TOKYO: Japan's opposition on Tuesday pressed the unpopular government to fire a senior official who accused homeless people, many of whom lost jobs in the recession, of laziness.

The gaffe was the latest blow to Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose approval rating has slumped to 20 per cent as voters question his handling of the financial crisis in the world's second largest economy.

Tetsushi Sakamoto, the vice minister for internal affairs and a lawmaker from Aso's Liberal Democratic Party, on Tuesday apologised for his comments about homeless people who spent the New Year's period in a Tokyo park.

"I would like to retract my remarks from yesterday and apologise to those who are concerned," Sakamoto said.

He had said Monday: "I wonder if those people really have the willingness to work."

He suggested that volunteers who offered the homeless tents and free meals during New Year's, Japan's most important holiday, had political intentions to embarrass the government.

Some 300 people stayed in the "tent village" a short walk from the Imperial Palace and parliament. Some of the homeless took part in a rally Monday demanding the government do more to stop companies from laying off workers.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said it will seek Sakamoto's dismissal from his ministerial post.

His remarks "represent nothing but the nature of the government and the ruling parties," senior DPJ lawmaker Kenji Yamaoka told reporters.

"It symbolically shows that the government has no intention to rescue the lives of people in this emergency situation."

The labour ministry says some 85,000 temporary-contract workers have already lost their jobs or know they will be laid off by March - a figure that has nearly tripled in a month.

Major companies such as Toyota Motor, Sony and Canon have all laid off employees on temporary contracts as global demand falls for their exports.

- AFP/yb