industry into a 10 trillion yen ($130 billion) market by 2020 from 1 trillion yen in 2009.

Under the law, the trade and industry minister will set preferential rates and periods each year for renewable energy purchases. The bill that passed doesn’t include what the rate will be when the law comes into force on July 1, 2012.

The rate for solar energy could be higher in light of a plan introduced in 2009 to buy excess power generated from sunlight. Currently, the tariff for surplus solar power generated by homes is 42 yen per kilowatt-hour, while electricity produced by businesses is 40 yen.

Even without price clarity, the industry expected to benefit is solar power.

“This law will help strengthen the competitiveness of the Japanese solar power industry and jump-start regional industries and job creation,” Sharp Corp. President Mikio Katayama said on Aug. 26 at a press conference by the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association. He is also chairman of the association.

Analysts said one provision in the law allows regional power monopolies to skirt a requirement they buy electricity from renewable suppliers by citing concerns over smooth transmission.

The issue of access to power grids also needs to be addressed, Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, an analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said. The law doesn’t say who would bear the cost of building new transmission and distribution lines or increasing grid capacity, he said.

Passage of the legislation was a victory for Naoto Kan, Japan’s departing prime minister. He campaigned for less dependency on nuclear energy after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

Japan gets about 9 percent of its electricity from low- carbon sources. Kan has called for that level to increase. Before the crisis, atomic plants supplied about 30 percent of the country’s electricity.

Sharp and another solar cell maker Kyocera Corp. (6971) are near- term beneficiaries of feed-in tariffs, said Pranab Kumar Sarmah, an analyst with Daiwa Capital Markets. Asian solar companies may start penetrating the Japanese market from 2013, he said in a report on Aug. 12.

“Unlike individual roof-top system buyers, who rely on brand awareness and after-sales service, solar-farm operators rely on performance at lowest cost,” Sarmah wrote, adding that China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. may expand its business in Japan.

Analysts and industry officials are calling for deregulation to loosen the controls that the 10 regional power companies enjoy in each region they cover, including setting how much electricity from wind turbines is used.

“Japan’s utilities limit how much wind they allow onto the grid in order to maintain stability of power supply,” Yugo Nakamura, an analyst for New Energy Finance said. “By the time cumulative capacity of solar and wind reaches 10-13 gigawatts, the government will have to decide whether to change existing connection rules to accommodate additional clean power generation,” he said in a report Aug. 29.

Japan’s current capacity for solar and wind generation is 3.5 gigawatts and 2.4 gigawatts, respectively.

The volume of power exchange between regions is low, said Yoko Monoe, a research analyst for the Daiwa Institute of Research. She said power grids need to be upgraded so produced power can have multiple destinations.

Fink of Jefferies said Japan should ease factory site guidelines that concern solar power producers. Under the current law, 50 percent or less of factory sites may be used for production facilities and that could “push up the acquisition or lease-cost of the land,” she wrote.

As for geothermal, Japan limits the land use in national parks where about 80 percent of the nation’s geothermal resources are concentrated. The Geothermal Research Society of Japan said a thorough review of regulations is needed so that the country can develop projects of a size that is on par with other countries.

There are also concerns how much of the current push for renewable energy will last after Kan stepped down.

Yoshihiko Noda was elected head of Japan’s ruling party yesterday, paving the way for the 54-year-old finance minister to replace Kan. The DPJ used its majority in the lower house to appoint him as premier today.

“This direction won’t change” after Kan steps down, DPJ lawmaker Nobumori Otani said. “Japan has clearly shifted gears to promoting renewable energy.”

A total of 68 percent of respondents to an Asahi newspaper poll published Aug. 8 said they want Kan’s successor to continue his policy of phasing out atomic energy.

Softbank Corp. (9984) Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son plans to invest about 80 billion yen to build 10 solar farms. Son’s plans have conditions: he needs access to transmission networks and agreement from the 10 regional utilities to buy his electricity.

Japan’s power industry plans to develop and implement transmission management systems so utility companies can accommodate the volume of power generated from renewable sources, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said in a statement on Aug. 26 after the bill was approved.

The country is also pinning hopes on clean energy to help the recovery in the devastated areas in northern Japan after the quake and tsunami ravaged many farming and fishing towns.

It is important to combine reconstruction efforts with regional energy management, according to Kazuhiro Ueta, a professor of environmental economics at Kyoto University. “Renewable energy utilizes regional resources. The more you use it, the less you need to buy fossil fuel,” Ueta said.

The feed-in tariffs will need tuning along the way and Japan should learn lessons from other countries, Nakamura said. “The purpose of the law is not to fix tariffs at a high level and produce expensive power,” he said. “The goal is to bring down the total costs of clean energy.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

Deficit Hawk Picked to Lead Post-Quake Japan (The Atlantic Wire)

Japan's new prime minister is Yoshihiko Noda, the former finance minister and "a relative political unknown," The New York Times' Martin Fackler reports. Noda campaigned as a pro-business deficit hawk who could stop deflation; he replaces Naoto Kan, who lost the pubic's confidence following the earthquake that devastated the country nearly six months ago. The Associated Press's Malcolm Foster writes that in Japan, Noda has a reputation as being smart but kind of boring. A local paper described him as a "deep thinker," and Noda will need all those brain cells as he leads Japan's recovery as it cleans up the radiation pollution leftover from the Fukishima nuclear plant that was damaged in the quake. 

However, political analysts said his victory was as much about making a fresh start for the Democratic Party, which has floundered since taking power in a historic election victory two years ago. The choice of Mr. Noda, who has no large power base within the party, and is not one of the Democrats' original founding members, appeared to be an effort to find a new common ground for a party that has been undermined by deep divisions.

View the original article here

Japan's jobless rate climbs to 4.7 percent in July (AP)

TOKYO – Japan's jobless rate has risen for the second straight month.

The government announced Tuesday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 4.7 percent in July, edging up from 4.6 percent in June.

The result reflects the fragility of the world's No. 3 economy, which is wrestling with a strong yen and an increasingly uncertain outlook for the global economy.

But the actual jobs picture may be worse because the data do not include the three prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, there are ongoing reports of out-of-work residents unable to find jobs to replace ones that were wiped out by the disaster.

View the original article here

Noda: Peacemaker, orator, fight fan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Yoshihiko Noda became a Cabinet member for the first time in June last year when he was made finance minister in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration. Noda took on the task of rebuilding the nation's finances and curbing the yen's sharp rise.

Noda has been dubbed a puppet of the Finance Ministry by some, but is also rated highly for his peaceful and stable demeanor.

Noda was one of the first people to graduate from the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, the leadership development institute established by Konosuke Matsushita (1894-1989), founder of what is today known as the Panasonic Group. Noda will be the first graduate from the institute to become prime minister.

Noda was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 on a Japan New Party ticket, having earlier served as a member of the Chiba prefectural assembly.

He later left the JNP to join the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto), and then moved to the Democratic Party of Japan.

Noda ran in the DPJ presidential election in 2002 as "a representative of young politicians," but was defeated by Yukio Hatoyama.

In 2006, Noda resigned as chair of the DPJ Diet Affairs Committee to take responsibility for a scandal over a fake e-mail involving then lower house DPJ member Hisayasu Nagata. At the time, he was criticized for the weakness of his defense.

During the three-day campaign for Monday's DPJ presidential election, Noda appealed to his colleagues, "We have to get past politics driven by deep grudges."

Noda tried to reconcile with former DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa's intraparty group, the largest group in the DPJ.

Noda is known as a good speaker, and for more than 20 years has honed his oratorial skills by making morning visits to Chiba Prefecture railway stations to speak about his policies to commuters. He began the practice in 1986 before he ran in the Chiba prefectural assembly election in 1987.

Noda's first thoughts about becoming a politician were inspired by something his parents said when he was a child. Noda saw a news report about the 1960 assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, then the Japan Socialist Party's president, and Noda's parents said, "Politicians risk their lives."

Noda likes watching combat sports, including professional wrestling. He has a second-degree belt in judo and loves drinking sake.

View the original article here

Okumura Sees No Need for Snap Election in Japan - Washington Post

SuperFan

SuperFan badge holders consistently post smart, timely comments about Washington area sports and teams.

If your comments or those of another user measure up, please let Post editors know.

Culture Connoisseur

Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment.

If your comments or those of another user measure up, please let Post editors know.

Washingtologist

Washingtologists consistently post thought-provoking, timely comments on events, communities, and trends in the Washington area.

If your comments or those of another user measure up, please let Post editors know.

Post Writer

This commenter is a Washington Post editor, reporter or producer.

World Watcher

World Watchers consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on international affairs.

If your comments or those of another user measure up, please let Post editors know.

Post Recommended

Washington Post reporters or editors recommend this comment or reader post.

View the original article here

UPDATE 1-Japan public fund's assets drop sharply in April-June - Reuters

* GPIF's assets fall 2.2 pct by end-June from end-March

* Fund's total assets of $1.48 trln similar to Russia's GDP

* Posts positive return for four straight quarters but lags Calpers

* Selection of emerging market equities fund managers in final stage (Add comments, background of asset sales)

By Chikafumi Hodo

TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Japan's public pension fund, the world's largest, managed a small investment return in April-June while its assets fell sharply by $33 billion from the previous quarter, suggesting the fund sold assets to cover pension payouts.

The Government Pension Investment Fund's (GPIF) assets under management shrank 2.2 percent to 113.75 trillion yen ($1.48 trillion) in the latest quarter, still equivalent in size to the Russian economy, the world's 11th largest, in 2010.

The public fund acknowledged that it had sold assets to raise proceeds for payouts for the current financial year to March 2012 but declined to give details.

"Based on our plans, we are quietly selling (assets) to raise cash," Masahiro Ooe, a councilor at the GPIF, told a news briefing on the fund's performance.

Under its budget plan for the current financial year, the GPIF aims to generate about 8.9 trillion yen worth of cash for pension payouts, Ooe said.

In the previous financial year to March, the fund sold 4.77 trillion yen worth of domestic bonds and foreign securities.

The fund became a net seller of assets for the first time in 2009/10, selling 720 billion yen of Japanese bonds.

The GPIF said its rate of return on investments dropped to 0.21 percent in April-June, hurt by a fall in global equity prices and strength in the yen, which traded near record highs against the dollar.

The GPIF's April-June return, in positive territory for a fourth consecutive quarter, was down from 0.69 percent in the previous quarter.

It also pales in comparison to the 1.75 percent produced by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) and was less than the 0.9 percent generated by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

The GPIF's performance translated into a profit of 240 billion yen, down from 798.1 billion yen in January-March.

LAGS IN EQUITIES

During April-June, global equity markets were hurt by concerns over a U.S. economic slowdown and the euro zone debt crisis. Domestic shares were also hit by the impact of the March 11 earthquake on corporate earnings and a 3.2 percent strengthening of the yen to less than 80 per dollar. The yen hit a then-record high of 76.25 to the dollar in March.

Japan's broad Topix index dropped 2.3 percent during the three-month period.

The fund's investments in Japanese equities brought a negative return of 2.06 percent, or a 276.4 billion yen loss, while overseas equities produced a negative return of 1.81 percent, or a 236.4 billion yen loss.

But domestic bonds benefited from safe-haven inflows and the fund's investments in Japanese bonds produced a return of 1.11 percent, or a 651.3 billion yen profit. Its investments in foreign bonds produced a return of 0.4 percent, or a 37.7 billion yen profit.

The GPIF managed to outperform market benchmarks in all four asset classes -- domestic bonds, domestic equities, foreign bonds and foreign equities.

The GPIF invests the reserves of national and corporate pension plans and must provide for a rapidly ageing population. It allocates about two-thirds of its assets to Japanese government bonds, where benchmark 10-year yields are slightly above 1 percent.

By contrast, equities account for 50 percent of Calpers' asset allocation and 60 percent for the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

The GPIF, aiming to diversify its portfolios and generate higher returns as it confronts huge shortfalls and an ageing population, plans to begin investing in emerging markets equities by the end of the current financial year.

Ooe said the GPIF was in the final stage of selecting asset managers to supervise its emerging market equities funds.

"We want to complete the process of selection as soon as possible," he said. He did not indicate how many companies remained in the running. ($1 = 76.985 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Edmund Klamann)

View the original article here

Japan gets another prime minister: Can he stop the revolving door leadership? (VIDEO) (The Christian Science Monitor)

Tokyo – Yoshihiko Noda is slated to become Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years after the resignation of the unpopular Naoto Kan on Friday. But Mr. Noda's emphasis on collaboration is offering some hope that he will be able to slow his country's revolving-door leadership, despite a host of daunting challenges at home and abroad.

The former finance minister in the government of Mr. Kan, who resigned after just 450 days in office, confronts major tests in the aftermath of March’s triple disasters, a deeply divided party, and a strong currency that is making exports even more expensive in a stuttering global economy. He also faces potentially strained relations with Japan’s closest neighbors and an unforgiving electorate and media at home.

Still, some observers are cautiously optimistic.

“He seems to treasure harmony, unlike Kan and Hatoyama [Kan’s predecessor], so he may last a little longer if he looks for cooperation with the opposition parties,” says Takashi Koyama, professor of politics at Akita International University.

Think you know Asia? Take our geography quiz.

Noda defeated trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda in a second round run-off by 215 votes to 177 in a ballot of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lawmakers and is expected to be sworn in on Tuesday. Five candidates ran in the first round though nobody achieved an overall majority. Seiji Maehara, by far the most popular of the five with the public, was eliminated in the first round.

Economy policiesKnown as a fiscal conservative in the left-leaning DPJ, Noda had stated an intention to increase taxes to help control Japan’s huge and growing national debt. However, he has recently been backpedaling away from that stance as Japan’s economy has registered its third straight quarter of contraction.

“He doesn’t have much room for maneuver with policies for the economy, even less than the other candidates would have done because of his statements about raising tax,” says Martin Schulz, senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo.

However, Dr. Schulz believes any tax rises will be “on the back burner for the next couple of years until reconstruction from the disaster is complete and the economy recovers.”

newslook

As finance minister, Noda was vocal in proposing government intervention to weaken the strong yen which has hurt Japan’s exporters when weak domestic demand means that overseas markets offer the only hope of growth. Nevertheless, with foreign exchange markets having grown exponentially in recent years, even the $50 billion spent by the government post-disaster has provided only temporary relief.

“All the intervention does is buy a few days of weak yen for exporters to cash in, and then it carries on back on the same trend of strengthening,â€

With Japan’s national debt already at around 200 percent of GDP – the highest ratio of any country except Zimbabwe – there will also be pressure on Noda to tackle that $10 trillion problem.

Finding harmony Before he can attempt any policy initiatives, the new prime minister must try to unify a DPJ so wrought with internal divisions that five candidates representing its various factions stood in today’s leadership election.

The appointment of cabinet positions will then be as much about placating those competing groups as it will be about finding the most capable ministers for the respective posts.

As the revolving door of premiers continues to turn, many are wondering whether anybody can be a successful Japanese prime minister, even as the country seems to be crying out for strong leadership. While Noda’s nonconfrontational style may help him to some extent in Japan’s consensus-driven politics, few expect him to be inspirational.

“He is calm and a compromiser who doesn’t get into fights with other politicians for emotional reasons,” says Professor Koyama.

Noda is also likely to need some of those skills to smooth relations with China and South Korea, who he recently angered with his statement earlier this month that convicted Japanese Class-A war criminals were not in fact guilty of war crimes. Japanese wartime aggression and its perceived failure to acknowledge its actions remains a thorny issue with its Asian neighbors 66 years after the end of World War II.

“If he doesn’t manage to resolve this issue with China and Korea, then Japan could once again become more isolated in Asia,” says Professor Koyama.

Whatever Noda brings to the table, it simply may not be enough to satisfy Japan’s fickle electorate. A poll before Kan announced his resignation showed that a majority of voters didn’t believe the next prime minister would last more than a year, whoever it turned out to be.

Think you know Asia? Take our geography quiz.

View the original article here

Japan's next PM Noda: prudent fiscal management needed (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's next prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, said on Tuesday that prudent fiscal management is needed, as he prepares to take on the tough task of reining in a huge public debt while revitalizing a stagnant economy.

"I am aware of the problems of the strong yen and deflation. But at the same time, we need to maintain fiscal discipline," Noda told a news conference, after attending the final meeting of the cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan as finance minister.

Noda was chosen on Monday to become Japan's sixth prime minister in five years, but needs to overcome a divided parliament and deep rifts in the ruling party if he is to make more of a mark than his recent predecessors.

Noda will be confirmed by parliament on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Rie Ishiguro)

View the original article here

ANZ looks into buying Aozora Bank

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, an Australian financial institution, has been exploring the purchase of Aozora Bank, it was learned Monday.

ANZ, which has retained a Japanese law firm and is believed to be using the firm to negotiate the purchase with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., a U.S. investment fund and the largest shareholder in Aozora Bank, sources said.

Aozora Bank, the successor to the Nippon Credit Bank, has strong ties with regional banks through the issuance of bank debentures. ANZ is believed to be trying to strengthen its operations in Japan with the purchase, the sources said.

An ANZ spokesman told The Yomiuri Shimbun the bank was always looking at options, but said it would not comment on a rumor. ANZ, which operates in 32 countries, has a branch office in Tokyo and Osaka.

View the original article here

Crime's longstanding ties to showbiz world tough to untangle

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Shinsuke Shimada speaks at a press conference in Tokyo last Tuesday.

The retirement last week of a popular TV host due to his relationship with a gang member has brought attention to the deep and longstanding ties between organized crime and the entertainment business.

Various parts of society have made active efforts to eradicate links with crime syndicates, but the entertainment world is yet to follow suit.

Police have indicated they will step up efforts to oust organized crime from the entertainment industry following the retirement of Shinsuke Shimada.

The National Police Agency will ask people from Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., the talent agency that represented Shimada before his retirement, to provide details about Shimada's connections to the criminal underworld.

"A man in an organized crime group helped me solve a problem, and I felt I had an obligation to him," Shimada, 55, said last Tuesday night in Tokyo during the press conference at which he announced his retirement. He referred respectfully to the gangster, a senior member of the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, even though it was their relationship that had brought Shimada's career to an end.

According to investigators, several years ago Shimada made a comment on TV that offended members of a right-wing organization, who began to harass him.

Shimada met the senior gang member through Jiro Watanabe, a former boxing world super flyweight champion who is currently making a final appeal against a prison sentence for attempted extortion.

The gang member resolved Shimada's problem with the right-wing organization, and became close to the TV celebrity.

Troubles in their off-screen lives can seriously damage celebrities' careeers, and the desire to resolve such troubles discreetly can be an opportunity for crime syndicates to take advantage of them.

"It seems many famous showbiz types' first interaction with crime groups comes when they ask the gangs to solve problems for them, such as collecting unpaid appearance fees or breaking off relationships with members of the opposite sex," said a senior police official who specializes in organized crime investigations.

Once a relationship is established, gang members repeatedly remind the celebrity of their "debt," making it difficult for the celebrity to cut ties.

Some situations of this kind see the debt repaid with cash.

For example, a leading talent agency that was investigated in a tax-evasion case in 2001 was found to have made regular payments of several million yen to an organized crime group the agency had asked to handle a problem involving an artist on the agency's books.

Over the last couple of years, Yoshimoto has stressed to its artists the importance of not interacting with gang members. But Shimada did not heed the warnings.

A Yoshimoto executive said: "An artist who has a problem that needs solving should ask a lawyer or the police. It's totally wrong to get involved with a senior member of the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate."

The links between organized crime and show business go back to the years after World War II, when gangs began arranging musical and theatrical events, according to showbiz journalist Yuji Watanabe.

Even if organized crime groups could be stopped from forming new relationships in the entertainment world, many show business people would still be carrying an outstanding "debt" to a crime syndicate.

Gang members have long invited celebrities to their golf tournaments and parties "to boast and show off their influence," a senior police officer said.

But in recent years, gang members have used celebrities' name recognition to benefit their business deals.

A man with professional ties to the entertainment world said he was asked to invest in a Dubai-based business by a veteran actor whom he had met through the head of a crime syndicate. The man declined to invest.

"I thought the syndicate was using a face from showbiz to give the project some credibility. I thought the gangsters were planning to manage the business in the end," the man said.

In early March, after the dust settled from investigations into crime syndicates' involvement in sumo match-fixing, a senior NPA official said: "The entertainment world is one of the few refuges left for organized crime. We hope to demolish the relationship between the two somehow."

Police authorities have long sought the help of people within various fields--from sports to construction to finance businesses--to eradicate organized crime from their industries.

The entertainment business, however, lacks a representative body like the Japan Sumo Association that can unite different groups within the industry.

Another problem is that contracts between artists and their management agencies are often limited to business matters, making it difficult to implement moral guidelines that would apply to the entire entertainment industry.

"Until the entertainment business, which is an influential force on society, gets together and cuts all ties with organized crime, celebrities will probably continue to be taken advantage of by gangs and wind up suffering from the same problems again and again," a senior NPA official said.

View the original article here

ANZ in Talks to Acquire Japan's Aozora Bank - Wall Street Journal

Seeking to take another step in its Asian expansion, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group is in early talks with Aozora Bank Ltd. about a possible acquisition of the midsize Japanese lender, said people familiar with the matter.

Aozora, majority-owned by U.S. investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, has a market value of about US$4 billion, according to data provider Capital IQ.

Melbourne-based ANZ is looking to grow in Asia at a time when the Australian economy is starting to show signs of strain and its banks are contending with subdued credit growth at home. ANZ aims to get 25% ...

Seeking to take another step in its Asian expansion, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group is in early talks with Aozora Bank Ltd. about a possible acquisition of the midsize Japanese lender, said people familiar with the matter.

Aozora, majority-owned by U.S. investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, has a market value of about US$4 billion, according to data provider Capital IQ.

Melbourne-based ANZ is looking to grow in Asia at a time when the Australian economy is starting to show signs of strain and its banks are contending with subdued credit growth at home. ANZ aims to get 25% ...

View the original article here

Noda seen safe choice to lead quake-hit Japan

(Corrects misspelling in first paragraph to 'an' eel-like fish; corrects penultimate paragraph to Stanford Japan Center, not Standford)

By Leika Kihara

TOKYO Aug 29 (Reuters) - Japan's next prime minister Yoshihiko Noda compares himself to an eel-like fish and admits his looks won't get him anywhere in popularity contests, but many say his calm and expertise are exactly what the nation needs at a time of crisis.

Noda, until now finance minister in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet, will take over as Japan's sixth leader in five years as the nation grapples with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and a meltdown at a nuclear power station.

The 54-year-old judo practitioner is considered a safe pair of hands and a stabilising influence after Kan's sometimes erratic and divisive rule.

But doubts run deep about whether the advocate of fiscal responsibility and tax increases to contain Japan's bulging debt can overcome a divided parliament and deep rifts in his own party sufficiently to tackle a long list of economic ills.

"He seems to be the safest choice, and I mean this in a good way. There seems to be a continuation in policy as he served as finance minister," said Tomomichi Akuta, senior energy researcher at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting in Tokyo.

"I also think that unlike his predecessor he is unlikely to make statements off the top of his head, which should give a sense of stability."

Some commentators say Japan needs a maverick like Junichiro Koizumi, the last premier to serve a full term in 2001-2006, to jolt Japan out of decades of stagnation and political paralysis.

Others say, however, someone like Noda, modest, calm and with few enemies, has a better chance to achieve something in a divided parliament than a charismatic figure.

Already before Monday's leadership vote Noda had called for a grand coalition with the main opposition parties to break the parliamentary deadlock.

"Noda is the kind of politician who presses things forward while maintaining good communication with the opposition camp," said Kazuhisa Kawakami, political science professor at Meiji Gakuin University.

Noda also struck a conciliatory note to rivals within his party. "I have said 'let us end the politics of resentment,'" he told reporters after the vote.

Noda's victory will no doubt be greeted with relief by the Bank of Japan. While all other candidates called for the central bank to buy more government bonds or print money to finance post-disaster rebuilding, Noda refrained from making demands for specific action and respected the BOJ's independence.

A fan of pro-wrestling, Noda has projected an image of a straight shooter, saying he is not good at playing "underhand tricks" in politics.

Ahead of the leadership vote, the stocky lawmaker compared himself to a "dojo" loach fish -- an eel-like inhabitant of the deep -- and offered this self-deprecating assessment of his qualities:

"I do look like this and if I become prime minister, the support rate would not rise, so I would not call a snap election. A loach has its own abilities even though it cannot do as a goldfish does."

Noda's background may have something to do with his good standing among fellow politicians.

In contrast to many lawmakers who are second- or third-generation politicians, Noda's father was in the military.

But like many of Japan's leaders, he graduated from the Matsushita Institute for Government and Business, created by Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita to groom future political and business elites.

In a sign he is willing to forge compromises, Noda has already softened his stance on sales tax increases. He said after Monday's election that "the impact on the economy" needed to be taken into account in deciding when and which taxes to raise.

One thing, however, is unlikely to change - Tokyo's policy on the yen's strength, which threatens exports.

As finance minister, Noda oversaw two bouts of unilateral currency intervention and negotiated one G7 joint intervention after the March quake, so Tokyo is unlikely to hesitate to step into markets again under Prime Minister Noda.

Some commentators point out Noda's lack of public appeal and recognition abroad as a handicap. Others take a different tack.

"Just because the world hasn't heard of him doesn't mean he doesn't command quiet respect," said Andrew Horvat, director of the Stanford Japan Center in Kyoto.

"That is one of the qualities of great Japanese leaders -- not charisma." (Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Linda Sieg and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

View the original article here

Japan s July jobless rate up amid quake aftermath - Moneycontrol.com

Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M30

Japan's unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in July from 4.6% the previous month for the second straight month of deterioration amid the continuing aftermath of the massive March earthquake and tsunami, the internal affairs ministry said today.

But some analysts were not necessarily pessimistic about the overall labor environment, as separate government data showed the country's job availability improved for the second straight month.

According to a preliminary report by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the number of unemployed increased 50,000 from June to 2.94 million and the number of employed dropped 40,000 to 59.59 million, respectively, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

A ministry official attributed the outcome partly to the tough employment conditions in the accommodation as well as the eating and drinking services industries that have seen customers decrease after the March disasters.

He also said that the country's power shortage woes stemming from the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant may have negatively affected the hiring of temporary workers.

The jobless rate excludes data from three prefectures hit hardest by the March disaster -- Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima -- because of the difficulty of fully conducting the survey.

Ryohei Kasahara, an economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research, said that, while the unemployment rate data alone was "not good," signs of gradual improvement could be seen from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry data which showed the ratio of job offers to job seekers rise to 0.64 in July from 0.63 in June.

This means 64 jobs were available for every 100 job seekers.

"The impact of the quake is continuing in July...but looking ahead, the environment, such as for the accommodation industry, appears to be gradually improving and I believe the overall labour condition will recover from around the latter half of the year," he said.

As for the yen's recent sharp rise that may lead manufacturers to shift their operations overseas, Kasahara said that the factor is unlikely to take its toll in the short term, but warned that it could cause a decrease in jobs in the longer term.

The jobless rate for men rose 0.2 percentage point to 4.9%, while the rate remained unchanged for women at 4.5%.

View the original article here

Japan's new leader Noda sparks wariness in China - Houston Chronicle

TOKYO (AP) — Yoshihiko Noda was elected Tuesday as Japan's sixth prime minister in five years, facing such a staggering array of domestic problems that the last thing he needs is a sour relationship with China, his country's biggest trading partner.

Yet Noda is being viewed warily in China, whose media are playing up his comments supporting a controversial Tokyo shrine honoring World War II dead, including war criminals, and that Beijing's military buildup is creating regional unease.

"'Hawk' to become Japan's new prime minister," said the nationalistic Global Times.

Regarded at home as a smart but bland fiscal conservative from humble roots, Noda replaces the unpopular Naoto Kan, who quit amid widespread criticism over his administration's handling of the tsunami and nuclear disasters. A former finance minister, Noda will likely focus on those immense challenges, as well as reviving the stagnant economy and reducing Japan's massive national debt.

But in China, the media is portraying Noda as a right-wing nationalist and has predicted a rocky period for China-Japan relations. Even more liberal newspapers highlighted his comments, first made in 2005 and reiterated earlier this month, that convicted Japanese wartime leaders enshrined at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine should no longer be seen as criminals.

Yasukuni visits by postwar politicians have often enraged Japan's neighbors, who bore the brunt of Japan's colonial aggression and see the shrine as a glorification of militarism and a symbol of Tokyo's failure to fully atone for its past imperialism. When former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used to visit the shrine it triggered rage and a five-year chill in relations with China and South Korea.

Japan, long used to being the region's dominant power, has been unsettled by China's fast-accelerating power over the past decade, even as the countries — now the world's second- and third-largest economies — built thriving commercial relations. In this rivalry, Beijing has often appeared to test Tokyo's mettle, at times taking advantage of political transitions in Japan.

On Monday, after Noda was elected head of the ruling Democratic party, setting up Tuesday's parliamentary vote, China's official news agency warned him not to ignore Beijing's "core interests." In a harshly worded editorial, Xinhua demanded Noda not visit Yasukuni and said Tokyo must recognize China's claim over Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea known as Senkaku, or Diaoyutai in Chinese.

Ties between the countries deteriorated sharply last year when a Chinese fishing boat captain was arrested — and later released — by Japan after his boat collided with a Japanese patrol boat in disputed waters near the islands.

The territorial dispute could flare again. Last week, two Chinese fisheries patrol boats sailed into contested waters near the islands, drawing a rebuke from Tokyo.

Noda, 54, and the rest of Kan's Cabinet chose not to visit Yasukuni this year, and analysts in Japan believe Noda is unlikely to do so as prime minister, or make any strident statements about war criminals or Japan's wartime past.

"There's no way he is going to take some action on this," said Naoto Nonaka, a political science professor at Gakushuin University in Tokyo. "There's too much else to do."

Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said Noda is likely to play down his past comments.

"A lot of people learned a lesson from the Koizumi 'ice age,'" Nakano said. "He has no interest in complicating his situation by creating an acrimonious atomsphere when he needs to cooperate with Asian nations to get out of Japan's economic quagmire."

China has overtaken the U.S. as Japan's biggest trading partner, doing $176 billion worth of trade for the first half of the year. As China's middle class grows, the country's burgeoning market holds vast potential for Japanese exporters. Japan also is striving to draw more Chinese tourists.

Liang Yunxiang, a Japan expert at Peking University, said historical and territorial issues have been perennial sore spots, and so personalities and attitudes of leaders matter in whether these problems affect the broader relationship.

"Yoshihiko Noda has not been friendly to China, so it's not a good start," he said.

As is standard practice, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao sent a formal telegram congratulating Noda and urging that both sides work together to promote cooperation.

The mass circulation Asashi newspaper in Japan noted Tuesday that his past comments "that the A-class war criminals are not legally guilty of war crimes is causing some waves as he is taking the helm."

As prime minister, "Noda has to be more careful in how he addresses Japan shared history with Asia," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus.

"I don't think that this is a huge blunder that's going to undermine ties but I think that he needs to be very careful from now on," he said. "Clearly Japan's economic future is closely tied to China's rise and it's not helpful for the positive economic relationship to held hostage to history."

___

Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in Tokyo and Charles Hutzler in Beijing contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Australia's ANZ in early talks to buy Japan's Aozora Bank-sources - Reuters

SYDNEY | Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:10am EDT

SYDNEY Aug 30 (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group is in early stage talks to buy Japan's Aozora Bank which has a market value of $4.2 billion, two sources familiar with the deal said on Tuesday, as it seeks to expand in Asia.

ANZ is eyeing Aozora for its deposit base and also to use it as a springboard to tap trade flows in Japan, which is Australia's second-largest trading partner after China.

"The talks are at an embryonic stage," one source said, adding the deal should satisfy all the main parameters such as pricing and potential for return on investments.

An ANZ spokesman declined comment on any deal but said the bank was always looking at opportunities to advance its Asian strategy, which calls for its Asian businesses to account for up to 30 percent of group profit by 2017.

On Monday the Australian Financial Review said ANZ was looking at buying either Japan's Tokyo Star Bank or Aozora Bank.

Aozora Bank is majority-owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management .

Aozora shares have risen 14 percent over the past two days on expectations of an ANZ bid.

ANZ is looking at Asia for growth and has invested nearly $6 billion in capital in the region to grow its institutional, trading desks and wealth advisory arm.

It bought some Asian assets of RBS in 2009 for $550 million but its recent efforts to buy in Asia have been stymied. It lost out on a bid to gain control of Korea Exchange Bank for nearly $4 billion last year.

ANZ shares ended 0.15 percent lower at A$20.18 on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

View the original article here

Survey Finds Radiation Over Wide Area in Japan - Wall Street Journal

TOKYO—The first comprehensive survey of soil contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant showed that 33 locations spread over a wide area have been contaminated with long-lasting radioactive cesium, the government said Tuesday.

The survey of 2,200 locations within a 100-kilometer (62-mile) radius of the crippled plant found that those 33 locations had cesium-137 in excess of 1.48 million becquerels per square meter, the level set by the Soviet Union for forced resettlement after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Another 132 locations had a combined amount of cesium 137/134 over 555,000 becquerels per square meter, the level at which the Soviet authorities called for voluntary evacuation and imposed a ban on farming.

Authorities said that all of the highest levels are within the current evacuation zone, which is generally 20 kilometers (12 miles) around the plant plus some specific towns to the northwest that have already been found to have high levels of contamination.

Cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years, meaning that its radioactive emissions will decline only by half after 30 years and affect the environment over several generations. Cesium-134 is considered somewhat less of a long-term problem because it has a half-life of two years.

More than 400 researchers from across the country took part in the survey, conducted between June and July, collecting samples from every two square kilometers (1.2 miles) of land within the 100-kilometer radius of the crippled plant. Until then, only estimates were available about the extent of soil contamination through aerial surveys and airborne dust samplings.

"The results of the soil analysis have confirmed our estimates about contamination," an official of the education ministry said at a press briefing.

Japanese authorities said last week they expected the levels of radiation to fall by half in areas around the plant in two years through natural decay and cleanup efforts. But the latest data point to the possibility that cesium could also be washing away and spreading to other areas, potentially contaminating rivers, lower-lying land and the ocean.

Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo, reported Monday that a fish containing more than the legally allowed amount of cesium was caught in a river in the prefecture, the first such case outside Fukushima prefecture, where the plant is located.

Also Tuesday, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that a 40-year-old worker died of acute leukemia after working for seven days at the plant. The worker's cumulative radiation exposure was 0.5 millisievert, far below the legal limit. Tepco said that his death is unlikely to be related to his work at the plant.

The Health and Labor Ministry separately said that it may again lower the radiation exposure limit for workers at the plant from 250 millisieverts per year to 100 millisieverts, a level that is applied to other nuclear plants in Japan in emergency situations. The higher level had been set in March as an emergency level for workers only at Fukushima Daiichi.

Write to Mitsuru Obe at mitsuru.obe@dowjones.com

View the original article here

Kan lists economic tasks for new government

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and economic ministers on Monday discussed the economic situation and drew up a list of tasks the incoming administration should address to help companies deal with the rapid rise of the yen, which recently hit a record 75.95 yen to the dollar.

At the meeting, the outgoing administration stressed the need to support export-oriented companies to prevent layoffs and help the firms, particularly small and midsized enterprises, secure operational funds. The firms have been seriously affected by the strength of the yen.

The meeting also stressed support for the tourist industry, which has suffered from a decline in the number of foreign visitors, and help to ensure businesses locate their bases for advanced research and production in Japan.

To take advantage of the yen's appreciation, the list included ways to promote mergers and acquisitions of foreign companies and to promote acquisition of natural resources abroad.

The participants agreed the yen's strength could be utilized in the field of human resources by inviting foreign researchers to Japan, while urging more Japanese to study abroad.

Concerning the Bank of Japan, the outgoing administration called for the central bank to exchange information and cooperate closely with the new government, while taking appropriate and decisive policies.

Regarding the foreign exchange market, the Kan administration said the new government must "keep a close watch on market trends and take resolute action when necessary."

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who was elected Monday to succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan as president of the Democratic Party of Japan, recently announced the creation of an emergency fund totaling 100 billion dollars (about 7.6 trillion yen) to combat the appreciation of the yen against the U.S. dollar and other currencies.

View the original article here

Another Slice of "Cold Pizza"? The Man Most Likely to Lead Japan (Time.com)

All bets are on Yoshihiko Noda to become Japan's next prime minister after he won the presidential election of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Monday. Noda, 54, took the majority vote in a runoff. Lawmakers in the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament will likely give their approval for Noda's post as prime minister on Tuesday. He will then be Japan's sixth prime minister in five years.

As the present Finance Minster, Noda's win appears to reflect major concern about Japan's embattled economy. The head of the nation's most powerful branch of the bureaucracy since June 2010, Noda has overseen efforts to revive the nation's poor fiscal health. Japan is now afflicted with a debt twice the size of its economy, and the worst among the developed countries. Moody's Investor Service cut the nation's credit rating last week in light of the country's bulging debt, political instability and the lack of an established plan to stabilize the world's third largest economy. (Read about Japan's self-fulfilling prophecy, concerning its prime ministers)

Noda's rise reflects another development - which could affect the longevity of his premiership. He was not the candiate of the DPJ's kingmaker, the so-called Shadow Shogun, Ichiro Ozawa, who had thrown his support to Trade Minister Banri Kaieda. Ozawa, who espouses hardline attitudes toward the U.S. and China, had made a bid to come out of the shadows and contest the leadership of the party in 2010 but was defeated. Nevertheless, he still controls the party's largest faction of more than 100 lawmakers, about one-fourth the total number.

Can Noda lead? Analysts are not sanguine. "He emerged as a compromise," says Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan. "He's not charismatic, or a populist or a good communicator, [and] not a particularly bold or visionary leader. He's sort of a 'Steady Eddy' and doesn't raise expectations that much. Maybe in the context of Japanese politics, that's the best you can hope for."

While Noda could be filling the prime minister's seat for the next two years as DPJ elected head, opinions are mixed on how long he will actually last as prime minister. "Noda is a typical, simple, honest person but at the same time he is very stubborn," says Takao Toshikawa, editor of the political newsletter Tokyo Insideline. "But among the five candidates who ran for DPJ party head I think he has the strongest leadership ability and will continue as prime minister for two more years, maybe more." Says Yoshi Yamamoto, a political advisor to DPJ congressmen: "Noda seems a bit like the former LDP prime minister Keizo Obuchi [in the 1990s], generally known internationally as a 'cold pizza,' but respected domestically by working level staffers and officials as someone who listens and rewards."

A fiscal conservative, Noda has been a staunch supporter of hiking taxes rather than more borrowing. His win raises the possibility of a tax increase that would help fund reconstruction from the earthquake and tsunami (with an estimated cost of almost 20 trillion yen over the next five years) and pay for the nation's ballooning health and social security costs in one of the world's most rapidly aging societies. (Read about six things Japan can teach the West.)

The rising yen has also weakened the country's export-led economy. As a counter to this, Noda favors the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a way of liberalizing the economy, improving Japanese competitiveness abroad and opening up free trade. But this move would not be a short-term cure. Nevertheless, Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Societe Generale Securities in Tokyo told Reuters, "Of the five candidates, Noda was the best choice for Japan's economy."

The economy, however, is only one portion of a bevy of problems Noda must navigate after he takes the helm as prime minister. Besides the stagnant economy, high public debt, rising yen, slow reconstruction in the disaster-hit Tohoku region, and nuclear crisis, there is rampant infighting within the DPJ and a gridlocked Parliament. "The real problem is that Noda is being handed a poisoned chalice," says Kingston. "The key is whether the DPJ can unite and whether it can work with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Parliament."

"Unfortunately, 'politics with a deep grudge' remain within the DPJ," says Toshikawa. "The party will remain divided unless the bickering between the pro- and anti-Ozawa camps ends." Dubbed the kingpin of Japan's political world over the last several decades, Ozawa has been suspended from the DPJ pending a funding scandal investigation. The defeat of his candiate Kaidea may indicate a slip in the powerbroker's hold over the party. "But Ozawa will not give up," says Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo. "He has a lot of resources and is always ambitious."

Read about the selling Japan the U.S.' problems.

In his victory speech Noda said, "If the Democratic Party falls apart, old politics will prevail. Let's all persevere and work hard for the good of the people, and achieve political stability."

The lack of cooperation between the DPJ and opposition parties has been the major stumbling block in getting vital bills passed in Parliament. Noda has been a proponent of a grand coalition, working with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). But the LDP shows no sign of wanting to cooperate. "Their strategy has been to discredit the ruling party and the prime minister by provoking legislative gridlock," says Kingston. "Cooperation would mean getting things done and that would not necessarily help the LDP." (See the long road to Japan's recovery.)

During a post-election news conference, Noda said, "I hope to build trusting relations with the opposition parties to hold policy negotiations and ask for their cooperation. Japan can't afford a political vacuum or dissolution of the lower House. Everyone has to work together..."

But even Noda's position on the grand coalition proposal has been wavering. "[He] started toning down his intention to team up with other parties," says Yamamoto. "The biggest change [Noda] could bring is to put substance to the currently hollow phrase seiji shudo or 'policy led by politicians rather than bureaucrats.'" (See TIME's video on braving the radiation in Japan.)

Beyond domestic bickering, another challenge for Noda will be foreign policy; getting bilateral relations back on track with both China and the U.S. But Noda's policy position again appears vague. Japanese war crimes in China during World War II have not been forgotten and the issue has been the source of diplomatic flare ups. In addition, tensions between China and Japan spiked in September last year when a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese Coast Guard boats near the disputed Senkaku islands (which Beijing calls the Daiyu Islands). Chinese boats continue to enter the disputed waters. Noda's visits to Yasukuni Shrine may also be considered a provocative issue. The Shinto shrine is considered by some as a symbol of Japanese domination in Asia during World War II. "Noda is one of the few DPJ members to visit Yasukuni Shrine which could be criticized by China," says Toshikawa. On the American side, the U.S. military airbase in Okinawa has been a bone of contention with Japanese locals on the southern island who want to see it moved. "But Noda feels strongly about maintaining close ties with the U.S.," Toshikawa adds.

Public opinion shows growing cynicism towards the revolving door nature of Japanese politics and the country's prime ministers. "I'm not sure Noda is going to be able to restore and rebuild the government, and be able to restore popular faith in politicians. It's going to seem more of the 'same old.'" says Kingston. "People really long for the days of a bold leader like Junichiro Koizumi [LDP prime minister from 2001 to 2006] with a vision of hope who would say, 'Yes, we're all facing difficulties now but if you follow me - no pain, no gain - things will be better.'"

See photos of Japan's nuclear wasteland.

See a video of Japan's nuclear crisis explained in four minutes.

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

View the original article here

Japan school still serving as shelter six months after disaster

ISHINOMAKI, Japan — Children with backpacks full of books and pencils still walk across the playground each morning at Watanoha Elementary School.

But 5 1/2 months after their homes were destroyed by a horrific tsunami, the half-dozen kids are living in the school with their families rather than studying or playing there.

Principal Yoshiki Takahashi, who remains in charge of the facility, said the students are bused to two other schools in the battered fishing town while officials decide what to do with the elementary school turned shelter.

In the weeks following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the school was struggling to feed about 1,200 residents who were staying there when top U.S. military officials and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos visited. As of last week, there were still 99 men, women and children living in classrooms and the school gymnasium while they waited for temporary housing.

Takahashi said the facility’s electricity supply is still erratic, and the building’s water purifier is broken. The evacuees bathe in plastic shower blocks and go to the toilet in temporary toilets set up in a playground that was cleared of piles of rotting trash and twisted metal by U.S. troops.

“The people who are still here have not got a house to move into yet,” he said. “There are not enough temporary homes built.”

The school — in the heart of a ravaged neighborhood where U.S. forces cleared debris during March and April — is still surrounded by hundreds of battered, often empty homes and vacant lots where a wrecking ball finished what the tsunami started.

Children from Watanoha will soon move to a temporary school that is expected to open next month, Takahashi said. Last year, 410 children attended the elementary school.

“We don’t know when or if they kids will come back here,” he said. “That is up to Ishinomaki City.”

Most of the students are living with relatives or in temporary homes, said Takahashi, whose sons are helping rebuild his own home.

Rie Masuno, 30, said she rushed to the school after the Earthquake to check on her three children. When the tsunami came, they took shelter in a classroom and they never left.

Each day, Masuno’s children pack their bags and bus to another school while her construction worker husband heads out to help rebuild his shattered hometown.

“There is a lot of work for him these days,” she said.

Life at the shelter was tough at first, but the family has gotten used to it, Masuno said.

The children have fond memories of playing with the U.S. servicemembers who came to clean up the school. One gave her youngest child a teddy bear, she said.

However, the Masunos are eager to move into a temporary home that they expect to receive next month, she said.

“It’s been six months here,” she said. “I have been having fun with the other people we have lived with, but it is probably better for the kids to have their own home.”

Takahashi said his students’ parents would like to return to live on the sites of their original homes and they want to see a plan from local government officials for reconstruction in the area.

“If the school is going to reopen they would like to make plans to come back to this area, he said. “The problem now is that, as time goes by, people want to know when things are going to happen and they want more information.”

The government hasn’t produced a plan for reconstruction of the area yet, he said.

Officials at the Ishinomaki City reconstruction division said a plan for the Watanoha district will be included in one for the entire city’s reconstruction expected out in November.

They said information about the plan as decisions are made are posted on Ishonomaki city website. Officials said that measures to guard against future tsunamis, as well as how much financial support the Japanese government provide have yet to be decided.

“Personally, I want the government to put more effort into reconstruction and work a lot faster,” Takahashi said.

robsons@pstripes.osd.mil

View the original article here

Japan's Finance Minister Noda to be new PM

Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who was chosen as the new leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shakes hands with Trade Minister Banri Kaieda in Tokyo (Toru Hanai/Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda was chosen on Monday to become Japan's sixth prime minister in five years, but has to overcome a divided parliament and deep rifts in the ruling party if he is to make more of a mark than his predecessors.

Noda is considered a safe pair of hands to lead the world's third-biggest economy but doubts run deep as to whether he will have sufficient support and stay in office long enough to tackle a long list of economic woes and cope with a nuclear crisis.

The 54-year-old Noda, who defeated Trade Minister Banri Kaieda in a run-off vote in the ruling party, must deal with a resurgent yen that threatens exports, forge a new energy policy while ending the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, and find funds to rebuild from the March 11 tsunami at a time when huge public debt has already triggered a credit downgrade.

"Noda has inherited all the same problems -- a divided parliament, a divided party, a strong yen, a Tohoku (northeastern Japan) desperate for progress on reconstruction and an early end to the nuclear crisis," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan campus.

"I think the honeymoon will be very short-lived."

No Japanese prime minister has lasted much more than a year since 2006 and most market players polled by Reuters this month thought the next government head would be no exception.

Noda, who will be confirmed by parliament on Tuesday, will be the third premier since his ruling Democratic Party of Japan swept to power in 2009, promising change.

Instead of a deep debate over how to jolt Japan out of decades of stagnation, the party vote had turned into a battle between allies and critics of Ichiro Ozawa, a 69-year-old political mastermind who heads the party's biggest group even as he faces trial on charges of misreporting political donations.

Kaieda, backed by Ozawa, got 177 votes in the run-off while Noda, supported by Ozawa critics, won the backing of 215 deputies.

Analysts said despite the defeat of his candidate, Ozawa remained a powerful -- and divisive -- force.

"He is still important, though not as important as he was," Temple University's Kingston said.

CHINA, U.S. TIES

Noda's rise to the top job could cause some friction with China after he recently repeated that Japanese wartime leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal after Japan's defeat in World War Two were not "war criminals" under domestic law.

He has also said China's rapid military buildup and expanding naval activities pose a serious regional risk, and stressed the importance of the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

"Noda's attitude toward China has in the past been somewhat hardline, and he has close relations with the United States, which would not bode well for China-Japan ties," said Sun Cheng, an expert on Japan at the China University of Political Science and Law.

"However, he has been compromising on his views, and I think he will want to maintain stability in China-Japan relations," Sun added.

Bond markets welcomed the choice of Noda, who among the candidates was the only one consistently calling for Japan to face painful reforms to curb its massive debt.

"Let's do the utmost to tackle what we have promised and if there's not enough money, we might ask the people to share the burden," Noda said before the vote.

The finance minister, who knocked out telegenic former foreign minister Seiji Maehara -- the favorite of ordinary voters -- in the first round, injected a rare moment of levity into the tense event.

The jowly, stocky lawmaker compared himself to a "dojo" loach fish -- an eel-like inhabitant of the deep.

"I do look like this and if I become prime minister, the support rate would not rise, so I would not call a snap election. A loach has its own abilities even though it cannot do as a goldfish does."

Noda has said Japan should not build new atomic reactors, effectively phasing out nuclear power over 40 years. But he wants to restart off-line reactors after safety checks to avoid a power crunch. Japan relied on atomic power for about 30 percent of its electricity before the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

One of Noda's first challenges will be seeking opposition help in parliament, where it controls the upper house and can block legislation. He has floated the idea of a "grand coalition" with opposition rivals -- although the two biggest opposition groups have been cool.

(Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Yoko Kubota, Leika Kihara and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

View the original article here

Noda seen safe choice to lead quake-hit Japan (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's next prime minister Yoshihiko Noda compares himself to a eel-like fish and admits his looks won't get him anywhere in popularity contests, but many say his calm and expertise are exactly what the nation needs at a time of crisis.

Noda, until now finance minister in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet, will take over as Japan's sixth leader in five years as the nation grapples with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and a meltdown at a nuclear power station.

The 54-year-old judo practitioner is considered a safe pair of hands and a stabilizing influence after Kan's sometimes erratic and divisive rule.

But doubts run deep about whether the advocate of fiscal responsibility and tax increases to contain Japan's bulging debt can overcome a divided parliament and deep rifts in his own party sufficiently to tackle a long list of economic ills.

"He seems to be the safest choice, and I mean this in a good way. There seems to be a continuation in policy as he served as finance minister," said Tomomichi Akuta, senior energy researcher at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting in Tokyo.

"I also think that unlike his predecessor he is unlikely to make statements off the top of his head, which should give a sense of stability."

Some commentators say Japan needs a maverick like Junichiro Koizumi, the last premier to serve a full term in 2001-2006, to jolt Japan out of decades of stagnation and political paralysis.

Others say, however, someone like Noda, modest, calm and with few enemies, has a better chance to achieve something in a divided parliament than a charismatic figure.

Already before Monday's leadership vote Noda had called for a grand coalition with the main opposition parties to break the parliamentary deadlock.

"Noda is the kind of politician who presses things forward while maintaining good communication with the opposition camp," said Kazuhisa Kawakami, political science professor at Meiji Gakuin University.

Noda also struck a conciliatory note to rivals within his party. "I have said 'let us end the politics of resentment,'" he told reporters after the vote.

Noda's victory will no doubt be greeted with relief by the Bank of Japan. While all other candidates called for the central bank to buy more government bonds or print money to finance post-disaster rebuilding, Noda refrained from making demands for specific action and respected the BOJ's independence.

A fan of pro-wrestling, Noda has projected an image of a straight shooter, saying he is not good at playing "underhand tricks" in politics.

Ahead of the leadership vote, the stocky lawmaker compared himself to a "dojo" loach fish -- an eel-like inhabitant of the deep -- and offered this self-deprecating assessment of his qualities:

"I do look like this and if I become prime minister, the support rate would not rise, so I would not call a snap election. A loach has its own abilities even though it cannot do as a goldfish does."

Noda's background may have something to do with his good standing among fellow politicians.

In contrast to many lawmakers who are second- or third-generation politicians, Noda's father was in the military.

But like many of Japan's leaders, he graduated from the Matsushita Institute for Government and Business, created by Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita to groom future political and business elites.

In a sign he is willing to forge compromises, Noda has already softened his stance on sales tax increases. He said after Monday's election that "the impact on the economy" needed to be taken into account in deciding when and which taxes to raise.

One thing, however, is unlikely to change - Tokyo's policy on the yen's strength, which threatens exports.

As finance minister, Noda oversaw two bouts of unilateral currency intervention and negotiated one G7 joint intervention after the March quake, so Tokyo is unlikely to hesitate to step into markets again under Prime Minister Noda.

Some commentators point out Noda's lack of public appeal and recognition abroad as a handicap. Others take a different tack.

"Just because the world hasn't heard of him doesn't mean he doesn't command quiet respect," said Andrew Horvat, director of the Stanford Japan Center in Kyoto.

"That is one of the qualities of great Japanese leaders - not charisma."

(Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Linda Sieg and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

View the original article here