Japan Times :: Saturday, July 25, 2009

• 4. NEWS BUSINESS - MASATSUGU HORIE
  Cool Biz said to undermine productivity
  July 25, 2009
  Sweltering workers who can't concentrate costing economy
  By MASATSUGU HORIE, Bloomberg
  Takashi Kadokura used to strip down to his underwear when working late because of the heat.
  "We couldn't concentrate on our work," said Kadokura, 37, then an economist for Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. "The air conditioning was set at 28 degrees and we weren't allowed to change it." continued ...


• 7. NATIONAL NEWS
  Aso's teary apology strikes right note
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  Prime Minister Taro Aso spoke tearfully before his fellow Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers Tuesday at LDP headquarters, just hours before he dissolved the Lower House. continued ...


• 11. NATIONAL NEWS
  Secret pact disclosure on agenda
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  If the Democratic Party of Japan comes to power in the Aug. 30 election, whoever it picks to be foreign minister would order the Foreign Ministry's top bureaucrat to disclose documents concerning a secret Japan-U.S. pact allowing the entry into Japan of U.S. ships and aircraft carrying nuclear arms, a DPJ executive has said. continued ...


• 15. NATIONAL NEWS
  Four soldiers test positive for pot
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  Four Ground Self-Defense Force members based at Camp Nerima in Tokyo have tested positive for marijuana, Defense Ministry officials said Friday. continued ...


• 17. NATIONAL NEWS - ALEX MARTIN
  DPJ's Asao to go independent
  July 25, 2009
  By ALEX MARTIN, Staff writer
  Upper House lawmaker Keiichiro Asao said Friday he will leave the Democratic Party of Japan to run as an independent in Kanagawa's No. 4 district, where the party has already fielded a candidate of its own in the Aug. 30 Lower House election. continued ...


• 18. NATIONAL NEWS
  SDF antipiracy mission now covers all ships
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  The Self-Defense Forces' antipiracy operations off Somalia from around Wednesday will fall under a new law that took effect Friday to authorize them to escort commercial ships of any nation. continued ...


• 19. PARTY POWERS - MASAMI ITO
  Ruling bloc lowers sights for poll, sets goal as 241-seat threshold
  July 25, 2009
  By MASAMI ITO, Staff writer
  The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc's goal in the Aug. 30 Lower House election is simply to keep its majority and grip on power, a far cry from its landslide win in the September 2005 poll, LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said. continued ...


• 20. NATIONAL NEWS
  Obama November visit in works ★
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  The Foreign Ministry is making arrangements with the U.S. State Department on a plan for Barack Obama to make his first visit to Japan as president of the United States in November, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Friday. continued ...


• 21. NATIONAL NEWS
  Roos lauds alliance as U.S. 'cornerstone' ★
  July 25, 2009
  WASHINGTON (Kyodo) John Roos, nominee for the next U.S. ambassador to Japan, on Thursday called the Japan-U.S. alliance "the cornerstone of security and stability in the East Asia-Pacific region" and pledged to work hard to solidify the bilateral "special bond" if his nomination is confirmed. continued ...


• 23. NATIONAL NEWS
  Moscow finds gulag records on 760,000 Japanese POWs
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  Records on up to 760,000 Japanese imprisoned in Soviet labor camps after World War II have been found at a national archive in Moscow, casting new light on what is regarded as a major tragedy involving Japanese in the war's aftermath, government sources said. continued ...


• 25. EDITORIAL
  Flesh out the manifestoes
  July 25, 2009
  As Lower House elections near, each political party needs to accelerate the work of writing its "manifesto" or detailed election platform. As the coming election will be one in which voters choose a government, stuffing a manifesto with money-splashing projects is not likely to win people's hearts. It will be important for each party, though, to present a limited number of pillar policies that indicate to people the kind of society it wants to create. continued ...


• 26. NATIONAL NEWS
  Report: 6 million excess workers
  July 25, 2009
  Kyodo News
  Amid the global economic crisis that started last year, the number of excess workers at Japanese companies during the first three months of 2009 is believed to have increased to up to 6.07 million, the highest level since 1980, a government report said Friday. continued ...


• 35. NATIONAL NEWS
  If DPJ wins, legal age may be pared to 18
  July 25, 2009
  Party flip-flops on MSDF tours, eyes Net campaign OK
  Kyodo News
  The number of adults in the nation might suddenly jump if the Democratic Party of Japan comes to power in the Aug. 30 general election, as DPJ members said Friday they may try to lower the age of majority from 20 to 18. continued ...