How is Japan’s economy doing?  Good or bad? 

Part timers are on the rise and more and more are falling into povery, according to the IHT:

A Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare survey released last year
revealed that the percentage of Japanese workers who are not in
full-time jobs rose to 35 percent in 2003 from 28 percent in 1999. This
group of workers - including part-timers, contract workers and those
holding temporary jobs - earns an average of ¥2 million or less
annually, Morinaga said.

Meanwhile, CNN says that Japan’s economy is on the rise and jobs are the cause!

The world’s second largest economy, Japan,
is showing signs of a domestic recovery led by the strongest jobs
growth in a decade, according to a leading economist in Tokyo.

So which is it?  Or is it both?