Japan Times :: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

• 1. THE ZEIT GIST - JON MITCHELL
  'The last flies of summer'
  Sept. 22, 2009
  Life in a community of Japanese working poor in north Okinawa
  By JON MITCHELL, Special to The Japan Times
  Three years ago, I was lying on the beach of a package hotel, watching a pair of jet skis churn the sea to muddy silt. J-pop blared from the shore-side Tannoy, and two lifeguards were pinning down a hysterical toddler, while a third doused vinegar over a scarlet welt of jellyfish sting. continued ...


• 8. FYI - ERIC JOHNSTON
  LOCAL LEADERS FEDERATION
  Small group making waves
  Sept. 22, 2009
  DPJ, LDP envy and fear federation of popular, dynamic local leaders
  By ERIC JOHNSTON, Staff writer
  About two months before the Aug. 30 election, a small group of political leaders made big news by forming a new group. Though it consists of only half a dozen politicians at the local level, Shucho Rengo (the Local Leaders Federation) grabbed headlines nationwide and created concern among senior Diet members and bureaucrats in Tokyo. continued ...


• 10. NATIONAL NEWS - SEANA K. MAGEE
  Environmentalists looking to Hatoyama for leadership
  Sept. 22, 2009
  By SEANA K. MAGEE, Kyodo News
  NEW YORK (Kyodo) If Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama makes good on his promise to cut Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 and send a strong message to a U.N. climate change summit this week, Tokyo has a chance of playing a leading role as a catalyst for change, according to an official of the World Wide Fund for Nature. continued ...


• 14. LIFELINES - ANGELA JEFFS & KEN JOSEPHS JR.
  Lifelines lead back to World War II
  Sept. 22, 2009
  By ANGELA JEFFS & KEN JOSEPHS JR.
  Seeking an old friend
  Kevin Roop, writing to us from the U.S., is trying to find an old friend of his 85-year-old father, Vernon Roop, a veteran of World War II who after the war was based with his unit, the 5th AAF, at Tachikawa Air Base in Tokyo. continued ...


• 16. NATIONAL NEWS
  Ozawa positive about granting local voting rights to non-Japanese
  Sept. 22, 2009
  Kyodo News
  Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa says he will try to take the issue of giving foreigners local voting rights to next year's regular Diet session. continued ...


• 17. NATIONAL NEWS
  Tax panel headed by finance minister to be launched next month
  Sept. 22, 2009
  Kyodo News
  Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii and four other top Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers at the ministry decided Monday to launch a new government panel in early October to discuss tax reform, ministry officials said. continued ...
  


• 18. NATIONAL NEWS - MICHIKO MUNAKATA and NATSUMI MIZUMOTO
  Will DPJ policy push women into work?
  Sept. 22, 2009
  By MICHIKO MUNAKATA and NATSUMI MIZUMOTO, Kyodo News
  Even before she begins her career, Shiho Umeki, 22, has always planned to reduce her work after getting married, just like her mother before her. That was until the Democratic Party of Japan won the Aug. 30 election. continued ...
  


• 23. NATIONAL NEWS
  DPJ's ban on press briefings loosened
  Sept. 22, 2009
  Kyodo News
  The administration has decided to allow bureaucrats to hold news conferences in principle, reversing a decision made less than a week ago to prohibit them, Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers said Monday. continued ...


• 33. EDITORIAL
  Less than sterling democracy
  Sept. 22, 2009
  A month after the ballot was held, preliminary results for the Afghan presidential election are in. According to that tally — and to the surprise of no one — incumbent President Hamid Karzai has won. With more than 50 percent of the votes counted, his margin of victory allows him to skip a runoff against the top challenger, Mr. Abdullah Abdullah. continued ...