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Japanese PM Resigns

   VOA News 01 June 2010
   Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, 28 May 2010

Photo: AP

   Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, 28 May 2010

   Japanese  Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has announced his resignation,
   after  repeated  meetings  with  party leaders concerning his plunging
   approval ratings ahead of next month's parliamentary elections.
   Mr.  Hatoyama's  approval  ratings  plunged  as low as 17 percent last
   week,  with disapproval as high as 75 percent.  He had been in office
   only eight months.
   He  has been losing support since backing away from a campaign promise
   to  move a U.S. Marine air base off the island of Okinawa.  That move
   would have defied a 2006 agreement between Washington and Tokyo.
   In a joint statement last week, the U.S. and Japan announced they have
   agreed  to  stick  to  the  2006  plan,  which moves operations of the
   Futenma  air  base  from a crowded part of Okinawa to a less populated
   area.
   Okinawa  residents  object  to the presence of the air base, saying it
   causes crowding and higher crime.
   Mr.  Hatoyama  has  apologized  to  his  supporters for failing on his
   campaign promise.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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