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Japanese PM Abe and Emperor Akihito convene Extraordinary Diet session

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a policy speech during the Extraordinary Diet session in Tokyo on Monday.

By JC Finley
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a policy speech during the Extraordinary Diet session in Tokyo, Japan, on September 29, 2014. (UPI/Keizo Mori)
1 of 4 | Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a policy speech during the Extraordinary Diet session in Tokyo, Japan, on September 29, 2014. (UPI/Keizo Mori) | License Photo

TOKYO, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a policy speech to an extraordinary National Diet session on Monday.

The prime minister said his "administration's big mission is to deliver the sense of economic recovery throughout the nation" and focused most of his speech on the economy.

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Abe said he would focus on rural regeneration, cautioning that job and wage increases "can't yet be said to have reached the corners of our country." In order to revitalize rural areas, he called for more young people to relocate to rural areas to reverse "super-greying" trends, and said he would deregulate tourist visas and duty-free shops to encourage tourist travel to rural areas.

Despite a Nikkei poll showing 66 percent of the public opposes a planned tax increase in October, Abe declined to say Monday whether he would approve the October increase.

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