In an apparent attempt to win the support of union members for his Liberal Democratic Party in the Upper House election in July, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi joined opposition leaders in attending a May Day rally in Tokyo on Saturday.
Koizumi, who became the first prime minister to attend a May Day event since 1996, said his administration will "humbly listen" to demands from labor groups and create a system to "improve living conditions for the people and workers."
"Although the Koizumi Cabinet is based on a ruling coalition of the LDP, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party, the most important thing (for the administration) is to ensure the greatest happiness for the greatest number," Koizumi told some 100,000 members of labor unions affiliated with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), the nation's biggest labor organization, at the rally in Yoyogi Park.