Biz, labor elites join key panel

The administration said Tuesday it has appointed Kyocera Corp. Honorary Chairman Kazuo Inamori and Kikkoman Corp. Chairman Yuzaburo Mogi to one of its key bodies to eliminate government waste.

The body, called the Government Revitalization Unit, along with the National Strategy Office headed by Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan, is expected to be a pillar in the administration's drive to drastically streamline budgets and central government agencies.

The unit will try to cut several trillion yen from the fiscal 2010 budget, officials said.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will head the 11-member Government Revitalization Unit, which was launched Sept. 18, and Yoshito Sengoku, minister in charge of administrative reform, will serve as its deputy chief.

Inamori, 77, is one of only a few in the business world who supported Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan when it was in the opposition camp.

He has been a supporter and adviser for many DPJ executives, including Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa.

Members of the unit also include Tadayoshi Kusano, 65, former director general of the Japan Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), Keio University professor Yoshihiro Katayama, 58, and Hideki Kato, 59, who heads Japan Initiative, a research institute.

Kato will serve as chief of the unit's secretariat.

Kan and three other Cabinet members — Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi — will also join the unit.

Mogi, 74, was appointed for his experience as chief of an administrative reform body during Prime Minister Taro Aso's administration.