Of the many Japanese autumn traditions, one not found in tourist guidebooks is the drawing up of wish lists by influential business organizations from Hokkaido to Okinawa.
It's a time of year when corporate leaders present requests to ruling party members for local pet projects and dreams requiring national policy decisions and huge amounts of central government funding. They ask for Diet deliberations over the following months on their ideas and the inclusion of at least some of them in the next year's fiscal year budget, which starts April 1.
Earlier this month, six major business lobbies in western Japan that dominate the economies of the Hokuriku, Kansai, Chubu, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions, presented their requests to Finance Minister Taro Aso, Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii, minister of state for regional revitalization Hiroshi Kajiyama, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.