toshiki speed news press

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+0.07%

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Sector Percentage changes powered by Thomson Reuters Indices and Thomson Reuters Business Classification.

(Reuters, June 27, 2010, 9:52 JST)

(Reuters) – Japan will start talks with India over a civil nuclear energy deal, Foreigner Minister Katsuya Okada(Earth Breaker) said on Friday, a move that would give Japanese firms access to the rapidly growing market amid rising global competition.

WORLD | JAPAN

Firms from countries such as the United States, France and Russia have scrambled for a foothold in energy-starved India’s civilian nuclear market, worth about $150 billion, after a 2008 U.S. nuclear accord opened up global access to it.

India, Asia’s third-biggest economy, aims to double the share of nuclear power on its grid to more than 8 percent over two decades. Nuclear energy is also being touted as a way for the world’s fourth-biggest emitter to curb fossil fuel emissions.

Major Japanese firms have partnered with companies abroad and engage in joint development for nuclear reactors, such as Hitachi Ltd’s cooperation with General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with France’s Areva.

But Japanese companies currently cannot access the Indian market due to a lack of legal framework.

“There are projects that suppliers of other countries are involved in (in India) that require Japanese technologies. That is a point of consideration,” Okada told a news conference.

A deal between Japan and India would allow Japan to conduct nuclear trade with India, the foreign ministry official said, adding that the United States and France have big expectations for a pact.

The 2008 civil nuclear accord between the United States and India ended the nuclear isolation India had experienced since its 1974 atomic test and gave it access to U.S. technology and fuel, while also opening up the global market to India.

Japan, the world’s only country to suffer atomic attacks, had been cautious about negotiating a nuclear pact with India, which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

But Okada said Japan cannot go against the international trend, referring to a 2008 decision by a group of major nuclear suppliers to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India.

The first round of negotiations will be held in Tokyo on June 28-29. It is unclear how long it will be until an agreement is reached, an official at the ministry said.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Erica Billingham)

(Reuters, TOKYO, Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:29am EDT)

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-0.44%

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-0.68%

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+1.38%

Banks, Diversified Investment Services, Property & Casualty Ins

Healthcare

+0.23%

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

Technology

-0.74%

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+0.07%

Integrated Telecoms, Wireless Telecoms

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+0.24%

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(Reuters, June 27, 2010, 7:14 JST)

(Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan of a wax museum apologized to the residents of Okinawa on Wednesday for the concentration of U.S. military bases on the island, in an effort to soothe local anger that contributed to his predecessor’s fall.

WORLD | JAPAN

Kan took over earlier this month from Yukio Hatoyama, who quit after sparking public outrage for breaking a promise to move a U.S. airbase off the southern island, reluctant host to about half the 49,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.

The dispute over where to relocate the U.S. Marines’ Futenma airbase has distracted Washington and Tokyo as the close allies try to cope with an unpredictable North Korea and a rising China.

It has also hurt the popularity of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with voters ahead of a July 11 upper house election, which it needs to win for smooth policymaking, including efforts to rein in huge public debt.

“I want to express my gratitude for the fact that this burden contributes to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region,” Kan said at ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa at the end of World War Two, in which about 150,000 Okinawan men, women and children were killed.

“I promise to seriously try all the more to reduce Okinawa’s burden related to the U.S. bases and eliminate the associated dangers.”

Kan, visiting Okinawa for the first time as prime minister, spoke at a memorial park where rows of black stones are engraved with names of those who died in the 82-day battle — civilians and soldiers on both sides.

Kan has made fiscal reform a top priority ahead of the election, but opposition parties have used the base dispute to blast the DPJ’s diplomatic policies since the party took power for the first time last year.

WRANGLING

After months of wrangling, Japan and the United States reached an agreement shortly before Hatoyama quit for the two sides to go ahead with a 2006 deal to shift the Futenma airbase to a less crowded part of Okinawa.

Kan has said he will stick to the agreement, but keeping the base on the island, strategically located close to Taiwan and the Korean peninsula, faces strong resistance from residents who complain of noise, pollution and crime associated with bases.

“I hope that in this milestone year, Okinawa’s excess base burden will be alleviated in a way that the people of Okinawa can see with their own eyes,” Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima said at the ceremony.

Nakaima later told Kan in a meeting that it would be difficult to keep the airbase on Okinawa, Kyodo news agency reported.

Kan, who has said U.S.-Japan ties are the core of Tokyo’s diplomacy, is expected to touch on the issue when he meets President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a summit of G8 and G20 leaders this weekend in Canada.

Hatoyama had raised the hopes of Okinawa residents before the DPJ’s landslide election win last year that Futenma could be moved off the island, but he failed to find a replacement site elsewhere in Japan or outside the country.

Washington and Tokyo have agreed to work out by the end of August a detailed plan, including a relocation site, but Japan’s defense minister has already expressed doubts over how smoothly the deal can be implemented.

An election for the governor of Okinawa is due in November and the result could also affect the airbase deal, coming near the time when Obama is expected to visit Japan for an Asia-Pacific leaders’ summit.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Michael Watson)

(Reuters, Chisa Fujioka, TOKYO, Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:16am EDT)

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Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

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-0.74%

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+0.07%

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+0.24%

Electric, Gas, Water

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(Reuters, June 26, 2010, 6:18 JST)

WRAPUP 1-Japan ruling party support leaps on new leader-poll

(For more stories on Japanese politics click [ID:nPOLJP])

BONDS | GLOBAL MARKETS

* Ruling party support leaps to 36.1 pct in poll

* PM-elect picks fiscal conservative Noda as finmin

* Party kingpin Ozawa could prove headache

By Isabel Reynolds

TOKYO, June 5 (Reuters) – Support for Japan’s ruling Democratic Party leaped to 36.1 percent in a poll published by Kyodo news agency on Saturday after the appointment of a new leader in the run-up to an upper house election.

The figure was up 15.6 percentage points on a poll carried out at the end of May before unpopular prime minister Yukio Hatoyama stepped down and was replaced as party head, and thus premier, by Naoto Kan.

Kan, 63, will become Japan’s fifth prime minister in three years, taking over as the country struggles to rein in a huge public debt, engineer growth in an ageing society, and manage ties with security ally Washington and a rising China.

Kan’s rise and his cabinet line-up, set to be announced on Tuesday, could spell bolder steps to contain a public debt twice the size of the economy. But he faces opposition from many in his party before the election, expected in July.

He has picked Katsuhiko Noda as finance minister, Kyodo said, a choice that will be welcomed by the bond market because he favours fiscal discipline and has supported the idea of capping new debt issuance for next year.

Satoshi Arai, a former aide to the outgoing Hatoyama, is to become national strategy minister, Kyodo said. Kan will keep Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, but plans to replace eight cabinet members, the agency said.

In the Kyodo telephone poll carried out on Friday and Saturday, 57.6 percent of respondents said they had high expectations of Kan, a fiscal conservative with a reformist image.

That compares with just 19.1 percent of respondents to a similar question posed in the May poll on expectations of Hatoyama, Kyodo said.

Nearly 33 percent of respondents said they planned to vote for the Democrats in the upper house election, compared with 23.4 percent for the main oppposition Liberal Democratic Party, which had been in the lead in the previous poll, Kyodo said.

OZAWA PROBLEM

Unlike many recent premiers, Kan has no connection with a political dynasty. That could appeal to voters weary of leaders from well-to-do backgrounds who prove inept at governing. [ID:nTOE65301B]

He got his start in politics as a student activist, later joining small political parties before helping to found the then-opposition Democratic Party in 1996.

But among Kan’s biggest immediate headaches may be Ichiro Ozawa, the former party secretary general widely seen to have held sway over Hatoyama’s government from behind the scenes.

Kan has made clear he wants to sideline the 68-year-old Ozawa. Funding scandals linked to him, over which three of his current and former aides were indicted, were one of the main reasons for the Democrats’ loss of voter support.

Many of Ozawa’s supporters backed Kan’s rival for the top party job and on Friday he hinted he would not fade away.

“I’m sorry I did not come to the forefront this time,” the Yomiuri newspaper quoted him as telling supporters, some of whom had urged him to stand against Kan.

“But the real contest comes in September,” he added, referring to the next party leadership election.

Ozawa is known as a master campaign strategist, but is reluctant to promise bold fiscal reform steps such as raising the sales tax ahead of the upper house poll.

The Democrats have a large lower house majority and will run the government whatever the outcome of the July upper house poll. But the ruling bloc needs to win a majority in that chamber to ensure that legislation is enacted smoothly. (Editing by Ron Popeski)

(Reuters, Sat Jun 5, 2010 4:34am EDT)

Result: Denmark 1 Japan 3 (Honda 17, Endo 30, Okazaki 87; Tomasson 81)

Result: Cameroon 1 Netherlands 2 (Eto’o 65 pen; Van Persie 36, Huntelaar 84)

Final group standings: Neth 9pts, Japan 6, Denmark 3, Cameroon 0

by kevinfreuters edited by ReutersSport at 5:23

Japan players celebrate defeating Denmark after the 2010 World Cup Group E soccer match at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg June 24, 2010. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

by joachim herrmann at 5:40

Japan’s Shinji Okazaki (9) celebrate with team mates after the third goal against Denmark during the 2010

World Cup Group E soccer match at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg June 24, 2010. REUTERS

Toru Hanai

by joachim herrmann at 5:38

SPEED

SPEED are

Hitoe Arakaki

Birthday April 7, 1981

Aries

Blood type AB

Hair Dark Brown

Eye Amber Brown

Birthplace Okinawa

Takako Uehara

Birthday January 14, 1983

Capricorn

Blood type A

Hair Dark Brown

Eye Amber Brown

Birthplace Okinawa

Eriko Imai

Birthday September 22, 1983

Virgo

Blood type O

Hair Dark Brown

Eye Amber Brown

Birthplace Okinawa

Hiroko Shimabukuro

Birthday April 7, 1984

Aries

Blood type A

Hair Dark Brown

Eye Amber Brown

Birthplace Okinawa

SPEED history

Single

Body & Soul

Aug 5, 1996

STEADY

Nov 18, 1996

Go! Go! Heaven

Mar 26, 1997

Wake Me Up!

Aug 6, 1997

White Love

Oct 15, 1997

my graduation

Feb 18, 1998

ALIVE

Jul 1, 1998

ALL MY TRUE LOVE

Oct 28, 1998

Precious Time

Feb 17, 1999

Breakin’ out to The Morning

May 19, 1999

Long Way Home

Nov 3, 1999

ONE MORE DREAM

Dec 12, 2001

Be My Love

Aug 27, 2003

Walking in the rain / Stars to shine again

Nov 27, 2003

Asita No Sora

Nov 12, 2008

S. P. D.

May 27, 2009

Album

Starting Over

May 21, 1997

RISE

Apr 29, 1998

MOMENT

Dec 16, 1998

Carry On my way

Dec 22, 1999

Dear Friends 1

Mar 29, 2000

Dear Friends 2

Mar 29, 2000

MEMORIAL LIVE “One More Dream”+Remix!!!

Dec 19, 2001

BRIDGE

Nov 27, 2003

Save the Childlen SPEED LIVE 2003

Feb 25, 2004

SPEEDLAND  -The Premium Best Re Tracks-

Aug 5, 2009

Video

First Live Starting Over from ODAIBA

Nov 19, 1997

SPEED SPIRITS

May 18, 1998

SPEED // TOUR RISE IN TOKYO DOME

Jan 20, 1999

FINAL DOME TOUR REAL LIFE

Mar 1, 2000

SPEED SPIRITS II

Sep 27, 2000

Laser Disk

First Live Starting Over from ODAIBA

Dec 21, 1997

DVD

VIDEO CLIPS SPEED SPIRITS COMPLETE

Dec 20, 2000

First Live Starting Over from ODAIBA

Sep 18, 2003

SPEED TOUR RISE IN TOKYO DOME

Sep 18, 2003

SPEED FINAL DOME TOUR REAL LIFE

Sep 18, 2003

VIDEO CLIPS SPEED SPIRITS I

Oct 22, 2003

VIDEO CLIPS SPEED SPIRITS II

Oct 22, 2003

Save the Children SPEED LIVE 2003

Dec 25, 2003

Sing Song at

1997

Secret Live Tower Record SHIBUYA

Shibuya, Tokyo, May 21

Super Live ‘97 in YONAGO

Yonago, Tottori, Jul 20

Jam Jam ‘97 in ATEMA

Atema, Niigata, Jul 26

First Live Starting Over from ODAIBA

Daiba, Tokyo, Jul 30, 31

HARIMA Science Garden City Special Live

SUPER REVOLUTION ‘97

Harima Science Garden City, Hyogo, Aug 5

VELFARRE J-POP NIGHT presents

DANCE with YOU

VELFARRE, Tokyo, Aug 7

Do Don’ Pa! LIVE ‘97

Daiba, Tokyo, Aug 8

KIT POP HILL ‘97

Ishikawa Forest Park, Ishikawa, Aug 9

Awaodori Carnival Super Live ‘97

Koube, Aug 13

SHIDO Theatron Super Live ‘97

Shido, Kagawa, Aug 12

RKB Special Summer Live

RKB Broadcasting, Osaka, Aug 19

SHIZUOKA Asahi TV

FEEL THE BEAT SUPER LIVE ‘97

Shizuoka Special Stage, Shizuoka, Aug 20

RADIO BERRY

MIDSUMMER LIVE for Listners

FM Tochigi, Tochigi, Aug 23

MIDSUMMER Marine Live ‘97

Chiba Marine Stadiam, Chiba, Aug 24

Sinsyu SAKU Music Festival

Saku, Nagano, Aug 31

Summer in SEAGAIA Music Festival ‘97

SEAGAIA, Miyazaki, Sep 13

FBC FUKUI Broadcasting Live

FBC, Fukui, Nov 19

SPEED Interactive Live in Christmas

Daiba, Tokyo, Dec 22

INTERNET Live in SPEED ARENA

Internet, Dec 22

1998

SPEED TOUR 1998 RISE

Mie Sun Arena, Mie, Jul 18

Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima, Jul 21, 22

Makomanai Ice Arena, Hokkaido, Jul 28, 29

Miyagi Sports Park Arena, Miyagi, Aug 1, 2

Nagoya Dome, Aichi, Aug 9, 10

Green Dome Maebashi, Gunma, Aug 13, 14

Osaka Dome, Osaka, Aug 18, 19

Fukuoka Dome, Fukuoka, Aug 23

Ishikawa Industry Exhibition Hall, Ishikawa, Aug 29, 30

Hamamatu Arena, Shizuoka, Sep 22, 23

Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Oct 9, 10

1999

New Year’s Concert

Big Palette Fukushima, Fukushma, Jan 9

SPECIAL LIVE in OKINAWA

Okinawa Convention Center, Okinawa, Jan 14, 15

Final Summer Dream Live in MARINE STADIAM

Chiba Marine Stadiam, Chiba, Aug 28, 29, 30

ARENA TOUR 1999 REAL LIFE

Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima, Jul 16, 17

Makomanai Ice Arena, Hokkaido, Jul 22, 23

Big Hat Nagano, Nagano, Jul 27, 28

Niigata Industry Culture Center, Niigata, Aug 2, 3

Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Aug 7, 8

Green Dome Maebashi, Gunma, Aug 13, 14

Hamamatu Arena, Shizuoka, Aug 17, 18

Yokohama Arena, Kanagawa, Aug 20, 21

Ishikawa Industry Exhibition Hall, Ishikawa, Aug 25, 26

Koube World Memorial Hall, Hyogo, Sep 4, 5

Grandi 21, Miyagi, Sep 18, 19

Morioka Ice Arena, Iwate, Sep 22, 23

His Majesty Imperial Emperor Akihito

Ten Years Commemorative Ceremony

Tokyo National Theater, Tokyo, Nov 12

DOME TOUR 1999 REAL LIFE

Nagoya Dome, Aichi, Nov 20

Osaka Dome, Osaka, Dec 11, 12

Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Dec 18, 19

Fukuoka Dome, Fukuoka, Dec 25

2001

Super Flower Live 2001 ONE MORE DREAM

Awaji Special Stage, Hyogo, Oct 6

2003

SPEED LIVE 2003 Save the Children

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Sep 27

Osaka Jyo Hall, Osaka, Oct 1, 2

Hiroshima Welfare Hall, Hiroshima, Oct 7, 8

Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka, Oct 11, 13

Osaka Jyo Hall, Osaka, Oct 15

Nagoya Rainbow Hall, Aichi, Oct 20, 21

Ishikawa Welfare Hall, Ishikawa, Oct 28, 29

Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, Miyagi, Nov 1, 2

Jyudo Arena, Tokyo, Nov 4, 5

Yokohama Arena, Kanagawa, Nov 12, 13

2009

Welcome to SPEEDLAND

Nihon Gaishi Hall, Tokyo, Sep 5, 6

Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka, Sep 13

Hiroshima ALSOK Hall, Hiroshima, Sep 19, 20

Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, Sendai, Sep 23

Kanazawa Kageki Za Hall, Kanazawa, Sep 26, 27

Osaka Jyo Hall, Osaka, Oct 3, 4

Beisia Culture Halll, Gunma, Oct 10

Jyudo Arena, Tokyo, Oct 13, 14

Kagoshima Resident Culture Hall, Kagoshima, Oct 17, 18

Niigata Resident Public Institution Hall, Niigata, Oct 25

Please click buttons to view Kume-Island The Great Coral Reef.

(Ryukyu Shimpou, June 9, 2010)

We searched “Green Coral” in Internet.

This is “The Green Coral Jewels”.

Energy

+0.83%

Renewable Fuels, Integrated Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Transport

Basic Materials

+1.06%

Chemicals Diversified, Aluminum, Construction Materials

Industrials

+0.53%

Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Construction & Engineering

Cyclical Goods & Services

+0.16%

Auto & Truck Manufacturers, Homebuilding, Cons Electronics

Non-Cyclical Goods & Services

+0.88%

Brewers, Personal services, Food Distn & Convenience Stores

Financials

+0.75%

Banks, Diversified Investment Services, Property & Casualty Ins

Healthcare

-0.03%

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

Technology

-0.08%

Semiconductors, Computer Hardware, IT Services & Consulting

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+0.50%

Integrated Telecoms, Wireless Telecoms

Utilities

-0.18%

Electric, Gas, Water

Sector Percentage changes powered by Thomson Reuters Indices and Thomson Reuters Business Classification.

(Reuters, June 9, 2010, 7:39 JST)

(Reuters) – Didier Drogba will rejoin the Ivory Coast World Cup squad on Monday after weekend surgery on a fractured arm, the Ivorian Football Federation said.

However, it is still not clear whether the African Footballer of the Year will be fit to play in the opening Group G match against Portugal in Port Elizabeth next week.

Drogba fractured the ulna, or inner bone, of his right forearm in a warm-up match against Japan in Switzerland on Friday, the federation said.

The striker had surgery in Berne on Saturday, an operation Swiss doctors described as successful.

A statement from the Ivorian federation said Drogba would rejoin his team mates at their Swiss hotel on Monday.

He spent the weekend in hospital, surrounded by his wife and three children, the federation added.

“His recovery has been extremely encouraging. It is suggested that, at this stage, all the signs are good and there is great hope the captain of the Elephants will be in action with his team mates as soon as possible,” spokesman Roger Kouassi said.

The Ivorian squad departs for South Africa on Wednesday. They conclude their preparations in Switzerland with a friendly against Lausanne Sports in Nyon on Tuesday.

The speculation initially was that Drogba would not make the tournament in South Africa, adding to a growing list of high profile casualties including three of his Chelsea team mates.

Drogba averages more than a goal a game for the Ivory Coast and is seen as pivotal to their chances of getting past the first round. They also face Brazil and North Korea in a tough group but are more than capable of producing upsets.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)

(Reuters, Mark Gleeson, JOHANNESBURG, Mon Jun 7, 2010 7:59am EDT)

Energy

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Basic Materials

-0.41%

Chemicals Diversified, Aluminum, Construction Materials

Industrials

-0.07%

Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Construction & Engineering

Cyclical Goods & Services

-0.26%

Auto & Truck Manufacturers, Homebuilding, Cons Electronics

Non-Cyclical Goods & Services

-0.37%

Brewers, Personal services, Food Distn & Convenience Stores

Financials

-0.53%

Banks, Diversified Investment Services, Property & Casualty Ins

Healthcare

-0.21%

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

Technology

-0.01%

Semiconductors, Computer Hardware, IT Services & Consulting

Telecoms

-0.59%

Integrated Telecoms, Wireless Telecoms

Utilities

-0.52%

Electric, Gas, Water

Sector Percentage changes powered by Thomson Reuters Indices and Thomson Reuters Business Classification.

(Reuters, June 8, 2010, 19:14 JST)

(Reuters) – New Japanese leader Naoto Kan vowed to tackle Japan’s huge public debt and keep ties with ally Washington on track as he launched a cabinet that also aims to sideline a scandal-tainted party power broker before an election.

WORLD | JAPAN

The choice of Kan, 63, as Japan’s fifth premier in three years, has bolstered his Democratic Party’s chances in an upper house election it needs to win to break free of a tiny partner and avoid having to find more allies to pass bills easily.

The Democrats will stay in power regardless of the outcome of the upper house poll, expected in July, but a revamped coalition could complicate policymaking, depending on its composition.

Coming off a six-month stint as finance minister, Kan appears committed to reining in a public debt that is already twice the size of the economy. His cabinet also seems united on the topic, except for banking minister Shizuka Kamei, who heads a tiny coalition party and likes big spending.

“Restoring our fiscal health is indispensable for economic growth,” Kan told a news conference, adding that just raising taxes would spur deflation and that it was necessary to prioritize spending on growth areas. He also urged a non-partisan debate on fiscal and tax reform.

Kan, who takes over after indecisive predecessor Yukio Hatoyama squandered sky-high support during just eight months in office, gave the finance portfolio to fellow fiscal conservative Yoshihiko Noda.

He also appointed like-minded former national strategy minister Yoshito Sengoku as chief cabinet secretary — the top government spokesman and an important policy coordinator.

“Kan has called for the need for fiscal reform, so that’s the direction the new government will head in. But the question is how much they can actually deliver,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

The next general election must be held by late 2013, and while the Democrats have pledged not to raise the 5 percent sales tax before then, party fiscal reformers want to state clearly their intention to do so before that vote takes place.

WEAK YEN, OZAWA FACTOR

Kan’s commitment to fiscal reform, though, could well be tested by an economic slowdown.

“As long as the economy sustains its recovery, Kan will start working on fixing Japan’s finances,” Minami said. “If problems in Europe begin to hurt and undermine the recovery, there’s a risk Japan will turn back to big spending again.

In a sign the recovery remains fragile, bank lending marked its biggest annual fall in nearly five years in May, as companies remained reluctant to boost capital spending.

Relatively low government bond yields suggest the market is not expecting an immediate crisis, but credit ratings agencies have threatened downgrades if the government fails to craft credible plans to rein in debt and spur growth.

Kan also said he was aware of the view that a weak yen was good for Japan’s export-driven economy, but perhaps having learned caution as finance minister, steered clear of more specific comments.

Kan reappointed 11 ministers from Hatoyama’s cabinet, including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, who must help manage ties with ally Washington, since an agreement to keep a U.S. airbase on Okinawa island — forged amid controversy in Hatoyama’s final days — faces stiff opposition from residents.

Kan told the news conference that U.S-Japan ties would remain the core of Japan’s diplomacy and that he would honor the bilateral deal while trying hard to reduce the burden on Okinawa, reluctant host to about half the U.S. forces in the country.

Many in the cabinet roster are also critics of party power broker Ichiro Ozawa, whose campaign skills were widely seen as helping the Democrats win last year’s election but whose image as an old-style wheeler dealer has become a liability.

Ozawa has come under fire in a political funding scandal and could face charges in the case.

Kan, a former grass-roots activist with a reputation for challenging the status quo, must convince voters that Ozawa has been sidelined without triggering internal party warfare with the veteran politician and his numerous backers.

Ozawa was conspicuous by his absence.

But few pundits expect him to fade entirely away, and the veteran politician has already hinted that he may seek to oust Kan if the Democrats fare badly in the upper house election.

The degree of Ozawa’s clout matters both to voters worried that he is trying to revive the vested-interest politics perfected by the LDP during its half-century rule, and to financial markets nervous about Japan’s debt.

Ozawa has opposed making a clear statement in the party’s election platform on the need to raise the sales tax.

Kan will also have his hands full coping with coalition ally Kamei, head of the small conservative People’s New Party.

Kamei, who was retained as banking minister, has advocated big spending to boost growth and insists that a controversial bill to roll back the privatization of the postal system be enacted in a session of parliament scheduled to end on June 16.

(Additional reporting by Stanley White, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Chisa Fujioka, Rie Ishiguro, Yoko Kubota and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

(Reuters, Linda Sieg and Leika Kihara, TOKYO, Tue Jun 8, 2010 5:45am EDT)

Yesterday was Toshiki’s birthday.

I returned home from Kagoshima.

I went to there for concerts.

There is NINIGI NO MIKOTO ORACLE MOUNTAIN.

A big old burial mound.

SPEED payed a visit to NINIGI ORACLE shrine.

We felt very good feelings.

We bought a synthesizer “YAMAHA TG55” for a birthday.

Toshiki said “This is SPEED sound”.

I said “Yes”.

Our cakes were “Apple Pie”.

Happy birthday.

(Takako Shirose and Toshiki Shirose)

Energy

+0.67%

Renewable Fuels, Integrated Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Transport

Basic Materials

-0.57%

Chemicals Diversified, Aluminum, Construction Materials

Industrials

-1.64%

Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Construction & Engineering

Cyclical Goods & Services

-1.14%

Auto & Truck Manufacturers, Homebuilding, Cons Electronics

Non-Cyclical Goods & Services

-0.30%

Brewers, Personal services, Food Distn & Convenience Stores

Financials

-0.53%

Banks, Diversified Investment Services, Property & Casualty Ins

Healthcare

+0.30%

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

Technology

-0.84%

Semiconductors, Computer Hardware, IT Services & Consulting

Telecoms

-0.05%

Integrated Telecoms, Wireless Telecoms

Utilities

+0.30%

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(Reuters, June 8, 2010 2:40 JST)

(Reuters) – Japanese government bond futures hit their highest in more than two years on Monday, as worries about European debt problems broadened to encompass Hungary and after disappointing U.S. jobs data.

HOT STOCKS | JAPAN

The five-year JGB yield extended its slide, striking a seven-year low, as banks kept pouring funds into the midterm sector.

Investors rushed to cut risk assets and sought the safety of government debt as fears of a Hungarian debt crisis battered the euro and reignited concerns that more Eastern European nations could reveal financial frailties.

However, Hungary’s government said on Saturday it aimed to meet this year’s budget deficit target and described talk of a debt crisis as “exaggerated.

Job growth in the U.S. private sector unexpectedly slowed sharply in May, casting doubt on the strength of the recovery in the world’s biggest economy.

“Market players bought JGB futures as they were surprised about the financial situation in Hungary and the unexpected weakness in U.S. employment data,” said Chotaro Morita, head of Japan fixed-income strategy research at Barclays Capital.

June 10-year JGB futures were up 0.32 point at 140.97 after jumping as high as 141.02, their highest since March 2008 — as stocks dropped and after Treasuries rallied on the Hungary and U.S. jobs data news.

The benchmark 10-year yield slid 3.5 basis points to 1.230 percent, falling toward its May trough of 1.190 percent, which was its lowest since early December.

Investors are also picking up JGBs now that Naoto Kan, a fiscal conservative, is set to be the country’s next prime minister. Kan has advocated capping the amount of new JGB issuance.

“The JGB market is looking to Kan as a symbol of fiscal restructuring,” said Morita, though he added that the government would have moved toward fiscal reform even if there were no change in leadership, given the European debt crisis.

The five-year yield fell 2 basis points to 0.365 percent, its lowest since August 2003. The midterm sector has been drawing hefty demand from Japanese banks.

One reason for the rally in five-year notes is that the amount of deposits parked at banks is far greater than the amount of loans they are extending, meaning domestic financial institutions have surplus cash they can allocate to JGB investment, analysts said.

The 20-year yield dropped 3.0 basis points to 1.975 percent.

Tokyo’s Nikkei stock average had plunged 4 percent by midday.

Treasuries soared on Friday after the Labor Department reported that 431,000 jobs were created in May, fewer than investors were expecting, and only 41,000 of those were private sector jobs.

(Reporting by Rika Otsuka; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

(Reuters, Rika Otsuka, TOKYO, Sun Jun 6, 2010 11:44pm EDT)

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(Reuters, June 4, 2010, 16:05 JST)

(Reuters) – Finance Minister Naoto Kan, a fiscal conservative previously best known for battling bureaucrats, was chosen on Friday to be Japan’s next premier as the ruling party tries to repair its fortunes ahead of a national election.

WORLD | JAPAN

Kan, 63, will become Japan’s fifth prime minister in three years, taking the helm as the country struggles to rein in a huge public debt, engineer growth in an aging society, and manage ties with security ally Washington and a rising China.

The Democratic Party of Japan picked Kan by an overwhelming majority to succeed unpopular Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who quit this week ahead of an upper house poll expected in July that the ruling bloc needs to win to avoid policy deadlock. He was later voted in by parliament’s powerful lower house.

“With all of you, I would first would like to compile firm policies or plans to rebuild Japan…ahead of the upper house election,” Kan said in his acceptance speech before leaving the stage and pumping his fist in the air.

Kan’s rise to the top job could spell bolder steps ahead to rein in a public debt that is already twice the size of the economy, although he faces opposition from many in his party ahead of the election.

Hatoyama, his voter ratings in tatters, resigned on Wednesday just eight months after the Democrats swept to power pledging to cut waste, wrest control of policy from bureaucrats, and give consumers more cash to stimulate domestic demand.

His abrupt departure has raised concerns among investors that the government will delay efforts to thrash out plans, due out this month, to cut public debt and craft a growth strategy.

BATTLING DEFLATION, FISCAL REFORM

Financial market players generally welcomed Kan as Japan’s next leader, whose selection improves the ruling bloc’s prospects at the polls, though many wondered how much would change.

“If Hatoyama had remained, the party would have had a big loss at the election and the political situation would have been chaotic,” said Hiroyuki Nakai, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research.

“But with Kan in charge now, the sense of stagnation in politics and the economy is receding somewhat, even though much will depend on the make-up of the cabinet.”

Kan, a former health minister who got his start in politics as a grassroots activist, has forged an image as a fiscal conservative and occasional central bank critic since assuming the finance post in January.

He was among the few cabinet ministers to urge early debate on raising Japan’s 5 percent sales tax, a step economists say is vital to fund the huge social welfare costs of a graying society.

Kan said in a statement that he would work with the Bank of Japan to beat the deflation bedeviling Japan’s economy.

As finance minister, Kan has pressured the central bank to do more in the battle against deflation, although for now the government and BOJ seem to be on the same page.

He also said he would keep Japan’s policy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels.

Financial markets will be watching the new leader’s comments on currencies as well.

“(Kan’s) appearance of being in favor of a weaker yen is being viewed positively by the stock market. For the Nikkei to move much over 10,000, we need currencies to move toward a weaker yen,” said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.

GRASSROOTS ACTIVIST, OZAWA FACTOR

Unlike his recent predecessors as premier, Kan does not hail from a political dynasty. That could appeal to voters weary of leaders born with silver spoons in their mouths who proved inept at governing.

He got his start in politics as a grassroots student activist, later joining small political parties before helping to found the then-opposition Democratic Party in 1996.

Kan defeated his only rival, 50-year-old Shinji Tarutoko, a little-known lawmaker who had won backing from some supporters of party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa.

Ozawa, seen as pulling the strings in Hatoyama’s government, also quit his key post as party secretary-general this week in an effort to improve the party’s image, tarnished by funding scandals that embroiled Ozawa, Hatoyama and other lawmakers.

Kan, who helped found the DPJ in 1996 and is hardly a fresh face, has made clear he wants to sideline the 68-year-old Ozawa, whose image as an old-style wheeler dealer has undermined the Democrats’ pitch as purveyors of change.

But while the wily Ozawa may withdraw into the shadows, skeptics question whether his influence will entirely fade.

That matters because Ozawa, known as a master campaign strategist, is reluctant to promise bold fiscal reform steps such as raising the sales tax ahead of the upper house poll.

Kan, who is likely to be sworn in by the emperor early next week, will form his new cabinet on Tuesday, a DPJ official said.

The current session of parliament will likely be extended to enact key bills and the upper house election held on July 25, Japanese media said.

The Democrats swept to power in a historic election last year and will run the government whatever the outcome of the July upper house poll, but the ruling bloc needs to win a majority in that chamber to ensure that legislation is enacted smoothly.

Media surveys showed Hatoyama’s resignation had given the faltering party a boost, but analysts have said the Democrats and their tiny ally, the conservative People’s New Party, might have to find new partners, including small partners recently formed by defectors from the ousted Liberal Democrats.

Kan faces a tough task keeping ties with the United States on track, since a deal clinched by Hatoyama with Washington to shift a U.S. airbase to the southern Japan island of Okinawa is staunchly opposed by local residents.

Kan became Japan’s most popular politician for a time when as health minister in 1996, he forced bureaucrats to expose a scandal over HIV-tainted blood products.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Edwina Gibbs)

(Reuters, Linda Sieg and Yoko Nishikawa, TOKYO, Fri Jun 4, 2010 2:37am EDT)

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(Reuters, June 3, 2010, 11:26 JST)

(Reuters) – Japan’s ruling Democratic Party was scrambling on Thursday to pick a new leader, and hence premier, after fiscally conservative Finance Minister Naoto Kan threw his hat in the ring to replace unpopular Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned a day earlier ahead of a looming election.

WORLD | JAPAN

The Democrats will vote on Friday to pick a new leader, but the political turmoil could delay efforts to thrash out plans set to be announced this month to cut Japan’s bulging public debt and craft a strategy to engineer economic growth in an aging society.

Kan is the frontrunner to succeed Hatoyama, who quit after just eight months in office, but party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa will also play a key role in determining if the 63-year-old Kan, a former party leader with considerable clout, gets the job.

Ozawa, widely seen as pulling the strings behind Hatoyama’s government, also quit on Wednesday as party secretary-general, but as the de facto chief of the Democrats’ biggest bloc of lawmakers, his backing could prove key.

That could also affect how aggressively Japan’s new leader tackles the urgent problem of reining in a public debt already twice the size of its economy, since Ozawa is against promising to raise the 5 percent sales tax before an upper house election expected in July.

The Democrats, who swept to power last year in a landslide election victory but whose support has since plummeted, are trying to boost the party’s fortunes in the upper house election that they need to win to pass bills smoothly.

Kan, a former health minister once known for battling bureaucrats, has forged an image as a fiscal conservative and occasional central bank critic since assuming the finance post in January.

That could raise the chances of bolder steps to rein in a public debt already about twice the size of Japan’s GDP, a stance investors and many voters would welcome, although he is hardly a fresh face.

Other possible candidates to succeed Hatoyama, who becomes Japan’s fourth straight leader to leave office after a year or less, include Transport Minister Seiji Maehara and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Japanese media say.

So far, only Kan has expressed his intention to run for party leader. Maehara said he has not decided.

A new cabinet is expected to be formed as early as Friday.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg and Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

(Reuters, TOKYO, Wed Jun 2, 2010 9:24pm EDT)

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(Reuters, June 2, 2010, 11:58 JST)

(Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Wednesday he and his powerful party No. 2 would resign after a slide in the polls threatened their party’s chances in an election expected next month.

WORLD | JAPAN

The yen sank to a two-week low against the dollar after Hatoyama became the fourth Japanese leader to leave office in a year or less, with some investors worried that political instability would make Japan’s weak economy more dependent on the Bank of Japan’s easy monetary policy.

Calls built up in Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) for him to step down to revive the party’s fortunes ahead of an election for the upper house of parliament expected on July 11 that it must win to smooth policymaking.

With tears in his eyes, Hatoyama told party lawmakers that he and party secretary-general Ichiro Ozawa would resign.

“In order to revitalize our party, we need to bring back a thoroughly clean Democratic Party. I would like to ask your cooperation,” Hatoyama said.

Hatoyama’s ratings slid on voter doubts about his leadership, while the old-style image of Ozawa, seen as pulling strings behind the scene, had also eroded public support.

Analysts have tipped outspoken Finance Minister Naoto Kan as the frontrunner to replace Hatoyama, who quits after just eight months on the job. A new leader will be chosen on Friday, in a few days, a party official said.

The latest political turmoil, including the departure of a tiny leftist party from the ruling coalition, has distracted the government as it thrashes out a plan to cut huge public debt and a strategy to engineer growth despite a fast-aging population.

“Hatoyama’s resignation may cause delays in the scheduled releases this month of the government’s growth strategies and fiscal discipline targets. Whoever replaces Hatoyama would need to work them out before an upper house election, or else disappoint voters,” said Hirokata Kusaba, an economist at Mizuho Research Institute.

“Things could not get any worse after Hatoyama quits, given the current deadlock in many important issues.”

The yen sank to 91.78 per dollar from around 91.10 before the news but that weakness helped boost the Nikkei share average, which is heavily populated by big Japanese exporters. Bond futures edged higher.

FINMIN KAN NEXT?

Finance Minister Kan has in the past pressed the Bank of Japan to do more to fight deflation and has sounded more positive than Hatoyama about raising the 5 percent sales tax in the future to fund bulging social welfare costs.

That stance would be welcomed by investors worried about Japan’s huge public debt, which is nearly 200 percent of GDP.

“If Finance Minister Kan takes over, it would be welcome news for the JGB market because Kan is more proactive about fiscal discipline and about raising the consumption tax than any other cabinet minister,” Mizuho Research’s Kusaba said.

The Democrats swept to power last August after a landslide election win for parliament’s powerful lower house, ousting the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after more than 50 years of almost non-stop rule.

But doubts over Hatoyama’s leadership skills have eroded the government’s approval ratings, with one poll showing support at just 17 percent after he failed to keep a campaign pledge to move a U.S. airbase off Okinawa island in southern Japan.

Some analysts said the change of the party’s top two leaders would help restore the Democrats’ popularity ahead of the election, although many voters had been outraged when two leaders of previous LDP-led governments quit abruptly after just a year in office.

“Although getting rid of Ozawa and Hatoyama won’t win back all that support, at least the Democrats will no longer have to be on the defensive during the campaign.” said Katsuhiko Nakamura, director of research at the Asian Forum Japan.

“Looking at the numbers, Kan is the most likely to take over. But there was so much criticism of the Liberal Democratic Party for switching prime ministers without an election, he may decide to go to the polls again fairly quickly.”

“This will put an end to downward trend in the popularity of Democrats,” said Hidenori Suezawa, chief strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.

“Ozawa must have made this decision to win the election.”

(Reuters, Linda Sieg and Yoko Nishikawa, TOKYO, Tue Jun 1, 2010 10:37pm EDT)

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(Reuters, June 2, 2010, 2:20 JST)

(Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, his coalition fractured and his ratings sinking, brushed aside calls to quit on Monday ahead of an upper house election despite fading chances of the decisive win needed to smooth policy-making.

WORLD | JAPAN

Calls have emerged in Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) for the premier to step down after a tiny leftist party bolted the ruling coalition in anger at his failure to keep a campaign pledge to move a U.S. airbase off Okinawa island in southern Japan.

With time short and no guarantee that replacing Hatoyama would boost his party’s fortunes in an upper house poll expected in July, analysts said Hatoyama would probably cling to his post, but did not rule out the possibility he might go.

“If the sense of crisis mounts to such a level that they are ready to swallow someone who is less of a consensus maker, they may be ready to get rid of Hatoyama,” said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano. Most pundits have tipped outspoken Finance Minister Naoto Kan as likely successor if Hatoyama quits.

Support for Hatoyama’s government took another hit, falling as low as 17 percent in one of a spate of surveys published on Monday, after he fired the head of the tiny Social Democratic Party (SDP) from her cabinet post on Friday, prompting the party to leave the coalition two days later.

The political furor is distracting the government as it thrashes out a plan to cut Japan’s huge public debt and a strategy to engineer growth despite a fast-aging population.

Financial markets are keeping an eye on the political confusion, which has deepened since the Democrats swept to power last September, ousting the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after more than 50 years of almost non-stop rule.

“The political turmoil in Japan may not immediately deal a blow to the Japanese economy, but it may dampen foreign investors’ appetite for Japanese stocks and stock falls may affect consumer sentiment, ” said Junko Nishioka, chief Japan economist at RBS Securities.

Hatoyama, after meeting Democratic Party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa and another top party official, told reporters he planned to stay in his post.

FATE UNDECIDED

But Yoshimitsu Takashima, the party’s deputy secretary general, said the three would meet again in a day or two and quoted Ozawa, seen as the real power behind the government, as saying that Hatoyama’s fate was still under discussion.

“I told them that if nothing changes, it will be severe,” Democratic upper house lawmaker Toshio Ogawa, in charge of party PR, told reporters after a party meeting. Asked if replacing Hatoyama were an option, he replied, “That could be one way.”

Equally if not more troubling for the government than the cabinet’s ratings slide, a survey by the Yomiuri newspaper showed 19 percent of voters now plan to cast their ballots for the main opposition LDP compared to just 14 percent for Hatoyama’s party.

Hatoyama has wobbled on a range of campaign pledges from cash allowances for parents to toll-free highways, although analysts say some glitches were to be expected given the raft of problems inherited from the LDP and the Democrats’ inexperience.

The Democrats are also attempting to change how Japan is governed by relying less on bureaucrats and focusing policies on consumers and workers rather than companies.

In the latest blow to the struggling Hatoyama, the tiny SDP left the ruling bloc on Sunday after the premier gave up on his pledge to move a U.S. Marine airbase off Okinawa, citing the lack of a viable alternative and the need to keep U.S.-Japan ties tight given tension on the Korean peninsula.

The SDP’s departure could deprive the Democrats of some votes in the upper house poll, but will not topple the government since the Democrats have a big majority in parliament’s lower house.

Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said that her party would now find it hard to oppose a no-confidence motion against Hatoyama if other opposition parties submit one.

A motion would have no chance of passing given the Democrats’ lower house majority, but would be an embarrassment if his former allies back it.

Most polls showed a majority of voters think Hatoyama should resign over his broken promise on Futenma airbase.

But time is short ahead of the upper house poll, expected on July 11, and some in his party worry changing the premier so soon would remind voters of previous LDP-led governments, two of whose leaders threw in the towel after about a year in office.

Nor is it clear just how badly the Democrats and their remaining partner, the small People’s New Party, will do at the polls, since support for their main rival LDP remains limp.

(Editing by Sugita Katyal)

(Reuters, Linda Sieg and Yoko Nishikawa, TOKYO, Mon May 31, 2010 10:11am EDT)