Cablegate: Japanese Morning Press Highlights 10/16/09

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 002384

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: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 10/16/09

INDEX:

1) Top headlines
2) Editorials
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei)

Refueling mission:
4) Parliamentary Secretary for Defense informs U.S. officials Japan
will end refueling mission (Yomiuri)
5) LDP to submit bill for continuation of refueling mission at
special Diet session (Yomiuri)

Futenma relocation
6) Chief cabinet secretary says Futenma decision might not be
reached before Obama visit (Yomiuri)
7) U.S. spokesperson: Futenma accord is an agreement between
governments (Sankei)
8) Futenma relocation issue to be discussed by committee of
ministers (Mainichi)
9) PM says reaching a decision on Futenma will take time (Mainichi)

Child abduction issue
10) Father accused of abducting own children freed (Yomiuri)

Defense & security:
11) U.S. forces realignment costs to be deferred (Asahi)
12) MOD budget shrinks by 1.9 billion yen (Yomiuri)

Foreign relations:
13) Japanese govt. introduces resolution for elimination of nuclear
weapons (Sankei)
14) 19th and 20th century German and French maps indicate Takeshima
belongs to Japan (Sankei)
15) MOFA says allocation of funding for Afghan aid and
global-warming countermeasures to be postponed (Nikkei)

Politics
16) Special Diet session to be convened on Oct. 26 (Yomiuri)

Economy
17) Budget for the next fiscal year is estimated at more than 90
trillion yen (Yomiuri)

Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Land Ministry's fiscal 2010 budget request for public works down 14
PERCENT

Mainichi, Yomiuri & Tokyo Shimbun:
Budget requests for fiscal 2010 top record 90 trillion yen

Nikkei:
Toyota, Daihatsu to jointly develop low-cost car for emerging
markets

Sankei:
Administrative reform panel eyes budget cuts for "model projects"

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Akahata:
Pensioners across nation call for abolishing elderly health program

2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Quickly enact law to allow married couples to use separate
surnames
(2) Plan to make Haneda international hub: Strengthen
competitiveness in air

Mainichi:
(1) One month of Hatoyama administration: What should come after
changes made?
(2) World food day: Is starvation a tragedy in distant countries?

Yomiuri:
(1) Revise income indemnity system for farming households to
increase productivity
(2) International "parental authority" issue: Urgently study
possibility of participating in Hague Convention

Nikkei:
(1) Prime minister should not betray public expectations for
budgetary reform
(2) Push ahead with process of JAL reconstruction in transparent
way

Sankei:
(1) Budget requests: Government urged to establish fiscal discipline
to prevent financial collapse
(2) Retrenchment of academic examination reflects inclination toward
Japan Teachers' Union

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Make efforts to cut more expenses
(2) System of six years for teachers training: Applicants might
decrease

Akahata:
(1) Give up new Okinawa base plan in accordance with local people's
desire

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

Prime Minister's schedule, October 15

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
October 16, 2009

10:26 Met Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa at the Prime
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei).
11:35 Met Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) Chairman
Nobuaki Koga and others. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano and
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Yorihisa Matsuno and Koji Matsui
were also present. Later met National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan.
12:17 Met Hirano.
12:57 Met Hirano.
14:21 Met Cabinet Intelligence Director Hideshi Mitani. Later met PM
Adviser Yoshikatsu Nakayama.
15:08 Met Vice Minister Mitoji Yabunaka and Director General Toshiro
Suzuki of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau of the

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
18:21 Presented appointment paper to playwright Oriza Hirata as
cabinet consultant. Hirano and Matsui were also present.
19:49 Had dinner with Hirata and others at Chinese restaurant in
Kojimachi "Toryu." Administrative Reform Minister Yoshito Sengoku
was also present.
23:20 Arrived at his private residence.

4) Nagashima tells U.S. officials about MSDF pullout plan

YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full)
Eve., October 15, 2009

Satoshi Ogawa

WASHINGTON-Parliamentary Defense Secretary Akihisa Nagashima met
separately on Oct. 14 with U.S. White House National Security
Adviser Jones, Under Secretary of Defense Michhle Flournoy, and
Assistant Secretary of Defense Wallace Gregson. In the meetings,
Nagashima informed them that Japan will not extend the Maritime
Self-Defense Force's refueling mission, which is being conducted in
the Indian Ocean under a new antiterror special measures law, after
the law expires in January next year, and that Japan will withdraw
the MSDF.

According to Nagashima, his U.S. counterparts consented to the
pullout plan. He quoted them as saying, "Basically, that is for
Japan to decide itself." Nagashima also said they expressed high
expectations for Japan's plans to assist Afghanistan with its
reconstruction.

On the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air
station in Okinawa Prefecture, Nagashima told the U.S. officials
that there are various views not only among his ruling Democratic
Party of Japan's coalition partners but also within his party.
"Also," Nagashima added, "the political situation in Okinawa is
unclear and we are facing a very difficult situation." The U.S.
officials reiterated the reasons why the current plan was adopted,
according to Nagashima. However, Nagashima did not reveal the
details of their responses. He only said, "We need more and more
opportunities to exchange views with the United States."

5) LDP to include provision requiring Diet approval in bill to
continue refueling mission, with aim of rattling DPJ

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
October 16, 2009

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has decided to submit to the
upcoming extraordinary Diet session a bill designed to continue the
Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.
The party decided yesterday to include in the bill a provision
requiring Diet approval before dispatching Self-Defense Force (SDF)
personnel.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has indicated it would be difficult
to extend the law authorizing the mission beyond its January
expiration. But some Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) members are
calling for changing the current policy on the condition of
requiring Diet approval. For instance, Parliamentary Vice Defense
Minister Akihisa Nagashima said in a speech on Oct. 5: "Japan's
refueling mission should be extended by revising the existing law to

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require Diet approval before dispatching SDF personnel." The LDP's
decision is apparently aimed at rattling the DPJ.

The current new antiterrorism special measures law requires only an
ex post facto report to be submitted to the Diet.

The LDP has also started discussing the possibility of submitting a
bill that will allow inspections of cargo on flights head to and
from North Korea to the extraordinary Diet session. This bill was
scrapped in the last ordinary diet session.

6) Hirano implies postponement of decision on Futenma relocation

YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full)
Eve., October 15, 2009

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano, meeting the press this morning,
implied that the government will likely put off its decision until
after U.S. President Obama's visit to Japan in November concerning
the pending issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air
Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to the island prefecture's
northern coastal city of Nago. "We will try to reach a conclusion
before President Obama's visit, but at this point we do not have a
solid answer," Hirano said. "We're now looking into the matter," he
added. Hirano also indicated that the foreign minister, defense
minister, chief cabinet secretary, and other cabinet members will
meet to discuss the issue. "If we need to decide things in concrete
terms, then we will of course do so among the relevant cabinet
ministers," he said.

7) Pentagon says Futenma relocation based on
government-to-government agreement, announces Secretary Gates will
visit Japan on Oct. 20

SANKEI (Page 8) (Full)
October 16, 2009

Takashi Arimoto, Washington

The U.S. Defense Department announced on Oct. 14 that Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates will visit Japan on Oct. 20-21 and hold talks
with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Defense Minister Toshimi
Kitazawa, and other Japanese leaders. In the announcement,
department spokesman Geoff Morrell made it clear that the U.S.
government will not accept any changes to the existing plan to
relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan,
Okinawa Prefecture), saying, "It is not an agreement between
political parties but an accord between the governments of Japan and
the United States."

The Hatoyama administration has indicated that it will hold talks
with the United States in the direction of reviewing the agreement
on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, which was reached under
the administration led by the Liberal Democratic Party. Touching on
this fact, Morrell said: "We will make certain that the new Japanese
government can obtain necessary information so that it will be able
to understand the agreement well. The agreement will serve the
interests of the two countries."

A plan is being mentioned in the Japanese side to integrate Futenma
Air Station into Kadena Air Base. During his recent visit to Japan,
Assistant Secretary of State (for East Asian and Pacific Affairs)

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Kurt Campbell indicated that realizing such a plan would be
difficult, citing possible operational problems and objections from
local governments.

The U.S. government wants to obtain the understanding of the new
Japanese government by explaining that (the two governments) have
settled on the coastal area of Camp Schwab after examining many
candidate sites.

Parliamentary Defense Secretary Akihisa Nagashima, now visiting the
United States, held talks on Oct. 14 with Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, and Undersecretary of Defense (for
Policy) Michele Flournoy, among others. Based on the fact that there
are calls in the administration for a review of the (Futenma) plan,
Nagashima indicated during the talks that reaching a swift
conclusion would be difficult, saying, "We are in a very difficult
situation."

Nagashima also told the U.S. side that there is a strong possibility
that Japan will temporarily withdraw the Maritime Self-Defense Force
(MSDF) from the Indian Ocean, saying the Antiterrorism Special
Measures Law authorizing the MSDF's refueling mission will expire
Jan. 15. About an alternative plan to aid Afghanistan, Nagashima
said, "We are looking into what's best for the country centering on
the civilian sector."

8) Government plans to decide policy on Futenma relocation at
Ministerial Council on Basic Policies with SDP, PNP leaders

MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full)
October 16, 2009

In a press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano indicated that the government would hold a meeting of the
Ministerial Council on Basic Policies joined also by the leaders of
the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People's New Party (PNP)
to decide what to do about the proposed relocation of the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, Okinawa
Prefecture. Under the existing plan, the facility would be
transferred to the coastal area of Camp Schwab in Nago City. Hirano
said: "A decision naturally should be made at the Ministerial
Council on Basic Policies or at the Committee of Relevant Cabinet
Ministers."

The Ministerial Committee on Basic Policies is tasked with
discussing key policies among the ruling parties. It held meetings
on Sept. 28 and Oct. 9. SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima has revealed her
opposition to the existing plan, as she said in a press conference
on Oct. 14: "I will do my best in the coalition government to
prevent a base from being built off Henoko (in Nago City)." If the
government decides to discuss a policy on the Futenma relocation
issue at the Ministerial Council on Basic Policies, in which the SDP
participates, coordination is not likely to be easy.

9) PM Hatoyama says solution to Futenma relocation issue will "take
some time"

MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full)

Shinichiro Nishida

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama talked to reporters about the review

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of the plan to relocate the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station (in
Ginowan City, Okinawa) to the coastal area of Camp Schwab (in Nago
City) at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on Oct. 15.
"Elections for the mayor of Nago and the governor of Okinawa will
take place next year, so the situation may change," he stressed.
"Our main concern is the sentiment of the people of Okinawa." He
also said, "We would like to come up with the best solution
acceptable to the people of Okinawa, even if it takes some time,"
indicating that it will be difficult to reach a conclusion before
U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Japan in November.

The Nago mayoral election will take place on January 24. The
incumbent mayor, who has accepted the current relocation plan on the
condition that the runways are moved further offshore, and a rival
candidate, who advocates a review of the plan, have declared their
intentions to run in the election, which is expected to be closely
contested.

The Okinawa gubernatorial race will take place in November 2010.

Hatoyama's statement emphasizes his stance of arriving at a solution
after discerning the Okinawan people's consensus and indicates that
he regards the outcome of the two elections as a basis for gauging
popular opinion in Okinawa.

10) American father arrested on suspicion of abduction released

YOMIURI (Page 39) (Full)
October 16, 2009

The Kurume branch of the Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office
released with a suspended indictment on Oct. 15 Christopher Savoie,
38, president of an IT company in Tennessee, who was arrested and
charged with the abduction of minors (his own children).

Savoie was suspected of forcibly taking away his son, 8, and
daughter, 6, both elementary school pupils, in Yanagawa City,
Fukuoka Prefecture, where his ex-wife's home is located, on the
morning of Sept. 28 while the children were on their way to school
with his ex-wife. He was arrested by officers of the Yanagawa Police
Station of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police.

Savoie and his ex-wife divorced in Tennessee last January, and the
ruling of the Williamson County Court in Tennessee on the divorce
stipulates that "either parent needs to obtain the permission of the
other parent to move with the children out of the state." However,
the ex-wife brought the children to Japan in August without
informing Savoie. As a result, the court granted custody of the
children to Savoie, and the local police had obtained a warrant of
arrest for the ex-wife for abducting her children. Savoie has been
asserting that he has the parental rights.

11) Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry request same amount of funds
for U.S. force realignment for next fiscal year

ASAHI (Page 3) (Slightly abridged)
October 16, 2009

In addressing the issue of realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, the
focus of attention is on the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine
Corps' Futenma Air Station. The Democratic Party of Japan's policy
manifesto for the last House of Representatives election specified

TOKYO 00002384 007 OF 009

that the party will tackle the issue in the direction of reviewing
the agreed plan. But the Defense Ministry asked for 89 billion yen
for expenses related to the realignment of U.S. forces - the same
amount as in fiscal 2009 - in its budget request. The amount
requested by the Foreign Ministry is 3 PERCENT less than the
previous fiscal year, excluding 17.2 billion yen earmarked for the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to be held in
Yokohama next year. The ministry, however, intends to request more
funds for measures to assist Afghanistan and Pakistan and to protect
the environment.

12) Estimate budget requests for fiscal 2010 largest ever, topping
90 trillion yen

YOMIURI (Top Play) (Lead para.)
October 16, 2009

Each government agency has resubmitted its estimate budget requests
for the fiscal 2010 budget. The amount of requests filed by the
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
have exceeded the level of the fiscal 2009 initial budget due to
outlays for new policies incorporated in the Democratic Party of
Japan's manifesto for the August Lower House election, including
virtually free high school education and an income compensation
scheme for rice farmers. The total amount of the general account
budget will likely reach a record of around 95 trillion yen at the
estimate request stage. The government has determined that there is
now a prospect for achieving the goal to amass 3 trillion yen
through a review of the fiscal 2009 extra budget, which is to be
adopted at a cabinet meeting on Oct. 16. Focus will now be on to
what extent requested amounts can be squeezed at a future screening
stage.

13) Government submits resolution to UN calling for elimination of
nuclear weapons

SANKEI (Page 8) (Full)
October 16, 2009

Masaya Matsuo, New York

The Japanese government submitted on Oct. 15 a resolution to the
United Nations General Assembly First Committee (on Disarmament)
calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Japan has submitted
similar resolutions every year for 15 years since 1994 and all of
the resolutions were adopted at the UNGA. Expectations about the
elimination of nuclear weapons are growing around the world due to
developments such as U.S. President Barack Obama's speech on his
ideal of "a world without nuclear weapons." Under such
circumstances, all eyes will be focused on whether the United
States, which was continuously opposed to the resolutions during the
Bush administration, will shift its position and approve this year's
resolution.

14) Takeshima part of "Japan" in world maps produced by Germany and
France in 19th and 20th centuries

SANKEI (Page 6) (Excerpts)
October 16, 2009

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Research by Shimane Prefecture's Takeshima Reference Office shows
that Takeshima, an integral part of Japanese territory under illegal
occupation by South Korea, is marked as Japanese territory in world
maps produced in Germany and France in the early 19th centuries and
20th century, respectively.

The maps reinforce the central and Shimane prefectural governments'
claim that "Takeshima has been part of Japanese territory since the
17th century." The cartographic evidence came to light when the
Takeshima Reference Office examined in late September some 50
materials, including world maps, belonging to a man in
Okino-shimacho.

The German map is believed to have been produced in 1872, and the
French map between 1902 and 1904. In the German map, Takeshima,
which is named Liancourt Island, sits next to Utsuryo Island, named
Matsushima, with a border line between Utsuryo Island and the Korean
Peninsula, indicating that Takeshima) is Japanese territory.

In the French map, the names for Takeshima and Utsuryo Island are
indicated along with the word" Jap" signifying that they are part of
Japanese territory.

15) Foreign Ministry puts off budgetary requests for assistance to
Afghanistan, measures to curb global warming: Estimate budgetary
request down 0.4 percent

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
October 16, 2009

The Foreign Ministry (MOFA) did not incorporate in its estimated
budgetary requests for fiscal 2010, released on October 15, expenses
for key diplomatic policy measures, including assistance to
Afghanistan and measures to curb global warming, which the Hatoyama
administration has begun to consider. Since specific measures have
yet to take shape at the present point, the ministry drafted
requests with an eye only to the fiscal 2010 initial budget. It
intends to work out the details by the time the government adopts
its budget plan at the end of the year.

The total amount of general-account budget requests stands at 667.1
billion yen, down 0.4 percent from the fiscal 2009 initial budget.
Among official development assistance (ODA) items, cooperation in
the form of grants stands at 157.2 billion yen, down 2.3 percent.
Technological cooperation through the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) is at 150.9 billion yen, down 3.2 PERCENT
.

MOFA has put off budgetary requests for assistance to Afghanistan
and Pakistan, a 25 percent reduction in domestic greenhouse gas
emissions by 2020 in comparison with the 1990 level, and aid to
Africa. This is the major reason for the drop in the amount of
budgetary requests filed by MOFA. The ministry's request for
assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan was no more than about 17.5
billion yen, which is about the same level as the estimated outlay
for the current fiscal year.

16) Extra Diet session to be convened on Oct. 26

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
October 16, 2009

TOKYO 00002384 009 OF 009

The government and ruling parties yesterday decided to convene an
extraordinary session of the Diet on Oct. 26. The three ruling
parties had previously agreed to open the extra session on Oct. 23,
but their decision caused backlash from opposition parties and was
changed. The session will likely run for 36 days through Nov. 30.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will deliver his first policy speech
on the 26th.

17) Estimate budget requests for fiscal 2010 largest ever, topping
90 trillion yen

YOMIURI (Top Play) (Lead para.)
October 16, 2009

Each government agency has resubmitted its estimate budget requests
for the fiscal 2010 budget. The amount of requests filed by the
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
have exceeded the level of the fiscal 2009 initial budget due to
outlays for new policies incorporated in the Democratic Party of
Japan's manifesto for the August Lower House election, including
virtually free high school education and an income compensation
scheme for rice farmers. The total amount of the general account
budget will likely reach a record of around 95 trillion yen at the
estimate request stage. The government has determined that there is
now a prospect for achieving the goal to amass 3 trillion yen
through a review of the fiscal 2009 extra budget, which is to be
adopted at a cabinet meeting on Oct. 16. Focus will now be on to
what extent requested amounts can be squeezed at a future screening
stage.

ROOS

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