Japan's newly elected DPJ government may not like U.S.-style market-led reforms, but economists in Japan say more of that may be needed to lift the economy. The Democratic Party of Japan, which won a landslide victory in Sunday's election to the lower house of parliament, and its leader Yukio Hatoyama had campaigned on boosting social welfare and moving away from excessive U.S.

The Japanese yen reached a seven-week high against the dollar Monday, as investors reacted to a shift in political power, a market strategist said. If the Democratic Party of Japan's rise to power also heralds a more active reserve management strategy … (the) dollar/yen would come under pressure as the country is one of the world's biggest holders of the dollar debt, Geoffrey Yu at UBS told the Financial Times. The Nikkei 225 average in Tokyo spiked early Monday after Sunday's election switched power to the DPJ, which won 308 seats in the Lower House, the first party to win more than 300 seats in an election since before World War II. The spike didn't last.

Ruling and opposition parties in Japan agreed to a record $144 billion supplemental budget that will go to a parliamentary vote. Although the spending measure is likely to lose in the upper house, approval in the House of Representatives will carry the measure, as that vote would trump the vote in the

Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, Oct. 13 Kyodo - Ichiro Ozawa, president of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, was discharged from a Tokyo hospital Monday after a weeklong treatment for complications from a cold, a DPJ official said.

Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, Sept.