Japan reconstruction minister quits in fresh blow to PM

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO | Tue Jul 5, 2011 7:30am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Beleaguered Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan took another blow Tuesday when his reconstruction minister resigned after barely a week in the job over criticism for remarks that offended victims of the March earthquake and tsunami.

The outcry among opposition parties over Ryu Matsumoto's comments had threatened to further hinder the unpopular Kan's efforts to pass key bills in a divided parliament as Japan tries to rebuild from the disasters and end a nuclear crisis.

Analysts said the government probably hoped that Matsumoto's quick resignation would avoid further deadlock over a $25 billion extra budget to aid disaster-hit areas and a compensation scheme for victims of the nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

But the furor over Matsumoto, who was also doubling as environment minister, could put added pressure on the prime minister to step down himself.

"Naturally, his responsibility as the person who made that appointment is grave," Yukio Hatoyama, Kan's predecessor, told reporters.

Kan, under fire for his handling of the nuclear crisis, last month survived a no-confidence vote by pledging to quit but has since blurred the timing of his resignation.

"The (opposition) Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito may be tempted to say that Kan should go right now and until he goes, we're not doing anything," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano.

Kan has said he wants to stay in his post until three bills are passed: the small extra budget, legislation to allow fresh borrowing to fund about 40 percent of this year's budget, and measures to promote renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power as Japan tries to wean itself from nuclear power.

Opposition parties argue that the premier should keep his promise to quit soon, and are pressing Kan's ruling Democratic Party to revise costly spending pledges before helping to pass the deficit-bond issuance bill.

Kan picked a junior minister, Tatsuo Hirano, to be the new reconstruction minister and take charge of Japan's biggest reconstruction project since the years after World War Two -- a costly effort that will add to a public debt already twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion economy.

Hirano, 57, is from Iwate prefecture, one the areas hardest hit by the March disaster, and is known to be close to ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, a heavyweight among rebels within Kan's own party. Ozawa's constituency is also Iwate.

Matsumoto, visiting the tsunami-hit regions Sunday, had told Iwate Prefecture Governor Takuya Tasso that the government would not help communities that failed to come up with ideas themselves.

Speaking before TV cameras, Matsumoto also reprimanded Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai for keeping him waiting and then ordered journalists not to report the exchange, warning their companies would suffer if they did.

"Minister Matsumoto apologized for hurting the feelings of disaster victims and the government feels sorry as well," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a regular news conference.

"But there are a lot of tasks right in front of us that we have to tackle without even a day's break. We have to carry on and fulfill that responsibility while taking the criticism seriously."

(Writing by Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Yoko Nishikawa)

Japan reconstruction minister quits in fresh blow to PM

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO | Tue Jul 5, 2011 7:30am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Beleaguered Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan took another blow Tuesday when his reconstruction minister resigned after barely a week in the job over criticism for remarks that offended victims of the March earthquake and tsunami.

The outcry among opposition parties over Ryu Matsumoto's comments had threatened to further hinder the unpopular Kan's efforts to pass key bills in a divided parliament as Japan tries to rebuild from the disasters and end a nuclear crisis.

Analysts said the government probably hoped that Matsumoto's quick resignation would avoid further deadlock over a $25 billion extra budget to aid disaster-hit areas and a compensation scheme for victims of the nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

But the furor over Matsumoto, who was also doubling as environment minister, could put added pressure on the prime minister to step down himself.

"Naturally, his responsibility as the person who made that appointment is grave," Yukio Hatoyama, Kan's predecessor, told reporters.

Kan, under fire for his handling of the nuclear crisis, last month survived a no-confidence vote by pledging to quit but has since blurred the timing of his resignation.

"The (opposition) Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito may be tempted to say that Kan should go right now and until he goes, we're not doing anything," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano.

Kan has said he wants to stay in his post until three bills are passed: the small extra budget, legislation to allow fresh borrowing to fund about 40 percent of this year's budget, and measures to promote renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power as Japan tries to wean itself from nuclear power.

Opposition parties argue that the premier should keep his promise to quit soon, and are pressing Kan's ruling Democratic Party to revise costly spending pledges before helping to pass the deficit-bond issuance bill.

Kan picked a junior minister, Tatsuo Hirano, to be the new reconstruction minister and take charge of Japan's biggest reconstruction project since the years after World War Two -- a costly effort that will add to a public debt already twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion economy.

Hirano, 57, is from Iwate prefecture, one the areas hardest hit by the March disaster, and is known to be close to ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, a heavyweight among rebels within Kan's own party. Ozawa's constituency is also Iwate.

Matsumoto, visiting the tsunami-hit regions Sunday, had told Iwate Prefecture Governor Takuya Tasso that the government would not help communities that failed to come up with ideas themselves.

Speaking before TV cameras, Matsumoto also reprimanded Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai for keeping him waiting and then ordered journalists not to report the exchange, warning their companies would suffer if they did.

"Minister Matsumoto apologized for hurting the feelings of disaster victims and the government feels sorry as well," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a regular news conference.

"But there are a lot of tasks right in front of us that we have to tackle without even a day's break. We have to carry on and fulfill that responsibility while taking the criticism seriously."

(Writing by Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Yoko Nishikawa)

Japan reconstruction minister quits in fresh blow to PM (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Beleaguered Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan took another blow Tuesday when his reconstruction minister resigned after barely a week in the job over criticism for remarks that offended victims of the March earthquake and tsunami.

The outcry among opposition parties over Ryu Matsumoto's comments had threatened to further hinder the unpopular Kan's efforts to pass key bills in a divided parliament as Japan tries to rebuild from the disasters and end a nuclear crisis.

Analysts said the government probably hoped that Matsumoto's quick resignation would avoid further deadlock over a $25 billion extra budget to aid disaster-hit areas and a compensation scheme for victims of the nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

But the furor over Matsumoto, who was also doubling as environment minister, could put added pressure on the prime minister to step down himself.

"Naturally, his responsibility as the person who made that appointment is grave," Yukio Hatoyama, Kan's predecessor, told reporters.

Kan, under fire for his handling of the nuclear crisis, last month survived a no-confidence vote by pledging to quit but has since blurred the timing of his resignation.

"The (opposition) Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito may be tempted to say that Kan should go right now and until he goes, we're not doing anything," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano.

Kan has said he wants to stay in his post until three bills are passed: the small extra budget, legislation to allow fresh borrowing to fund about 40 percent of this year's budget, and measures to promote renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power as Japan tries to wean itself from nuclear power.

Opposition parties argue that the premier should keep his promise to quit soon, and are pressing Kan's ruling Democratic Party to revise costly spending pledges before helping to pass the deficit-bond issuance bill.

Kan picked a junior minister, Tatsuo Hirano, to be the new reconstruction minister and take charge of Japan's biggest reconstruction project since the years after World War Two -- a costly effort that will add to a public debt already twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion economy.

Hirano, 57, is from Iwate prefecture, one the areas hardest hit by the March disaster, and is known to be close to ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, a heavyweight among rebels within Kan's own party. Ozawa's constituency is also Iwate.

Matsumoto, visiting the tsunami-hit regions Sunday, had told Iwate Prefecture Governor Takuya Tasso that the government would not help communities that failed to come up with ideas themselves.

Speaking before TV cameras, Matsumoto also reprimanded Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai for keeping him waiting and then ordered journalists not to report the exchange, warning their companies would suffer if they did.

"Minister Matsumoto apologized for hurting the feelings of disaster victims and the government feels sorry as well," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a regular news conference.

"But there are a lot of tasks right in front of us that we have to tackle without even a day's break. We have to carry on and fulfill that responsibility while taking the criticism seriously."

(Writing by Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Yoko Nishikawa)

Huge rare earth deposits found in Pacific: Japan experts (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday.

"The deposits have a heavy concentration of rare earths. Just one square kilometer (0.4 square mile) of deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption," said Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo.

The discovery was made by a team led by Kato and including researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

They found the minerals in sea mud extracted from depths of 3,500 to 6,000 meters (11,500-20,000 ft) below the ocean surface at 78 locations. One-third of the sites yielded rich contents of rare earths and the metal yttrium, Kato said in a telephone interview.

The deposits are in international waters in an area stretching east and west of Hawaii, as well as east of Tahiti in French Polynesia, he said.

He estimated rare earths contained in the deposits amounted to 80 to 100 billion metric tons, compared to global reserves currently confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey of just 110 million tonnes that have been found mainly in China, Russia and other former Soviet countries, and the United States.

Details of the discovery were published on Monday in the online version of British journal Nature Geoscience.

The level of uranium and thorium -- radioactive ingredients that are usually contained in such deposits that can pose environmental hazards -- was found to be one-fifth of those in deposits on land, Kato said.

A chronic shortage of rare earths, vital for making a range of high-technology electronics, magnets and batteries, has encouraged mining projects for them in recent years.

China, which accounts for 97 percent of global rare earth supplies, has been tightening trade in the strategic metals, sparking an explosion in prices.

Japan, which accounts for a third of global demand, has been stung badly, and has been looking to diversify its supply sources, particularly of heavy rare earths such as dysprosium used in magnets.

Kato said the sea mud was especially rich in heavier rare earths such as gadolinium, lutetium, terbium and dysprosium.

"These are used to manufacture flat-screen TVs, LED (light-emitting diode) valves, and hybrid cars," he said.

Extracting the deposits requires pumping up material from the ocean floor. "Sea mud can be brought up to ships and we can extract rare earths right there using simple acid leaching," he said.

"Using diluted acid, the process is fast, and within a few hours we can extract 80-90 percent of rare earths from the mud."

The team found that sites close to Hawaii and Tahiti were especially rich in rare earths, he said.

He gave no estimate of when extraction of the materials from the seabed might start.

(Reporting by El Tan in Hong Kong and Yuko Inoue in Tokyo; Editing by Michael Watson)

Japan anti-nuclear protesters rally after quake (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters marched in Japan on Saturday, three months after an earthquake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, urging the government to cut reliance on atomic power.

Three reactors went into meltdown after the earthquake hit the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan, forcing 80,000 residents to evacuate from its vicinity as engineers battled radiation leaks, hydrogen explosions and overheating fuel rods.

Company workers, students and parents with children on their shoulders rallied across Japan, venting their anger at the government's handling of the crisis, carrying flags bearing the words "No Nukes!" and "No More Fukushima."

"If they don't get the message now, what else has to happen before we stop using atomic energy which has proved so dangerous?" said kindergarten worker Yu Matsuda, 28.

She brought her children, aged 2 and 4, to protest at the headquarters of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (Tepco).

"I want my children to play outside safely and swim in our sea without any worries," Matsuda said, listening to speeches by civil rights activists and people from tsunami-affected areas.

The protests are likely to add to public pressure that caused a shutdown of the Hamaoka nuclear plant in May and delays to the restart of reactors across the country after scheduled maintenance until tighter safety measures are put in place.

In France, where nuclear plants produce 75 percent of energy output, police said 1,150 people joined a protest in Paris. The anti-nuclear campaigners who organized the rally said 5,000 took part.

Japan is running 19 of 54 reactors in operation before the Fukushima disaster, raising the risk of serious power shortages into 2012. Many experts say economic risks are too high for Japan to pull the plug on all its reactors.

Analysts say industry is facing more power rationing and the need for energy imports levies a high price on the world's third-largest economy. Japan lacks the electricity generation capacity to substitute for the nuclear fleet.

"The nuclear lobby says the cost of green energy is too high. But I say the cost of cleaning up this mess and the possibility of more such accidents at the expense of our lives is much higher," said entrepreneur Yonosuke Sawada, 59.

"STOP INFIGHTING"

Protesters, shouting "Tepco liars!" and "Give us our friends back!" also criticized the government for its handling of the disaster, which left more than 23,000 dead or presumed dead and laid waste to a swathe of the northeast.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who on Saturday visited quake-affected areas, last week survived a no-confidence vote by saying he would step down when the worst of the crisis was over.

That fueled uncertainty about the smoothness and speed of recovery as there is still no agreement on how to pay for Japan's biggest reconstruction project since the years after World War Two.

"It's not a matter of what political party you support. Fukushima is still emitting radiation and politicians should concentrate on ending the crisis -- not infighting," said company worker Jun Miyakawa, 43, sporting a hat in the shape of an exploded reactor.

Japan's anti-nuclear movement, small and ignored by the public until the Fukushima crisis, has become more vocal, gathering increasing numbers of people to demonstrations.

But the number of protesters in Japan, a conservative society that values cooperation over outcries of public anger, are much smaller than in Germany, where as many as 200,000 pressed the government to overhaul its nuclear policies.

Voters have generally supported the role of nuclear energy and even after the accident remained divided over whether all of the nuclear power plants should be closed, polls showed.

"People in Japan do have opinions, but are not used to expressing them in public like the Germans," said Reo Komazawa, 39. "I came here with my friends to play music and to show through music we are anti-nuke," he said as a colorful group of musicians and dancers marched in the crowd.

(Additional reporting by Lucien Libert and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris; Editing by Alex Richardson and Janet Lawrence)