JAPANESE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - MARCH 23, 2010.

TOKYO, March 23 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers:

NIKKEI NET:

- Some Bank of Japan board members said the effects of the central bank's accommodative monetary conditions have been strengthening, thanks to improvements in corporate profits and lower real interest rates, the minutes of the February policy board meeting released by the central bank showed Tuesday.

- Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday in an address to Self-Defense Force cadets his six-month-old government has ''unshakably'' inherited Japan's traditional security policy centered on its alliance with the United States.

- The White House expressed regret Monday that negotiations between Google Inc. and the Chinese government over censorship of the search engine led to the company's decision to transfer its search services to Hong Kong.

THE DAILY YOMIURI:

- An increasing number of major chemical makers are joining the agribusiness, using manufacturing technologies that can help grow vegetables and flowers more effectively--a move that could help revitalize the country's agriculture.

THE JAPAN TIMES:

- Lingering uncertainty over the economy is leading many big companies to limit the number of new graduates they plan to hire next spring to levels equal to or lower than this year, according to a survey compiled Monday.

- Toyota (TSE:7203) shareholders incensed over a sudden drop in the automaker's stock price are heading to court with lawsuits claiming company executives deliberately misled investors and the public about the depth of accelerator problems in millions of its vehicles.

- An Internet poll by a nonprofit organization has found that some 70 per cent of Japanese support the government's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by 25 per cent from 1990.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN:

- Warmer economic ties between Taiwan and mainland China have in turn heated up business in Japan, especially for Japan-based exporter Tameo Gen.

- With housing starts in Japan at their lowest level in nearly half a century, Japanese house building firms are pushing aggressively into foreign markets.

- Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc. (TSE:1334) started an ambitious project in the 1980s but abandoned it 10 years later because of low-profit expectations. That plan has since been revived and could play a key role in saving Japan from a severe shortage of its beloved tuna.

ASIA PULSE ms 23-03 1320