DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 06/26/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 003534

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 06/26/06


INDEX:

(1) Yomiuri Internet poll on LDP presidential election; Over 70% of
respondents want to see race Abe and Fukuda; Pollees feel
reform-oriented stance from Abe, a sense of stability from Fukuda

(2) Online research on resumption of US beef imports: Many Japanese
consumers harbor strong distrust of US beef

(3) Post-Koizumi diplomatic strategy after end of honeymoon-like
Japan-US relations (Part 1): Criticism of Japan blindly following US
remains inerasable

(4) USFJ realignment: Gov't seeking to persuade Okinawa

(5) US force realignment: Mainland Japan turning into "another
Okinawa"

(6) Poll on Prime Minister Koizumi's structural reforms, social
divide

ARTICLES:

(1) Yomiuri Internet poll on LDP presidential election; Over 70% of
respondents want to see race Abe and Fukuda; Pollees feel
reform-oriented stance from Abe, a sense of stability from Fukuda

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged)
June 25, 2006

The first online poll on contenders to succeed Prime Minister
Koizumi conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun found that pollees have
major expectations of a race between Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe and
former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. The survey results also
showed that many respondents felt a reform-oriented stance from Abe
and a sense of stability from Fukuda. The survey also found that
those who like watching TV tended to favor Abe.

Face-off between Abe and Fukuda

The poll asked pollees to choose one of five Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP) members whom they think is most appropriate as the next
prime minister. Abe ranked first with 44%, followed by Fukuda with
26%, Foreign Minister Taro Aso with 5% and Finance Minister Sadakazu
Tanigaki with 4%. Regarding a possible face-off between Abe and
Fukuda in the LDP presidential race, both from the Mori faction, 75%
replied, "Hope to see it," and 24% replied, "Do not hope to see it."
Among those who support Abe, who is certain to run in the LDP
presidential race, 64% replied, "Have expectations of him," while
33% said, "Do not have expectations of him." On the other hand,
among those who are in favor of Fukuda, who has yet to declare his
candidacy, 80% "Expect him to run," clearly showing their hope
Fukuda will run in the election.

TV and potential successors to Koizumi

How does TV affect potential successors to Koizumi? The survey
classified pollees by the amount of TV they watch, using one-hour
increments. The rate of those who support Abe stood at less than 30%
among those who do not watch TV or do so for less than 30 minutes a
day. However, more pollees who watch more TV tend to support Abe.
Among those who watch TV more than three hours a day, the rate of
those who favor Abe reached 50%.

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Impressions of potential candidates

The questionnaire included seven questions asking what impression
pollees have of the five potential candidates. Abe ranked first in
six questions. In particular, Abe was far ahead of the others in
terms of having a reform-oriented stance, being friendly, and being
a desirable person as a supervisor. Fukuda ranked first in terms of
having a sense of stability.

Aso, who gives the strong impression of being open, came in second
in terms of being a person with whom pollees want to go out for
dinner or a drink.

(2) Online research on resumption of US beef imports: Many Japanese
consumers harbor strong distrust of US beef

YOMIURI (Page 6) (Full)
June 26, 2006

The Yomiuri Shimbun and NTT Resonant Communication conducted a joint
online survey. The result of the survey highlighted Japanese
consumers' harsh views on the safety of US beef. In order to regain
the popularity of its beef in Japan, the United States has no choice
but to eliminate Japanese consumers' concern about its beef,
removing completely risk materials for BSE from the beef to be
shipped to Japan.

Majority those who opposing resumption of US beef imports concerned
about US inspection system

The governments of Japan and the United States reached a final
agreement on June 21 that Japan would resume US beef imports. Japan
will thus restart US beef imports for the first time in about six
months.

A total of 71% said that they opposed the resumption of US beef or
opposed it to a certain extent. More female respondents (76%)
expressed opposition to the restart of US beef imports than male
respondents (64%).

Asked two reasons for their opposition, 60% said that they had
doubts about US safety procedures, while 52% cited their concern
about the US inspection system. The figures showed Japanese
consumers harbor strong doubts about the US side, since a beef
shipment last year included risk materials. Some 30% said that the
Japanese government rushed the resumption of beef imports, giving
priority to the US.

More than 30% of Japanese consumers prefer Japanese beef

Asked whether there were any changes in their choice of beef after
the imports of US beef was suspended, 28% said that they were still
eating imported beef the same as before, 9% responded that they ate
only domestic beef, and 27% replied they tried to eat Japanese beef.
Some 30% preferred Japanese beef.

However, 24% responded that they ate less beef than before,
regardless of whether it is domestic or imported, while only 1% said
that they did not eat beef at all although they used to. These
figures indicate that the suspension of US beef imports had a
serious impact on how consumers think.


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Asked whether they would eat US beef after the resumption of
imports, 40% said they would try not to eat it and 20% said they
would never eat it, while 6% replied that they had no problem eating
US beef.

80% negative about using US beef for gyudon (beef bowl)

Asked whether gyudon chains should use US beef, only 3% said that
they should use it, while 10% responded that they should use it as
much as possible. Some 47% said that US beef should not be used as
much as possible, while 33% said it should not be used.

90% say it should be a requirement to label the country of origin

Asked whether they were worried that restaurants would use US beef,
47% replied, "A little bit," while 39% said, "Concerned about it
very much." The government mandates the labeling of the country of
origin on some fresh food and processed food, but it does not oblige
restaurants to label the country of origin.

Some 67% said that it should be a requirement to label the country
of origin on restaurant menus and processed food so that people
would be able to recognize whether US beef was used, while 29% said
that labeling the country of origin would probably be a good idea.

Excessive elimination a bit too much

US beef imports used to account for about half of all Japan's
imports of beef. The Japanese government in December 2003 banned the
import of US beef in the wake of discovery of a cow infected with
BSE. Last December, Tokyo resumed the imports of US beef from cattle
20 months and younger without any specified risk materials. One
month later, however, Japan resuspended imports of US beef after the
inclusion of vertebral columns in a beef shipment.

The results of the online survey of consumer monitors reflected the
strong anxiety of Japanese consumers about US beef. In order to
eliminate this distrust in US beef, the United States must continue
effective safety inspections, and it is also absolutely necessary to
prevent a recurrence of misconduct. However, it is a bit too much to
excessively eliminate US beef. It is important for Japan to create
an environment where Japanese consumers will be able to choose beef
based on their own judgment, considering taste, price, and safety.

(3) Post-Koizumi diplomatic strategy after end of honeymoon-like
Japan-US relations (Part 1): Criticism of Japan blindly following US
remains inerasable

MAINIHI (Page 2) (Full)
June 26, 2006

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will leave for the United States to
meet President Bush in Washington on June 29. This will be the first
official US visit for Koizumi. The US will give the red-carpet
treatment to Koizumi prior to his retirement as prime minister this
fall, arranging a dinner party at the White House and other events
for him. A government source, though, said: "A visit to the US
during the Golden Week holidays in May was discussed, but the prime
minister, out of fear that he might be criticized as blindly
following the US, declined it and instead visited European Union
(EU) countries."

The time for the proposed visit was just before Diet debate on the

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postal privatization bills, which would determine the fate of the
administration. Koizumi has certainly been eager to strengthen
relations with the US, but he needed to win public support for the
postal bills and did not want to see the proposed visit result in
strengthening the image that he has blindly followed the US.
Afterward, a plan was floated again for a visit to the US in August
or September around the United Nations general assembly in New York,
but it also fizzled out due to the dissolution of the House of
Representatives. Since Koizumi assumed office, he has met with
President Bush several times a year, but a summit was held just once
in Kyoto last year.

Prime Minister Koizumi emphatically said in his first meeting with
Bush in June 2001: "In promoting Japan-US relations, importance
should be placed not on obedience but on cooperation." This remark
represented his determination to say what he should say, though he
would do his best to strengthen the Japan-US alliance, so as not to
be criticized as being at Washington's beck and call. Since then,
Koizumi has prepared one message to convey to President Bush for
each summit.

In May 2003, when Koizumi was invited to President Bush's private
residence in Crawford, Texas, his message was "power and authority."
In March 2003, the US and Britain launched an attack on Iraq without
obtaining a United Nations resolution allowing the use of armed
force. Koizumi had expressed his support just after the military
strike began, but in the May summit, Koizumi called on Bush to
return to the framework of international cooperation, saying: "It
will be impossible to control the world only with power. The
authority of the UN is necessary."

Prior to the opening of the war against Iraq, Prime Minister
Koizumi, together with British Prime Minister Blair, had continued
efforts to persuade President Bush until the last minute to work to
win the UN over to his side. In the end, the US agreed to accept a
UN resolution calling for unlimited inspections looking for weapons
of mass destruction in November 2002. Some attribute Washington's
consent to the efforts made by Japan and Britain. A senior Foreign
Ministry official stressed: "This proves that the prime minister is
not a US lapdog." But his decision to dispatch Self-Defense Force
(SDF) troops to Iraq played up Japan's stance of getting close with
the US.

No matter how eager the prime minister is to express his frank views
to the US, he has actually worked to strengthen the bilateral
alliance. In the summit in Crawford, Koizumi and Bush also confirmed
the "Japan-US alliance in a global context."

Right before the Bush administration was inaugurated, former Deputy
Secretary of State Armitage and others had compiled what is known as

SIPDIS
the "Armitage Report." This report listed the following requests to
Japan: (1) Legislation to deal with contingencies; (2) strengthened
cooperation between the SDF and the US military, including overseas
operations; and (3) cooperation on missile defense (MD). The Koizumi
administration swiftly finished this "homework." The report also
reiterated the need to "construct an alliance modeled after the one
between the US and Britain." Armitage stated to senior Foreign
Ministry officials: "The last challenge left to the Koizumi
administration is the question of the use of the right to collective
self-defense."

Sharing strategies with the US, Britain fought with the US military
in such large-scale military operations as the Gulf War and the Iraq

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War. In order for Japan to become "the Britain of the East,"
Japanese troops will have to be determined to shed blood with
American soldiers on battlefields overseas, setting aside Japan's
defense-only policies.

In a speech in Belgium in May, Foreign Minister Taro Aso revealed
that Japan would look into international cooperation with the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO is a military alliance
that the US and Canada concluded with Western Europe. Some observers
analyze that Aso's remarks imply that Japan aims to become a NATO
member with an eye on a revision of the Constitution in the future.

If Japan continues to rely only on the Japan-US alliance, Japan will
unavoidably be drawn into US strategies. If this view is taken as a
lesson learned from the Koizumi administration's deeds, it might be
natural for some to judge it necessary to grope for ways to
cooperate with European countries.

Now that Japan and the US are in the best shape ever in the postwar
period owing to the close personal ties established between
President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi, the joint statement to be
issued after the June 29 Japan-US summit will highlight the positive
results produced via bilateral relations. Meanwhile, an increasing
number of persons have voiced concerns about Japan-US relations
being hollowed out now that Armitage and other Japan hands have left
the Bush administration. Attention is focused on what diplomatic
strategy the next prime minister will come up with after the end of
the Koizumi-Bush honeymoon-like relations.

(4) USFJ realignment: Gov't seeking to persuade Okinawa

YOMIURI (Page 3) (Full)
June 23, 2006

Prime Minister Koizumi will attend a memorial service today in the
city of Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, to commemorate the end of the
Battle of Okinawa in the closing stages of World War II. In this
anniversary event, Koizumi will clarify his intention to carry out
the planned realignment of US forces in Japan, including US military
bases in Okinawa. In addition, he will promise to alleviate
Okinawa's base-hosting burden and help with Okinawa's economic
self-sustainability. However, the GOJ and Okinawa prefectural
government have yet to enter into consultations over the relocation
of Futenma airfield and other local base realignment issues although
one month has passed since their exchange of basic standpoints in
written form. They have made no headway at all.

On June 7, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masahiro Futahashi met
three assistants to deputy chief cabinet secretaries and senior
officials from the Defense Agency, the Foreign Ministry, and the
Cabinet Office in his room on the fifth floor of the prime
minister's office. They gathered there to talk about how to rectify
the present situation in which the government cannot even enter into
consultations with Okinawa.

Officials there reported on how things were going in Okinawa
Prefecture and its municipalities hosting US military bases.
However, they could not hammer out any good ideas. Futahashi
stressed the importance of timing for Tokyo to persuade Okinawa over
the US military realignment, and he directed them to find a way to
open consultations with Okinawa.

The government and Okinawa Prefecture confirmed in their exchange of

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notes on May 11 that the relocation of Futenma airfield is based on
the government's plan to relocate the airfield's heliport functions
to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in the island prefecture's northern
coastal city of Nago. In response, the government made a cabinet
decision on May 30 to adopt a basic course of action regarding the
realignment of US forces in Japan.

The government has documented its basic course of action, which says
the government will set up a consultative body consisting of
officials from the government, Okinawa Prefecture, and the
prefecture's base-hosting municipalities in order to work out a
blueprint for Futenma airfield's alternative and a package of
economic incentives for base-hosting communities. However, Okinawa
Prefecture opposed the government's stance of regarding its coastal
relocation plan as an established course of action. In fact, the
government cannot even expect to hold its first consultative meeting
with Okinawa and its municipalities over Futenma relocation.

Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine has stressed that he will not
compromise. "Okinawa has its own position," Inamine said in a speech
delivered in Naha on June 21. "We have a long history of
consultations in the process of working it out," Inamine added. It
seems that the government cannot easily find a breakthrough.

Koizumi will step down in September. Meanwhile, Inamine has also
said he will not run in the gubernatorial election set for Nov. 19
this year. Some cite this situation as one of the reasons why there
has been no progress in the talks between Tokyo and Okinawa. "It
would be difficult to reach a settlement while Prime Minister
Koizumi is in office, so he's reluctant to address the matter," one
said.

Koizumi himself told reporters at his office yesterday evening that
the government has been "tenaciously" talking with Okinawa
Prefecture. "We can't do this in a year," Koizumi admitted. "We've
now decided on a basic course of action for the future, but it will
take many more years (to reach a settlement)," he added.

The Defense Agency will work out a construction plan by October this
year for Futenma airfield's replacement facility. After that, the
agency will go through procedures for an environmental assessment of
the Futenma relocation site. In fiscal 2007, the agency would like
to begin pulling down some of the land-based facilities currently on
the premises of Camp Schwab. The agency is now getting impatient.
Some officials are saying the government should bypass Okinawa
Prefecture to work out a construction plan. "We should first detail
the plan with the United States," a top-level official of the agency
said. "And then," this official added, "it's all right to present
the plan to Okinawa Prefecture and Nago City later on."

In Okinawa Prefecture, as well, the local governing coalition of the
Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito is at a loss. "Mr.
Inamine's successor cannot suddenly compromise with the government,"
one local ruling party official said. "But," this official added,
"if we let an opposition party candidate win the gubernatorial
election, the (Futenma) relocation will be completely up in the
air."

The government is expecting its planned package of economic
incentives for base-hosting localities to serve as leverage to break
the impasse. In the process of realigning US forces in Japan, the
government plans to subsidize local base hosts accepting additional
US military base functions. The government will pay subsidies to

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them in stages according to progress in the construction of newly
planned facilities. If there is progress in base construction, the
government will pay subsidies. However, the government will stop its
subsidization of local hosts if construction work is discontinued
after encountering local opposition.

The government once planned to build an offshore facility in waters
off Nago City's Henoko district to take over Futenma airfield's
heliport functions. This offshore relocation plan, however, was
derailed. Based on this experience, the government will now
introduce such a local subsidization system. "The government is in
dire straits," a senior official of the Defense Agency said. This
official went on: "If the government only pays money for economic
stimulus measures and sees no alternative facility constructed, we
can't get the people's understanding."

When the government planned to relocate Futenma airfield to a Henoko
offshore site, the government set forth a package of local
development measures for all localities in the island prefecture's
northern districts. The government started a 10-year local
development plan in fiscal 2000. Based on this plan, the government
has been still budgeting money for development projects for the
northern districts. However, the Henoko offshore relocation plan did
not come to pass. The government intends to call off the 10-year
development plan in exchange for the establishment of a new
subsidization system.

The government's local subsidization used to be limited to
infrastructure construction. This time around, however, the
government will not limit the purpose of its subsidies for
base-hosting localities. The government will allow them to use its
subsidies not only for infrastructure construction but also for
tourism promotion and welfare, thereby aiming to promote Okinawa's
self-sustainability.

Okinawa Prefecture, however, is strongly opposing this idea shown by
the government.

On June 12, local heads from 12 municipalities in Okinawa
Prefecture's northern districts called at the prime minister's
office, where they asked Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe to continue the
government's local development projects for their districts as
planned. Abe only advised them to make such a request in a meeting
of the three-party consultative council of officials from the
government, Okinawa Prefecture, and the prefecture's base-hosting
municipalities.

On June 22, Okinawa Minister Koike met the press and vowed to
address local development measures. "I'd like to close the gap
between the government and local communities while understanding
Okinawa at present and in the future," she said. However, there is
no knowing if she can work it out as expected by the government.

(5) US force realignment: Mainland Japan turning into "another
Okinawa"

ASAHI (Page 9) (Abridged)
June 26, 2006

By Yoshibumi Wakamiya, director of the Asahi Shimbun's editorial
board

Okinawa Prefecture marked the 61st anniversary of the end of the

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Battle of Okinawa on June 23. That day, I marched 9 kilometers to
the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman along with bereaved families in
sweltering heat.

In the closing days of the Pacific War, a fierce battle took place
between Japanese and US forces on the island, and 200,000 locals
lost their lives in less than three months. On the park stands the
Cornerstone of Peace engraved with the names of the war dead,
testifying to their indescribable tragedies.

Okinawa's tragedy did not end with the Battle of Okinawa. After the
war, the prefecture was placed under US control until it was
returned to Japan 34 years ago. Okinawa is still an "island of US
bases," hosting 75% of the US military bases in Japan.

On April 12, 1996, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun ran a scoop on a US plan
to return Futenma Air Station. Japan and the US had reached the
agreement following the gang rape of an Okinawa schoolgirl by three
US servicemen in September 1995.

Over 10 years have passed since the agreement was reached between
then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and President Bill Clinton to
return Futenma Air Station "in five to seven years." The airfield
still sits in a residential area. Just two years ago, a US military
helicopter crashed onto the campus of Okinawa International
University, adjacent to Futenma Air Station.

The plan agreed to between Tokyo and Washington to build an
alternative sea-based airfield off Henoko fell through due to strong
local opposition. The two governments have reached a new accord to
build a ground-based heliport. It remains to be seen whether the new
plan will materialize. Okinawa's determination to block any plan to
build a new base in the prefecture has not waned.

Both the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shimpo prominently carried
articles featuring the Constitution this year. Okinawa has a special
passion for the Constitution.

Okinawa longed to return to Japan and its pacifist Constitution, as
such events as blatant human rights violations and sorties during
the Vietnam War, revealed that Okinawa's reality was the opposite.
Days before Okinawa's reversion to Japan, Chief Administrator of the
Government of the Ryukyu Islands Chobyo Yara (who later became
governor of Okinawa) and Naha Mayor Ryosho Taira urged local people
to abide by the spirit of the Constitution in the future. Naha built
a peace monument engraved with Article 9 in 1985.

But their wishes never came true. Throughout the postwar period,
Japan has kept a delicate balance between its pacifist Constitution
and the US-Japan Security Treaty. Okinawa has been forced to bear a
security burden instead of abiding by the spirit of the
Constitution. Okinawa's sorrow and anger have their roots there. It
seems to be the only logical explanation for Okinawa's fierce
opposition to US bases, exemplified by the Henoko relocation plan.

Akira Arakawa, a 75-year old maverick commentator, thinks it was
just an illusion that Okinawa would be placed under Japan's pacifist
Constitution. People on mainland Japan have been able to enjoy the
pacifist Constitution and call for the observance of Article 9 owing
to the US bases in Okinawa.

An agreement was reached on the realignment of US forces in Japan at
a two-plus-two meeting in May of the foreign and defense ministers

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of Japan and the United States.

As a result, Okinawa-based US Marines will be relocated to Guam
apart from Futenma Air Station's relocation, and some US military
sites will be returned to Japan. Some of the fighters now deployed
at Kadena Air Base will also be split among six Self-Defense Force
bases in mainland Japan to conduct joint drills with the SDF.
Additionally, US Army 1st Corps headquarters will be shifted to Camp
Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture to keep a watchful eye on the region
from Asia to the Middle East.

It is good for mainland Japan to share the burden with Okinawa. But
the US force realignment plan is designed to enhance the Japan-US
alliance once and for all. In other words, force realignment seems
to aim at turning mainland Japan into another Okinawa to reinvent
the whole country into a military archipelago.

During his upcoming visit to the United States, Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi reportedly intends to highlight democracy with
President George W. Bush as their common value. But the US is still
unrepentant about its war with Iraq, and Koizumi diplomacy has not
expressed its regret for strained relations with China and other
countries. Under such circumstances, is it really good for Japan to
be integrated into America's military strategy?

Japan should stop relying on the bases in Okinawa. But do the people
on mainland Japan have such awareness and a sense of urgency? Teruo
Hiyane, a 66-year-old professor emeritus at the University of the
Ryukyus, took this view:

"People on mainland Japan would not put up much resistance.
Experiences in war and histories of struggle for the Constitution
are completely different between mainland Japan and Okinawa."

Henoko's resistance carries great significance not only for Okinawa
but also for all of Japan, according to Hiyane.

(6) Poll on Prime Minister Koizumi's structural reforms, social
divide

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
June 24, 2006

Questions & Answers
(Figures shown in%age.)

Q: What do you think the next prime minister should do about Prime
Minister Koizumi's restructuring initiative?

Continue it as is 15.6
Modify it 55.8
No need to continue it 23.0
No answer (N/A) 5.5

Q: Japan's social divide, such as an income gap, is reportedly
widening. Do you think this is a serious problem?

Yes 53.3
Yes to a certain degree 24.3
No to a certain degree 11.1
No 9.6
N/A 1.7


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Q: Do you think anyone who works hard can overcome such disparities
in Japan today?

Yes 14.2
Yes to a certain degree 18.3
No to a certain degree 22.6
No 42.7
N/A 2.1

Polling methodology
Date of survey: June 17-18.
Subjects of survey: 3,000 persons chosen from among all eligible
voters throughout the country (at 250 locations on a stratified
two-stage random sampling basis).
Method of implementation: Door-to-door visits for face-to-face
interviews.
Number of valid respondents: 1,815 persons (60.5%).

DONOVAN