JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/17/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001415

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA

SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/17/06

Index:

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

Ambassador's diplomatic schedule:
4) Ambassador Schieffer tours with parents of Megumi Yokota the
Niigata coastline spot where North Korean agents abducted the
child
5) Commenting on Schieffer tour of abduction site, Chief
Cabinet Secretary Abe calls it "significant," saying he wanted
him "to share the same feelings we have"

6) Koizumi Cabinet support rate recovers with a 3.9-point rise
to 47.1% in Jiji's poll

Defense and security issues:
7) Deputy Under Secretary Lawless unhappy with priority by
Japan to local considerations in USFJ realignment, flexible on
revising Futenma relocation plan
8) Four cabinet members agree to slightly revising Nago City's
Futenma relocation plan
9) Working-level paper to be presented to US on force
realignment this month, anticipating delay in 2 plus 2 meeting
10) JDA chief tells Diet committee that cabinet decision on
Futenma relocation plan will be next month
11) Mayor of Iwakuni City tells JDA to retract jet relocation
plan
12) LDP's Kyuma willing for Japan to bear the $7.5 billion share
of burden of relocating Marines to Guam
13) Pseudonyms used for most SDF personnel in listing those
punished for crimes
14) Foreign Minister Aso joins US, Australian counterparts
tomorrow for strategic talks and discussion of timetable for GSDF
pullout from Iraq

15) Former chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda meets ROK
President Roh in effort to prepare way for better bilateral ties
after Prime Minister Koizumi leaves office

16) Ebihara selected as next ambassador to Indonesia

17) Japan to start negotiating FTAs with Gulf states in the
Middle East this July

Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Deregulation on marketing activities to sell school textbooks;
special designation system that bans business entertaining to be
abolished; Fair Trade Commission official: "It's the trend of the
times"; Industry notes that decision will affect textbook
selection

Mainichi: Tokyo Shimbun:
Usen seals business tie-up with Livedoor; Usen president
personally obtains Fuji TV's stake in Livedoor worth 9.5 billion
yen


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Yomiuri:
SDF withholds names of 90% of personnel subjected to disciplinary
punishments, including those arrested and discharged; 421 persons
in six months through February

Nihon Keizai:
Supply-demand gap resolved in Oct-Dec quarter for first time in
eight years: Personal consumption leads the way out of deflation

Sankei:
Futenma relocation: Four ministers agree to revise plan in line
with Nago proposal

2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Usen president braves danger in purchasing Livedoor stocks
(2) Pension integration: Completely eliminate gaps

Mainichi:
(1) Fake email scandal; Settle the issue quickly to normalize
Diet session
(2) Establishment of UN Human Rights Council: Foreign policy
that makes best use of its functions needed

Yomiuri:
(1) Major construction companies: Do not water down their
determination to stop bid-rigging
(2) US deficit: Potential risk should be avoided in advance

Nihon Keizai:
(1) Construct airports that will boost international
competitiveness
(2) District court is mistaken in denying people's right to know

Sankei:
(1) US ambassador inspects abduction site: Ties with US should
be strengthened
(2) Attorneys and delays in hearings: Delay will incur distrust
in trials among public

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Political situation in Thailand becoming tense
(2) Traffic safety program: Various measures needed for the
elderly

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

Prime Minister's schedule, March 16

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
March 17, 2006

10:29
Arrived at Kantei.

11:59
Met Canon President Fujio Mitarai, Dentsu Supreme Advisor Yutaka
Narita, journalist Soichiro Tawara, and others at the Hotel New
Otani.

13:24

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Arrived at Kantei.

14:00
Met Secretary General Takebe and Hokkaido Governor Harumi
Takahashi.

15:03
Met Fuji Xerox Chairman Yotaro Kobayashi, New Japan-China
Friendship 21st Century Committee Chairman on the Japanese side,
and others.

16:00
Met Ambassador to Iraq Yamaguchi and Foreign Ministry's Middle
Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Director General Yoshikawa.
Later, attended an event for opening "Dispatch from Tokyo, Japan
Fashion Week"

17:00
Met Cabinet Intelligence Director Kanemoto, JDA Defense
Operations Yamazaki, the Intelligence Headquarters head.

18:10
Attended a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy

19:34
Met Lower House Budget Committee Chairman Oshima, principal
executive board member Kaneko and others, with Chief Cabinet
Secretary Abe present.

SIPDIS

4) US envoy visits place where Megumi Yokota was abducted to send
strong message to North Korea; "Injustice cannot be allowed to
stand"

SANKEI (Page 28) (Full)
March 17, 2006

US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer yesterday visited the
site in Niigata City where North Korean agents abducted 13-year-
old Megumi Yokota in 1977. Schieffer's visit was the first by a
high-ranking American official to an abduction site. The tour was
the result of the US envoy's intention to "send a message to
North Korea." Megumi's mother, Sakie, 70, is scheduled to testify
on the abduction issue before the US House of Representatives
later this month. Schieffer's tour is likely to stir up public
opinion in the US.

Schieffer arrived at Niigata City Yorii Junior High School at
around 10:30 a.m. yesterday, the school Megumi was attending
before she was kidnapped. The envoy then toured an intersection
near the school believed to be the abduction site, the former
Bank of Japan housing where Megumi lived with her family, and the
seashore where a North Korean vessel is believed to have been
awaiting. Megumi's parents, Shigeru, 73, Sakie, and others
accompanied the ambassador.

Walking down on the school route, Schieffer asked the Yokotas and
others many questions through an interpreter, such as, "Was she
with her friends until this point?" Sakie commented:

"I have visited (this area) so many times, but I still feel
awful. I want to let the ambassador know exactly what happened
here."

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Upon winding up the tour, the US envoy said:

"(What the Yokotas told me) is one of the saddest stories I have
ever heard. I think anyone who has walked these streets as I have
would be touched. I was able to feel firsthand that this dreadful
thing really happened here. Abductions go against everything that
a civilized society believes in, and this injustice cannot be
allowed to stand."

The ambassador also said to Sakie and others, "I will raise the
issue with President Bush when I see him next time."

President Bush visited Japan November 15 last year. Reportedly,
the president learned from his aide on his plane to Japan that
Megumi had been abducted that day many years ago. In a press
conference after his talks with Prime Minister Koizumi, Bush
said, "We share concern about the abductions by North Korea."
Sakie and others are scheduled to make strong appeals for the
need to settle the abduction issue at the US Congress later this
month.

Shigeru noted in a positive tone:

"The ambassador indicated that as long as he remains in his post,
he will make efforts to resolve the issue and broach the
abduction issue in talks with North Korea. I believe that will be
a strong supporting force for resolving the issue."

5) Abe: I hope the US will share our same sentiment

SANKEI (Page 28) (Full)
March 17, 2006

In a press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo
Abe highly praised US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer's tour of the
site where North Korean agents abducted Megumi Yokota. Abe said:

"The visit was significant for the resolution of the abduction
issue, because it signals both to Japan and the world that the
United States has interest in the issue. I hope the US will share
our sentiment."

6) Poll: Koizumi cabinet's support rate rebounds to 47.1%

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged)
March 17, 2006

The Koizumi cabinet's approval rating in March was 47.1%,up 3.9
percentage points from the preceding month's survey, according to
findings from a Jiji Press poll released yesterday. The
disapproval rating was 35.3%,up 0.4 points from the previous
month. The Koizumi cabinet's support rate, which was down for a
seventh straight month in February, picked up in the latest poll.

In the breakdown of public support for political parties, the
ruling Liberal Democratic Party stood at 26.0%,up 0.1 points from
the last survey, with the leading opposition Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) at 8.8%,up 0.8 points. The New Komeito
party, a coalition partner of the LDP, was at 4.1%,up 0.8 points.
Among other parties, the Japanese Communist Party was at 2.2%,up
0.1 points. The Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) and the

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People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) were respectively at
1.3% and 0.1%,both leveling off from the last survey. None of the
respondents picked the New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon).

7) Realignment of US forces in Japan: In interview, US deputy
under secretary of defense expresses discontent with Japan's
prioritizing local consideration, flexible about modifying
Futenma relocation plan

ASAHI (Page 2) (Full)
March 17, 2006

By Yoichi Kato, Washington

The Asahi Shimbun interviewed US Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense Richard Lawless on March 15. Asked about the ongoing
talks on the realignment of US forces in Japan that have entered
the homestretch, Lawless expressed discontent with the Japanese
government's attitude, noting: "The question is why the focus of
discussions tends to easily shift to minor concerns of local
residents who would be affected by the planned relocation of
(bases and troops)." He revealed that Washington has asked Tokyo
to explain to the public the importance of the ongoing
realignment for the future of Japan.

Lawless indicated displeasure with Japan's attitude of
prioritizing local consideration, saying: "Our concern is that
most Japanese officials involved might not have correctly focused
on the strategic necessity of the alliance."

Describing the relocation of the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan
City, Okinawa Prefecture, the redeployment of US Marines from
Okinawa to Guam, and the return and consolidation of bases in
Okinawa as three outstanding issues, Lawless stated: "An
appropriate will and attitude could resolve these issues in next
few weeks." Referring the Futenma relocation issue, Lawless
pointed out that the efforts to obtain local understanding "have
now seemed to run into difficulties." In order to break the
impasse, "The United States is ready to constructively discuss
modification of the relocation plan," he said, indicating a
positive stance about revising the so-called coastal plan Japan
and the US agreed on last fall. He also showed flexibility about
the end-of-March deadline for the compilation of the Agreed
Implementation Plan (AIP).

Lawless reiterated that the cost of the transfer of US Marines to
Guam has been estimated at 10 billion dollars, or approximately
1.18 trillion yen, the amount that has incurred a negative
reaction from Japan, and that the US has asked Japan to pay 75%
of the cost. He explained that the US is planning a massive
expansion of the facilities in Guam. Given the asymmetric
structure of the Japan-US alliance, this level of cost-sharing
would be "extremely reasonable," he said.

8) Futenma relocation: Four cabinet ministers agree to Nago
proposal

SANKEI (Top play) (Full)
March 17, 2006

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Aso,
Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga, and Environment

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Minister Yuriko Koike met in Tokyo yesterday evening to discuss
issues over the planned realignment of US forces in Japan. In the
meeting, the four cabinet ministers consulted on the government's
plan to relocate the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the
city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to a coastal location on the
premises of Camp Schwab, a US military base in the island
prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago. They agreed to
present the United States with a modified plan that is close to
Nago's proposal of changes to the government's coastal plan. Nago
has proposed building an offshore facility to take over the
airfield's heliport functions.

Japan and the United States will hold intergovernmental working-
level consultations in Tokyo on March 23-24, with their senior
officials attending, where the two governments hope to reach a
broad agreement. Before that, however, the Japanese government
needed to conduct political coordination among the four cabinet
ministers in order for the prime minister's office and other
government offices to be aligned on Japan's standpoint.

The biggest point was whether or not to modify the coastal plan,
which has run into opposition from Okinawa and Nago.

On March 8, an official of the Nago City municipal government
said the city would respond to consultations with the government
if the coastal plan were modified along with the city's proposal
for changes to that plan. In its statement, the Nago municipal
government proposed moving the coastal construction site to the
seaside and building an offshore facility that is contiguous to
the cape of Camp Schwab from the sea. There were positive views
about Nago's overtures not only in the Japanese government and
ruling parties but also in the US government. However, the
Defense Agency, which had initiated the coastal plan, was
negative about Nago's proposal, and the government could not find
a way out of the impasse.

In yesterday's meeting of the four cabinet ministers, Nukaga
softened his attitude and basically consented to the idea of
moving the planned coastal construction site to the seaside by
moving closer to Nago's proposal. The Japanese government, based
on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision, is now expected
to finalize its course of action with minor changes added.

Another focus of the four cabinet ministers' meeting yesterday
was on the issue of footing the cost of Marine relocation to
Guam. The US government has asked the Japanese government to pay
75% of the relocation cost estimated at approximately 10 billion
dollars (equivalent to approx. 1.175 trillion yen). However, the
Japanese government has proposed loan-based funding cooperation
on housing and other necessary expenses. The four cabinet
ministers yesterday agreed that the US proposal was unacceptable.

In addition, the four cabinet ministers also discussed the US
government's negative stance about holding a 'two-plus-two' of
the two countries' intergovernmental security consultative
meeting at a time when the Japanese government still remains
unable to obtain local consent. The four ministers confirmed that
they would continue to make efforts for a final agreement in late
March.

9) Realignment of US forces in Japan: Circulation of document
with cabinet-level talks postponed; Japan to propose to US

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creating document before end of month

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
March 17, 2006

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Aso,
and Defense Agency (JDA) Director-General Fukushiro Nukaga
gathered late yesterday and confirmed this policy line: At the
working-level talks of foreign and defense officials from the two
countries on the realignment of US forces in Japan, which are
scheduled to reopen next week, Japan would propose to the Untied
States that working-level officials create a joint document
before the end of the month. By using the document as a final
agreement, the government will accelerate the efforts of
coordination with relevant local governments, including Okinawa
Prefecture.

Japan intended to hold a cabinet-level meeting attended by
foreign and defense ministers of the Japan-US Security
Consultative Committee (2+2) at the end of the month, but the US
is reluctant to do so. Japan will thus postpone holding the 2+2
until April or after.

The US has estimated the cost of the relocation of US Marines in
Okinawa to Guam at 10 billion dollars, or approximately 1.18
trillion yen, and asked Japan to pay 75% of the cost. The three
Japanese officials said Japan "cannot accept such a share." They
agreed to reject that request.

10) Cabinet decision to be made next month on Futenma relocation

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
March 17, 2006

At a House of Representatives Security Committee session, Defense
Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga revealed yesterday that
the cabinet would make a decision in April on the relocation of
the US Marine Futenma Air Station (located in Ginowan City,
Okinawa Prefecture) based on a final report to be compiled by the
governments of Japan and the United States at the end of March.

By making a new cabinet decision, the government will scrap the
1999 cabinet decision that an airport for joint military-civilian
use will be built off Camp Schwab in Nago City, and the plan to
construct heliport facilities on the coast of Camp Schwab will
become the government's formal decision.

11) Iwakuni mayor also calls on JDA to call off relocation plan

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
March 17, 2006

Mayor Katsusuke Ihara of Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture,
yesterday visited the Defense Agency (JDA) and called on the JDA
to drop the planned relocation of US carrier-based aircraft to
Iwakuni, a plan that is part of the realignment of US forces in
Japan. Referring to the outcome of the recent plebiscite on March
12, in which a majority of citizens voted against the planned
relocation, the mayor requested: "I'd like you to respect the
wishes of local residents and take proper action. I hope thorough
discussions with local residents will take place." The
Secretariat's Planning Officer Masaomi Oka, who met with the

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mayor, asked for his understanding about the planned relocation.

12) LDP's Kyuma: Japan could pay 7.5 billion dollars

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
March 17, 2006

Liberal Democratic Party General Council Chairman Fumio Kyuma
indicated yesterday that Japan should accept America's request to
pay 7.5 billion dollars, or about 885 billion yen, for the
relocation of US Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Kyuma said:

"It's a good opportunity, and Japan should bear the cost no
matter how expensive it is. If Japan can do away with host nation
support, we could make a lump-sum payment. Guam is an appropriate
spot for the US to maintain its deterrent capability against an
armed attack on Japan in accordance with the Japan-US Security
Treaty."

13) SDF withholds true names of 90% of personnel subjected to
disciplinary punishments, including those arrested and
discharged; 421 persons in six months up to end of February

YOMIURI (Top Play) (Excerpts)
March 17, 2006

The Defense Agency (JDA) and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF)
recently released a report on disciplinary actions during a six-
month period up to the end of this February. However, this paper
has learned that 90% of the names of personnel who were subject
to disciplinary punishments were withheld, with pseudonyms used.
Even internally, even the ages and ranks of those who were
subject to punishments were withheld in many cases in order to
prevent their identity from being known. SDF noted that the cases
of disciplinary actions should be released in principle in the
form of withholding the identification of concerned persons.
However, they withheld even the names of those who were arrested
or dismissed in disgrace. The stance of the JDA and SDF as
organizations that are tasked with key official responsibilities
will likely be questioned.

According to the JDA, 453 personnel of the Ground Self-Defense
Force (GSDF),the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) and the Air
Self-Defense Force (ASDF) and 28 administrative officials
totaling 481, were subject to punishments in a period from Aug.
15 through the end of February this year and the cases were
released. However, the names of 421 were withheld. Only the names
of 55 SDF personnel and 5 administrative officials were revealed.
It appears that most of these personnel whose names were revealed
had already been released at the time of arrests by police. A
sergeant who stole a safe that contained 630,000 yen from an
office at the GSDF Camp Koriyama was discharged in disgrace. The
GSDF house police arrested him, and yet his name and background
were withheld. The ages of those who were suspended for driving
under the influence of alcohol were not released, either.

An associate professor at the Defense Academy, 37, was dismissed
this month for sexually harassing a female student. In this case,
his brief background was at first withheld so that the victim
could not be identified, but the Defense Academy did not even
inform this student of the disciplinary action against him. A
senior GSDF officer at the JDA Technical Research and

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Developments Institute, who was arrested over molestation, was
suspended. The rank of this level is normally released, but in
this case, his rank was just mentioned "field-grade officer
rank."

14) Japan, US, Australia to hold talks on timing of GSDF
withdrawal from Iraq

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
March 17, 2006

Foreign Minister Taro Aso will arrive in Australia to attend for
the first time a cabinet-minister-level strategic dialogue with
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice. The dialogue will take place on March 18
in Sydney. Aso is expected to exchange views on the timing for
Japan to withdraw its Ground Self-Defense Force troops stationed
in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah with his Australian and US
counterparts.

The Japanese government had planned to pull them out before the
end of March in line with the withdrawal of British and
Australian forces that have maintained public order in Samawah.

However, following the delay of the inauguration of the new Iraqi
government, and Iraq's deteriorating security due to the
intensifying sectarian strife, the Japanese government is unable
to construct a scenario for withdrawing the GSDF troops. Japan,
the US, and Australia will analyze the current Iraqi situation.

15) Fukuda, South Korean president in meeting focus on
improvement in bilateral ties after Koizumi leaves office

ASAHI (Page 3) (Excerpts)
March 17, 2006

Kimitaka Nishiyama, Seoul

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and former Prime
Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, now visiting South Korea, met with
President Roh Moo Hyun at the President's Office yesterday, in
which both sides confirmed the need for the two countries to make
efforts to improve the now-strained relations between Japan and
South Korea. Fukuda stressed: "We must develop relations at the
top level in a revolutionary way," indicating the necessity to
break the impasse by resuming bilateral summitry. President Roh
said: "My aides told me not to do so, but I want to visit
Yushukan, the exhibit hall of Yasukuni Shrine and see its
'Chronology of Modern Japanese Military History.' If the Japanese
government approves it, I would like to visit there." He then
criticized Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to the shrine.

Fukuda and Nakasone arrived in Seoul to attend a joint general
meeting of the Japan-South Korea Cooperation Committee and the
South Korea-Japan Cooperation Committee. The South Korean side
delivered a strong message expressing a desire to repair
relations with Japan to Fukuda, who has been regarded as a
potential successor to Prime Minister Koizumi. In the talks, both
sides focused their attention on a scenario after Koizumi steps
down.

According to a Japanese government source, Roh indicated that

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Japan and South Korea should try to mend the damaged bilateral
relations through private-level exchanges, saying:

"There are difficult problems pending between Japan and South
Korea, but it is necessary to break the impasse in a rational
way. Should it be impossible to attain it at the government
level, it would be possible to do so efforts at the private
level."

In response, Fukuda said: "Some people in Japan have the
impression that 'the president is hard on Japan,' but I have
received a considerably different impression of you. Can't you
visit Japan to speak directly to the Japanese people?"

Roh also lashed out at the prime minister's visits to Yasukuni
Shrine:

"His visits have become blocked the process of social and
economic development..... There must never again be hegemonism,
under which one nation bears down or rules another country. It is
undesirable for one nation to take a unilateral stance on past
events."

16) Foreign Ministry blocks intervention by Prime Minister's
Official Residence in the appointment of Shin Ebihara as
ambassador to Indonesia

SANKEI (Page 5) (Full)
March 17, 2006

The government has appointed Shin Ebihara, former assistant
deputy chief cabinet secretary, as ambassador to Indonesia.
Although aides to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Prime
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) officials voiced strong
objections to Ebihara's appointment as ambassador to Indonesia,
the Foreign Ministry rejected such calls.

Ebihara served only one year in the post of assistant deputy
chief cabinet secretary, after serving as the director general of
the Foreign Ministry's North American Affairs Bureau. Hiroyasu
Ando, former consul general in New York, replaced him. Ebihara
was scarcely able to meet with Koizumi because he did not get
along with Koizumi's aides. A government official said: "He was
excluded from decisions on important diplomatic issues. He
therefore was sacked in effect."

A Kantei source explained the reason why Ebihara was treated
coldly:

"It was because of the rumor that Mr. Ebihara was letting it be
known that he would become the next administrative vice foreign
minister, as well as for other personal problems. These matters
upset the prime minister's aides."

Many officials in the Foreign Ministry felt sympathy for Ebihara
and they engaged the Kantei in negotiations to award Ebihara with
an ambassador's post, but Kantei officials objected to the
ministry's view. "The ambassador to Indonesia is an important
post since that country receives the second largest allocation in
Asia of Japanese official development assistance funds, following
India," said an aide to Koizumi. Some Foreign Ministry officials
raised objections, with one senior official saying, "It is

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abnormal for the Kantei to intervene in ambassadorial
appointments."

Ebihara was regarded as a potential candidate for administrative
vice minister, along with current Vice Minister Shotaro Yachi,
but it is now uncertain whether he will ever be able to get the
post given the enmity of the prime minister's aides. A senior
ministry official, however, thought that with his appointment as
ambassador to Indonesia would pave the way for him to land the
vice minister's post.

17) Government to start FTA negotiations with Gulf nations
possibly in July

SANKEI (Page 1) (Full)
March 17, 2006

The government decided yesterday that it would start negotiations
on concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) composed of six Arab nations on the
Persian Gulf coast. The government will promote negotiations on a
FTA on trade in goods, instead of an economic partnership
agreement (EPA),in a bid to secure stable resources supply by
strengthening relations with the Gulf nations.

The GCC is composed of six nations - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait,
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman. Japan has imported about
75% of its crude oil from these countries. Given such uncertain
factors as Iran's nuclear development problem, it is imperative
for Japan to cement ties with the countries out of the need to
secure resources in preparation for an emergency.

Japan, however, has gotten a slow start, compared with China, the
European Union (EU),which have already started FTA talks with
the GCC. In addition, the GCC is looking into a plan to promote a
free trade zone concept with the US. Chief Cabinet Secretary
Shinzo Abe indicated that Japan would accelerate FTA talks with
the GCC, saying: "If conditions are met, it will be significant
to forge ahead with talks focusing on an FTA." Foreign Minister
Taro Aso also said: "It is our important partner in terms of
energy security."

According to Japanese negotiators, the GCC side is also positive
stance about holding negotiations in hopes of an expansion of
investment from Japan. Keeping such a stance of the GCC in mind,
the government plans to hold a preparatory meeting in May and
start negotiations in July, though it usually conducts joint
research for about a year before starting negotiations.

SCHIEFFER