KUDOS FOR JAPANESE EMBASSY AND CONSULATE REPORTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 153704 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2017 TAGS: ECON ETRD EINV MOPS PGOV PREL JA SUBJECT: KUDOS FOR JAPANESE EMBASSY AND CONSULATE REPORTING REF: A. TOKYO 3689 ¶B. TOKYO 3765 ¶C. TOKYO 3930 ¶D. NAGOYA 38 ¶E. TOKYO 3871 ¶F. TOKYO 4096 ¶G. TOKYO 4658 ¶H. NAGOYA 49 ¶I. TOKYO 4930 ¶J. TOKYO 4966 ¶K. TOKYO 5059 ¶L. NAHA 134 ¶M. TOKYO 5080 ¶N. TOKYO 5095 Classified By: EAP/J JIM ZUMWALT ¶1. (U) We in Washington would like to take this opportunity to thank reporting officers in the Embassy and consulates for the hard work that you put into keeping us informed of important developments in Japan. From your daily press reports to your front channel cables, from periodic e-mails to Japan Scope publications, your reports are timely, widely read and respected, and important to the formulation of U.S. policy. ¶2. (U) Periodically we like to call attention to reports that we found exceptionally timely and valuable. A few of these are highlighted in the space below. (C) Tokyo 3689 reported on foreign investment in Japan in the wake of recent increases in defensive measures used by Japanese companies. That report did an outstanding job of breaking down the complex situation in Japan owing to changes in the laws on mergers and acquisitions, and was particularly useful in preparing Ambassador Haslach for her trip to Japan. (C) Tokyo 3765 provided a timely report on a matter of interest to the policy community in Washington, DC, informing our analysis of the domestic context of PM Abe,s South Asia trip. (C) Tokyo 3930 was personally praised by Deputy Assistant Secretary Arvizu as an informative update on the domestic SIPDIS political state of affairs in the week leading up to PM Abe's cabinet changes. (U) Nagoya 38 alerted Washington of the progress and potential impact of a visionary infrastructure project, and gave us useful background on a technology which official and private sector Japanese are promoting in the United States. (C) Tokyo 3871 (PRC Embassy on Japan-China Ties, New Chinese Ambassador) provided useful insights on how the Chinese government is managing Japan-China relations, an issue that attracts high level attention in Washington. (C) Many thanks for sending us so quickly your insights on PM Abe's changes to his cabinet on Monday, August 27. We used your DAR item for our morning report. P/DAS Glyn Davies used this information in briefing the Secretary at 8:15 AM. She in turn had more questions, but by then we had your two cables which we used to draft up a quick information memo that we sent up by noon. Without your timely reporting we would not have made our deadlines that day. (C) Tokyo 4096 provided useful insights to the Washington policy community on how PM Abe's new cabinet would affect U.S. interests, a key element that is all-too-easily overlooked. We were impressed by the hard work and analysis that went into producing this report. (C) Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda,s sudden triumph over Foreign Minister Aso after PM Abe,s resignation caught many political observers off-guard. A series of cables, including Tokyo 4321, 4408, and 4327, offered timely reporting of Fukuda,s rise and what it meant for the United States and U.S.-Japan relations. (U) Tokyo 4658, like all of the excellent cables you produced in the "Going Postal" series, provided an impressively in-depth, easy-to-understand analysis of the complex issues surrounding the privatization of Japan Post. The process has enormous implications for the Japanese economy, the economic reform agenda, and U.S. business interests, and we appreciate STATE 00153704 002 OF 002 the involved, detailed investigations that informed your analyses. (U) Nagoya 49, on Iranian involvement in organized crime and drug dealing, was a well written and fascinanting study that generated interest both inside and outside the department. Nagoya's intitiative and hard work in investigating this issue is commendable. (C) Tokyo 4930 updated the Washington community on Japanese efforts to conduct outreach with other countries on export control issues, a topic about which we had previously known frustratingly little. After reading the cable, we were able to request a meeting with a visiting METI export control official, bringing in officers from a variety of desks and bureaus in State, to discuss the issues you raised in this cable. Going forward, thanks in no small part to this reporting, we will be coordinating more closely with the Japanese in this area. (C) We are extremely grateful for Embassy Tokyo,s tireless efforts keep Washington updated on Japan,s response to the crackdown in Burma. Many offices in the Department as well as NSC have been carefully monitoring Japan,s response and your updates have proven invaluable. In particular, Tokyo 4768 on the internal debate within Japanese academic and Diet circles and Tokyo 4797 on possible next steps for Japan contained valuable insights used to brief senior officials here. Tokyo 4439, 4563, 4800, and 5021 were also impressive for their comprehensive reporting and keen commentary. (C) Tokyo 4966 and 5059 provided the Washington community with more fine products of analysis on political developments and their effects on U.S. interests -- specifically the prospects for renewal of Japan's OEF mission. (SBU) We appreciate the hard work, very much in evidence, that the Naha consular section put into Naha 134. The exhaustive investigation and incisive reporting will be of tremendous assistance to us in Washington as we continue to engage the Japanese on parental child abductions. (U) Tokyo 5080 was a fascinating product of insight on trends in the health care sector and the promise they could hold for U.S. business interests. Instead of fixating on existing or past disputes with which everyone is familiar, this cable broke new ground to consider how developments could have significance in other, uncharted areas. (C) Tokyo 5095 took stock of where Japan stands in an area that is of crucial importance to the U.S. policy community -- the government's commitment to continuing economic reforms. In the run-up to the Subcabinet dialogue, this cable was particularly timely, and Ambassador Haslach personally highlighted it as providing useful ideas for the U.S. delegation's participation in the Subcabinet. Tokyo 5095 built nicely on the earlier Tokyo 4659, which previewed these trends in looking at the principal agents of reform. (C) We also appreciated Tokyo,s recent reporting on the Fukuda-Ozawa talks, the &grand alliance,8 and subsequent political turmoil. This was an another instance where speed was important. Mike Meserve,s initial reporting armed Acting A/S Davies with information needed to brief the Deputy Secretary at the Senior Staff meeting that morning, and later SIPDIS served as the grist for an information memorandum. The Embassy,s subsequent reporting (DARs, Tokyo 5114 and 5138) enabled us to update to our papers for the President and the Secretary. SIPDIS ¶3. (U) Washington agencies thank you for these and other timely reports and urge you to keep up the good work. ¶4. (U) Department appreciates Embassy Tokyo's efforts to ensure that the contents of this cable are shared with staff from all of the consulates. RICE