PRESS CONFERENCE
Yukio Edano
State Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation

Yukio Edano was appointed to the Cabinet in February to take charge of the Government Revitalisation Unit, launched by the new government to shake up the budget process and government administration. Together with National Policy Minister Sengoku, he carries the burden of administrative reform, one of the Hatoyama government's priority focuses.

Already a six-term Diet man at 45, Edano is one of the most influential of the LDP's younger generation. He quickly came to notice last year as head of the revitalisation unit's waste-cutting taskforce scrutinizing government programmes.

Reports of his appointment noted also a distance between him and DPJ secretary-general Ozawa. Edano has promised a second round of cost-cutting following implementation of the Budget.

Please reserve in advance, still & TV cameras inclusive. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Professional Activities Committee

MOVIE PREVIEW & PRESS CONFERENCE
Yoji Yamada, Film Director, Berlinale Camera Award Winner
Sayuri Yoshinaga, Lead Actress of "Ototo"
Shofuktei Tsurube, Lead Actor of "Ototo" & Rakugo Performer

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation.

Movie Preview: "Ototo" 10:00-12:06 Monday, March 8 at Shochiku Preview Room, Togeki Building 3F
(Advance reservations are required, please contact the Front Desk for details)

Press Conference14:30-15:30 Thursday, March 11

*Reservations for both events are limited to two per member and may be subject to further change.

Film director Yoji Yamada is proving that his trademark movies are not only the enormously popular series of "Otoko wa Tsuraiyo", featuring lovable bachelor Tora-san. He won an Oscar nomination for his 2002 film, "Tasogare Seibei" ("Twilight Samurai"), and in 2008 he produced "Kabei," subsequently bringing back the two main characters in "Ototo," his latest movie. "Ototo" was chosen as the closing film at the Berlin Film Festival and also won Yamada the Bernale Camera Award.

"Ototo" is a about a widow, Ginko, who is constantly troubled by her younger brother Tetsuro, who's portrayed as a drunk and a failure. She overlooks his flaws until one day she decides she's had enough. But they reunite. That's when she discovers, he's fighting cancer.

It's an opportunity to hear directly from one of Japan's best filmmakers and movie stars. FCCJ members can enjoy the movie free-of-charge on March 8 from 10 am at Shochiku Preview Room courtesy of Shochiku.

Tsurube, Lead Actor of "Ototo", Yamada, Film Director, Berlinale Camera Award Winner, Yoshinaga, Lead Actress of "Ototo"

PRESS CONFERENCE
Mamoru Sonobe, Kiyoshi Nishizawa,
Choe In Tae and Om Kwang Ja

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation.

One of the important pledges the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) made in its election campaign last August was to make high school education in Japan tuition-free. The party has now submitted a bill to the Diet to fulfill that pledge. However, there is concern among some minority groups in Japan that the Japanese government, under pressure from nationalist political blocks, might exclude North Korea affiliated high schools from the tuition-free plan, though the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology made it clear that the plan would cover not only ordinary Japanese schools, but also vocational schools all over the country. North Korea affiliated schools in Japan are defined as vocational schools under Japan's School Education Act.

Many foreign residents in Japan feel that depriving only these high school children of a chance to study with less financial burden goes against the principles of International Covenants on Human Rights, and the spirit of both the Constitution and the Fundamental Act of Education of Japan. In order to increase public awareness over this issue, a support group representing North Korea affiliated school authorities, parents of children attending such schools in Japan and their Japanese supporters will speak at a press conference at the FCCJ on Wednesday, March 3, at 3 pm.

The list of speakers includes Mamoru Sonobe, Deputy leader of The Kanagawa Group for Supporting Korean School(神奈川　朝鮮学園を支援する会), Kiyoshi Nishizawa, Vice-chairman of The Japan-Korea Society for Scientific and Educational Interchange(日本朝鮮学術教育交流協会), Choe In Tae, Vice-chairman, Conference of Principals of Korean High Schools in Japan(全国朝鮮高級学校校長会), and Om Kwang Ja, mother of a child attending Tokyo Korean Junior & Senior High School(東京朝鮮中高級学校).

Choe In Tae, Vice-chairman, Conference of Principals of Korean High Schools in Japan

Om Kwang Ja, mother of a child attending Tokyo Korean Junior & Senior High School

Mamoru Sonobe & Kiyoshi Nishizawa