DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/22/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 004797

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/22/06


INDEX:

(1) Poll on Japan-China ties: Public feels uneasy about China's
expansionism; 44% see China as military threat

(2) Walking in the countries of patriotism (Part 1):Young people in
quest of spiritual foundation equate themselves with the country

(3) Poll on North Korean missile launches

(4) Poll on US beef

(5) METI to help medium, small firms reduce CO2 emissions by
subsidizing equipment, introducing effect-certification system

(6) Observing CO2 from space

ARTICLES:

(1) Poll on Japan-China ties: Public feels uneasy about China's
expansionism; 44% see China as military threat

YOMIURI (Page 11) (Full)
August 11, 2006

Questions & Answers
(Figures shown in%age)

Q: What's your impression of China?

Very good 2.5
Good to a certain degree 24.3
Bad to a certain degree 47.2
Very bad 19.6
No answer (N/A) 6.5

Q: Which country or area do you think is important for Japan's
economy? (Up to 3 choices)

China 63.0
South Korea 20.2
Thailand 3.4
Malaysia 1.6
Indonesia 3.6
Philippines 2.0
Singapore 3.7
Vietnam 2.9
All ASEAN countries 13.7
India 10.8
Russia 2.6
Australia 6.1
U.S.A. 68.4
Britain 5.0
France 3.2
Germany 2.5
All EU countries 8.9
Middle East 7.2
Hong Kong 1.9
Taiwan 3.1
Other answers (O/A) 0.3
Nothing in particular (NIP) 3.5
N/A 4.1


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Q: Which country or area do you think is a most potential economy?
(Up to 3 choices)

Japan 18.3
China 70.0
South Korea 11.6
Thailand 1.0
Malaysia 0.6
Indonesia 1.7
Philippines 0.5
Singapore 2.5
Vietnam 2.4
All ASEAN countries 5.0
India 19.4
Russia 4.8
Australia 3.1
U.S.A. 47.8
Britain 3.0
France 2.4
Germany 2.9
All EU countries 8.3
Middle East 4.6
Hong Kong 2.4
Taiwan 1.9
O/A 0.3
NIP 2.5
N/A 4.4

Q: Which country or area-including economics-do you think would be
most influential in Asia? (1 choice only)

Japan 9.5
China 56.7
South Korea 2.2
Thailand 0.3
Malaysia 0.1
Indonesia 0.2
Philippines 0.1
Singapore 0.2
Vietnam 0.1
All ASEAN countries 1.3
India 1.9
Russia 0.4
Australia 0.4
U.S.A. 14.4
Britain 0.1
France 0.1
Germany 0.2
All EU countries 0.4
Middle East 1.0
Hong Kong 0.2
Taiwan 0.3
O/A 0.1
NIP 3.0
N/A 6.9

Q: Which country or area do you think would be a military threat to
Japan? Pick one or more from among those listed below if any.

South Korea 10.9
U.S.A. 17.6
China 44.0
ASEAN 0.5

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EU 0.5
Russia 12.7
Taiwan 0.5
North Korea 77.7
India 2.9
Middle East 7.8
Oceania 0.3
Africa 0.3
Central & South America 0.8
O/A 0.2
NIP 4.3
N/A 3.3

Q: The Chinese government has been refusing to hold summit talks
with Japan because of Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni
Shrine. Do you think the worsening of relations between Japan and
China would have a bad influence on Asia in its entirety?

Yes 44.5
Yes to a certain degree 28.8
No to a certain degree 11.8
No 10.4
N/A 4.4

Q: How do you think China's economic growth will affect Japan's
economy?

Positive 28.4
Negative 35.7
Both positive and negative 29.7
N/A 6.2

Q: How do you think China's economic growth will affect Asia? Pick
as many as you like from among those listed below.

Asia would be more influential in the international community
28.0
It will lead to Asia's economic growth
33.8
China will lead Asia
40.1
China would build up its military power further to heighten military
tensions
34.2
China would increase its energy consumption and make it difficult
for other countries to secure energy resources
41.1
Other countries' economies would be slotted in China's economy
16.8
O/A
0.4
NIP
5.8
N/A
4.4

Q: What do you think about the present-day state of Japan-China
relations?

Very good 1.6
Good to a certain degree 25.5
Bad to a certain degree 51.8
Very bad 14.6

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N/A 6.5

Q: Do you think China is trustworthy?

Very trustworthy 2.2
Somewhat trustworthy 27.3
Not very trustworthy 46.4
Not trustworthy at all 18.9
N/A 5.2

Q: How do you think Japan-China relations will turn out?

Very good 3.1
Good to a certain degree 25.6
Unchanged 50.0
Bad to a certain degree 13.9
Very bad 2.6
N/A 4.8

Q: Do you expect the next prime minister to improve Japan's
relations with China and South Korea?

Yes, very much 39.4
Yes, somewhat 36.4
No, not very much 16.7
No, not at all 5.4
N/A 2.2

Polling methodology
Date of survey: July 8-9.
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: 1,867 persons (62.2% ).
Breakdown of respondents: Male-49%, female-51%.

(2) Walking in the countries of patriotism (Part 1):Young people in
quest of spiritual foundation equate themselves with the country

ASAHI (Pages 1 & 11) (Excerpts from Japan portion only)
August 22, 2006

By Hiroki Manabe

This summer, I talked to a large number of young men and women in
Japan, China, and South Korea to learn their views of their
respective countries. Many eagerly expressed love for their
countries.

Days before the August 15 end-of-the-war anniversary, I spotted a
22-year-old college student at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. I
approached him and asked what brought him to the shrine. In
response, he crisply said:

"I came here because I love my country. It is our responsibility to
honor those who died fighting for their country. There is every
reason to cherish the country where we were born."

He noted that at school, anyone broaching the topic of Yasukuni
Shrine is stigmatized as a rightist or fascist, in stark contrast to
the Internet where likeminded people can get together easily.

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He also blamed the postwar education system for decaying morals in
Japan, citing a lack of manners of junior and high school students
hanging around at the convenience store where he works part-time.

"Beijing and Seoul are furious at the prime minister's repeated
visits to Yasukuni Shrine. What do you think of that?" I asked.

The student replied:

"They are using the anti-Japanese feelings of the public in order to
dodge public discontent with the government. They should stop
demanding an apology of Japan based on events that never occurred."

On Aug. 15, the controversial Shinto shrine was crowded with young
men and women.

This brought to the mind of Mizuo Miyauchi, 70, of the Association
to Acknowledge the Divine Spirits of the Dead, the same shrine on
Aug. 15, 1955. He was the only visitor to the shrine around noontime
that day.

This year, over 250,000 people visited the shrine. Those under 30
years of age accounted for one-third of the total, according to the
association. Miyauchi thinks this reflects growing patriotism in
reaction to interference with the Yasukuni issue by China and South
Korea.

What is the driving force behind their patriotism?

I saw a number of youths collecting signatures around the shrine's
No. 2 Torii gate on Aug. 15 to promote the association's cause.

One of them was the group's representative Atsushi Iwata, 22, a
Waseda University graduate student majoring in political science.
Other members were also all graduate students from such prestigious
schools as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Keio
University.

Iwata noted:

"Reviving prewar militarism is not our goal. We think, however, the
postwar Japan has failed to nurture healthy nationalism."

The youths who showed up at Yasukuni all share strong feelings for
their country.

Iwata's involvement in the association started with an incident
during his high school days in Shizuoka Prefecture. The high school
club to which Iwata belonged discussed war and decided to distribute
600 copies of a collection of essays written by volunteers during an
annual school festival.

But the teachers unilaterally decided to ban the distribution of the
essays, citing their excessive inclination toward the right.

The school's attempted to squash any idea that was out of line with
its view sparked an urge in Iwata to rebel against postwar democracy
and peace and human rights education.

Notes left behind by Kamikaze pilots immensely moved Iwata, as well.
Iwata is being driven by alarm that the Japan the divine spirits of
the war dead desperately tried to defend by risking their lives is

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now falling apart today, 60 years after the end of the war.

The young men and women who gathered at Yasukuni Shrine all share
Iwata's wariness about the current situation of Japan and its
postwar education system that failed to teach loyalty to the
country.

They have no hesitation to express their love for the country and
are clearly devoid of the loss and remorse that were engraved in the
minds of Japanese people 61 years ago.

Members of the Conservative Students' Association composed of
students and company employees in their twenties also assembled at
Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15. They always discuss patriotism at coffee
shops on weekends.

Why do people think of their country?

Members gave the following answers:

"People cannot live alone, and we are all citizens of this country.
So there is every reason for us to devote ourselves to the
country."

"The state is a family. The state, which is our father, is suffering
from an illness, and that has stirred up our love for the country."

"We are the state, and that's that."

They exchange views at coffee shops on weekends - sometimes for over
eight hours nonstop.

They cannot discuss patriotism at school or the workplace. "We can
truly enjoy the freedom of speech here," said the group's organizer
Korehiro Endo, 23, who also runs the patriotic Uyotama Website.

Although the Internet played a central role in linking the members
together, they more often than not talk to each other face to face
today. "Young people use the Internet to make friends. We don't have
to use the Internet because we are already friends," explained a
22-year-old student.

Members viewed fireworks at the Outer Garden of Meiji Shrine on Aug.

16. "You get together not for the sake of patriotism?" I asked Endo.
He replied: "My friends are all patriotic. Having love for the
country is the prerequisite to join our group."

Young people lean on the country like getting together with friends.
With memories of the last major war quickly fading, loyalty to the
country seems to be working as a glue to bond individuals together.

(3) Poll on North Korean missile launches

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
August 13, 2006

Questions & Answers
(Figures shown in%age)

Q: Based on Japan's proposal, the United Nations Security Council
unanimously adopted a resolution condemning North Korea for its
firing of missiles and calling for North Korea to suspend all
activities related to its missile program. What do you think about

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this UNSC resolution?

Appreciate very much 49.3
Appreciate somewhat 37.0
Don't appreciate very much 6.1
Don't appreciate at all 2.6
No answer (N/A) 4.9

Q: The Group of Eight (G-8) summit talks, recently held in Russia,
adopted the chairman's statement calling for North Korea to freeze
its missile firing and give up on its nuclear development program.
What do you think about the Japanese government's role played for
the UNSC resolution and the G-8 summit chairman's statement?

Appreciate very much 31.0
Appreciate somewhat 46.2
Don't appreciate very much 12.6
Don't appreciate at all 3.8
N/A 6.4

Q: The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is thinking of presenting a
bill to the Diet to restrict specific financial transactions as an
additional sanction on North Korea. Do you think such a new law is
needed?

Yes 55.0
Yes to a certain degree 24.4
No to a certain degree 7.6
No 5.7
N/A 7.2

Q: Do you think Japan should cooperate with the United States and
hurry to introduce a missile defense system that can shoot down
enemy missiles?

Yes 38.8
Yes to a certain degree 23.1
No to a certain degree 15.5
No 17.6
N/A 5.1

Q: In response to North Korea's missile launches, there is a view
that is concerned about missile attacks against Japan, saying Japan
should acquire the capability of striking enemy missile sites. Do
you agree with this view?

Yes 21.9
Yes to a certain degree 16.8
No to a certain degree 21.3
No 33.8
N/A 6.3

Polling methodology
Date of survey: Aug. 5-6.
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: 1,741 persons (58.0% ).

(4) Poll on US beef


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YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
August 12, 2006

Questions & Answers
(Figures shown in%age)

Q: The government has decided to resume US beef imports, which were
banned due to BSE specified risk materials found in shipments. Do
you support the decision?

Yes 19.4
Yes to a certain degree 17.5
No to a certain degree 21.5
No 37.7
No answer (N/A) 4.0

Q: Do you feel uneasy about the safety of US beef?

Yes, very much 46.3
Yes, somewhat 33.9
No, not very much 12.9
No, not at all 5.9
N/A 1.0

Q: Would you like to eat US beef when imports are resumed?

Yes 10.2
Will wait and see 43.1
No 45.0
N/A 1.7

Q: Do you think restaurant menus and processed foods should be
required to show the country of origin to see if US beef is used?

Yes 76.9
Yes to a certain degree 14.6
No to a certain degree 2.8
No 4.3
N/A 1.4

Polling methodology
Date of survey: Aug. 5-6.
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: 1,741 persons (58.0% ).
Breakdown of respondents: Male-49%, female-51%.

(5) METI to help medium, small firms reduce CO2 emissions by
subsidizing equipment, introducing effect-certification system

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 3) (Slightly abridged)
April 21, 2006

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will assist
medium and small companies' efforts to reduce CO2 and other
greenhouse gas emissions. The ministry has decided to pay up to half
of the cost needed to introduce equipment to save energy as measures
to cut greenhouse gas emissions. METI also plan to ask a third-party
organ to certify the gas emission reduction effect of new equipment.
Compared with larger companies, medium and small firms have been

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slow to take measures to contain global warming.

Specifically, METI envisions facilities to reduce consumed electric
power by skillfully controlling plant operations, as well as to
change residual heat in a boiler into energy. It also plans to
subsidize measures to improve air-conditioning facilities in shops
and upgrade the insulation effect of refrigerators.

The amount of assistance will be 10 million to 20 million yen per
company. METI will provide companies that filed applications with
subsidies through the New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization, an independent administrative agency. For
about 20 companies, 350 million yen will be set aside.

ChuoAoyama Sustainability Certification will authenticate gas
emission-reduction effects as a third-party organ. Although many
major companies have introduced the certification system, stemming
from a desire to underscore their efforts to protect the
environment, the system has yet to be commonly used by small firms.

(6) Observing CO2 from space

MAINICHI (Page 3)
August 21, 2006

To examine which parts of the earth are absorbing carbon dioxide, a
greenhouse gas, and which parts are emitting it, the governments of
Japan and the US will launch observation satellites in two years.
This will be the first time to launch satellites for the purposes of
observing CO2 concentrations in the fight against global warming.
There are few observation points on the ground in the tropics or the
southern hemisphere, and accurate observation has yet to be
conducted on a global scale. The objective of this project is to
help prevent global warming by covering the "blank areas" from space
and reveal the distribution of CO2 emission and absorbtion.

Japan will launch the Greenhouse gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT)
in August 2008. It is a joint project by the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA),the National Institute for Environmental
Studies, and the Ministry of the Environment. The GOSAT will
traverse a north-south orbit approximately 666 km aboveground,
allowing it to observe the same point every three days.

Over the five years of the project, the globe will eventually be
divided into 64 to 128 sections. Each section's CO2 "balance" of
absorption and emission will be made clear. The team will collect
data so that the CO2 emissions and absorption of each country can be
ascertained by satellite observation in the future.

As for the United States, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) will launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory
(OCO) in September 2008. The satellite will travel in a north-south
orbit approximately 705 km above the earth and observe the same
points at least every 16 days. As CO2 concentration in a given area
can change throughout the day, observation time will be synchronized
to 1:15 PM local time. NASA plans to carry out the observation for
two years.

For the observation, both countries will make use of the fact that a
particular wavelength of infrared absorbs CO2. CO2 concentrations
will be estimated by measuring the infrared light reflected back
from the ground. Currently, the average CO2 concentration over the
entire earth is approximately 380 ppm. Japan will aim for a margin

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of error of 1% in comparison to ground observation, while the United
States is looking to hold the margin of error to 0.3% or less.
Europe is also considering satellite observation like Japan and the
United States.

Currently, there are approximately 40 continuous ground observation
points. It is said that the satellite observation of Japan and the
United States will enable the understanding of the changes in CO2
concentration over months and seasons across the entire earth,
something that has heretofore been unfeasible.

Tatsuya Yokota, the GOSAT project leader at the National Institute
for Environmental Studies, says: "This is an attempt to measure
which parts of the earth absorb or emit CO2, kind of like
determining the planet's breathing patterns. CO2. Once the entire
picture is revealed, we will know which parts of the world need
treatment to prevent global warming."

DONOVAN