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P 170428Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
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INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6738
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001886
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA;
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION;
TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN,
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR;
CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA.
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS (1) 08/17/09
INDEX:
(1) Coordination underway for Japan-U.S. summit in late September
(Yomiuri)
(2) Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau director-general
contributes an article saying, "There were documents connected with
the secret nuclear pact" (Asahi)
(3) Former Foreign Ministry bureau chief intends to cooperate on
investigation of secret nuclear pact after Lower House election
(Yomiuri)
(4) Government to monitor flight routes of Futenma military
helicopters all year round from 2010 (Yomiuri)
(5) Joint policy platform of three opposition parties calls for
reviewing planned split of Japan Post into four businesses, omits
foreign policy, national security (Sankei)
(6) LDP, DPJ to clash in 263 districts in Lower House election
(Tokyo Shimbun)
(7) DPJ endorses Makiko Tanaka as official candidate for Lower House
election; Husband Naoki will also join DPJ (Mainichi)
(8) Prime minister opts not to visit Yasukuni to avoid stirring up
political issue; DPJ's Hatoyama does the same (Yomiuri)
(9) Consumer Affairs Minister Noda visits Yasukuni Shrine; Former
Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe also pay respects at the shrine
(Nikkei)
(10) National memorial facility for war dead now likely with backing
from DPJ's Hatoyama and SDP (Yomiuri)
(11) Prime Minister Aso negative about building a national memorial
facility (Mainichi)
(12) Three opposition parties make policy switch in joint policy
platform from structural reform line promoted by LDP, New Komeito
(Nikkei)
(13) Japanese, U.S. governments considering new energy cooperation
in Okinawa and Hawaii (Tokyo Shimbun)
ARTICLES:
(1) Coordination underway for Japan-U.S. summit in late September
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
August 16, 2009
The Japanese and U.S. governments are coordinating to hold a
Japan-U.S. summit meeting when the G-20 financial summit is held in
Pittsburgh on September 24-25. If a change of administration results
from the House of Representatives election on August 30, and
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama becomes the
prime minister, this will be his first meeting with President Barack
Obama.
The Japanese government has the following events lined up for the
prime minister's trip to the United States in late September: the UN
Climate Change Summit at the UN headquarters in New York on
September 22, a speech at the UN General Assembly on September 24,
and participation in the "Summit on Nuclear Non-proliferation and
Nuclear Disarmament" at the UN Security Council led by President
Obama. The prime minister will travel to Pittsburgh for the
financial summit after the UN events.
President Obama is scheduled to visit Japan in November, but due to
the possibility of a change of government in Japan, coordination is
now underway for holding a bilateral summit at an early date.
TOKYO 00001886 002 OF 008
(2) Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau director-general
contributes an article saying, "There were documents connected with
the secret nuclear pact"
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full)
August 15, 2009
Former Ambassador to the Netherlands Kazuhiko Togo, 64, who served
in such posts as director general of the Treaties Bureau of the
Foreign Ministry, has contributed an article to the Asahi Shimbun on
a secret nuclear pact between Japan and the United States designed
to exempt stopovers in Japan by U.S. warships and aircrafts carrying
nuclear weapons from prior consultations between the two countries.
Although it stops short of confirming the existence of the secret
agreement itself, the article reveals that the Foreign Ministry had
a large volume of documents on the handling of the Japan-U.S.
agreement which is now referred to as the secret pact. The article
says, "The time has come to explain to the public about what the
problem is and how the government has handled it."
According to his notes, after becoming the Treaties Bureau's
director-general of in July 1998, Togo disposed of documents on
bilateral talks for conclusion in 1960 of the U.S.-Japan Security
Treaty and on its operation thereafter. The notes also say that the
documents on the introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons into Japan
represented the largest portion of what was disposed of. Also
included in them were documents on how past Treaties Bureau
directors-general handled this matter as well as on discussions in
the Foreign Ministry on how it should handle the secret deal in case
documents and testimonies on it were made public, according to the
notes.
(3) Former Foreign Ministry bureau chief intends to cooperate on
investigation of secret nuclear pact after Lower House election
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly)
August 16, 2009
Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau Director-General Kazuhiko
Togo, 64, gave on Aug. 15 an interview to the Yomiuri Shimbun
regarding an allegation that the governments of Japan and the United
States has concluded a secret pact allowing U.S. warships carrying
nuclear weapons to stop at Japanese ports. In the interview, Togo
said if the new administration decided to investigate the secret
pact after the next House of Representatives election, he would
cooperate. Togo also expressed his willingness to testify on the
documents he saw while he was in office and on how they would have
been handled if the government and the Diet had decided to
investigate the facts.
The government and the ruling coalition have persistently denied the
existence of the secret pact, adding that they have no plans to
investigate it. Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President
Yukio Hatoyama and others have made it clear that if their party
takes power through the upcoming Lower House election, a DPJ
government will investigate the pact and make (the results) public.
Togo said on Aug. 15: "Contemplating how the government has
responded to the nuclear issue and on what to do with the three
non-nuclear principles in the future is more important than the
existence or nonexistence of the secret pact."
TOKYO 00001886 003 OF 008
Togo retired from the Foreign Ministry in 2002 after serving as
director-general of the Treaties Bureau (currently International
Legal Affairs Bureau) between July 1998 and August 1999.
In a Yomiuri Shimbun interview conducted in July of this year, Togo
indicated anonymously that several files on the secret nuclear pact
entered into when the revised U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was
concluded in 1960 had existed during his term of office.
(4) Government to monitor flight routes of Futenma military
helicopters all year round from 2010
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full)
August 16, 2009
The government has decided to monitor the flight routes of military
helicopters at the Futenma Air Station (Ginowan City, Okinawa
Prefecture) throughout the year from next January. It will set up
flight route monitoring equipment to see if the designated routes
over the military base at takeoff and landing, which were set in
consideration of the danger posed by military aircraft on nearby
residential areas, are being observed.
The Ministry of Defense conducted a preliminary investigation for
one week in late August 2008 and determined that data gathering is
possible. Antennas and cameras will be installed around the air
field by next January to receive radio waves from the base around
the clock and draw up a track chart.
The government has been taking steps to remove the danger posed by
the Futenma base until its relocation in the wake of the crash of a
military helicopter in Ginowan City in August 2004. An agreement was
reached with the U.S. side that the helicopters would avoid flying
over the residential areas at takeoff and landing, and trees,
towers, and obstacles on the air field have been removed.
(5) Joint policy platform of three opposition parties calls for
reviewing planned split of Japan Post into four businesses, omits
foreign policy, national security
SANKEI (Top Play) (Full)
August 15, 2009
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social Democratic Party
(SDP), and the People's New Party (PNP) yesterday revealed their
joint policy platform for the upcoming House of Representatives
election. The platform includes measures for reviewing the
government's plan to split Japan Post into four businesses and keep
the 5% consumption tax unchanged. The measures in the three parties'
platform will become their basic policies if they win a majority
(241 seats) in the Lower House election and establish a coalition
government. But the platform stops short of mentioning specific
measures on the foreign and national security fronts, reflecting
major differences of opinion on the dispatch of Self-Defense Force
(SDF) troops overseas and other issues in these areas.
The joint platform rejects the policies mapped out by the cabinet
led by Junichiro Koizumi, which contributed to the ruling camp's
overwhelming victory in the previous Lower House election in 2005.
It notes: "The economic policy giving priority to market
fundamentalism and a competitive market mechanism has destroyed
public livelihoods and local economies. Further, it has increased
TOKYO 00001886 004 OF 008
public anxiety and caused the collapse of the social security and
education safety nets."
As a specific measure, the platform proposes keeping the current 5%
consumption tax unchanged. Regarding postal services, it suggests
reviewing the government's plan to split Japan Post into four
businesses in response to a strong proposal from the PNP, as well as
freezing the sale of the government's shares in three companies in
the Japan Post group, such as Yucho Bank and Kampo Life Insurance.
Regarding child-rearing and educational support measures, the
platform proposes such measures as introducing a child allowance
system. In the social security area, it vows to resolve the pension
record-keeping fiasco and other problems.
With no direct reference to foreign and security policies, the
platform just notes: "We, as the people of the only nation to have
suffered nuclear bombing, will abide by the three principles,
including pacifism, in the Constitution of Japan."
In a press conference in the Diet Building yesterday, DPJ Policy
Research Council Chairman Masayuki Naoshima said: "We would like to
obtain support (from the voters) for the measures we have presented
and bring about a change of government and a coalition government.
We are determined to deliver our promises one after another." He
thus stressed his determination to turn the measures into action at
an early date if the opposition camp seizes political power.
(6) LDP, DPJ to clash in 263 districts in Lower House election
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Excerpts)
August 16, 2009
The official campaign for the 45th House of Representative election
will kick off on Aug. 18 and candidates will launch their campaigns
for the election to be held on Aug. 30. The Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are expected to clash in
263 districts of the 300 single-seat constituencies. Most of the
attention is now focused on whether the LDP-New Komeito coalition
government will remain in power or the DPJ will realize a change of
government.
According to the Tokyo Shimbun's survey, about 1,300 candidates plan
to run in the single-seat constituency and proportional
representation (180 seats) races in the upcoming Lower House
election.
The LDP is expected to file 289 candidates in the district races;
and the DPJ is expected to file 271 candidates. Both parties are now
carrying out final coordination of their candidates for the
proportional representation segment.
The LDP is now having difficulty coordinating candidates who will
run only for the proportional representation race. In the previous
election, candidates running in single-seat constituencies
complained about the party's policy of listing former lawmakers on
the upper ranks, citing a decrease in the seats for candidates
running for both district and proportional representation seats as a
reason.
The DPJ intends to give priority to candidates running in the
single-seat constituencies by not fielding candidates running only
TOKYO 00001886 005 OF 008
for the proportional representation segment.
(7) DPJ endorses Makiko Tanaka as official candidate for Lower House
election; Husband Naoki will also join DPJ
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
August 15, 2009
Makiko Tanaka, a former foreign minister, will run in the upcoming
House of Representatives election as a candidate on the Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ) ticket from the No. 5 district in Niigata
Prefecture. Makiko's husband, House of Representatives member Naoki
Tanaka, who left the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last October,
will also join the DPJ. DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama is going to
visit them in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, on the 15th, at
which time they will announce the news together.
After bolting the LDP in 2003, Makiko was elected to the Lower House
in the 2005 general election as an independent. Although she is a
member of a DPJ parliamentary group, she had not joined the DPJ.
Naoki left the LDP in order to support Makiko in the Lower House
election.
(8) Prime minister opts not to visit Yasukuni to avoid stirring up
political issue; DPJ's Hatoyama does the same
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts)
August 16, 2009
Prime Minister Taro Aso offered flowers at the Chidorigafuchi
National Cemetery and participated in the memorial ceremony for the
war dead hosted by the government on August 15, the anniversary of
the end of World War II, but did not visit the Yasukuni Shrine. The
only cabinet minister who made the Yasukuni visit was Minister for
Consumer Affairs Seiko Noda. Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
President Yukio Hatoyama also opted not to visit the shrine. If the
prime minister had visited Yasukuni, it could become a political
issue ahead of the official declaration of candidacy for the House
of Representatives election on August 18, but August 15 ended in
quiet prayers for the war dead.
With regard to the Yasukuni visit, certain Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) members, who were alarmed by the party's low support rating,
had asserted that "the prime minister should visit Yasukuni Shrine
on August 15 to restore support from the conservative voters" ahead
of the Lower House election.
However, Aso told reporters on August 10: "It is wrong to make
people who sacrificed their precious life for the country into pawns
for political maneuvering or involve them in the commotion over the
election. (Yasukuni) is supposed to be a place for quiet prayers,"
indicating he would not make the shrine visit. It appears that he
learned a lesson from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who
pledged in the 2001 LDP presidential election to visit the shrine
and made this a political issue in the next five years.
Aso used to visit the Yasukuni Shrine during its spring and autumn
festivals each year until he became the minister of internal affairs
and communications in April 2005. However, he stopped doing so after
becoming the foreign minister in October 2005. In August 2006, he
suggested that Yasukuni Shrine should voluntarily dissolve as a
religious corporation and become a special public corporation under
TOKYO 00001886 006 OF 008
the government's management. After becoming the prime minister, he
has limited himself to making a contribution for the religious rites
during the spring and autumn festivals out of his own pocket.
Hatoyama stated at a news conference on August 11 that if he becomes
the prime minister, he "has no plan to visit (Yasukuni) and will ask
the cabinet members to refrain from doing so."
(9) Consumer Affairs Minister Noda visits Yasukuni Shrine; Former
Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe also pay respects at the shrine
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
Evening, August 15, 2009
Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, former prime ministers, visited
Yasukuni Shrine in Kudankita, Tokyo, on the morning of Aug. 15, the
anniversary of the end of World War II. Among the Aso cabinet
ministers, only Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Seiko Noda
paid her respects at the Shinto shrine. Prime Minister Taro Aso did
not visit, but instead offered flowers at the Chidorigafuchi
National Cemetery.
A nonpartisan parliamentary group (headed by Yoshinobu Shimamura),
including Liberal Democratic Party Election Strategy Headquarters
Acting Head Makoto Koga and LDP Upper House Chairman Hidehisa
Otsuji, also visited the shrine on the morning of Aug. 15. According
to Shimamura, who held a press conference, a total of 41 persons,
including his group members, such former Lower House members as
Koizumi and Abe, and incumbent House of Councillors members, visited
Yasukuni.
From the government side, Senior Vice Minister of Justice Tatsuo
Sato and Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Nobuo Kishi visited the
shrine. From the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Upper House
members Yuichiro Hata and Hirokazu Shiba visited. Aso and 15 of his
cabinet members had announced earlier that they would not visit the
shrine. Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone has not clarified his
intention, but he appears to have decided not to visit Yasukuni.
(10) National memorial facility for war dead now likely with backing
from DPJ's Hatoyama and SDP
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged)
August 16, 2009
The building of a non-religious national memorial facility for the
war dead is now becoming a real possibility. Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama has indicated that he will
promote the construction of such a facility if the DPJ takes over
the administration, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has also
said that it will cooperate with this project.
At a news conference in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture on August
15, Hatoyama said: "The Emperor has not visited Yasukuni Shrine for
many years. A facility where the Emperor can offer his prayers in
peace is probably necessary. Our party will work on this,"
reiterating a positive stance on building a new facility.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada has also indicated that an
experts' committee will study this issue. Meanwhile, the SDP has
been calling on other parties to cooperate in drawing up a
construction plan during the term of office of the next Lower
TOKYO 00001886 007 OF 008
House.
For now, there is no opposition to this plan in the DPJ. However,
there are also DPJ members who visit the Yasukuni Shrine with
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Diet members because "the main
facility for mourning the war dead is Yasukuni." When the plan to
construct a new facility reaches the implementation stage, it is
possible that opposition may emerge. In the past, a similar plan
emerged during the Koizumi administration but was met with strong
opposition, causing the project to be shelved. The hurdles remain
for a "Hatoyama administration."
(11) Prime Minister Aso negative about building a national memorial
facility
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
August 15, 2009
Referring to the fact that Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President
Yukio Hatoyama has taken a forward-looking stance toward the idea of
constructing a national memorial facility for the war dead, Prime
Minister Taro Aso made a negative comment:
"I think the biggest question is whether the public will agree such
an idea. I wonder whether the construction of a national memorial
facility can resolve the Yasukuni issue. I don't think it's that
simple."
Aso was responding to questions from the press corps at the Prime
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei).
Hatoyama on Aug. 12 stressed the need for a new memorial facility,
saying: "It is not desirable for the prime minister and cabinet
ministers to visit" Yasukuni Shrine.
Aso proposed in 2006 when he was serving as foreign minister an idea
of changing the status of Yasukuni Shrine from a religious
organization to a government-affiliated corporation in order to
resolve the issue of the separation of politics and religion.
(12) Three opposition parties make policy switch in joint policy
platform from structural reform line promoted by LDP, New Komeito
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Full)
August 15, 2009
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social Democratic Party and
the People's New Party yesterday announced their joint policy
platform for the upcoming House of Representatives election. The
platform includes measures to freeze the sale of the government's
shares in Japan Post and to abolish the current government's annual
economic and fiscal policy guidelines to curb the natural growth of
social security spending. The three opposition parties have thus
underscored their stance of shifting from the structural reform line
promoted by the government of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and
the New Komeito. DPJ Policy Research Council chairman Masayuki
Nagashima said in a press conference: "After the election, we will
start consultations on our coalition government," indicating his
eagerness to hold policy talks based on the joint policy platform.
It is unprecedented for opposition parties to compile their common
policy goals before an election. The platform lists specific
TOKYO 00001886 008 OF 008
measures to rebuild the livelihood support, employment, and social
security systems. Naoshima stated: "To put these measures into
practice, we would like to win the Lower House election and take
over the reins of government. These measures can be taken as the
three parties' campaign pledges."
The platform also proposes reviving the mother-and-child welfare
benefit system and scrapping the health insurance system for people
aged 75 or older and the Services and Supports for Persons with
Disabilities Law. On these issues, the opposition parties locked
horns with the government in Diet deliberations. They aim to stress
their intention to make a policy switch after a change of
government.
Regarding economic measures, the opposition parties regard support
for households as the top priority task. Specifically, the platform
lays out plans to introduce a system to offer a monthly
child-raising allowance, eliminate public high school tuition fees,
and to improve working conditions for nursing-care workers.
(13) Japanese, U.S. governments considering new energy cooperation
in Okinawa and Hawaii
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Excerpts)
August 15, 2009
It was learned on Aug. 14 that the governments of Japan and the
United States are now considering launching a joint project on clean
energy development such as solar power and biofuels, based in
Okinawa and Hawaii. The two governments are considering holding
energy symposiums and conduct technology development aimed at
increasing the level of energy self-sufficiency on the islands. They
hope to reach an agreement on the matter as part of a new economic
cooperation framework when President Barack Obama visits Japan in
November.
This information was revealed by sources connected to Japan-U.S.
relations. Coordination between the two governments is underway in
order to build new cooperative relationships in such areas as global
warming prevention measures and environmental conservation. This
direction is not expected to change even if the Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ) takes over the reins of government. The two governments
aim to build strong relations between Hawaii and Okinawa as a symbol
of bilateral cooperation.
ZUMWALT