Cablegate: Japanese Morning Press Highlights 11/25/09

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DE RUEHKO #2702/01 3290152
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250152Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7754
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/USFJ //J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 9923
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RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 4738
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 8082
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1985
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8653
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 8111

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 002702

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 11/25/09

INDEX:

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

Defense & security:
4) Police obtain arrest warrant for four children of U.S. forces
personnel in connection with motorcycle accident (Yomiuri)
5) Foreign Minister giving serious consideration to allocating funds
for deployment of additional PAC3 missiles (Sankei)
6) Foreign Minister Okada: Govt. to investigate Aso administration's
lobbying of U.S. congressional commission to maintain nuclear
umbrella (Asahi)
7) Preparatory meeting on "nuclear security summit" to be held in
Tokyo next month (Nikkei)

Futenma issue:
8) Senior MOFA, MOD officials in U.S. for working level
consultations on Futenma issue (Yomiuri)
9) Funding for Futenma facility relocation included in budget
(Asahi)

Trade & economics:
10) Govt. mulling subsidies to maintain flights after JAL's
withdrawal (Nikkei)

Foreign relations:
11) Ambassador Roos to visit Okinawa (Asahi)
12) Ozawa to lead delegation of 140 lawmakers to China (Sankei)

Secret nuclear accord:
13) Panel of experts will be set up to review results of MOFA
investigation into the existence of "secret nuclear accord"
(Nikkei)

Politics:
14) Budget screening panel slashes ODA funds; some govt. officials
concerned about the decline in Japanese presence (Yomiuri)
15) ODA grant aid for building infrastructure in developing nations
to be cut by one-third (Tokyo Shimbun)

Opinion:
16) Yomiuri poll: 61 PERCENT approve of consumption tax hike
(Yomiuri)

Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Government panel with new members to recalculate financial burden on
households from 25 PERCENT cut in greenhouse gas emissions

Mainichi & Yomiuri
Another political body linked to Hatoyama allegedly failed to report
donations

Nikkei:
Transport minister eyes subsidies to local governments to maintain
flights after JAL's withdrawal

TOKYO 00002702 002 OF 009

Sankei:
Police to search offices of Kashima Construction Co. on suspicion of
swindling 4.7 million yen in public works project

Tokyo Shimbun:
Government unit calls for cutting ODA grant aid for infrastructure
in developing countries by 30 PERCENT

Akahata:
Nine university presidents protest against government unit's call
for slashing budget requests related to science and technology

2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Release of Japanese hostage in Yemen proves importance of aid
that wins people's hearts
(2) Measures needed to stop increase in greenhouse gas emissions

Mainichi:
(1) Six months after introduction of lay judge system: In-depth
discussion of confidentiality needed
(2) Prevent soccer referees' mistakes by introducing video and other
advanced technology

Yomiuri:
(1) Energy tax needed to cover revenue shortfalls that will result
from abolishment of provisional tax rates
(2) Take measures to quickly eliminate bad effects of
recommendation-based admissions

Nikkei:
(1) Integration of three major airports in Kansai area necessary
(2) Executive members of EU expected to demonstrate ability to act

Sankei:
(1) Prosecutors should thoroughly disclose details of illegal
donations to Hatoyama
(2) Japanese freed in Yemen: Efforts needed to protect civilian aid
workers

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Are Cabinet Secretariat's secret funds really necessary?
(2) New strain of flu: Review vaccine regulations

Akahata:
(1) Don't stop support for basic research and young researchers

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

Prime Minister's schedule, November 24

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
November 25, 2009

07:46 Attended meeting of ministerial committee on defense build-up
at the Diet
08:18 Held cabinet meeting; Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano
stayed behind
10:18 Met National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan at the Prime
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

TOKYO 00002702 003 OF 009

11:00 Met President Hiroyasu Ito, other officials of NPO Japan
Abilities Association; followed by meeting with Senior Vice Minister
for Foreign Affairs Tetsuro Fukuyama and Ambassador for Aid to
Afghanistan and Pakistan Motohide Yoshikawa
12:10 Met Kan; joined by Hirano.
14:12 Inspection of government-project screening by the Government
Revitalization Unit with Minister for Administrative Reform Yoshito
Sengoku, others at the National Printing Bureau's Ichigaya Center in
Ichigayahonmura-cho
15:02 Met Upper House member Shokichi Kina, Social Democratic Party
Lower House member Kantoku Teruya, others at Kantei
16:15 Phone call from British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown; Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yorihisa Matsuno and
MOFA's Director General for Global Issues Shinsuke Sugiyama present
17:37 Met UN Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark
18:53 Had dinner with Kyocera Honorary Chairman Kazuo Inamori, Kan,
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa,
Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka, DPJ Upper House
caucus chair Azuma Koshiishi, and Upper House Secretary General
Yoshimitsu Takashima; joined by Land Minister Seiji Maehara
21:31 Arrived at official residential quarters

4) Police obtain arrest warrant for four dependents of U.S. service
members for stringing rope across road and causing motorcyclist's
crash, serious injury

YOMIURI (Page 39) (Full)
November 25, 2009

Last August, a female company employee, 23, collided with a rope
strung across a street in Musashimurayama City in Tokyo while riding
on a motorcycle and fell as a result, suffering a serious skull
fracture. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has obtained a
warrant of arrest for four teenagers, aged 15-18, who are children
of U.S. military personnel living on the Yokota base, on charges of
attempted murder. These teenagers are suspected of stringing the
rope across the road intentionally. The MPD will seek the
cooperation of the Military Police on the Yokota base to detain the
four this week and interrogate them on their motives.

According to a source familiar with the investigations, the incident
occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 13 on a street in Inahira in
Musashimurayama City. The motorcyclist ran into a rope stretched
from a metal pole (about 1.5 meters high) on the grounds of a
transportation company along the street to a utility pole on the
opposite side of the road, which is about 6.5 meters wide. The woman
fell and suffered serious injuries requiring three months to heal.

According to the MPD's investigations, the rope is normally tied
between two poles on either side of the entrance of the company in
the evening to prevent trespassers from entering the garage. It was
found that at the time of the incident, the rope was removed from
one pole and tied to the utility pole at a height of about 70
centimeters from the ground. A police patrol car that passed by the
area some 10 minutes before the incident did not notice the rope
strung across the street. The MDP suspected that somebody had
intentionally tied the rope to the utility pole during that
10-minute period, and their investigations revealed that three boys
and one girl were playing near the area at that time. Nearby
security cameras captured the four teenagers on video, and they
acted suspiciously when police officers rushed to the scene of the
accident.

TOKYO 00002702 004 OF 009

5) Okada cautious about allocating funds for additional PAC-3
deployment

SANKEI (Page 3) (Full)
November 25, 2009

The government yesterday held a meeting of its cabinet ministerial
committee in the Diet on the defense budget for fiscal 2010. In
connection with creating guidelines for defense-related spending for
the next fiscal year, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada indicated a
cautious stance during the meeting about the Defense Ministry's
budget request for an additional deployment of the Patriot Advanced
Capability 3 (PAC-3), a ground-to-air guided missile system designed
to intercept ballistic missiles. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa,
and Okada participated in the committee meeting.

In response to such factors as North Korea's ballistic missile
threat, the Defense Ministry has earmarked 94.4 billion yen in its
budget request for the next fiscal year to deploy PAC-3 batteries at
three additional sites in the country under its five-year deployment
plan.

Based on this antiballistic missile defense plan, Kitazawa insisted
on the necessity of additional PAC-3 deployment. Okada rebutted by
saying: "PAC-3 accounts for a considerable portion of the defense
budget. We need public accountability on its effectiveness. I think
it will be all right if we fully discuss the matter during fiscal
2010." Fujii said, "I agree." Furthermore, a question was raised
about the Defense Ministry's request to increase the number of
Self-Defense Forces personnel.

Meanwhile, the Hatoyama cabinet has decided to postpone the
government's work schedule for a year of revising the National
Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) and formulating the next midterm
defense buildup plan. The government had planned to work out these
two new defense plans at the end of the year. The NDPG is to
determine a basic course of action, including Japan's defense
buildup and the SDF's operation over a long period of time. The
midterm defense buildup plan is to specify such matters as the SDF's
annual troop strength and costs.

6) Foreign Ministry to investigate previous government's alleged
lobbying of U.S. congressional commission to maintain nuclear
capability

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
November 25, 2009

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada clarified at a press conference
yesterday that his ministry would investigate the issue of the
previous Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito government allegedly
lobbying a U.S. congressional commission, which compiled nuclear
policy proposals (for the Obama administration), to maintain the
U.S. nuclear capability in Japan. He stated: "I would like to know
what the previous government told (the U.S. side)."

The U.S. congressional body in question is called the Congressional
Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. The
commission presented in May a set of nuclear policy proposals to the
Obama administration. Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger,

TOKYO 00002702 005 OF 009

who serves as deputy chair of the commission, revealed in an
interview to the Asahi Shimbun that the Japanese side expressed
concern that the credibility of the U.S. "nuclear umbrella might be
undermined."

7) Preparatory meeting for nuclear security summit to take place
next month in Tokyo

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
November 25, 2009

The Japanese and U.S. governments have decided to hold a preparatory
meeting on Dec. 3 in Tokyo for a nuclear security summit slated for
next April. The United States will host the nuclear security summit
with the attendance of 43 countries and four international
organizations, including the United Nations and European Union (EU).
Measures to prevent terrorism aimed at nuclear materials will be
discussed at the summit. The preparatory meeting is the first step
in cooperation between Tokyo and Washington toward achieving a world
free of nuclear weapons as agreed upon at the summit meeting between
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and President Barack Obama on Nov. 13.
At the preparatory meeting, working-level officials will discuss
such issues as international cooperation in dealing with nuclear
terrorism and the establishment of an antitheft management system.
Gary Samore, U.S. coordinator (for arms control and
non-proliferation/antiterrorism), who held negotiations with North
Korea under the Clinton administration, will chair the meeting.

8) Senior MOFA, MOD officials in U.S. for working level
consultations on Futenma issue

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
November 25, 2009

Director General Kazuyoshi Umemoto of the North American Affairs
Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Director
General Nobushige Takamizawa of the Defense Policy Bureau of the
Ministry of Defense (MOD) left for Washington on Nov. 24 for
discussions with the U.S. side on the issue of the relocation of the
U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station. They will meet with Assistant
Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and other U.S. officials for
working level consultations relating to the ministerial level
working group on the Futenma issue consisting of cabinet members in
charge of foreign affairs and defense of the Japanese and U.S.
governments.

9) Government to earmark funds for relocation of Futenma facility,
out of consideration for U.S., but make decision later

ASAHI (Page 1) (Excerpts)
November 25, 2009

The Hatoyama cabinet has started coordination to earmark in the
fiscal 2010 budget bill expenses needed to reclaim in the Henoko
district in Nago City the alternative site for the U.S. Marine
Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, and
also to transfer U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Although Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama has yet to reach a conclusion on where the
Futenma facility should be moved, the government has judged that if
necessary expenses are excluded from the budget bill, the U.S. could
interpret that to mean Japan has scrapped the entire bilateral
agreement (on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan).

TOKYO 00002702 006 OF 009

In its budget request, the Defense Ministry included 28.8 billion
yen as expenses for relocating the Futenma airfield to Nago City and
34.6 billion yen for transferring U.S. Marines from Okinawa to
Guam.

A person close to the prime minister commented: "Unless the
government earmarks expenses related to the realignment of U.S.
forces in Japan, the roadmap for the plan will go back to the
drawing board. The prime minister is not considering that option (at
the present point in time)." In reaction to the Japanese
government's wavering stance over the Futenma relocation issue, some
members of the U.S. Congress have begun to call for trimming
expenses related to transferring U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam.
The government must have taken into consideration such moves in the
U.S.

10) Transport minister looking into using government subsidies to
maintain flights after JAL's withdrawal

NIKKEI (Top play) (Lead para.)
November 25, 2009

Transport Minister Seiji Maehara on Nov. 24 revealed a policy of
allocating in stages more than half of the landing and departure
slots at Haneda Airport for international flights, starting October
next year. He will also aim to introduce daytime European and U.S.
flights, a plan that is not included in the existing one. Maehara
also plans to implement toll-free expressways on a trial basis,
starting in April next year. The ministry is now making adjustments
with the possibility of excluding key routes connecting major
cities. It will also consider providing government subsidies to
localities to maintain local flight routes, after Japan Airlines
withdraws in the process of management restructuring.

11) Ambassador Roos to visit Okinawa

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
November 25, 2009

The U.S. Consulate in Okinawa announced yesterday that U.S.
Ambassador John Roos will visit Okinawa from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2.
This will be the Ambassador's first visit to Okinawa. He is expected
to meet with Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and other local politicians and
business leaders. He is likely to discuss with them the pending
issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station. He
also plans to visit U.S. military bases on the island prefecture and
the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City.

12) Ozawa to visit China with 140 Diet members

SANKEI (Page 5) (Abridged slightly)
November 25, 2009

The main ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) announced yesterday
that about 140 DPJ lawmakers will join a delegation to China, which
is expected to stay in China for four days from Dec. 10. In term of
the size of an overseas delegation of Diet members, this delegation
is unusually large. Including others who will participate in the
delegation, the total number will exceed 600.

The visit to China this time around will be carried out by the

TOKYO 00002702 007 OF 009

Japan-China Exchange and Discussion Mechanism, a regular exchange
program between the DPJ and the Chinese Communist Party, and the
Great Wall Program, a Japan-China exchange project, in which
Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa has been involved since he was a
member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Secretary General Ozawa will serve as honorary chairman of the
delegation and Azuma Koshiishi, chairman of the DPJ caucus in the
House of Councillors, as its chairman. Diet Affairs Committee
Chairman Kenji Yamaoka will also join the delegation. Ozawa is
expected to meet with key Chinese figures, including President Hu
Jintao.

13) Expert panel on Japan-U.S. secret pacts to hold first meeting
tomorrow

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
November 25, 2009

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said in a press conference yesterday
that a new panel of experts set up to investigate the issue of
alleged secret pacts between Japan and the U.S. will hold its first
meeting tomorrow. The panel is composed of six experts and chaired
by Tokyo University Professor Shinichi Kitaoka. After examining the
historic background of the issue and other details, the panel will
come up with a report in around mid-January.

The panel will look into four alleged secret accords: (1) a pact
allowing the U.S. military to bring nuclear weapons into Japan made
in 1960 when the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised; (2) a pact
made in 1960 on combat action in times of emergency on the Korean
Peninsula; (3) a pact allowing the U.S. military to bring nuclear
weapons into Japan in the event of a contingency made at the time of
the reversion of Okinawa from U.S. control to Japanese sovereignty;
and (4) a pact concerning Japan's payment of fees for restoring the
land the U.S. military has used to its original state. Okada
emphasized: "The basic principle should be that the details of the
secret accords are released after a certain period of time passes,
although it depends on the contents."

The members of the panel are Hosei University Professor Yasuko Kono,
Osaka University Profesor Kazuya Sakamoto, Rikkyo University
Professor Takuya Sasaki, Tsukuba University Professor Sumio Hatano,
and Nagoya University Professor Mikio Haruna.

14) Budgetary requests screening: Cut in public facilities, ODA;
Concern about decline in Japan's presence

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
November 25, 2009

The Government Administrative Unit (GRU) on Nov. 24 screened project
requests filed by the Foreign Ministry as official development
assistance (ODA) and decided to cut about one-third of grant aid for
building public facilities, such as schools and hospitals, which
account for about 50 percent of the 157.1 billion yen requested by
the ministry as cooperation in the form of grants. Government
officials are voicing concern about a possible decline in Japan's
presence and diplomatic clout in the international community.

Prime Minister Hatoyama in the speech delivered at the UN in
September this year announced that he wanted to double Japan's

TOKYO 00002702 008 OF 009

efforts to support developing countries in cooperation with
international agencies. However, on the 24th the GRU determined that
it would be possible to trim projects being carried out in countries
to which Japan is providing reimbursable yen loans in tandem with
grant aid. Foreign Minister Okada during a press conference on the
same day said: "If it is a matter of the total amount of ODA, then
it is a policy argument. Except for some extraordinary reason we
cannot easily alter the prime minister's major policy line (of
strengthening assistance to developing countries)." However, he also
said, "If there are problems with the specifics, it is only natural
for us to modify them."

15) Project screening: 30 percent cut in grant aid for building
infrastructure in developing countries

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Excerpts)
November 25, 2009

The Government Revitalization Unit (GRU), chaired by Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama, on Nov. 24 continued with its second round of
project screening with the aim of identifying wasteful budget
requests for fiscal 2010. During the process, the panel called for
about a one-third reduction in the development of infrastructure,
such as the building of ports, harbors, and roads, in developing
countries from requests filed by the Foreign Ministry as cooperation
in the form of grants (budget request of 157.1 billion yen) in
official development assistance (ODA).

The building of infrastructure like this is referred to as the
overseas version of public works. It usually accounts for about 50
percent of grant aid. Lower House member Motoyuki Odachi, who was in
charge of the screening, said, "The Democratic Party of Japan's
(DPJ) policy of shifting the focus of spending from concrete to
human resources will be adopted for policies involving overseas
projects as well."

From among ODA-related budgetary requests, the GRU has decided to
cut research expenses for technical cooperation worth 9.6 billion
yen by 30 percent from subsidies worth 150.8 billion yen requested
by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), an independent
administrative agency tasked with providing economic and
technological support to developing countries.

16) Poll: 61 PERCENT favor consumption tax hike

YOMIURI (Page 1) (Abridged)
November 25, 2009

An estimated 61 PERCENT of the nation think that it would be
unavoidable to raise the consumption tax in order for the nation to
maintain its social security system, while 37 PERCENT do not think
so, the Yomiuri Shimbun found from its recent face-to-face
nationwide public opinion survey conducted Nov. 14-15. The
proportion of those in favor of raising the consumption tax
increased 14 percentage points from 47 PERCENT in the last survey
conducted in July 2008 and marked the highest level ever since July
2004 when the same question was first asked.

An increasing number of people seem to think it will be necessary to
raise the consumption tax in order to ensure revenue resources for
the growing cost of social security.

TOKYO 00002702 009 OF 009

Meanwhile, 62 PERCENT answered that they thought the Hatoyama
cabinet's policy of not raising the consumption tax rate in the next
four years will make it impossible for the nation to maintain its
current level of social security.

ROOS

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