Koizumi would be well advised to heed their calls to turn the talk into action

Yomiuri Shimbun

It says the premier's goal of structural reforms cannot be achieved by slogans alone and calls on him to develop specific policy measures to realise his goals of disposing of bad loans and fiscal restructuring.

Another Yomiuri commentator blames the country's economic "mayhem" on Mr Koizumi's lack of clear direction on tax system reform and his failure to demonstrate leadership over the issue.

The commentator says the Japanese public is at the end of its tether with the constant prescriptions for economic reforms.

"Koizumi would be well advised to heed their calls to turn the talk into action," it says.

Political reform

But many papers believe that stalemate in the Japanese political system is the main reason why Mr Koizumi has made little progress in creating jobs and nurturing new industries.

Commentators want Mr Koizumi to take the gloves off and get down to reform

They say the Koizumi administration must tackle the issue of political reform as it enters its second year.

Any assessment of the current administration must take into account the bigger picture, encompassing the transformation of the country's political system, Yomiuri noted.

A key element of political reform is the relationship between the government and political parties.

On taking office, Mr Koizumi threatened to disband the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), if it failed to comply with his reform initiatives.

Now, as the prime minister's popularity wanes, his relationship with the LDP, a party which has dominated Japan's political landscape for almost 50 years, has "entered a critical stage", Sankei Shimbun says.

Internal resistance

An editorial in another daily, Asahi Shimbun, highlights Mr Koizumi's attempts to change the conventional bureaucrat-led policymaking process into a politician-led mechanism, centring on the prime minister's official residence, the Kantei.

It is a battle, where either the party kills the Koizumi administration or the Koizumi administration breaks down the party

Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi

But, the paper says, the prime minister is increasingly facing resistance within his own party.

It describes a "tug of war" between the cabinet, which has given priority to fiscal restructuring, and the LDP and other ruling parties, which have focused on economic recovery.

In a recent debate in parliament on reform of the postal services the government encountered strong opposition from some LDP delegates.

And Mr Koizumi, a strong advocate of postal service privatisation, issued a challenge to his opponents in the LDP.

"It is a battle, where either the party kills the Koizumi administration or the Koizumi administration breaks down the party," he said.

It remains to be seen whether this type of confrontation will serve to restore the strength of Mr Koizumi's leadership as he embarks on a second year, Asahi comments.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.