Daily Japan Headlines: Friday, Aug 26, 2011
Kan Naoto. Photo Source: Fox News.
BBC Video: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigns
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced his resignation as party leader, clearing the way for Japan’s sixth leader in five years.
He announced his resignation at a gathering of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers.
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BBC Video: ‘No trust’ in Japan’s politicians as PM Naoto Kan resigns
Japan’s Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, has resigned as leader of his party. He will formally stand down as prime minister next week.
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Bloomberg Video: Kan `Well Below Average’ Premier, Okubo Says
Takuji Okubo, chief Japan economist at Societe Generale SA, speaks about Naoto Kan’s resignation as Japanese prime minister.
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Washington Times: Lame-duck PM Kan struggles to leave stamp on Japan
When Naoto Kan became Japan’s 94th prime minister in June 2010, a T-shirt appeared in Tokyo emblazoned with “Yes We Kan,” a play on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign slogan “Yes We Can.”
But for most of his 14 months in power, Mr. Kan has heard opponents tell him “No, you can’t.”
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Wall Street Journal: Taxi for Kan: 15 Months in Rewind
If opinion polls are anything to go by, he won’t exactly be exiting with raised glasses toasting his awesome tenure. Mr. Kan’s guile in maneuvering to stay on just a bit longer provides a handy measure of just what a difference a year makes: After he warded off Ichiro Ozawa’s challenge for his job last September, Mr. Kan’s approval rating rose to 64%, nearly a full fifty points above his latest rating of 15.8% in a survey a few days ago.
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BBC: Japan prime minister: Why the choice of leader matters
Prime Minister Naoto Kan is stepping down. His party, the Democratic Party of Japan, is scheduled to elect his successor on Monday 29 August.
Does it matter though? One popular view of Japanese politics is that the personality of the prime minister does not matter.
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LA Times: Key policies of Japan PM candidates
The next premier must tackle the rise in the yen that hurts exports from the world’s third-largest economy; rebuild from the March earthquake and tsunami that triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl; and find ways to pay for the bulging welfare costs of an ageing society while reining in public debt about twice the size of the $5 trillion economy.
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Boston Herald: Nuclear power key topic in Japan leader race
Japan’s former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara who is vying to become Japan’s next prime minister says the country should stop building nuclear power plants.
Maehara appeared to take the clearest stand against nuclear power at a news conference Saturday where five ruling party members aiming to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan outlined their policy goals.
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Bloomberg: Japan to Spend $2.9 Billion to Clean Up Tepco Radiation Spills, Kyodo Says
Japan will allocate 220 billion yen ($2.87 billion) to clean up in areas contaminated by radiation spewed from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima Dai- Ichi nuclear plant, Kyodo News reported.
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Boston Herald: Japan nuke plant radiation leak exceeds Hiroshima
The amount of radioactive cesium that has leaked from a tsunami-hit nuclear plant is about equal to 168 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, Japan’s nuclear agency said Friday.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency supplied the estimate at a parliamentary panel’s request, but it noted a simple comparison between an instantaneous bomb blast and long-term accidental leak is impossible and the results could be “irrelevant.”
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Reuters: Japan aims to halve radiation in affected areas in 2 yrs
Japan aims to halve radiation over two years in places contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, removing soil, plants and trees as well as cleaning roofs of buildings in an area spanning thousands of square kilometres.
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UPI: Tokyo to host green industry conference
A “green” conference in Japan will highlight energy problems facing developing countries and showcase the country’s own green sector, the United Nations said.
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Bloomberg: Japan Buys 22,500 Tons of Food Wheat, 45,206 Tons Barley
Japan bought 22,500 metric tons of food wheat and 45,206 tons of food barley today through a tender system introduced to loosen government grain-import controls, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
Of the total wheat, 19,500 tons were from Canada, 2,000 tons were from Australia and the reminder was from France
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Wall Street Journal: Gee or Jii? Japan’s Boys Dancing Like Korea’s Girls
South Korea’s biggest music act, Girls’ Generation, has entered a new realm that is probably a first for a K-pop group – being imitated in a parody on a Japanese TV show.
Fuji TV’s “SMAPxSMAP” show features Japan’s biggest boy band, SMAP, in a variety of performances, skits and parodies.
Last week, the five-man group brought in a dance troupe made up of middle-aged men.
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Telegraph Video: A day in the life of a geisha
For many, the highlight of a trip to Japan is Kyoto, a city of temples, gardens and the “floating world” of the geishas. Telegraph video journalist Glen Milner visited Kyoto earlier this summer and gained privileged access to the geisha community, one of whom agreed to be interviewed.
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