DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 05/30/07

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 002412 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 05/30/07 Part-2 INDEX: (7) AmerAsian School in Okinawa marks 10th anniversary of its foundation; Graduates take a step forward toward achieving their dreams in US or in Okinawa (8) Poll: 56 percent weigh pension, 15 percent opt for constitutional reform (9) Poll on ABE cabinet, political parties Articles: (7) AmerAsian School in Okinawa marks 10th anniversary of its foundation; Graduates take a step forward toward achieving their dreams in US or in Okinawa OKINAWA TIMES (Excerpts) May 29, 2007 Koji Hirokazu The AmerAsian School in Okinawa (whose acting director is Naomi Noiri) will mark the 10th anniversary of its foundation on June 1. This school was established by four mothers to help children unwilling to go to school because of prejudice and differences in languages and cultures and also because of institutional problems. To study a university in US, his father's country Clayton Yonamine (18),who was one of the first students to graduate from the school, this spring graduated from the Futenma Senior High School. He will go to a university in Texas, where his father lives. He considered studying at a university in the prefecture, but he finally made up his mind to go to the United States because he "wants to study business administration in the US, the home of business administration." "I'm aware of going abroad, but I don't have any anxiety," Clayton said, adding that he enjoyed attending both the AmerAsian School and public school, and that he now realizes he has "two aspects of myself." When he was a little boy, Clayton assumed that if he attended a Japanese school, he would be bullied. But he realized later that by attending the AmerAsian School, where Japanese and American teachers, parents, and volunteers worked together, he was able to get along with others, if he had good communications with them. It was also great encouragement for him to know that Amerasians live not only in Okinawa but also in other countries. "Now I think I can live elsewhere around the world, for I have a variety of options," Clayton said. Learns from mother Ken Sayer (21),who likewise was one of the first students to graduate from the AmerAsian School, is now a senior at Okinawa International University. His dream is to try to launch a business, while also aiming at becoming a professional musician in the prefecture. "I want to be successful in both in order to be able to support the AmerAsian School. I owe what I am now to the school," Ken said. TOKYO 00002412 002 OF 005 When he was nine years old, Ken was turned away at a grocery store in his neighborhood with the words, "No Americans allowed." He was not strong enough at the time to be able to retort. This experience made him feel that Okinawa was somewhat oppressive. But now he has a different feeling. Ken said: "I assume that those who discriminate against us lack knowledge or have reasons for doing so. I assert my views openly, but at the same time I listen to the views of others. Nothing will ever be resolved if we simply play the victim." Ken inherits this sort of positive thinking from his mother, Midori, the first president of the AmerAsian School. Ken noted: "(My mother) did not give up on the plan to establish a school even though there was no guarantee for her to succeed and despite much criticism. She established the school based on her convictions. Many people helped her. I really respect her. I believe in myself and want to continue to try." Give courage to their juniors Ken is three years older than Clayton, but both share the same feelings. They promise each other to reunite on a world stage as Amerasians someday in the future. Both said unfalteringly, "We want to become someone who can give courage to the younger members of our school." (8) Poll: 56 percent weigh pension, 15 percent opt for constitutional reform NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Abridged) May 28, 2007 In a recent public opinion survey conducted May 25-27, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun asked respondents to pick one or more policies they weigh in this July's election for the House of Councillors. In response, a total of 56 percent chose "pension, welfare, and other social security policies," topping all other answers. The government's failure to record payments into public pension plans is also a matter of high interest to the public, as it has now become a point at issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister SHINZO ABE has been laying emphasis on "constitutional revision." This issue, however, was in seventh place at 15 percent. Respondents were also asked which political party or which political party's candidate they would like to vote for in this summer's House of Councillors election. In this popularity rating, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party stood at 33 percent, with the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) at 22 percent. -- Questions & Answers (Figures shown in percentage. Parentheses denote findings from the last survey conducted in April.) Q: Do you support the ABE cabinet? Yes 41 (53) No 44 (37) Can't say (C/S) + don't know (D/K) 15 (11) Q: Which political party do you support or like now? Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 41 (43) TOKYO 00002412 003 OF 005 Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 23 (21) New Komeito (NK) 3 (6) Japanese Communist Party (JCP) 4 (4) Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 3 (3) People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 0 (0) New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0 (0) Other political parties 0 (0) None 20 (20) C/S+D/K 6 (4) Q: Do you appreciate the ABE cabinet's job performance? Yes 33 (42) No 49 (42) Can't say which 7 (5) Can't say (C/S) + don't know (D/K) 11 (11) (Note) The total percentage does not become 100 percent in some cases due to rounding. The survey was taken May 25-27 by Nikkei Research Inc. over the telephone on a random digit dialing (RDD) basis. For the survey, samples were chosen from among men and women aged 20 and over across the nation. A total of 1,496 households with one or more voters were sampled, and answers were obtained from 917 persons (61.3 percent). (9) Poll on ABE cabinet, political parties MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) May 28, 2007 Questions & Answers (T = total; P = previous; M = male; F = female) Q: Do you support the ABE cabinet? T P M F Yes 32 (43) 29 35 No 44 (33) 53 37 Not interested 22 (23) 17 27 Q: (Only for those who answered "yes" to the above question) Why? T P M F Because the prime minister is from the Liberal Democratic Party 17 (14) 18 17 Because something can be expected of the prime minister's leadership 13 (15) 7 18 Because there's a young, fresh image about the prime minister 41 (46) 41 41 Because something can be expected of the prime minister's policy measures 24 (21) 28 22 Q: (Only for those who answered "no" to the above question) Why? T P M F Because the prime minister is from the Liberal Democratic Party 8 (11) 10 5 Because nothing can be expected of the prime minister's leadership 41 (41) 37 46 Because the prime minister is inexperienced, weak 13 (13) 16 11 TOKYO 00002412 004 OF 005 Because I'm opposed to the prime minister's policies 37 (32) 37 37 Q: Which political party do you support? T P M F Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 25 (29) 23 26 Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 19 (16) 24 14 New Komeito (NK) 5 (5) 2 7 Japanese Communist Party (JCP) 3 (2) 2 3 Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 2 (1) 2 3 People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 0 (1) 0 0 New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0 (--) 0 0 Other political parties 1 (1) 1 0 None 44 (42) 44 43 Q: Are you interested in this summer's election for the House of Councillors? T P M F Yes 68 75 62 No 31 24 36 Q: Which political party between the LDP and the DPJ would you like to see win in this summer's House of Councillors election? T P M F LDP 33 (38) 29 37 DPJ 42 (36) 51 35 Other political parties 20 (18) 17 22 Q: If an election were to be held now for the House of Councillors, which political party or which political party's candidate will you vote for in your proportional representation bloc? T P M F LDP 28 26 30 DPJ 35 45 27 NK 6 3 9 JCP 4 2 5 SDP 3 3 4 PNP 1 1 1 NPN 0 0 -- Other political parties 14 13 15 Q: Then, which political party's candidate will you vote for in your electoral district? T P M F LDP 26 25 28 DPJ 30 38 23 NK 5 3 7 JCP 4 3 5 SDP 2 3 2 PNP 1 1 1 NPN 0 0 -- TOKYO 00002412 005 OF 005 Other political parties 6 5 6 Independent candidate 15 12 18 Q: What do you think is most important when casting your vote in the House of Councillors election? T P M F Social divides 13 13 13 Education 19 16 21 Constitution 14 16 12 Public service personnel reform 6 6 6 Politics and money 12 13 11 Local community issues 5 7 3 Pension 28 25 30 (Note) Figures shown in percentage, rounded off. "0" indicates that the figure was below 0.5 percent. "--" denotes that no respondents answered. "No answer" omitted. Figures in parentheses denote the results of the last survey conducted April 28-29. Polling methodology: The survey was conducted May 26-27 over the telephone with the aim of calling a total of 1,000 voters across the nation on a computer-aided random digit sampling (RDS) basis. Answers were obtained from 1,031 persons. SCHIEFFER