DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 12/22/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 007115 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 12/22/06 INDEX: (1) Trends 2006: Abe administration advocates conservatism (2) Deregulation improves Japanese economy's productivity 7.59% from 1995 through 2002, Cabinet Office estimates: Deregulation found effective in non-manufacturing industry (3) Editorial -- Honma's resignation: Abe-led reform initiative suffers a setback ARTICLES: (1) Trends 2006: Abe administration advocates conservatism YOMIURI (Page 13) (Abridged) December 21, 2006 In late September, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who advocates a "beautiful country" and "open conservatism" replaced the Koizumi administration of five years and five months. The Liberal Democratic Party has picked a young and nationally popular Abe as its president mostly for the sake of elections. But the Abe administration is deadlocked in its third month. The Abe cabinet's support rating marked 70.3% in a Yomiuri Shimbun poll shortly after its inauguration. The rate dropped to 55.9% this month. The plunge seems to reflect the public's negative reaction to the cabinet's responses to such issues as the reinstatement of postal rebels and staged town meetings. In an effort to reverse the trend, Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence) had come up with the idea of using gasoline tax revenue for general purposes. But that, too, has been shelved due to stiff resistance from the road industry, the ruling coalition, and the Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Ministry. For fear of losing public support further, Abe ordered the LDP not to accept donations from major banks. Landmark amendments to the Basic Education Law and bills to upgrade the Defense Agency to ministry status cleared the Diet in the just-ended extraordinary session. But they were all carried over form the administration of Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. The year 2006 is drawing to a close without witnessing a real Abe imprint on policy. It is rare for an LDP prime minister to advocate conservatism outright. In the Oct. 2 Lower House plenary session, Abe explained conservatism this way: "To me, conservatism is not an ideology but an attitude of having confidence in this country, where I was born. It also based on considering Japan and its people, and to review Japan's long history from the viewpoint of the people of each period. Based on such history, conservatism must not be closed or exclusive. I want to achieve open conservatism by humbly turning my eyes to reality." His view that conservatism is not an ideology is correct. His aim for conservatism that is not closed or exclusive appears to be a warning to himself not to fall into nationalism. Before becoming prime minister, Abe established himself as a hawkish and unwavering lawmaker owing to his hard-line stance toward North Korea regarding the abduction issue. He also drew a distinction with China, alluding to reactionary values by making comments supportive TOKYO 00007115 002 OF 005 of Class-A war criminals. Dovish voices critical of Abe did not spread in the LDP, and former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki came in last in the last LDP presidential race. The LDP has given its presidency to Abe in the hope of capitalizing on his high national popularity in elections. Soon after assuming office, Abe visited China and South Korea to improve Tokyo's relations with them that had been strained due to Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine. Abe has also made it clear that he would follow former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's postwar 50th year statement and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono's "comfortable women" statement. Abe is not all hawkish. Ichita Yamamoto, who spearheaded the campaign to realize the Abe administration, described Abe as a "new realist." Ichita took this view: "It is clear from his visits to China and South Korea that Mr. Abe is not an ideological neoconservative. Although he is guarded against China, he is eager to forge mutually beneficial strategic relations. True to his words to aim for open conservatism, Mr. Abe has demonstrated extremely well balanced strategic diplomacy. He deserves a perfect score on the diplomatic front." What about the domestic front? "Mr. Abe is aware that he has been pulled toward 'retrospective conservatism' peculiar to the LDP despite his words to keep the torch of reform burning. I think he is being torn between the two conflicting ideas." Retrospective conservatism specifically means conventional influence-peddling politics. LDP administrations in the postwar period have created a country with relatively small social disparity that is mocked as the most successful socialist in the world. Needless to say, the flip side of that was influence-peddling politics exemplified by former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. Under the long Koizumi administration, Japan finally climbed out of the long recession that followed the burst of the bubble economy. The social disparity also widened during that period. Was it because of the Koizumi reform drive or the long recession? Or such is unavoidable in this age of global competition? It must be attributable to multiple factors. Correcting the social disparity is an important political theme, but the government must not lavishly distribute funds to public works projects in the name of correcting disparity. Reform takes an iron will and a deaf ear to disturbing noises, according to Asahi Research Center President Yoshio Suzuki, who have been involved in the government's administrative reform since the Second Ad Hoc Commission on Administrative Reform in the 1980s. The LDP is now at a crossroads. The public will not support "open conservatism" if it returns to influence-peddling politics. The question Abe faces today is how to keep the torch of reform burning. (2) Deregulation improves Japanese economy's productivity 7.59% from 1995 through 2002, Cabinet Office estimates: Deregulation found effective in non-manufacturing industry NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Full) TOKYO 00007115 003 OF 005 December 22, 2006 The Cabinet Office calculated to what extent deregulatory efforts in the 1995-2002 period pushed up the productivity of the Japanese economy. The calculations found that deregulation pushed up productivity 7.59% -- 2.98% in the manufacturing sector and 4.61% in the non-manufacturing sector. The greatest effect was seen in the non-manufacturing sector. In particular, the impact of deregulation was huge in the telecommunications sector. The report once again confirmed the importance of boosting productivity through deregulation. The potential growth of the Japanese economy is said to be between 1% and 2% . In order to heighten the potential, it is necessary to increase capital stocks, such as facilities and the like, boost labor power injection and improve total factor productivity (TFP). However, a forced increase in capital stocks will lead to excessive introduction of plants and facilities. The effect of the labor force into the economy is already on the decline due to the falling population. In order to enhance potential growth by overcoming these factors, it is considered essential to boost productivity. The Cabinet Office analyzed deregulation and productivity in the structural reform appraisal report, noting that the amount of regulation has decreased 60% since 1995. Annual productivity is increasing following this trend. The major effect of deregulation was felt in the non-manufacturing industry, where the number of regulations is relatively large. Quintessential examples are the real estate industry and the services industry. More than 80% of regulations were scrapped in the telecommunications industry. Its share of value added prices in the economy as a whole increased. On the other hand, the construction industry and the agricultural sector saw only 10% of regulations scrapped. Their share of value added prices has fallen. It can be said that these results confirmed that the introduction of competitive principles trough regulatory reform has revitalized the economy. The Cabinet Office analyzed how productivity would change if the number of regulations were halved over the next two years. The current rate of an increase in industry-wide productivity is 0.7% a year. Scrapping regulations 50% over two years is expected to yield the effect of pushing up productivity by 0.11 points a year. In particular, the pushing up effect of deregulation is clearly observable in the tightly regulated medical, agricultural and financial services fields. By sector, such an effect is estimated to be 0.24 points a year in the agricultural sector and 0.12 points in the public services sector, such as medical services and education. The report noted that if regulations on entries into and pullout of the financial services sector are reduced by 10% a year, it could produce the effect of increasing productivity by 0.64 points over three years. The Cabinet Office has estimated that Japan's productivity will rise from 0.69 to 0.74 against a base of 1 for the US financial industry. It sometimes takes time for deregulation to yield effects. There is also a strong possibility of impact on the real economy turning out to be greater than the estimated figure due to the spillover effect on other industrial areas. In order to boost potential growth amid the shrinking population, it is essential to improve productivity. Continuing deregulatory efforts is bound to become more important. TOKYO 00007115 004 OF 005 (3) Editorial -- Honma's resignation: Abe-led reform initiative suffers a setback ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) December 22, 2006 Masaaki Honma resigned as chairman of the government's Tax Commission after serving in the post for less than one month. The allegation that he had lived with a woman, who is not a member of his family, in a luxury public residence located at a prestigious downtown area in Tokyo, provoked harsh public criticism. Honma was appointed to the post at the strong request of Prime Minister Abe. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) recommended a reappointment of former Tax Commission chair Hiromitsu Ishi, but Abe rejected this recommendation, and he instead picked Honma as a flagship appointment for his administration, the aim of which is to avoid bureaucratic interference in the economy. Honma's resignation will deal a great blow to the Abe administration, even though the resignation itself came because of his mixing public and private affairs. Honma is a professor at Osaka University and has a home in Osaka. He was chosen as a private-sector member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) in the days of the Koizumi administration. This job forced him to come and go between Tokyo and Osaka almost daily; he was eventually offered a public residence in Tokyo. He had used it since 2003 until recently. Providing him a public apartment is understandable if the apartment rent is less than hotel lodging. But in the case of Honma, a number of questions about the room rent were left unanswered. Honma lives separate from his wife even in Osaka, but he reported to the government that he would live with his wife in a public residence. He was able to use a 96-m2 residence accordingly at a monthly rent of 77,000 yen, a favorable term in view of a lease contract. But if he had lived with a woman other than his wife in the public residence, that's another story. Taxpayers will get angry. The government's tax panel is a venue to debate the tax system from a broader perspective and is expected to be fair and highly transparent in comparison with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's tax committee. It also is required to be even more sensitive to the taxpayers' livelihood and their pain. However, the chairman of that panel drew public suspicions about his behavior. No matter how wonderful a report such a chairman will come up with, the public will not lend an ear to it. It is only natural for Honma to quit since it is unlikely that he will be able to fulfill the responsibilities expected of him as the chair of the panel. In general, the government's tax panel has been headed by those who are recommended by MOF, even though it is said to be an advisory panel to the prime minister. Regardless of this practice, Honma was chosen as chairman of the panel. Soon after assuming the post, Honma came up with a report positive about cutting the corporate tax and drew a clear line between former chairman Ishi, who had implied a consumption tax TOKYO 00007115 005 OF 005 hike, and himself. Honma also has clearly projected his stance of backing the prime minister's economic growth-emphasized line in the area of the tax system. Honma was the "brains" of the Abe administration for reform as former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Heizo Takenaka, a professor at Keio University, had been in supporting the Koizumi administration's structural reform. Abe, however, lost his brains that way. This loss will deal a serious blow to his administration. The Abe cabinet, after accepting the reinstatement of the so-called "postal rebels" in the LDP, has faced a string of events that may bolster the image of the cabinet are backing away from reforms. For this or some other reasons, its approval ratings are sliding sharply in public opinion polls. Abe was on the defensive of Honma, but veteran LDP lawmakers questioned Honma's course of action. Abe came into power after decisively defeating other candidates in the LDP presidential race. Now, he has received a "yellow card" over his leadership capability only three months after taking office as prime minister. DONOVAN