POLITICS Democratic Party of Japan Vice President Seiji Maehara’s repeated criticism of his party’s manifesto has caused a stir within the largest opposition party. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS A stopgap bill extending a series of tax breaks until the end of May passed through the Diet Monday ensuring that a tax to fund road works ran out, meaning gas will become about 25 yen cheaper from Tuesday. (1) [MAINICHI]

POLITICS Prime Minister Fukuda attempts to break a deadlock in the Diet by offering to let revenue from road-related taxes be spent on something other than roads in fiscal 2009. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Car owners can expect a break at the pump in the near future if the Democratic Party of Japan makes good on its threat to block a government-backed bill to extend higher rates on road-related taxes that expire March 31. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday he would push for a permanent law to enable Japan to deploy troops abroad, despite its pacifist constitution that limits its military activities. [AFP]

POLITICS The Bank of Japan’s Policy Board on Friday held its first postwar meeting without a central bank governor in attendance. [ASAHI]

POLITICS Five years ago Thursday (Japan time), U.S. bombers started pounding Iraq as part of an invasion force intended to topple Saddam Hussein, an action that would eventually embroil Japan. Yet, key questions remain unanswered over Tokyo’s decision to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to the war-torn nation. [ASAHI]

POLITICS The ruling coalition today will offer adjustments to road-specific taxes to break the Diet deadlock over the fiscal 2008 budget, but the main opposition party has already scoffed at the proposal. [ASAHI]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday indicated he was prepared to compromise with the opposition Democratic Party of Japan on the issue of how road taxes are used, sources close to the prime minister said. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to punish the top defense bureaucrat, the Maritime Self-Defense Force chief and some 80 other people on Friday for a series of MSDF-related incidents since last year including a destroyer-trawler collision and the leakage of information about the Aegis radar system, ministry sources said. [KYODO]

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]

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]