The Liberal Democratic Party has rejected a proposal that a holiday be declared Friday when Japan plays Tunisia in the team's final first-round match for the World Cup finals, LDP sources said.
The proposal came from Seiichi Ota, head of an administrative reform headquarters of the ruling LDP, who said many firms and schools in South Korea took the afternoon off Monday to cheer their country in a match against the United States, the sources said
However, LDP Secretary General Taku Yamasaki promptly rejected the proposal, citing the importance of Diet deliberations. The current session is scheduled to end June 19, but no key legislation the LDP wants to enact has been passed yet.
The game against Tunisia is important for Japan in its efforts to advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup.