MEDIA REACTION US-JAPAN SECURITY/JAPANESE

UNCLAS TOKYO 001906 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION US-JAPAN SECURITY/JAPANESE POLITICS - TOKYO ¶1. LEAD STORIES: There were no papers published Monday morning because of a press holiday. Quasigovernmental broadcaster NHK-TV gave top play to MOFA Ambassador Yamamoto's meeting Sunday evening with North Korean Foreign Ministry Deputy US Affairs Director Chong, during which Yamamoto urged the North to return to the six-party talks. ¶2. "Tough Road Ahead for Ozawa's DPJ" The business daily Nihon Keizai editorialized (4/8): "Ichiro Ozawa, former deputy leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),has been elected as its new party leader. Although there is deep-rooted antipathy toward Ozawa within the party, the DPJ has entrusted this experienced politician with the task of reconstruction following the setbacks experienced by Seiji Maehara and the rest of the younger former leadership.... The major task for the Ozawa-led DPJ for the time being will be making its presence felt in a Diet session that has so far proceeded at the pace of the ruling coalition. Deliberations on important bills relating to administrative and medical system reform lie ahead.... Ozawa, who split the New Frontier Party and the Liberal Party in the past, carries the image of a 'destroyer,' and some DPJ lawmakers are still wary of what they see as his self-righteous political methods. To wipe away these concerns, Ozawa needs to hold himself accountable to those both within and outside the DPJ. We hope he will assiduously attend party meetings and lay out his views at press conferences.... It is also important for him to confront PM Koizumi during question time in the Diet, just as his predecessors did." SCHIEFFER