The government's newly appointed adviser on employment and labor issues said in a recent interview that people should not overreact to the nation's jobless figure, but prepare for worse to come.
Haruo Shimada told Kyodo News that Japan faces a tougher job situation -- already at a record-high unemployment rate of 5 percent as of July -- as banks' disposal of bad loans fuel further bankruptcies.
To help combat this, Shimoda said he will seek to create 150,000 jobs by establishing 10,000 care houses for the elderly nationwide.