'Maid' girls tour helps Akihabara newcomers

'Maid' girls tour helps Akihabara newcomers

TOKYO, Japan - An Akihabara tour guide who calls herself Minezaki demonstrates how to use the Gachapon toy vending machine during a two-hour 2,980 yen tour of Tokyo's Akihabara district on Oct. 19, 2010.

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

BUSAN, South Korea - Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki (R) speaks at a press conference attended by Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa in Busan, South Korea, on June 5, 2010, after a gathering of financial chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies. Minezaki told reporters that Tokyo will set ''very strict'' fiscal restoration goals.

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

BUSAN, South Korea - Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki speaks at a press conference after attending a gathering of financial chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies in Busan, South Korea, on June 5, 2010. Minezaki told reporters that Tokyo will set ''very strict'' fiscal restoration goals.

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

BUSAN, South Korea - Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki (L) speaks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at a gathering of financial chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies in Busan, South Korea, on June 5, 2010. Minezaki told reporters that Tokyo will set ''very strict'' fiscal restoration goals.

Koizumi noncommittal on consumption tax revision

Koizumi noncommittal on consumption tax revision

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi listens as Naoki Minezaki, a Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, asks him questions at a plenary session of the House of Councillors on Jan. 23. The premier declined to say whether the government will revise the consumption tax rate, currently set at 5%.

Koizumi noncommittal on consumption tax revision

Koizumi noncommittal on consumption tax revision

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi listens as Naoki Minezaki, a Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, asks him questions at a plenary session of the House of Councillors on Jan. 23. The premier declined to say whether the government will revise the consumption tax rate, currently set at 5%.

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

BUSAN, South Korea - Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki (R) speaks at a press conference attended by Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa in Busan, South Korea, on June 5, 2010, after a gathering of financial chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies. Minezaki told reporters that Tokyo will set ''very strict'' fiscal restoration goals. (Kyodo)

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

BUSAN, South Korea - Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki speaks at a press conference after attending a gathering of financial chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies in Busan, South Korea, on June 5, 2010. Minezaki told reporters that Tokyo will set ''very strict'' fiscal restoration goals. (Kyodo)

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

G-20 agrees to cut deficits, tighten regulations

BUSAN, South Korea - Japanese Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki (L) speaks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at a gathering of financial chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies in Busan, South Korea, on June 5, 2010. Minezaki told reporters that Tokyo will set ''very strict'' fiscal restoration goals. (Kyodo)

'Maid' girls tour helps Akihabara newcomers

'Maid' girls tour helps Akihabara newcomers

TOKYO, Japan - An Akihabara tour guide who calls herself Minezaki demonstrates how to use the Gachapon toy vending machine during a two-hour 2,980 yen tour of Tokyo's Akihabara district on Oct. 19, 2010. (Kyodo)