Dieting

And these are the people who make the laws and decide the fate of this country. Scary...

The photo shows some of them are napping, no?

What an intelligent looking bunch this lot are, NOT!

Out of the people in the picture 3 look asleep, 1 nearly asleep, 1 looks bored senseless, 1 is daydreaming and one is doing strange and unusual hand motions.

Great to see this nations politicians hard at work. Maybe they are dreaming up new laws.....

Just like commuters on a bus, but without the stifling heat of summer and engine/road noise to make them nod off.. or worse, a hospital waiting room on a Sunday in July... mild heart attack, strange skin condition, broken finger, food poisoning....

"Nod-a san, the finance minister requested that you wake up for a minute to receive these documents..."... "..Uh? Hmm.. Um. Domo.."

They have some pretty sweet chairs there huh?

Sorry, but what is StackOverflow????

A language-independent collaboratively edited question and answer site for programmers. <stackoverflow.com>

Sorry. I've just seen someone on there using the exact same avatar and username...

Why wouldn't they have a nap? They never really try to make massive reforms or sweeping changes to anything do they? Right now they are listening to something like "Item of the day #12, the use of disposable plastic dog poop bags in Itabashi Ku...."....zzzzzz.

Gee whiz guys, let's set the record straight.

In Japan, people sometimes DO close their eyes when thinking something over.

If you're in the Diet all day deliberating, you may look bored but it does not mean you are not paying 　　to what's going on.

Yeah, I don't always agree with what these guys do but I don't think there is a lack of effort. Certainly the political system as we know it is broken, I will give you that.

In Japan, people sometimes DO close their eyes when thinking something over.

Quite true, I have even had the pleasure of hearing them snore while doing so.

At least they're only HALF asleep. When it was Aso at the helm (for a brief stint) he was sleeping in EVERY picture.

A battle between rival blocs in the ruling party escalated Monday ahead of a tax hike vote that is threatening to split the party and weaken Noda’s hold on power.

I hardly see this in this photograph. Most are asleep, the rest are looking away at random places. The caption has nothing to do with the snapshot.

I find these "photo of the day" articles quite amusing, it is practically "worst photo of the day" in terms of artistic and photojournalistic content.

Any idea the lady in the baby blue jacket that's sleeping?

Dieting? More like fattening (their wallets while sleeping).

@Simon... finally, there is a time when i wholeheartedly agree with you on something... +1

Noda: "Hmm... I wonder what's for dinner..."

REMzzz,

I'm not here to agree or disagree with people (although I see myself doing it all the time), but I guess I'm happy for you if your thing is to thumb posters up and down. Thank you?

Serious question: Who elects these people? Do the Japanese people really vote? Or is it some kind of select oyaji club? Either way, photos like this should be blown out to billboard proportions come next election (next month perhaps?). People of Japan, behold! Your taxes at work!

but I guess I'm happy for you if your thing is to thumb posters up and down

Heeey, you don't need to be nasty, Simon. I rarely vote. Everyone knows what my position is on "drive-by downvoters". They have no guts to reply in person, because they are afraid that they themselves will be voted down. Me, i just speak my mind, rain, shine or foul weather, regardless of whether my opinion is popular or not. Peace, man :)

Either way, photos like this should be blown out to billboard proportions come next election (next month perhaps?)

Ted, that's a brilliant idea. The Japanese will not say anything, but in the back of their minds, i'm sure they will be as outraged as all of us are

Heeey, you don't need to be nasty, Simon

My attempt at humor. LOL Really take it with a grain of salt