POLITICS Trapped by the Diet’s stalemate over the next Bank of Japan governor, the ruling bloc has been unable to address a pile of government issues on its plate, leaving the political center of Nagata-cho in disarray. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Masaaki Shirakawa, newly appointed Bank of Japan deputy governor, will act as an interim governor of Japan’s central bank until the government can get the opposition to agree on a candidate, outgoing governor Toshihiko Fukui announced Wednesday.

POLITICS Outgoing Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui lamented the lack of a successor Wednesday, saying, “Historically speaking, the situation is extremely unusual and regrettable.“ [KYODO]

POLITICS The Diet rejected the government’s nomination of Koji Tanami, former vice finance minister, as the next Bank of Japan chief Wednesday, leaving a leadership vacuum in the central bank at a crucial moment for financial markets and dealing a serious blow to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. [KYODO]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda nominated former Finance Ministry bureaucrat Koji Tanami as governor of Bank of Japan Tuesday, but was officially rejected by the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan later the same day, making it increasingly likely that the BOJ will see a leadership vacuum on Wednesday.

POLITICS Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday supported the government policy of paying wages to workers at entertainment facilities on U.S. military bases in Japan. [KYODO]

POLITICS The government sounded out the Democratic Party of Japan on Monday about keeping Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui and one of his deputies in office to resolve political wrangling over who should be the next chief of the central bank, but the largest opposition party rejected the idea immediately, lawmakers said. [KYODO]

POLLS The support rate for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s Cabinet stood at 33.4 percent in the latest Kyodo News poll, down 2.2 percentage points from the previous survey and the lowest level since the start of his administration last September. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS The government is expected to propose new candidates for the Bank of Japan governor and one of its deputy governors Monday afternoon following the opposition-led upper house’s rejection of its original nominations last week. [KYODO]

POLITICS The deadlock over a bill to revise the Special Taxation Measures Law to maintain the provisional gasoline tax rate makes it uncertain whether it can be passed before the end of this fiscal year, which would mean that the law would expire. Lawmakers from the government, ruling and opposition parties broached the subject Saturday. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS The Defense Ministry has failed to take action over allegations that ministry officials built up slush funds using appropriations for intelligence activities over many years, several government sources said Saturday. [KYODO]

POLITICS Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda, Maritime Staff Office Adm. Eiji Yoshikawa and other senior defense officials will be punished over a spate of scandals ranging from last month’s deadly destroyer-trawler collision and leaks of classified information. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS With time running out, government officials will spend the weekend deciding which individual would likely win Diet approval to become governor of the Bank of Japan. [ASAHI]

POLITICS The failure rate of the Social Insurance Agency concerning the pension account fiasco continues to worsen. [ASAHI]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda urged company managers to improve labor conditions for nonregular workers in a regular e-mail magazine released Thursday. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS Japan’s lower house of parliament approved Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto to lead the central bank, deepening a political standoff after the upper house rejected the nomination yesterday. [BLOOMBERG]

POLITICS The Bank of Japan is a week away from a vacuum at the top as the opposition-controlled Upper House on Wednesday voted down the government’s bid to replace BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui with his deputy of five years, Toshiro Muto. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda expressed his willingness Thursday to hold talks with opposition parties on revising the government’s proposal to maintain the current rates of gasoline and other road-related taxes as the Japanese parliament resumed budget deliberations. [KYODO]

POLITICS The Democratic Party of Japan says it will reject the government’s nomination of Toshiro Muto for new Bank of Japan governor, even though Muto pledged to ensure the BOJ’s independence during testimony to the Diet. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Former finance ministry heavyweight Toshiro Muto vowed Tuesday to defend the Bank of Japan’s independence at a crucial time for the economy, urging a divided parliament to back him as central bank chief. [AFP]