20110423

Cigarette sales drop 10.1% in FY 2010, largest fall on record

by Kyodo

Sales of cigarettes in Japan in fiscal 2010 plunged 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 210.2 billion cigarettes, marking the largest fall on record, due to a sharp rise in prices, the Tobacco Institute of Japan said Friday. The decline in sales, the sharpest since comparable date became available in 1990, stemmed from weakening demand as cigarette prices spiked following the imposition of the largest-ever tobacco tax hike on Oct. 1. (Kyodo)

Japan, Australia agree to hold defense talks as early as autumn

by Kyodo

Japan and Australia agreed Friday to hold talks involving their foreign and defense ministers as early as this autumn to discuss security issues, Japanese Defense Ministry officials said. The accord came at talks between Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is visiting Tokyo, and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa. Gillard expressed hope that the two countries will be able to create a framework for bilateral cooperation to tackle natural disasters at the next "two-plus-two" meeting, the officials said. (Kyodo)

Quake budget takes priority over foreign minister's trip: lawmaker

by Kyodo

Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto's planned overseas trip may impede parliament deliberations over an extra budget for fiscal 2011 designed to finance post-quake reconstruction measures, a senior ruling party lawmaker said Friday. "I have no doubt that our priority is (to push for) the extra budget," Jun Azumi, Diet affairs chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said in a news conference. "We will not allow the trip to hamper the early enactment (of the extra budget)," he said. (Kyodo)