Support rate for Cabinet slides to 54%

The public support rating for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet has fallen to 54.6 percent, down from 62.8 percent after it was launched on Sept. 2, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday.

About 27.8 percent of those polled over the weekend didn't support the Cabinet.

The poll, conducted Saturday and Sunday, indicated that the public is split over a plan to raise taxes to help rebuild areas affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, with 46.2 percent in favor and 50.5 percent opposed.

But a clear majority backed the outline of the third extraordinary budget for fiscal 2011, which includes measures to support reconstruction from the disasters, with 63.2 percent for it and 30.3 percent opposed.

Noda has called on the opposition parties to jointly launch policy-coordinating talks on the third extra budget. But given voters' reluctance to accept tax hikes, Noda is expected to have a tough time negotiating financing measures for reconstruction.

The poll also showed an overwhelming majority of 86 percent believe that Ichiro Ozawa, a former leader of Noda's ruling Democratic Party of Japan, should give sworn testimony in the Diet over a political funds scandal that recently resulted in the conviction of three of his former secretaries.

The DPJ's support rating meanwhile stood at 27.1 percent, with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party at 23.2 percent, the poll said.

On the long-standing issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, the poll said that 32.5 percent want the base pulled from Japan, followed by 26.6 percent who support for the current plan to transfer it to Nago in northern Okinawa.

The survey was conducted by calling random, computer-generated phone numbers and drew valid responses from 1,012 eligible voters.

Meanwhile on Sunday, LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki reiterated the party's demand that Ozawa be summoned to testify at the Diet, hinting that the party may not agree to start deliberations on the third extra budget unless that happens.

"It's better if we can avoid making (the summoning) a precondition," Tanigaki said on an NHK news program.

"But you need to settle this issue so that we can start deliberations comfortably" at the Diet, Tanigaki said.

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Japan's Cabinet Expanded, Ex-PMs Named Ruling Party's Supreme Advisers - RTT News

(RTTNews) - Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday expanded his cabinet and appointed two former prime ministers as the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) supreme advisers as part of efforts by the current leadership to boost party unity.

Noda formed his Cabinet last Friday, installing his allies in key Cabinet posts to achieve policy goals of reconstructing a nation hit hard by twin disasters, and saving it from a protracted economic slump.

Many of the 22 Diet members, whom he appointed as senior vice ministers on Monday, belong to the other party group that did not back Noda in the party's presidential election last week, reports say.

They include lower house member Tenzo Okumura, an ally of party power broker Ichiro Ozawa, who was named as Senior Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

New Senior Vice Minister of the Cabinet Office, Ikko Nakatsuka also belongs to Ozawa camp.

In another development on Monday, former premiers Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan were named as DPJ's supreme advisers, Japanese media reported quoting party members.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

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Japan's PM picks cabinet and vows pragmatic reforms (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda unveiled on Friday a government that will face the task of engineering an economic recovery without blowing a hole in its stretched finances, promising swift fiscal reforms but with an eye on growth.

Noda, 54, the latest of Japan's revolving-door leaders, also said he would seek to balance energy needs with public concerns about safety after a March earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

Noda's cabinet appointments from various groups in his own party revealed a similar desire to find the middle ground, raising doubts whether the new government caught between conflicting demands can achieve more than its short-lived predecessors.

Noda's government, Japan's sixth in five years, must find funds to rebuild from the March disasters while trying to tame a surging yen, which has gained 5 percent against the dollar in the past two months.

"We can lose no time in reforming public finances. But I'm not putting fiscal reform on top of everything else," Noda told a news conference after being formally appointed. "Achieving a good balance between fiscal reform and economic growth is our top priority."

In a sign he plans to call the economic policy shots himself, Noda picked a relative lightweight lawmaker for the finance minister post.

In fact, in their first news briefings both Noda, who served as finance minister under Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and his successor in the job, 49-year-old Jun Azumi, struck strikingly similar notes on the currency and fiscal policy.

"The economy is recovering from the effects of the earthquake, but close attention should be paid to downside risks to the economy such as from slowdown in the West and the yen's rise," Azumi said, echoing Noda's remarks.

YOUNG, FOR JAPAN

Noda tapped the former TV presenter and parliamentary affairs chief for the finance portfolio after his first choice turned it down. He also picked several other lawmakers in their 40s, young by Japanese political standards, for the new cabinet.

Noda, an unassuming conservative who has compared himself to the "dojo" loach, a bottom-feeding fish, faces a long list of challenges as the third premier since his Democratic Party of Japan took power in 2009.

Among them: dragging the world's third-largest economy out of stagnation, forging a new energy policy while ending a radiation crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, rebuilding the tsunami-devastated northeast and finding funds to pay for that and the vast costs of social welfare in an aging society.

Japan's public debt is already double the size of the country's $5 trillion economy, the worst among advanced nations. Moody's rating agency cut the nation's credit rating last week, citing revolving-door leadership as an obstacle to effective economic policies.

Noda also faces a split parliament and rifts within his own party.

His new finance chief's first task will be to oversee drafting of a third extra budget to fund reconstruction from the March disasters, the biggest rebuilding project since the aftermath of World War Two.

ENERGY MIDDLE ROAD

As in his cabinet appointments and economic priorities, Noda also sought to tread the middle ground on energy policy.

He said he understood the public's safety concerns and admitted it would be hard to build new reactors as planned under a 2010 national energy policy but said he wanted to restart off-line reactors once safety checks were cleared.

Noda and his new foreign minister, Koichiro Gemba, must work to tighten ties with close security ally the United States, frayed when the Democrats swept to power two years ago, and keep

oft-tense relations with rising rival China on an even keel.

Stressing that the alliance with Washington was the core of Tokyo's diplomacy, Noda added: "I'll do my utmost to build up friendly ties with not only China but with other neighbors such as South Korea and Russia."

There were no standout appointments in Noda's cabinet, which -- like his earlier picks for party posts -- included a mix of lawmakers from various feuding factions. That led some to wonder whether Noda was not putting too much stress on party unity over expertise. "I don't think this line-up is one that can pull up its socks and respond to the public's hopes," said Katsuhiko Nakamura, executive director at think tank Asian Forum Japan.

(Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro, Yoko Kubota and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Writing by Linda Sieg and Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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Lineup of new Japanese PM's reshuffled Cabinet (AP)

The Cabinet lineup new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Friday:

Chief Cabinet Secretary: Osamu Fujimura

Foreign Minister: Koichiro Gemba

Defense Minister: Yasuo Ichikawa

Finance Minister: Jun Azumi

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister: Yoshio Hachiro

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister: Michihiko Kano (retained)

Justice Minister: Hideo Hiraoka

Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister: Masaharu Nakagawa

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister: Yoko Komiyama

Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister: Takeshi Maeda

Reconstruction Minister: Tatsuo Hirano

Postal Reform Minister: Shozaburo Jimi (People's New Party) (retained)

National Strategy Minister: Motohisa Furukawa

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister: Tatsuo Kawabata

Environment Minister, also in charge of the nuclear crisis: Goshi Hosono (retained)

Government Revitalization Minister, also in charge of Civil Service Reform: Renho

Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission: Kenji Yamaoka

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Japan's new PM picks allies for key Cabinet spots

Japan's new PM picks allies for key Cabinet spots Japan's new prime minister picked close allies Friday for key positions in his Cabinet as he tries to steer his troubled nation through disaster recovery, a nuclear crisis and a lengthy economic slump. Yoshihiko Noda, a surprise choice for prime minister when he took control of the ruling party this week, is bringing along some fresh faces to the Cabinet, including 47-year-old Koichiro Gemba as foreign minister and 49-year-old Jun Azumi as finance minister. Both are relatively young in a Japanese political world normally dominated by elder statesmen, and both are closely allied with Noda.
2 Sep A bar hostess stabbed a host in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district following a dispute early yesterday morning, reports Zakzak (Sep. 2). At around 3:35 a.m. on Sep. 1, a 25-year-old host - that is, a male club entertainer - was stabbed in the chest and back with a stationery knife by a hostess employed at a sex-related club, according to Tokyo Metropolitan Police. The 27-year-old, a resident of Kawasaki City, was arrested for attempted murder. (Tokyo Reporter)
2 Sep A reptile dealer allegedly responsible for letting a snake escape on a Shinkansen train in July said he realized after waking from a nap the snake was on the loose, but did not report it for fear of causing a fuss, police said. Police on Wednesday sent papers on the Yokohama-based dealer to prosecutors on suspicion of negligent management of the animal, in violation of the Minor Offenses Law. According to Yodogawa Police Station of the Osaka prefectural police, the 29-year-old man let a Honduran milk snake, measuring about one meter, escape from a plastic case on a Tokaido Shinkansen that was heading from Osaka to Tokyo on the night of July 2. The snake is considered a possible danger to humans. (Yomiuri)
2 Sep Fishermen in the traditional whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, scrubbed Thursday's kickoff of their annual hunt for dolphins, whales and other cetaceans due to an approaching typhoon off the Pacific coast. "We'd like to head out to sea soon, but you just can't beat a typhoon," Masayuki Miyoshi, deputy head of a local whaling association, said. The town was the focus of the controversial U.S. documentary "The Cove," which critically depicts the dolphin hunt there. (Japan Times)
2 Sep The National Police Agency said Thursday that 24,515 people were victimized by loan sharks in the first half of this year, down 25.8 percent from a year earlier, with total damage suffered down 35.3 percent, to about ¥4.2 billion, amid an enhanced crackdown. Police processed 336 suspects in 199 such cases in the January-June period, while the NPA provided financial institutions with 9,959 items of information, up 123.0 percent, on accounts suspected to have been used in loan shark cases to be frozen, it said. (Japan Times)
1 Sep A new erotic photo book is achieving brisk sales in spite of not revealing any of the faces of the female models nor full nudity, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino (Sep. 8). The magazine says that the book emphasizes the subtle aspects of swimsuits and uniforms: The skirt of a sailor suit gently rises to expose high up a thigh; a sock is visible just before a change into a swimsuit; and an exercise session gently reveals a bare midriff. The book "Natsufuku Joshi (Summer Clothing Girls)," by Million Publishing, is recording tremendous sales, ascending to the top of the photo book section of Amazon.jp at the end if July (and still holding that position now). (Tokyo Reporter)

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New Japan PM picks fresh faces for Cabinet (AP)

By YURI KAGEYAMA and TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Yuri Kageyama And Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press – 40 mins ago

TOKYO – Japan's new prime minister chose fresh faces and political unifiers for his Cabinet Friday, promising to steer the troubled nation through disaster recovery, a nuclear crisis and a lengthy economic slump.

Yoshihiko Noda tapped relatively unknown lawmakers as part of his 18-member Cabinet, including 49-year-old Jun Azumi as finance minister and 47-year-old Koichiro Gemba as foreign minister.

Both are young in a Japanese political world normally dominated by elder statesmen. And both are closely allied with Noda, who, at 54, is the third youngest prime minister in post-World War II Japan.

"They will work like loaches mired in mud and sweating to get the job done," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, another Noda ally, said when announcing the lineup. Loaches, a type of bottom-dwelling, eel-like fish, have become a bit of an odd buzzword after Noda described himself as one in what has largely been interpreted as a self-deprecating remark.

Noda's effectiveness will in large part depend on whether he can contain intraparty bickering that has increasingly plagued the ruling Democrats. In a nod to rival faction leader Ichiro Ozawa, Noda appointed lawmakers close to the veteran powerbroker as defense minister and the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, which runs the police force.

Noda struck a confident tone in comments shortly after his full Cabinet was approved by the emperor. He pledged to do his utmost to improve disaster relief efforts following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that have left more than 20,000 people dead or missing, destroyed much of Japan's northeast coast and is expected to be the most expensive natural disaster in history.

He also pledged to bring under control the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, where workers continue to try to cool temperatures and stop radiation leaks.

"We need to speed up and revitalize our restoration efforts," he said. "Without the rebirth of Fukushima, there is no rebirth of Japan."

He also said he and his Cabinet would work to jump-start an economy battered by the surging yen. A strong yen hurts Japan's top exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. by reducing the value of their overseas earnings.

Noda, who was finance minister in the previous Cabinet, said more needed to be done to prop up the U.S. dollar, acknowledging that he was worried about a hollowing out of Japanese industry if companies move their operations abroad because of the high yen.

He noted that Japanese companies should take advantage of a strong yen by buying up foreign businesses.

Noda's biggest surprise of the day was his unconventional pick for the powerful role of finance minister. A former television journalist from tsunami-devastated Miyagi prefecture, Azumi has little experience in economics and finance and has made few comments on key issues like foreign exchange.

Financial markets on Friday did not and could not react to the relatively unknown Azumi, said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief Japan economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Analysts had expected more of a political heavyweight for such a key position.

Kichikawa suspects Azumi got the job because he shares Noda's concerns about Japan's fiscal health and controlling the country's massive public debt, now twice the size of gross domestic product.

The appointment represents a "continuity of a relatively fiscal conservative stance," he said.

Azumi will have little time to settle into his new office. He travels to France next week to represent Japan at a Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors. He must then find money for a third supplemental budget needed to fund disaster recovery.

Noda, Japan's sixth new prime minister in five years, is keeping around some ministers from the previous Cabinet. He's retaining Goshi Hosono as the minister in charge of dealing with the nuclear crisis and Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano, who ran against Noda for the party leadership and is considered well connected to veteran legislators.

The Cabinet also includes two women: Yoko Komiyama as Health, Labor and Welfare Minister and Renho, who goes by a singular name, as Government Revitalization Minister, charged with reforming government and cutting waste.

Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University, said the picks were balanced enough that he felt optimistic the Cabinet would last at least a year — a solid achievement given the records of recent prime ministers.

"The neo-liberal reformists who tend to be young and in their 40s are placed in eye-catching ministries," Nakano said of several new ministers, including Azumi and Gemba. "Those youthful, new leaders of Japan are placed in high-visibility positions."

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Follow Tomoko A. Hosaka on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomokohosaka

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New Japan PM Picks Cabinet With Eye On Opposition - Wall Street Journal

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011, 9:29 A.M. ET

-- New Japan Prime Minister chooses Cabinet aimed at uniting ruling party, courting opposition

-- Yoshihiko Noda picks former parliamentary affairs chief for high-profile finance minister post

-- Noda says top priorities are quake reconstruction, controlling nuclear crisis, stimulating economic growth

(Adds comments from finance and trade ministers in 8th-10th and 15th paragraphs)

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, chose a Cabinet of relatively unknown lawmakers on Friday, but one that reflects his attempts to promote party unity and court the opposition.

Noda said post-quake reconstruction, getting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis under control and stimulating economic growth ...

-- New Japan Prime Minister chooses Cabinet aimed at uniting ruling party, courting opposition

-- Yoshihiko Noda picks former parliamentary affairs chief for high-profile finance minister post

-- Noda says top priorities are quake reconstruction, controlling nuclear crisis, stimulating economic growth

(Adds comments from finance and trade ministers in 8th-10th and 15th paragraphs)

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, chose a Cabinet of relatively unknown lawmakers on Friday, but one that reflects his attempts to promote party unity and court the opposition.

Noda said post-quake reconstruction, getting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis under control and stimulating economic growth ...

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Japan PM brings fresh faces, allies to cabinet - Washington Post

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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."

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Cabinet OKs new nuke watchdog

The Cabinet approved a plan Monday to set up by next April a new agency in charge of nuclear safety under the Environment Ministry as a key pillar of the country's basic policy on improving nuclear safety regulation.

The new entity will integrate the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission, and the radiation and other environmental monitoring functions from the science ministry.

Goshi Hosono, minister in charge of the nuclear crisis, told a news conference after the Cabinet approval that work to prepare for drastic reforms will begin promptly with a preliminary panel to be created as early as within the month.

Eyeing a major overhaul of Japan's nuclear regulatory framework, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has been calling for the separation of the current Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which promotes the use of atomic energy.

The current setup of the nuclear safety agency under the industry ministry has been criticized for lax government supervision of nuclear facilities, and a slow response to the Fukushima power plant crisis triggered by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

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Cabinet gives Yasukuni a miss

More than 50 lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties Monday marked the 66th anniversary of Japan's surrender by visiting Tokyo's contentious Yasukuni Shrine, which honors the nation's war dead as well as Class-A war criminals.

Considering in particular the sensitivities of other parts of Asia, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet skipped the visit. It is the second year in a row a Democratic Party of Japan-led Cabinet opted on Aug. 15 to avoid drawing further fury, particularly from China and South Korea. Kan said last year he will not visit the shrine as long as he is in office.

Lawmakers who visited Yasukuni include former internal affairs and communications minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi of the DPJ, Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) leader Shizuka Kamei and party colleague Takashi Morita, a parliamentary secretary of the internal affairs ministry.

"Personally, I feel sad," Morita told reporters, regretting that the Cabinet didn't visit the shrine. "This year, we experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake. I prayed for the unity of the country and the people."

Toshiei Mizoochi, a Liberal Democratic Party member and an executive of a lawmaker group promoting Yasukuni visits, agreed.

LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki, ex-Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara went there separately.

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Japan Cabinet OKs new nuclear safety agency (AP)

TOKYO – Japan's Cabinet has approved a plan to expand the main nuclear regulatory agency and move it to the environment ministry from the trade ministry where it has been criticized as being too cozy with the industry it regulates.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday the new agency will also oversee nuclear security, radiation monitoring and crisis management.

The existing agency drew increased scrutiny after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant suffered melting reactor cores after this year's massive tsunami. The agency was criticized partly for being part of the same agency that promotes nuclear energy.

Establishing the new agency will require parliamentary approval. It is planned for launch next April.

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