 2004 DECEMBER 22 - 2005 JANUARY 4 NEWS 2005 IS THE YEAR TO MAKE A NEW HISTORY Looking at trends in politics and society in general, and you may realize that some changes are taking place. The steady progress of history gives us hope for the furture. NORTH KOREA MUST EARNESTLY IMPLEMENT ITS PROMISE ON ABDUCTEES JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi said, 'We demand that North Korea sincerely examine all the materials it will receive from Japan and take all necessary steps to restart a genuine investigation into the abduction issue.' GOVERNMENT SUED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS OVER A NEW U.S. BASE This is the first legal action to question the constitutionality of the construction since Japan agreed in 1996 on the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corp Futenma Air Station to the sea off Nago, Okinawa. OUTLOOK FOR NEW YEAR  2005 is the year of hope to make a new history -- Akahata editorial, January 1* Deepening contradictions in Koizumi government (January 4, 2005) * JCP will be present everywhere to answer people's needs (January 4, 2005) FY 2005 BUDGET * Protests staged against government draft budget (December 22, 2004) Elderly people cannot pay more for nursing homes than the amount of pension benefit they receive -- Akahata editorial, December 22 (Excerpts)* Government approves draft budget; JCP calls for its recompilation (December 25, 2004) Defend public assistance for needy households -- Akahata editorial, December 29 (Excerpts)STATE-FUNDED PARTIES * Subsidies to political parties except JCP reach 312.6 billion yen (December 24, 2004) OKINAWA * Nago residents stage protest against new U.S. base construction (December 22, 2004) * Government sued by local residents over a new U.S. base (December 28, 2004) NUCLEAR ENERGY * Nuclear reprocessing plant begins test-runs using depleted uranium (December 22, 2004) NORTH KOREA * JCP Ichida: North Korea must earnestly implement its promise on abductees (December 25, 2004) LABOR * Labor Ministry advised to ease regulations regarding karoshi (December 28, 2004) * Unemployment rate remains high (December 29, 2004) WOMEN'S EQUALITY Steady steps toward true gender equality -- Akahata editorial, January 4REPRESSION * A man unjustly held for distributing JCP flyers (December 28, 2004) SOKA GAKKAI * Soka University graduate found guilty for stealing cell phone logs (December 29, 2004) DISASTER RELIEF * JCP quake relief centers closed (December 29, 2004) ELECTION * JCP candidate wins a landslide victory in city assembly by-election (December 28, 2004) * JCP dashes on New Year's Day for key local elections (January 4, 2005) |