The prime minister in his usual attire at a news conference on Friday. (Satoru Iizuka)With the passing of more than three weeks since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government is shifting from the emergency mode of the first few weeks and trying to give the impression that it is focusing on rebuilding after the twin disasters.
The most obvious change has been the shedding of the blue emergency jackets that all Cabinet ministers donned in public since right after the March 11 twin disasters.
From the Cabinet meeting on Friday, Cabinet ministers were back in their conservative dark suits, with a few exceptions, such as Ryu Matsumoto, the state minister in charge of disaster management.
Asked about the change in clothing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, "We are moving toward the restoration and rebuilding process."
The decision to replace the emergency jackets was also apparently made due to a suggestion from outside of the government.
In late March, Goshi Hosono, Kan's special adviser in charge of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, was wearing the blue jacket when he ran into Taro Kono, a Lower House member from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party.
Having a wide network of acquaintances abroad, Kono told Hosono, "You should stop holding news conferences while wearing that jacket. People overseas are saying, 'Is Tokyo also facing danger?' so the clothing will give the wrong impression."
Kono pointed out that interest overseas had shifted from the twin disasters to the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the leaking of radiation.
If the wrong impression should spread, it might affect not only the number of foreign visitors to Japan, but also could have a negative effect on wider economic activity.
Edano has also cut down on the number of news conferences he is holding.
In the first few days after the twin disasters, Edano appeared before reporters every few hours.
From March 16, the news conferences were reduced to twice a day, with one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Edano also agreed to hold news conferences once a day on weekends.
However, Edano ended those daily news conferences on Saturday, saying to reporters he might respond should something urgent occur.
That move is seen as another step toward gradually returning to a more normal routine, especially with indications that dealing with the Fukushima plant situation could take months.
Edano's daily news performances led the Daily Telegraph of Britain to refer to him as Japan's Jack Bauer, the lead character in the popular U.S. TV action series "24." The Internet version of the newspaper praised Edano for his tireless effort to deal with the twin disasters.
Kan, however, has so far not received similar praise.
Since the March 11 earthquake, Kan has delivered four messages to the public and held news conferences on Fridays to mark each week since the earthquake.
He also held a joint news conference after a meeting with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
However, while the Friday news conference lasted for 40 minutes, Kan has usually ended the other news conferences after only a few questions from reporters.
Kan has visited regions hit by the disaster on two occasions, but government officials are not convinced that has improved the image of the government because of the view that the visits only served to create confusion among the local communities that had to prepare for a visit by the prime minister.
Kan has also not resumed the daily standup exchange with reporters he had held before the disasters.
His aides have been forced to tell reporters on a daily basis that the informal news conference would not be held that day because Kan was focusing on dealing with the natural disasters.
Analysts have long pointed out that while Kan is effective when he is on the attack during debates, he is less effective when he is placed on the defensive and must respond to direct questions from reporters.
An aide to Kan said, "He is racking his brains daily to try to come up with the words of a leader of a nation facing a major tragedy."
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