TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) – Unpopular Japanese Prime
Minister Naoto Kan is likely to face fresh pressure to quit
after his ruling party’s poor performance in local elections on
Sunday, weakening his clout as he struggles to contain a nuclear
crisis and find ways to finance rebuilding from a massive
earthquake and tsunami.

Kan is unlikely to step down easily, but the outcome of the
polls will likely make it harder to get opposition cooperation
in figuring out how to fund rebuilding from disasters that
caused up to $300 billion in damage, a tough task given a public
debt twice the $5 trillion economy.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s cabinet approved on Friday almost $50 billion of spending for post-earthquake rebuilding, a downpayment on the country’s biggest public works effort in six decades.

The emergency budget of 4 trillion yen ($48.5 billion), which is likely be followed by more reconstruction spending packages, is still dwarfed by the overall cost of damages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, estimated at $300 billion.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s cabinet approved on Friday almost $50 billion of spending for post-earthquake rebuilding, a downpayment on the country’s biggest public works effort in six decades.

The emergency budget of 4 trillion yen (29.6 billion pounds), which is likely be followed by more reconstruction spending packages, is still dwarfed by the overall cost of damages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, estimated at $300 billion.

TOKYO, April 20 (Reuters) – Criticism of Japan’s Prime
Minister Naoto Kan has spread to his own cabinet, adding
pressure to replace the unpopular leader as he struggles to work
out how to fund the country’s massive reconstruction project
after last month’s triple disasters.

Although most Japanese are critical of his handling of the
nuclear crisis triggered by the deadly March 11 earthquake and
tsunami, Kan might be hard to force out soon, not least because
there’s no obvious successor in sight in a country that has had
five prime ministers since 2006.

TOKYO, April 19 (Reuters) – Japanese consumers may have to
help foot the reconstruction bill after last month’s earthquake
and tsunami caused $300 billion of damage, further burdening a
hugely indebted economy, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The government is considering raising the sales tax by 3
percentage points to 8 percent when the new fiscal year starts
next April, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Tuesday.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Most Japanese want a new prime minister to lead rebuilding after last month’s earthquake and tsunami, newspaper polls showed on Monday, as the head of government was again scolded in parliament for his handling of the nuclear crisis that followed.

Japan is struggling to bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control after it was crippled by the March 11 natural disasters, a process that could take the rest of the year.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Most Japanese voters would support higher taxes to help massive rebuilding after last month’s earthquake and tsunami, newspaper opinion polls showed on Monday, and they want a new prime minister to lead the effort.

Japan is also struggling to bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control after it was damaged by the March 11 natural disasters and began leaking radiation, a process that could take the rest of the year.

By Linda Sieg and Paul Eckert

(Reuters) – Japan’s triple calamity of a huge earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear crisis has prompted an outpouring of sympathy, but that could turn to frustration if Tokyo fails to get the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years under control in coming months.

With the global spotlight intensifying as the crisis drags on, experts say Japan must be both open with information and competent in crisis management or face damage to its global image, a risk for an economy highly dependent on exports.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s fragile post-disaster political truce unraveled on Thursday as the head of the main opposition party called on unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan to quit over his handling of the country’s natural calamities and a nuclear crisis.

At the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in the northeast of the country, engineers were struggling to find a new way to cool one of the six crippled reactors as a large amount of radioactive water kept workers from reaching an internal cooling system knocked out by a March 11 tsunami to reconnect it.

TOKYO, April 11 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s
ruling party suffered embarrassing losses in weekend local
elections after the Japanese leader came under fire over a
nuclear disaster, further weakening his clout and bolstering
rivals who want him to quit once the crisis ends.

Among the victors was the outspoken nationalist incumbent
governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, who won a fourth term
despite having said the deadly earthquake and tsunami that
triggered the nuclear crisis was “divine punishment”.