DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/10/06-2

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 001904

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/10/06-2


INDEX:

Defense issues:

DPJ merry-go-round:

(20) Ichiro Ozawa wins party helm

(21) Ozawa the tough: PM Koizumi

(22) Naoto Kan named to party's No.2 post

(23) Outline of Ozawa's inaugural policy speech

(24) New DPJ President Ozawa's platform

Opinion poll:

(25) 57% see DPJ under Ozawa as hopeful in Kyodo poll

(26) Kyodo poll shows Fukuda rises to 22% in post-Koizumi race,
Abe at 52%

Economic & diplomatic agenda:

(27) US, Japan to drive down patent highway

(28) Yoshinoya to restart 'gyudon' beef bowl menu in September,
calls for gov't to resume US beef imports

(29) Japan, DPRK reps meet in Tokyo over abductions

ARTICLES:

(20) Ozawa elected new president of Minshuto (Democratic Party of
Japan),defeating Kan by 47 votes

YOMIURI (Top play) (Lead paragraph)
April 8, 2006

Minshuto yesterday afternoon held a joint meeting of party
lawmakers of both the houses of the Diet and elected Ichiro
Ozawa, 63, former DPJ vice president, to succeed Seiji Maehara,
who resigned from his post after accepting responsibility for the
fake email mess. Ozawa defeated former DPJ President Kan, 59, by
47 votes. Ozawa's victory presumably comes from widespread
expectations for his strong political abilities amid concern in
the party about how to rebuild itself. After the election, Ozawa
indicated his intention to offer key posts to Kan and Secretary
General Hatoyama in an effort to bring about party unity. The
major challenge for Ozawa in the days ahead is how to restore
public confidence that the party has lost.

(21) Prime Minister Koizumi: Ozawa is tough

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
April 10, 2006

Speaking to reporters on the night of April 7, Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi said of Minshuto's (Democratic Party of Japan)
new President Ichiro Ozawa, "I think he is tough, because he
knows our party well." Asked about Ozawa during the time when he
served as secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party

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(LDP),Koizumi responded, "(At the time) Mr. Ozawa was a party
presidential candidate, so he did not deal with me at all."
Commenting on the fact that the two have essentially traded
places, Koizumi said, "Life is interesting, isn't it?"

Asked whether Ozawa really has changed his political methods,
Koizumi said, "People don't change so easily."

(22) Minshuto's (Democratic Party of Japan) new lineup: Kan
chosen as vice president, other executive officers, including
Hatoyama, reappointed

ASAHI (Page 1) (Excerpts)
April 9, 2006

Minshuto President Ichiro Ozawa yesterday met the press at party
headquarters and announced a new party lineup, choosing Naoto Kan
as vice president and reappointing all other executive officers,
including Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama, Policy Research
Council Chairman Takeaki Matsumoto, and Diet Affairs Committee
Chairman Kozo Watanabe. Ozawa said he did so by attaching
importance to internal harmony and taking into account how to
reduce the impact of the lineup change on debate in the Diet,
which is in session. The new lineup was approved at the general
meeting of party lawmakers of both the houses of the Diet.

(23) A gist of Ozawa's political views

YOMIURI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged)
April 8, 2006

A change of government represents true structural reform for
Japan. Staking my 36 years of experience as a politician and my
thoughts about politics, I have now renewed my resolve to strive
for a change of government. I was warmly received by Minshuto
(Democratic Party of Japan) as a member and encountered a number
of like-minded people. The party is faced with a crisis. I would
like to overcome this crisis and restore public confidence in the
party. A two-party system and a change of government are things
we must pursue.

The important point for Minshuto to regenerate itself is to bring
about party unity. If all Minshuto members line up to play
together like Japan did in the World Baseball Classic (WBC),I
believe we can without fail win the gold medal of a change of
government. Staking my fate as well as the party's fate on the
Upper House election in 2007, I will do my utmost to achieve
victory.

Japan's backbone is in danger of giving way as a result of
haphazard Koizumi politics, and the nation continues to wander.
In order to rebuild such a Japan, a clear philosophy and a
blueprint are essential. My idea is to bring about co-existence.
Co-existence between human beings concerns the issue of peace. Co-
existence with nature concerns the environment. I think Japan
should play a leading role in both areas. Koizumi politics has
mixed up freedom and selfishness and caused society to become one
with disparity or survival of the fittest. Minshuto aims to bring
about a society where those who work hard, make efforts, and are
honest will be rewarded.

I will present an axis of confrontation with the Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) in all the areas of policy planning, Diet

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debates, and daily activities. I will lead Minshuto. I am now
writing a book to flesh out what I proposed in my book, Nihon
Kaizou Keikaku (A Plan to Remodel Japan),published 13 years ago.
I will come up with a direction that Japan will head for, and
after obtaining agreement from the party, I will strive to win
victory in the unified local elections, as well as the Upper
House election, while underscoring Minshuto's platform. In
September, when my tenure of office expires, I will hold a
presidential race in which local assembly members as well as
party supporters will participate. On that occasion, policy
debates should be held openly.
Recently, I have recalled a famous line in the climax of The
Leopard, a film I watched during my youth: "You must change to
remain the same." For the future and the children, I must reform
myself and Minshuto. For that, the first thing to do is to change
myself. I will reform Minshuto as well as Japan. Staking all my
political life on this battle, I vow to continue working hard to
bring it about.

(24) Main points from Ozawa's policy pledge

YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full)
April 8, 2006

Making Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) reliable

Make the two major party system function

Show an axis of confrontation with the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) in the areas of policies, Diet debate, and daily activities

Manage the party in a responsible way for the public, the party
members, and party supporters

Come up with a set of reform measures

Pursue the collusive ties among political, bureaucratic, and
industrial circles

Emphasize the importance of grassroots activities

Establish unity of the party bringing together wisdom from older
people, power from middle-aged people, and ideas from the youth

Thoroughly share the awareness of being an ally among Diet
members, local assembly members, secretaries, and the party
staff.

To rebuild Japan into a fair nation

Philosophy:

The people are the leading player in reform. Those who work hard
and make efforts should be rewarded, not only "winners." Current
systems should be changed instead of making cosmetic reforms for
mere cost reduction or personnel reduction. Tradition and culture
should be revitalized and developed.

Eight reform measures:

The basic portion of pensions, nursing care costs, and elderly
medical fees should be paid for from the consumption tax. A new
income tax system should be introduced so that every citizen

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should report their income, while income tax rates should be
reduced and various deductions scrapped and allowances improved.
Subsidies from central government ministries and agencies with
strings attached should be abolished, and subsidies should be
provided entirely to local governments to use as their own
financial resources. The central government should be responsible
for compulsory education, and local governments should be
responsible for implementing it with their own ideas. Agriculture
should be liberalized, and a deficiency payment system for major
products should be adopted. Global environmental preservation
should be made a national goal. Security principles based on the
philosophy of the Constitution should be established. With
relations with the United States as the cornerstone, Japan should
improve relations with its neighbors, such as China and South
Korea. Family ties and local communities should be revitalized.

(25) Kyodo poll: 57% have expectations for DPJ's Ozawa; 72% see
change of government as difficult

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts)
April 9, 2006

Kyodo News conducted a nationwide opinion survey April 7-8 on
Minshuto's (Democratic Party of Japan) election of Ichiro Ozawa
as its president. The poll showed that 57.4% had expectations for
Ozawa. Of the pollees, 43.8% said that they favored Ozawa's
stance of marking clear differences with the Liberal Democratic
Party. However, 72.7% said that they did not think Minshuto would
take the reins of government. The figures showed that the public
does not have a high opinion of the main opposition party, which
failed to handle the fake email issue properly.

Public support for Minshuto increased to 19.9% from the 11.3% in
late February when the party was suffering from the false email
fiasco.

In contrast, the approval rate for the cabinet of Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi dropped by 7.3 percentage points to 47.2% from
the previous survey on April 1-2. It was the first time since
last August that the support rate for the Koizumi cabinet dropped
below 50%. The Koizumi cabinet's disapproval rating increased by
4.3 percentage points to 39.9%. The reason seems to be that
public attention was focused on the Minshuto presidential race.

(26) Kyodo poll: Public support for Fukuda surges to 22%; Abe
secures majority support as possible successor to Koizumi

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts)
April 9, 2006

Kyodo News conducted a nationwide opinion poll on who should be
the next prime minister. The poll found that 51.9% favored Chief
Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, 22.1% former Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, 5.8% Foreign Minister Aso Taro, 2.9%

SIPDIS
Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, and 0.4% someone else.

(27) Patent application screening process to be shortened to
within nine months starting in July, Japan, US expected to agree

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Excerpts)
April 8, 2006

Patent officials of Japan and the US will introduce in July a

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system that allows the prompt screening of patent applications
made by companies of the other country. The system is called a
patent screening highway initiative. The two countries are
expected to formally reach agreement during an expert meeting in
May. At present, it takes years for patent applications made by
Japanese companies in the US to be screened. Under the new
system, the screening period will be drastically shortened to
within nine months. This will help companies obtain patent rights
quicker, enhancing their international competitiveness.

(28) Yoshinoya plans to reinstate beef bowl on menu in September;
Calls for resumption of US beef imports

ASAHI (Page 13) (Excerpts)
April 8, 2006

Yoshinoya D&C, a leading beef bowl restaurant chain, on April 7
released its financial statement. The statement included an
estimate for business results for the term ending February 2007
premised on the reinstatement of some varieties of beef bowl on
the menu starting this September. President Shuji Abe said, "At
present, there are no concrete prospects for a resumption of US
beef imports, but the second embargo can be settled technically.
It would be negligence of the government if the ban were not
removed." He thus strongly called for a resumption of the beef
trade at an early date.

(29) Meeting between Japanese, North Korean chief delegates to
six-party talks

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
April 9, 2006

Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian
and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, held talks with North Korean Foreign
Vice Minister Kim Kye Gwan for about two hours on the night of
April 8 at a Tokyo hotel. Sasae strongly called on Kim to resolve
the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, and
urged him to return to the negotiation table of the six-party
talks on the North's nuclear development programs.

As expected, however, Kim, the North's chief delegate to the six-
party talks, did not respond positively on the abduction issue,
and he reiterated Pyongyang's position that the North would not
return to the six-party talks unless the United States lifted
financial sanctions on it. After the meeting, Sasae told
reporters, "We explained our basic positions on the abduction
issue and the six-party talks."

Sasae and Kim agreed to conduct bilateral talks among the chief
negotiators of the six-party talks members on the sidelines of a
conference to be held on April 10 and 11 in Tokyo.

SCHIEFFER