JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04/12/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001962

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SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04/12/06


Index:

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

North Korea problem:
4) US-DPRK contacts in Tokyo produce no results
5) Pessimism about talks starting between US, DPRK
6) Assistant Secretary Hill reveals that $24 million in North
Korean accounts have been frozen
7) As host of 6-party academic conference, Japan's efforts to
restart formal talks did not pay off
8) DNA testing shows abductee Megumi Yokota was married to
South Korean also abducted by North Korean agents
9) Government to ask Pyongyang to clear up true identity of
Megumi Yokota's husband, seek Seoul's cooperation in pursuing
issue

10) Former Prime Minister Mori is off to China as representative
of athletic association

USFJ realignment:
11) Nago to ask for shorter runways at Camp Schwab
12) Dream of joint civilian-military use of Yokota Air Base far
from achieving reality

Political agenda:
13) Prime Minister Koizumi receives gift of one of Elvis
Presley's scarves
14) Ichiro Ozawa plans to run in September Minshuto presidential
race, sees it as "vote of confidence"
15) Ruling camp works out new proposal to resolve issue of
inserting "love of country" into amendments to Basic Education
Law

Trade issues:
16) Consumers blast US beef system in government's first open
hearings on BSE issue
17) Agricultural Minister Nakagawa wants US to "swiftly resolve"
issue of bones in beef shipment to Hong Kong by US company
certified to export to Japan
18) Third round of Japan-ASEAN FTA talks end, with next session
set for June

Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi, Yomiuri, Sankei & Tokyo Shimbun:
Tokyo demands Pyongyang to reveal the truth, seeks cooperation
from Seoul; Abductee Megumi Yokota's husband may have been South
Korean

Mainichi:
Flood gate scandal: MLIT found to have urged firms to continue
bid-rigging practice despite their call for its abolition

Nihon Keizai:
Fees for NHK television viewers: Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications considers penalty for nonpayment, envisions a
possible cut in fees

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2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Abductee Megumi Yokota: It's time for Japan and ROK to join
hands
(2) Court ruling on Janome Machine case: Caution against payoff

Mainichi:
(1) NDA testing: Japan, ROK need to join hands to resolve the
abduction issue
(2) France's repeal of CPE: An omen of split of EU?

Yomiuri:
(1) Ozawa-led Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan): Axis of
confrontation should be shown quickly
(2) Abductee Megumi Yokota's husband: North Korea's inhumanity
felt from outcome of DNA testing

Nihon Keizai:
(1) Pension disparity between government and private sector must
be removed by political initiative
(2) No chart shown after establishment of three types of nursery
schools

Sankei:
(1) DNA analysis on abductees: Japan, ROK need to work together
to resolve the abduction issue
(2) Basic environment plan: Substance is good but hard to
understand

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Abductee Megumi Yokota: Joint efforts by Japan, ROK are
essential to rescue abductees
(2) People lost in springtime mountains: Information
indispensable to save lives

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

Prime Minister's schedule, April 11

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
April 12, 2006

08:31
Attended a cabinet meeting.

09:55
Met at Kantei with Nomura, who is in charge of the Crown Prince
Naruhito's household, followed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Futahashi.

11:01
Met with members of a group calling for the return of the
Northern Territories, including Hokkaido Gov. Takahashi.

14:35
Met National Music Publishers' Association Honorary Chairman
Watanabe and others.

15:19
Attended videotaping for LDP public affairs at LDP headquarters.

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16:57
Met at Kantei with Vice Foreign Minister Yachi, followed by
Justice Minister Sugiura and Japan Judicial Support Center
Director Kaneko.

17:55
Met State Minister for the Declining Birthrate Inoguchi.

19:03
Dined at the Hotel Okura with Upper House Steering Committee
Chairman Mizote and other ruling party directors, joined by
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzuki and chief Cabinet Secretary
Abe.

21:04
Returned to his residence.

4) Academic conference ends without any contacts between US,
North Korean delegates to six-party talks; Remain at odds over
financial sanctions

MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
April 12, 2006

Chief negotiators to the six-party talks on the North Korean
nuclear issue engaged actively in separate talks in Tokyo
yesterday. Chief delegates, centering on Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Wu Dawai, futilely tried to convince the United States
and North Korea, to hold bilateral talks in the run-up to
resuming the six-party talks. The chief negotiators to the
multilateral talks, who assembled in Tokyo to attend an academic
conference, will now return to their respective countries empty
handed.

A source traveling with US Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill categorically said to reporters yesterday, "As
the assistant secretary repeatedly noted, there will be no
bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea."

Chinese and Japanese sources also indicated that there would be
no contacts between the US and North Korea.

The thorniest point between the US and North Korea was the
financial sanctions taken by the US against the North. North
Korea insisted that it would not return to the six-party talks
unless the US lifted the financial sanctions. Meanwhile, the US
maintained that it would not hold talks with the North unless
Pyongyang returned to the multilateral negotiating table.

Hill commented last night about the financial sanctions against
the North:

"I understand that a bank in Macau has frozen assets worth 20
million dollars. The value of frozen assets is smaller than the
profit that would result in the energy areas as a result of
pushing the six-party talks forward. North Korea may pass up
great gain as a result of adhering to one issue."

5) Pessimism about possibility of holding US-North Korea
dialogue; Plan to involve third country also fraught with
difficulty

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NIHON KEIZAI (Page 8) (Excerpts)
April 12, 2006

Delegates from Japan, the US, China, South Korea, and North
Korea, who assembled in Tokyo coinciding with an ongoing
international academic conference yesterday, bilaterally met and
searched for the possibility of direct dialogue between
Washington and Pyongyang, the key to restarting the stalled six-
party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. A plan to realize
such a dialogue in the form of involving a third country, such as
China, was floated, but coordination of views on this proposal
was unsuccessful. The confrontation between the two countries
over the US financial sanctions against the North is so deep-
rooted that a pessimistic atmosphere spread about prospects for
finding a breakthrough in the stalemate.

Brief contact ends in disagreement

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top envoy from
the US, and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, chief delegate
from North Korea, yesterday morning briefly met at the conference
hall where the International Academic Conference is taking place.
Hill called on North Korea to make an unconditional return to the
six-party talks, saying, "Why don't we meet in Beijing (the venue
of the talks)?" The brief meeting appeared to have ended in
disagreement with Kim conveying the North's stance of making the
removal of the financial sanctions a condition for its return to
the negotiating table.

Hill is scheduled to leave Japan on April 12. Alarmed about time
running out, Japan, China, and South Korea mulled a plan to hold
bilateral dialogue involving a third country as a proposal to
bring both the US and North Korea together. Kim visited the
Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Wu Dawei, chairman of the six-party talks. Related
sources pinned hopes on the possibility of realizing US-North
Korea dialogue.

A hard-line view against Pyongyang is rising in the US. In North
Korea, anti-US sentiment is growing. Amid such circumstances, the
scope of discretion allowed to both Hill and Kim was limited.
This has apparently contributed to the bogged-down coordination
of views on the proposal. Delegates from the six countries are
busily engaging in talks, but the outlook for restarting the six-
party talks is increasingly becoming unclear.

6) North Korea had 24 million dollars in now-frozen bank accounts
in Macau

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 8) (Full)
April 12,2006

Christopher Hill, US Assistant Secretary of State responsible for
East Asian and Pacific affairs, yesterday revealed to reporters
in Tokyo that North Korea had a total of 24 million dollars in
its now-frozen bank accounts in Macau.

7) Japan efforts as host of academic conference were in vain

MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
April 12, 2006

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The Japanese government attempted to present the just-ended
academic conference as a stage for informal talks leading to a
resumption of the six-party talks. Ahead of the conference, the
Foreign Ministry had lobbied North Korea, and Vice Foreign
Minister Kim Gye Gwan visited Tokyo as a result. At that point,
the Foreign Ministry felt a certain level of satisfaction. But to
Japan's disappointment, there were no bright prospects for
bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea.
Japan's enthusiasm as the host of the conference did not produce
any tangible results.

Foreign Ministry Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau chief
Kenichiro Sasae, who serves as Japan's chief delegate to the six-
party talks, met with Kim for a total of five hours between April
8 and 11. In the talks with Kim, Sasae strongly urged the North
to return to the six-party talks early and unconditionally. He
also pressed the North for a "sincere response" to the abduction
issue, explaining that "pressure" for economic sanctions against
the North has been growing in Japan since the Japan-North Korea
comprehensive parallel talks in February.

8) Abductee Megumi Yokota's husband might be Kim Yong Nam
abducted in 1978 by North Korea, according to government's DNA
testing; Tokyo urges Pyongyang to take action

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Excerpts)
April 12, 2006

Meeting the press yesterday afternoon, Chief Cabinet Secretary
Shinzo Abe released the results of DNA testing showing a strong
possibility that Kim Hye Gyong, the daughter of Megumi Yokota,
who had been abducted at the age of 13 by North Korea, may have a
blood relationship with Kim Yong Nam, a South Korean abductee
believed to be Megumi's husband. Later in the day, the government
gave an account of the results to Megumi's parents, Shigeru and
Sakie, as well as Yong Nam's mother and sister via the South
Korean Embassy in Tokyo.

On the same day, the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian
Affairs Bureau Director-General Kenichiro Sasae conveyed the
results of DNA tests to visiting North Korean Vice Foreign
Minister Kim Kye Gwan and strongly demanded him to "come up with
a sincere response" in order to resolve the abduction issue" by
taking such steps as allowing abductees to return home as well as
revealing the whole truth. Kim reportedly told Sasae: "We'll
carefully examine the case and take it into consideration."

According to Abe and the Foreign Ministry, the DNA analysis was
conducted as part of the efforts to gather information related to
the abduction issue. For the DNA testing, blood, hairs, and
buccal cells of parents of five South Korean men allegedly
abducted by North Korea, including those of Kim Yong Nam were
used.

9) Tokyo demands Pyongyang reveal the truth, seeks cooperation
from Seoul

ASAHI (Top play) (Lead paragraph)
April 12, 2006

The government yesterday released the results of DNA tests

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showing a strong possibility that Japanese abductee Megumi
Yokota's daughter, Kim Hye Gyong, may have Kim Yong Nam, a South
Korean man abducted by North Korea, as her father. The Foreign
Ministry conveyed the results to North Korean Vice Foreign
Minister Kim Kye Gwan and strongly demanded that North Korea
should come up with a sincere response to such issues as allowing
abductees to return home and revealing the whole truth. It also
asked the South Korean government to team up with Japan in
dealing with the abduction issue. Yet, some in the government are
concerned that North Korea will toughen its stance, and whether
South Korea will look positively on Japan's request is a delicate
question. The outcome of the DNA testing is likely to affect the
ongoing move to restart the six-party talks.

10) Former Prime Minister Mori to visit China as chairman of
Japan Amateur Sports Association

ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts)
April 12, 006

It was learned yesterday that former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori
had received an invitation addressed to the chairman of the Japan
Amateur Sports Association from China to the opening ceremony of
the non-Olympic Games to be held on May 20 in Suzhou, Jiangsu
Province. Mori will likely to visit China.

The Japan Amateur Sports Association invited China's former
General Administration of Sport head Yuwang Weimin to the Saitama
National Sports Festival in October 2004, but China did not
invite Mori to last October's national athletic meet, the largest
sports festival in China.

China explained the reason for not inviting Mori, saying, "We
have too many foreign dignitaries." But the Japanese side assumed
that China's real reasons were Mori's luncheon with former
Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui in December 2003, Prime Minister
Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, and anti-Japanese
demonstrations in China. Some Japanese officials, therefore, had
expressed unhappiness with China's conduct.

11) Futenma relocation: Nago City intends to seek to shorten
planned runways

MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full)
April 12, 2006

By Teruhisa Mimori, Nakae Ueno

Following Nago City's acceptance of the relocation of the US
military's Futenma Air station from Ginowan City in Okinawa
Prefecture to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in Nago City in the
prefecture, Nago Vice Mayor Bunshin Suematsu yesterday revealed
his intention to seek another round of consultations with the
central government to discuss the idea of moving the two planned
runways even further offshore and shortening their lengths. The
idea has come out in consideration of greater than expected local
objections. But chances are slim that the central government will
accept Nago City's request.

12) Yokota airbase: Local host chiefs differ on joint use

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 25) (Abridged slightly)

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April 12, 2006

Japan and the United States plan to use the US Air Force's Yokota
base together. Specifically, the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) is
expected to move its Air Defense Command (ADC),currently
headquartered in the city of Fuchu, Tokyo, to the Yokota base,
which is located across five cities and a town in Tokyo,
including Fussa. Local governments hosting the base consented to
the ASDF's planned joint use of the base. Meanwhile, the Japanese
and US governments were to have released a final report in March
on their still-ongoing talks over the realignment of US forces in
Japan. However, those six municipalities have their own stances
when it comes to the idea of allowing civilian aircraft to use
the base as a dual-use airport. In addition, there are also
different expectations even among their mayors favoring the
ASDF's joint use of the base.

On Feb. 13, Mizuho Town's Mayor Koemon Ishizuka met the press for
the first time in a blue moon. In the press conference, Ishizuka
remarked that he would accept the ASDF's joint use of the Yokota
airbase. "Mizuho is secure only when Japan is secure," Ishizuka
said, adding: "We should cooperate on national policy unless it's
an intolerable burden."

The town of Mizuho is situated north of the Yokota base, and one
of its runways stretches from the south to the north. The town
has therefore suffered from aircraft noise in particular.
Ishizuka is in the van of those crying out, even among those six
municipalities, to get the base back into their hands. He
bitterly decried the planned realignment of US forces in Japan.
The mayor's sudden change of mind puzzled his critics in the town
assembly.

Following Ishizuka's clarification, Akishima City's Mayor Joichi
Kitagawa and Musashimurayama City's Mayor Mitsuo Arai also
changed their minds to accept the ASDF's joint use of the Yokota
base. The two mayors called on the Tokyo bureau chief of the
Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) and were briefed
by the DFAA's regional chief on the realignment of US forces in
Japan. The briefing led them to confirm that aircraft noise would
not intensify even after the ADC's relocation to the base.

"Each local government has its own stance. However, I accept the
Air Defense Command's move to Yokota in order to facilitate use
of the base by commercial aircraft." This statement came from
Musashimurayama Mayor Arai when he clarified his acceptance of
the ASDF's joint use of the base before his city's municipal
assembly in its March 28 meeting. It was an answer to a Japan
Communist Party (JCP) member, who wondered if moving an ASDF
headquarters to the Yokota base could lead to joint military-
commercial use of the base. This JCP assemblyman added, "I don't
think Mizuho and Akishima are taking such a view." With this, he
pointed to the different standpoints of local heads.

Mayor Arai underscored the ASDF's joint use of the Yokota base as
a step paving the way for commercial use of the base. This stance
conflicts with Mizuho Mayor Ishizuka's perspective. "If we accept
the command's relocation to the Yokota base, we can prevent joint
military-commercial use," Ishizuka says.

Akishima Mayor Kitagawa and Mizuho Mayor Ishizuka remain
committed to opposing commercial flights to and from the Yokota

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base. Mayor Kitagawa criticized Mayor Arai, saying: "It's too
short-sighted to play up the positive side of commercial use."
The Akishima mayor also said, "The (mayoral) election is just
around the corner-that's why he's in favor of joint military and
civilian use."

Joint military-civilian use will have a great impact on local
communities. There are arguments far more clearly for and against
such dual use than in the case of the ASDF's joint use of the
Yokota base with the US Air Force or joint military-military use.
In the city of Musashimurayama, both municipal officials and
local residents are supportive of military-commercial use,
expecting it to help extend the Tama Urban Monorail to the city.
In the city of Akishima and in the town of Mizuho, however, local
communities would suffer from even more serious noise pollution.
Their mayors, both taking the view that this would make the base
permanent, are opposed to the US military's dual use of the base
with commercial airliners.

"The government should implement economic stimulus measures, and
I take it for granted," Mayor Ishizuka said. The three local
mayors favoring military-military use have their own political
judgment in mind, expecting the government to give something in
return.

Yoshikazu Ono is a representative of Yokota base neighbors who
have instituted a class action lawsuit against the Yokota base's
aircraft noise, demanding the suspension of nighttime flights.
Ono said: "I didn't think I would hear them (mayors) say things
like that. They let us down."

13) Prime Minister Koizumi pleased to receive Elvis Presley's
scarf; He says, "Cool"

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
April 12, 2006

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met yesterday with Music
Publishers Association of Japan Honorary Chairman Misa Watanabe
and others at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and
received letters from Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie and
Yoko Ono. In their letters, Lisa Marie and Yoko Ono called for
extending the term of copyright, which is now 50 years from the
death of the creator, to 70 years. Koizumi said to Watanabe,
"Relevant offices will study it."

Koizumi is a big fan of Elvis. He received a scarf worn by Elvis
and a framed photograph of him from Lisa Marie. The prime
minister said, "He was cool, wasn't he?"

14) Ozawa's Minshuto takes off in full swing; Ozawa steadily
preparing for "confidence vote" in September presidential race

SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts)
April 12, 2006

The Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) held a joint plenary
meeting of party members of both houses of the Diet yesterday and
approved the new lineup of party executives. The new leadership
led by Ichiro Ozawa has now taken off in full swing. Meanwhile,
Acting President Naoto Kan, who was defeated in the party-head
election on April 7, has indicated that he would not run for the

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regular presidential election in September. The presidential race
is likely to be a confidence vote for Ozawa as long as no major
changes occur. Attention is now being focused on whether Ozawa
will be able to display a magnificent performance as a strong-arm
politician.

"I am determined to work hard with the resolve of forming an
Ozawa administration through our victories in the House of
Councillors election next year and the next House of
Representative election," Kan said before Minshuto headquarters'
members and secretaries in the Diet building yesterday afternoon.
He expressed his determination to support Ozawa's efforts to take
over the reins of government. This remark surprised lawmakers
supporting Kan.

Some observers had been overheard saying: "If Kan loses the party
presidential election, which marked his sixth candidacy, his
political career would come to an end," as a Minshuto member
said. Given this, the post of acting president is a good
opportunity for Kan. He has reciprocated Ozawa's "warm-hearted"
treatment.

Besides his crushing defeat in the presidential race, there seems
to be this cool judgment behind Kan's expression of support for
Ozawa, as said by a Kan-supporting group member: "If the party
holds an presidential election many times in a short period of
time and repeatedly engage in a political conflict, the people
will lose interest in our party. In such a case, Minshuto will
never be able to grab political power."

The Ozawa group has also welcomed Kan's support of Ozawa, a
member remarking: "It has now become certain that the next
election will be a vote of confidence for Mr. Ozawa in effect.
The party has banded together more strongly than before."

15) LDP's Oshima to present own proposal for revising the Basic
Education Law; Words "love" and "nation" likely be stipulated in
his proposal

ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts)
April 12, 2006

In a meeting today of the ruling coalition's panel on a revision
of the Basic Education Law, the panel's chair Tadamori Oshima
will present his ideas regarding the description of "patriotism,"
on which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its
coalition partner New Komeito have been at odds. The panel is
coordinating a plan to incorporate the words "love" and "country"
based on a plan suggested by former chair Kosuke Hori last summer
that (the people) should respect tradition and culture and love
and cherish the nation.

The New Komeito leadership has taken a position of accepting
Oshima's plan as long as the plan makes it clear that patriotism
does not mean to love the governing structure. Many in the LDP
are unhappy with the plan, however. Therefore, whether the ruling
camp will be able to summit a draft revision to the Diet is
unclear.

Regarding the description of "patriotism," the LDP has suggested
that it should be described as "love of country," while the New
Komeito has insisted that it be described as "cherishing the

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country." The ruling camp's panel confirmed in an interim report
last June that "country" does not include "such governing
systems" as state power and government. Based on that, Hori
presented his proposal last summer. Oshima then revealed on April
5 that he would present his plan to stipulate the expression that
(the Japanese people) should respect other countries and the
international community, accepting the New Komeito's assertion.
One of the panel members said, "Mr. Oshima will probably
formulate a proposal based on Mr. Hori's suggestion."

16) Government holds first public hearing on US beef; Consumers
voice criticism

YOMIURI (Page 9) (Full)
April 12, 2006

The Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry and the Health,
Labor, and Welfare Ministry sponsored for the first time a town-
hall meeting in Naha yesterday to solicit views on the ongoing
suspension of US beef imports.

About 50 participants, including consumers and meatpackers,
attended the meeting, and various opinions and critical comments
were presented. One said: "The inspection program for imports has
not been properly functioning," and another claimed: "The
Japanese government appears to be siding with the US, instead of
trying to protect the Japanese people's lives."

In response, officials from the two ministries gave explanations,
such as: "There was no problem in the inspection program, but
safety procedures were not being observed."

17) Agriculture minister urges US to deal with inclusion of bones
in beef shipment to Hong Kong

ASAHI (Page 11) (Full)
April 12, 2006

Referring to the inclusion of bones, a material banned as a mad
cow disease risk, in beef products shipped to Hong Kong by a
leading US meat processor, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries Shoichi Nakagawa yesterday told reporters after a
cabinet meeting, "The US should deal with the incident promptly
and properly."

The Hong Kong government on April 7 placed a ban on imports of
beef products from Cargill Meat Solutions because of the
incident. MAFF said that Cargill is one of the 37 meat processors
that have been authorized to export products to Japan.

18) Next round of FTA talks with ASEAN set for June

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Full)
April 12, 2006

The Japanese government and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) wound up their third round of talks on concluding
a free trade agreement (FTA) in Tokyo yesterday with no agreement
reached. Japan proposed more than 90% of the items traded between
both sides should be made duty-free, but ASEAN called on Japan to
present preferential measures. In the next round set for June,
ASEAN is expected to come up with countermeasures.

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SCHIEFFER