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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000374
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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 02/25/10
INDEX:
1) Top headlines
2) Editorials
Futenma issue:
3) Okinawa Prefectural Assembly adopts statement calling for
relocation of Futenma facility outside prefecture (Asahi)
4) Hatoyama: "We must accept statement as an expression of the
people's will" (Yomiuri)
5) Fukushima: "May deadline secondary to true solution" (Asahi)
6) SDP taking increasingly independent stance on Futenma relocation
after Okinawa assembly passed statement opposing relocation within
Okinawa (Mainichi)
Foreign relations:
7) Iranian Parliament chairman: There is room for discussion on
Japan's nuclear proposal (Nikkei)
8) Yabunaka to visit Russia, discuss nuclear issues (Nikkei)
Defense & security:
9) Defense Ministry sends second GSDF contingent to Haiti (Nikkei)
10) Gov't extends PKO mission in Nepal to end of July (Mainichi)
11) U.S. service member accused of hit-and-run fatality pleads
innocent (Yomiuri)
Politics:
12) Shimoji tapped to head PNP's Upper House election campaign
(Asahi)
13) JAL Chairman Inamori tapped as special adviser to cabinet
(Mainichi)
Economy:
14) U.S. Trade Representative calls for level playing field between
Japan Post companies and private sector firms (Nikkei)
15) Japan-China talks on rare metals (Nikkei)
Media:
16) Nikkei to launch electronic edition next month (Nikkei)
Articles:
1) TOP HEADLINES
Asahi:
Keidanren to stop offering advice to member firms on political
donations
Mainichi:
Toyota chief announces at hearing plan to set up safety executive
position for U.S. market
Yomiuri:
Toyota chief testifies about problem with electronic
throttle-control system at hearing in U.S.
Nikkei:
GE joins hands with Fuji Electric to make power meters for
next-generation smart-grid
Sankei:
Will Toyota chief's explanation that "too rapid growth was the
TOKYO 00000374 002 OF 008
cause" be accepted?
Tokyo Shimbun:
Asada takes 2nd place in short program
Akahata:
Political leaders of Caribbean states agree to create new mechanism
excluding U.S.
2) EDITORIALS
Asahi:
(1) H1N1 flu: Use experience in next outbreak
(2) Nursing-care problems: Do not turn elderly people into refugees
Mainichi:
(1) Disparity in average value of one vote: Number of single-seat
constituencies in Lower House should be rectified immediately
(2) Letter to Hatoyama administration: Nagatsuma needs dreams and
charisma to attract bureaucrats and opposition parties as well
Yomiuri:
(1) Diet battle: DPJ, LDP both remain unchanged
(2) Global warming: Researchers' stance spreading distrust
Nikkei:
(1) Envisage tax system that will support the future
(2) SDP proposal will deepen anxieties about employment
Sankei:
(1) Toyota hearing: Cool-headed and impartial approach required
(2) School graduation ceremony season approaching: It is common
practice to pay respect to the national flag
Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Disparity in average value of one vote: Correction needed to
ensure equality
(2) Total ban on smoking: Health must be protected by all
Akahata:
(1) Bikini Day on March 1: Pass on desire to ban atomic and hydrogen
bombs
3) Okinawa assembly adopts written request to move Futenma out of
prefecture
ASAHI (Page 18) (Full)
Evening, February 24, 2010
The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly unanimously adopted at its plenary
session earlier today a written request urging the central
government to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station
outside the prefecture. It is the first case for the prefectural
assembly to adopt a written request seeking the relocation of the
base outside the prefecture since an agreement was reached in 1996
to return Futenma to Japan. The request is addressed to Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense
Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, and others. Assembly members of the
Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the
Social Democratic Party will visit Tokyo shortly to deliver the
request to the central government.
TOKYO 00000374 003 OF 008
Describing Futenma as "the most dangerous base in the world," the
request underlines the need to swiftly close and return the base to
Japan. The request also urges the central government to forgo the
idea of relocating the base within Okinawa and to move it out of the
prefecture or out of the country, saying that the wishes of the
people of Okinawa are clear from the results of the 1997 city
referendum and opinion surveys in which a majority expressed
opposition to the base's relocation to Nago in the prefecture.
In a question-and-answer session after the request was adopted, Gov.
Hirokazu Nakaima said: "I take the request seriously as a
manifestation of the strong wishes of the prefectural assembly. I,
too, have repeatedly indicated that moving the base outside Okinawa
is desirable, and I want to see the central government consider the
matter earnestly and actually move the base out of Okinawa."
This is the second time for the prefectural assembly to unanimously
oppose relocation within Okinawa following the first time in July
1996. A resolution opposing moving Futenma to the Henoko district in
Nago was adopted in July 2008, but at that time, the LDP and the New
Komeito, which form the ruling camp in the prefectural assembly,
opposed it. This time around, the two parties supported the
resolution, judging that public opinion is growing for moving the
base out of Okinawa. The Japanese Communist Party, too, supported
the resolution in the end, overcoming its earlier reluctance.
4) Hatoyama: Written request adopted by Okinawa assembly should be
taken seriously
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full)
February 25, 2010
Asked by the press corps at the Prime Minister's Official Residence
(Kantei) last night about the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly's
adopting for the first time a written request urging the central
government to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station out of
the prefecture, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said, "We should take
it as a manifestation of the popular will." He also said: "There is
no change in our plan to reach a conclusion by the end of May."
Meanwhile, Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima (who is
also consumer affairs minister) indicated at a press conference
yesterday afternoon that the government should not adhere to the
end-of-May deadline set by the Prime Minister. She said: "It is
necessary to conduct work in a way that values the feelings of the
people in Okinawa, and time is secondary in comparison with what
really matters."
5) SDP Fukushima: "Timing is of secondary importance"
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
February 25, 2010
Touching on Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's vow to reach a
conclusion on the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma
Air Station by the end of May, Social Democratic Party President
Mizuho Fukushima said in a press conference yesterday: "The prime
minister's statement holds weight, but the timing should take a back
seat to a real solution to the issue." She indicated that if no
prospects are in sight for moving the Futenma facility out of the
prefecture, the government should consider delaying the conclusion.
In reference also to the Okinawa prefectural government's adoption
TOKYO 00000374 004 OF 008
of a statement calling for constructing an alternative facility
outside the nation or the prefecture, Fukushima said: "It will be
impossible to reach a real solution if the feelings and wishes of
the Okinawan people are ignored. Careful work is necessary."
6) SDP taking increasingly independent stance on Futenma relocation
after Okinawa assembly passed statement opposing relocation within
Okinawa
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full)
February 25, 2010
Shinichiro Nishida
With the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly adopting a unanimous statement
opposing the relocation of the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station (in
Ginowan City, Okinawa) on Feb. 24, the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
is beginning to push for relocation out of Okinawa or out of Japan
even more strongly. At a news conference on the same day, SDP leader
State Minister for Consumer Affairs and Declining Birthrate Mizuho
Fukushima emphasized that "the cabinet should take this very
seriously." As Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is aiming at making a
decision on this issue by the end of May, the SDP is poised to take
an increasingly independent stance at the government and ruling
parties' Okinawa base issues examination committee.
The SDP hopes to use the prefectural legislature's statement to
change the trend toward relocation within Okinawa. The People's New
Party began to consider an inland area in Camp Schwab as the
relocation site in early February, and there have been moves in the
Ministry of Defense to go along with this proposal. Alarmed by this,
the SDP made the examination committee postpone the scheduled
submission of relocation site proposals on Feb. 17 by stressing the
importance of the coalition government and the steering of Diet
affairs within the administration while the deliberation on the
FY2010 budget bill is going on.
Along with efforts to persuade the central government, the SDP also
took measures to influence the Okinawan assembly. Diet Affairs
Committee Chairman Kantoku Teruya, who was elected from the second
district of Okinawa, told Mainichi Shimbun on Feb. 24: "After the
Camp Schwab inland proposal surfaced, we urged the prefectural
assembly to pass the statement as soon as possible. This will have
an impact on the Hatoyama administration at an opportune time,"
revealing the background behind the adoption of the statement.
Behind the SDP's sense of urgency is a change in the balance of
power among the floor groups in the House of Councillors. With
defectors from the Liberal Democratic Party joining the Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ) one after the other, the DPJ-affiliated floor
groups have come to control a majority in the Upper House even
without the SDP's five seats. Even though Hatoyama is saying that he
will make a decision on the Futenma issue that will "maintain the
coalition government," SDP members are still concerned that the
party may be "overridden" in the decision-making process.
Administration officials have reacted coolly to the Okinawan
legislature's statement, which the SDP is relying on (for its
strategy). At a news conference on Feb. 24, Chief Cabinet Secretary
Hirofumi Hirano merely said: "I can understand why such a document
was adopted." Unsure of the intentions of the Prime Ministers
Official Residence, Fukushima told a news conference on the same
TOKYO 00000374 005 OF 008
day: "While the end of May is the time limit, a solution to the
problem is more important." She thus indicated her apprehension that
support for relocation within Okinawa may increase inside the
government on the pretext that time is running out.
7) Iranian Parliament chairman: There is room for discussion on
Japan's nuclear proposal
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
February 25, 2010
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada yesterday held talks with Iranian
Parliament Chairman Larijani on the nuclear issue at a Tokyo hotel.
After the meeting, Larijani disclosed to reporters that Japan
presented a proposal at the end of last year to provide uranium to
Iran that has been enriched and processed in Japan for nuclear power
generation. He then said, "There is room for discussion on the
proposal. We want to deepen our discussions on it," expressing a
certain level of understanding for Japan's proposal.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said at a press conference:
"If there is a role for Japan to play, we should go ahead with it. I
think the proposal is part of Japan's international cooperation
efforts."
8) Vice Foreign Minister Yabunaka leaves for Russia today
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
February 25, 2010
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday announced that
Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka will visit
Russia Feb. 25-26 to hold talks with Russian First Deputy Foreign
Minister Andrey Denisov. Yabunaka and Denisov are expected to
discuss the issue of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, as
well as exchange views on the dispute over the Russia-held islands
off Hokkaido.
9) Second GSDF unit sent to Haiti
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
February 25, 2010
The Defense Ministry yesterday dispatched about 40 Ground
Self-Defense Force (GSDF) personnel as the second GSDF unit to join
UN peacekeeping operations (PKO) in quake-devastated Haiti. The
ministry plans to gradually send about 350 personnel by early March
to replace the first engineering unit comprising about 200 GSDF
troops.
10) Government to extend Nepal PKO mission until end of July
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full)
February 25, 2010
The government decided yesterday to extend the Ground Self-Defense
Force's mission at the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) for
four months through July 31. The decision follows the UN Security
Council's decision in January to extend the UNMIN. The government
plans to adopt an execution plan at a cabinet meeting on March 2.
Since March 2007, six unarmed GSDF personnel dispatched in
accordance with the UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Cooperation Law
TOKYO 00000374 006 OF 008
have been observing arms and soldiers for the purpose of disarming
insurgents of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist. This is the fifth
time to extend the GSDF mission in Nepal.
11) U.S. soldier pleads not guilty in fatal hit-and-run case in
Okinawa
YOMIURI (Page 38) (Full)
February 25, 2010
The first hearing on the case of violation of the Road Traffic Law
(hit-and-run) in which Clyde Gunn, 27, a U.S. Army staff sergeant
stationed at the Torii Station, was charged with fatally hitting
Masakazu Hokama, 66, unemployed, of Yomitan Village, Okinawa with
his car last November was held at the Naha District Court (presided
by Justice Nobuhiro Takamori) on Feb. 24. During the arraignment,
Gunn admitted that he hit Hokama with his car, but pleaded not
guilty because "the site of the accident was pitch-dark, so
pedestrians have the obligation to avoid accidents. I did not know I
hit a person, so there was no duty to aid the injured."
According to the indictment, on the early morning of Nov. 7, Gunn
hit Hokama, who was walking on a road in Sobe, Yomitan Village, with
his car, causing Hokama's death from a cervical vertebral fracture.
He apparently did not try to aid the victim and fled from the scene
of the accident.
Gunn stated: "I felt an impact, so I stopped the car, backed up, and
returned to the site, but did not find anyone who needed help." Gunn
admitted that based on the conditions at the scene of the accident,
he might have hit Hokama. However, he also cited the fact that
Hokama was wearing dark-colored clothes and walking on a dark road
before dawn. He said: "Pedestrians should wear luminescent clothes
to avoid accidents," also denying the charge of negligent driving.
12) PNP Kamei appoint Shimoji to head election strategy office
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
February 25, 2010
In a press conference yesterday, People's New Party (PNP) President
Shizuka Kamei announced the party's decision to appoint Policy
Research Council Chairman Mikio Shimoji as the head of an election
strategy office to be set up in preparation for the upcoming House
of Councillors election. Upper House member Takashi Morita will take
over Shimoji's duties as Policy Research Council Chairman. Shimoji
will continue to serve as chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee.
Shimoji compiled a PNP report on the relocation of U.S. Marine
Corps' Futenma Air Station, calling for constructing a land-based
Futenma replacement facility on Camp Schwab. With the government's
postal reform bill also likely to be finalized soon, the party has
concluded work on a number of its major policy challenges. In the
summer Upper House election, the PNP will field its incumbent Upper
House members in the Hiroshima and Fukuoka constituencies, as well
as in the proportional representation segment. Kamei said in the
press conference: "It has become necessary for another person to
engage in charting election strategy (along with Secretary General
Shozaburo Jimi)."
13) JAL Chairman Inamori tapped as special cabinet adviser
TOKYO 00000374 007 OF 008
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full)
February 25, 2010
The government decided yesterday to appoint Kyocera Corp. Honorary
Chairman Kazuo Inamori, who also serves as Japan Airlines Corp.
chairman, as a special adviser to the cabinet. Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama will issue an official announcement of appointment to
Inamori today.
Inamori has close relations with senior members of the Democratic
Party of Japan. He became a private-sector member of the Government
Revitalization Unit, but after he assumed the chairmanship of JAL,
he informed Hatoyama of his intention to step down as a panel
member. At that time, the prime minister reportedly asked him to
become a special cabinet adviser, judging that the chairman of
Kyocera and JAL would not find it difficult to serve concurrently as
an adviser.
14) USTR : "Put Japan Post on level playing field with
private-sector rivals"
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full)
February 25, 2010
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler on Feb. 25
exchanged ideas on Japan's review of postal services with Senior
Vice Minister of Cabinet Office Kouhei Ohtsuka in Tokyo. During the
meeting, she called on the Japanese government to establish a level
playing field for private companies and Japan Post. She also noted
that the U.S. government is concerned about Japan Post being given
preferential treatment in parcel services. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo
released the statement. In reviewing postal services the government
intends to allow (Japan Post) to market third sector products such
as cancer insurance. Increasingly alarmed by the move, European and
U.S. industrial organizations are calling on the Japanese government
to be cautious about Japan Post's entry into new markets.
15) Japan-China talks on rare metals
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full)
February 25, 2010
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and China's Ministry of
Commerce on Feb. 24 held regular vice minister-level talks In Tokyo.
At the meeting the Japanese side asked China to stop controlling
exports of mineral resources, including rare metals. A Chinese
participant responded: "It is a justifiable system for the control
of resources," the talks ending without agreement. Japan also
conveyed its concern about China's system of making manufacturers
disclose technological information about their IT products (the
China Compulsory Certification system).
16) Nikkei to offer online subscription version from March 23
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Excerpts)
February 25, 2010
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun will start offering an online version on
March 23. It will provide reliable and accurate information with
convenient functions using state-of-the-art technology. Nikkei will
aim to make the online version a new media possessing both the
quality of a newspaper and digital characteristics. Through the
TOKYO 00000374 008 OF 008
online version Nikkei will fulfill the role of a media organization
in the Internet age.
President Tsuneo Kita, during a press conference on Feb. 24,
explained the aim of publishing the online subscription version,
noting, "We will offer quality journalism to those who are familiar
with digital equipment such as PC's and cell phones."
The online version will provide the latest news with ample data and
images on a round-the-clock basis. In addition to articles from the
print version of the newspaper, the online edition will offer
articles from various companies in the Nikkei group and overseas
media organizations. The online edition will include information on
the business scene, information useful for investment, and
information on the arts, sports, health and other life-style issues.
ROOS