DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 004434 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure (2) Hiroshima City's requests to Foreign Ministry criticizes missile defense as step leading to space nuclear proliferation (3) Japan to develop quiet supersonic transport with dream on board (4) Yasukuni Shrine part-2: Emperor being used for political purposes; Both rightists and leftists trying to serve their own interests; Thorough discussions on essential arguments needed (5) Yasukuni (Part 1): Emergency representative council meeting follows revelation of emperor's memo; "We must tell the public that the enshrinement was not Matsudaira's independent decision" "Let's watch the situation calmly. Separation of memorial tablets is not an option" (6) Editorial: ABE visits Yasukuni Shine secretly; Diplomatic, political controversies will never be resolved this way (7) Editorial: Abe's visit to Yasukuni taken as natural act on behalf of the war dead ARTICLES: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) August 6, 2006 The Defense Agency has found it difficult to make a report on North Korea's recent firing of ballistic missiles. The agency wanted to release the report by Aug. 5, a month after the missile launches. However, the United States, a core in the role of gathering and analyzing intelligence on missiles launched, has asked Japan to abstain from releasing a detailed report. North Korea fired a total of seven missiles, but Japan and the United States differ in their respective analyses of those lunched missiles when it comes to their types. The agency is expected to release the report in mid-August at the earliest or afterward. "If that is the case, we don't have to be in a hurry." So saying, Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga gave instructions to senior officials at his office on Aug. 4. The defense chief then made up his mind to move down the agency's scheduled release of the report out of consideration for the United States frowning on disclosing missile data in detail. A US early warning satellite in a geostationary orbit was the first to pick up North Korea's recent firing of missiles including a newly developed long-range Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. The United States does not share all of its satellite intelligence with its allies since its satellite intelligence is classified as top secret. The United States provided Japan with its satellite data. One US official, however, says it is meaningless to release such a report, reiterating that the United States cannot spill the beans. Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force was on the alert, staging an Aegis-equipped destroyer in the Sea of Japan for North Korean missiles. The on-stage MSDF destroyer also detected and tracked the launched missiles. The Defense Agency is making a report without TOKYO 00004434 002 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure touching on US secrets. Japan and the United States differ in some of their analyses. This is one of the reasons why the Defense Agency is taking time to release the report. "North Korea launched two Rodong missiles and four Scud missiles." With this, the United States, in late July, provided the Defense Agency informally with findings from its analysis of six missiles excluding the third-launched Taepodong-2 missile. The United States has concluded that the first and sixth missiles were intermediate-range missiles of the Rodong type, and that the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh ones were short-range missiles of the Scud type. This analysis, however, differs from Japan's. According to the Defense Agency's analysis, the first one was a "new Scud missile" with a range longer than the conventional Scud-C missile that ranges about 500 kilometers. The Defense Agency's Defense Intelligence Headquarters (DIH) monitored radio waves at its six facilities in Japan. In addition, the DIH also took account of human intelligence (HUMINT) from North Korea's neighbors, such as China and Russia. Furthermore, China and Russia reportedly discovered that North Korea had fired more than 10 missiles, not seven. A senior official of the Defense Agency also admitted to that possibility. However, the United States is negative about the firing of more than 10 missiles including a new Scud missile. So the Defense Agency will not specify the missile types in detail. Some Defense Agency officials have raised a question about North Korea's "complete failure" to launch the Taepodong-2 missile. The United States has only said the engine burned for 40 seconds, disclosing nothing in detail about its data including its angle or landing point. "There's almost no data," one commentator on military affairs noted. "It's too early to conclude that North Korea failed to launch the Taepodong-2, unless we find out whether the Taepodong-2 was equipped with a guidance system," the critic added. (2) Hiroshima City's requests to Foreign Ministry criticizes missile defense as step leading to space nuclear proliferation AKAHATA (Page 2) (Full) August 7, 2006 Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and city assemblyman Hiroyuki Fujita handed a set of requests for peace to Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Kiyohiko Toyama on August 6 in Hiroshima City. The proposals criticized America's self-centered implication of the first-strike use of nuclear weapons and its development of new nuclear weapons as going against the trend of the eradication of nuclear weapons. The requests also urged the Japanese government to pursue diplomacy actively for eradicating nuclear weapons under its constitution and to fulfill it's responsibility of preventing war for the world tomorrow by conveying the memories, voices, and prayers of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the world, especially to the United States. TOKYO 00004434 003 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure The requests also touched on the Japanese government's plan to introduce a missile defense system. The requests read, "Hiroshima strongly fears that the missile defense plan will destabilize the global nuclear weapons system further, resulting in a new nuclear arms race in space." In response, Toyama said: "I will convey the requests to the (foreign) minister. Because they are comprehensive, we will respond to you in writing." Hiroshima City has annually made requests to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW). The city did not submit any requests to the MHLW this year because Minister Jiro Kawasaki was absent. (3) Japan to develop quiet supersonic transport with dream on board TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Full) Eve., August 5, 2006 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will start next fiscal year to develop a quiet supersonic transport (QSST) plane prototype. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) will earmark necessary costs in its budget estimate for next fiscal year. An airplane flying at supersonic speed brings about a sonic boom, which damages houses with their windowpanes breaking. So the Concorde, now mothballed, could not fly at supersonic speed over continents. Last September, JAXA's experimental mini-supersonic plane demonstrated test flights in Australia and successfully reduced its air resistance. Next fiscal year, JAXA will try to overcome the sonic boom. JAXA'S experimental plane holds down the sonic boom to half the level of the Concorde's as a QSST plane that can fly at supersonic speed anywhere. It has an overall length of 13 meters and will make 20-30 test flights at Mach 1.4 or faster. JAXA will complete its QSST development by 2012. Its research cost is estimated at 20 billion yen. In the meantime, a US venture firm has unveiled its project to commercialize a 12-seater QSST plane by 2013. JAXA would like to make its prototype's debut before the US model. JAXA envisions international cooperation with France and other countries for its dream plan to build a QSST plane with a seating capacity of 300 around 2025. (4) Yasukuni Shrine part-2: Emperor being used for political purposes; Both rightists and leftists trying to serve their own interests; Thorough discussions on essential arguments needed TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 25) (Excerpts) August 4, 2006 Many of those who are against the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni TOKYO 00004434 004 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure Shrine are taking the Tomita memo cautiously. Hideki Chimoto, professor of modern Japanese history at Tsukuba University, made a cautious remark on statements made by experts since the media report on the discovery of Tomita memo, "Apparently, there is an aspect of those who are in favor of separating Class-A war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine making statements for political purposes." Since the media reported the contents of the Tomita memo, many of those who are against the prime minister visiting Yasukuni said, "See, we told you so!" Chimoto is skeptical about making such remarks, saying, "They are not looking at the memo in an overall context." Paving the way for the Emperor's visit to Yasukuni Chimoto suspects that those who are calling for separating Class-A criminals from Yasukuni Shrine might want to do so in order to reinstate the Emperor's own visits there, and not just to bring about prime ministerial visits there. They want to properly characterize the position of Yasukuni in the framework of the state." Minoru Zushi, executive director of the Tokyo administrative office of the "Association to File a Lawsuit against the Prime Minister's Visit to Yasukuni Shrine as a Violation of the Constitution," takes a similar view to that of Chimoto. Zushi is concerned about statements made by Koga and others since the discovery of the Tomita memo: "Their statements are like the legislative arm of the state calling on the executive arm to defend Yasukuni Shrine. It is very dangerous. Mr. Koga and others probably think that even if the prime minister visits Yasukuni Shrine, it would be meaningless unless the emperor visits it. For them, it is important to pave the way for the emperor to visit Yasukuni Shrine, even at the cost of removing the Class-A war criminals." Chimoto, himself a member of a bereaved family, has a stock argument: "Those who are in favor of removing the Class-A war criminals, such as Mr. Koga, and Prime Minister Koizumi say that Yasukuni is a simply a facility to commemorate the war dead. But a spokesman for Yasukuni Shrine said that it is a facility to console the souls of the war dead and to throw light on their hidden virtue. It means that Yasukuni is a facility to praise those who died for the emperor." "See you at Yasukuni!" were the words used to send soldiers off to their deaths. The state cannot serve as an entity to console the souls of the war dead. It is the role of bereaved families and those who were close to the war dead to console thenm. The state should self-reflect on the mistakes it committed." Koichiro Tomioka, a literary critic, said: "Both rightists and leftists in sending messages tend to view the emperor's remarks in ways that suit them. This has given rise to a strange situation." He continued, "Media companies that have been critical of the emperor's involvement in politics now say that the prime minister must reconsider his Yasukuni visits because the emperor made those remarks. Or conservative people say the emperor could not have possibly made such remarks." Tomioka views that Japan has imposed all responsibility for the war TOKYO 00004434 005 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure on Class-A war criminals. He said, "The essential problem is that neither the emperor nor the state has been proactive in taking an overall view of the war." "I heard that when sentences were handed down on Class-A war criminals, the emperor seriously thought of abdicating. But the situation did not allow him to do so. If such a situation is taken into account, it is hard to understand in what context the emperor made those remarks. Discussions are going on, mixing up the emperor's public capacity with his personal feelings." (5) Yasukuni (Part 1): Emergency representative council meeting follows revelation of emperor's memo; "We must tell the public that the enshrinement was not Matsudaira's independent decision" "Let's watch the situation calmly. Separation of memorial tablets is not an option" MAINICHI (Top play) (Abridged) August 6, 2006 Yasukuni Shrine has been keeping an ostensible silence since a newspaper scoop revealed on July 20 a memorandum quoting the Showa Emperor's (Hirohito) displeasure with the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals at the shrine. Eight days later, on July 28, Yasukuni Shrine's chief priest Toshiaki Nambu, shocked by the revelation of the memo, called an emergency meeting of the representative council, the shrine's top decision-making body, to secretly discuss countermeasures. The meeting began at 3:00 p.m. The council meets twice a year: to approve the annual budget in March and the settlement of accounts in June. Priests conduct shrine rituals and the representative council endorses operational policy, priests' personnel affairs, and the enshrinement of the newly recognized war dead. At the meeting, Nambu, clad in a traditional Shinto costume, asked the representatives to actively discuss the shrine's stance. Nambu also handed the representative copies of the shrine's diaries detailing how the shrine had reported its decision to enshrine Class-A war criminals to the Emperor. The council's minutes were stamped "top secret." The meeting was attended by seven of the 10 representatives, including a former supreme court chief justice, who had once ruled that cash offerings from state coffers was constitutional in response to an Ehime lawsuit, a former Health and Welfare vice minister, who was in charge of procedures for the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine, and a son of a former army minister. Two were absent from the meeting. Japan War-Bereaved Association Chairman Makoto Koga has resigned as chair or the representative council. His successor remains undecided. The shrine's No. 2 priest Tatebumi Yamaguchi explained: "In 1966, the Health and Welfare Ministry sent us a list of names for enshrinement, Mr. Kazuo Aoki proposed swift enshrinement in a representative council meeting in 1970, and his proposal was approved. On October 6, 1978, chief priest Nagayoshi Matsudaira made the same proposal and it was again approved." TOKYO 00004434 006 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure Aoki was a member of the Hideki Tojo wartime cabinet as the Greater East Asia minister. Aoki was detained as a possible Class-A war criminal but he was never indicted. Once he became head of the representative council, he arranged to have the executed Class-A war criminals elevated to Shinto deity (eirei) status. The chair of the representative council opened the July 28 meeting. Former Takushoku University President Shiro Odamura then said: "We should tell (the public) that the enshrinement was not something that chief priest Matsudaira did by himself. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Toru Miyoshi chimed in: "They died for their country. People today have no right to say they must be removed from Yasukuni Shrine." Kyoto Sangyo University Prof. Isao Tokoro asked: "Doesn't the emperor's envoy come to the annual festival with the emperor's message?" The question was intended to confirm if the ritual had not changed, even after the emperor himself stopped visiting the shrine. The shrine replied that there was no change in that part of the ritual. Some members indicated that the reason for the shrine's reason for rejection of separation of memorial tablets of the war criminals was too difficult for people to understand, and that the recent memo's contents had shocked the bereaved families. At around 5:30 p.m., chief priest Nambu summed up the meeting: "We don't know anything about the memo. Commentators are expected to raise all sorts of questions, so let's just watch the situation quietly. We will not remove the Class-A war criminals from the shrine, and that policy will not change. We will not be China's beck and call." Yasukuni Shrine is waiting for a chance to fight back regardless of the growing argument to separate the Class-A war criminals from the war dead enshrined there. (6) Editorial: ABE visits Yasukuni Shine secretly; Diplomatic, political controversies will never be resolved this way ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) August 5, 2006 It has been revealed that Chief Cabinet Secretary SHINZO ABE visited Yasukuni Shrine this spring. Abe, though, has not officially announced the visit. In a press conference yesterday, too, he just said: "Since this issue might develop into a diplomatic or political problem, I have no intention to say whether I went or not or whether I paid homage there." Abe is zealous about paying homage at Yasukuni Shrine. He strongly supports Prime Minister Koizumi's visits there. A visit to the shrine by a chief cabinet secretary - a pivotal post in the cabinet - will unavoidably turn into a diplomatic and political problem. Probably with the aim of avoiding such a situation, he made an unannounced visit to the shrine. TOKYO 00004434 007 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure Even so, the people who expected him to pay homage at the shrine wanted to know about his visit. Abe, though, in order to overcome the two issues, might have felt it necessary to wait for the shrine visit to be reported later by the media. As admitted by Abe, his visit to the shrine is developing into a controversial political and diplomatic issue. This is not an issue to be silently brushed off. As the frontrunner in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race, he has the responsibility to explain himself on this matter. Should ABE become prime minister, there is a strong possibility that the issue of his paying homage at Yasukuni Shrine will never go away. In such a case, will he try to weather each storm by the same means he resorted to this time? Is that means even possible for a prime minister, who is always surrounded by a large number of security police and whose every action is under close watch by the media? This is indisputably what Prime Minister Koizumi has been doing over the past five years. Should ABE assume office as prime minister and visit the shrine in the same way, public views will continue to be split over its propriety, and relations with China and South Korea will remain strained. Those politicians who will lead Japan after Koizumi steps down are urged to present a clear-cut way out of the current unfortunate situation. It is inconceivable that a covert visit using a kind of loophole can be a prescription for resolving the problem. It was revealed recently that the Showa Emperor (Hirohito) ceased visiting Yasukuni Shrine because of his displeasure at the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals there. Finance Minister Tanigaki, another candidate for the LDP presidential election, has clearly said that he would refrain from visiting the shrine. The ruling party is now debating the notion of separating the Class-A war criminals from the shrine, and there is even a plan to establish a new memorial for the war dead Serious political efforts are underway in search of ways to resolve this issue and reconstruct Japan's strained relations with China and South Korea. Former Industrial Bank of Japan President Masao Nishimura, who is and Abe's uncle, noted in an article, "What is expected of the next prime minister," written for the July edition of the monthly Ronza, written just before he passed away suddenly: "The logic to justify the prime minister's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where the souls of Class-A war criminals are enshrined, might be acceptable among we Japanese but it is totally unacceptable in the international community. Fully aware of the issue of war responsibility, the next prime minister should give priority to a pragmatic diplomatic approach, instead of ceasing paying homage at the shrine because of complaints coming from China and South Korea." We expect ABE to face up to this issue squarely. TOKYO 00004434 008 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure (7) Editorial: Abe's visit to Yasukuni taken as natural act on behalf of the war dead SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) August 7, 2006 It has been learned that Chief Cabinet Secretary SHINZO ABE visited Yasukuni Shrine this April. ABE has certain feelings toward the war dead, and it is quite natural for him to express such feelings. The visit is also quite a reasonable act as a cabinet minister. The visit should not be taken up as a central issue of the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election campaign. Abe arrived at the shrine in a formal morning coat in the early morning of April 15, prior to the annual spring celebration. He entered his name in the shrine's visitors book along with his title of chief cabinet secretary and offered a tamagushi - a spring from the sakaki tree, which is sacred in Shinto - using his own money. He then stepped into the sanctuary and prayed for the souls of the war dead. In a lawsuit against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for his visits to Yasukuni in a similar way, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment against the plaintiff calling for confirmation that the visits are in violation of the Constitution. There is no problem with Abe's visit to the shrine. Even so, Abe's Yasukuni visit undoubtedly sent a strong message to China. In a speech at the LDP headquarters last April, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi said that Japan, after then Prime Minister Yoshihiro Nakasone's official visit to the shrine on Aug. 15 in 1985, had concluded with China a "gentleman's agreement" under which the prime minister, the chief cabinet secretary, and the foreign minister would never pay homage at Yasukuni. The existence of such a gentleman's agreement itself is quite disputable, and the Japanese government has not recognized it. The fact that Chief Cabinet Secretary ABE visited the shrine, in addition to visits by Prime Minister Koizumi, represents the Japanese government's denial of the agreement. Abe commented: "I would like to continue to feel that I can pray for the souls of the war dead and pay my respects to them." But he added: "Since this issue might develop into a diplomatic or political problem, I have no intention to say whether I went or not. The issue should not be made more serious." Ruling party members have come up with various responses. LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe emphatically said: "Since religious SIPDIS freedom is secured under the Constitution, there should be no problem no matter who pay homage at the shrine. The dominant view is that the issue should not be turned into a political problem. There will be no impact on the election campaign." But former Secretary General Koichi Kato said: "The chief cabinet secretary is a cabinet member representing the government. I did not want him to go. Mr. Abe has rejected the judgments at the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals, so the situation is serious." As expected, South Korea has fiercely reacted to Abe's Yasukuni visit, a spokesman at the Chinese Foreign Ministry claiming: "It is TOKYO 00004434 009 OF 009 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/07/06 Part-1 INDEX: (1) Defense Agency faced with difficulties in making report on North Korea's missile launches; US frowns on public disclosure very regrettable." Chinese Ambassador Wang came up with this cynical criticism: "It is the tradition of Oriental persons to do in a modest way what their neighbors dislike." It is necessary to discuss the Yasukuni issue domestically, but politicians and the media must consider which countries will be pleased if the issue is made into a diplomatic problem. SCHIEFFER