Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TOKYO645
2007-02-14 08:34:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:  

The Japan Economic Scope - February 9, 2007

Tags:  ETRD ECON JA ZO EAGR 
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1. (SBU) Table of Contents


3. Inbound FDI Negative for 2006, Japan Likely to Miss Five-Year
FDI Target

4. Keidanren Chairman Visits Australia, Wants an FTA

5. Japanese Reaction to U.S. WTO Subsidy Case Against China

6. The New Reg Reform Council Launched

7. EMIN Meets Niigata and Kanagawa Prefecture Governors

8. Japan, Central Asian Countries Discuss Improving
Infrastructure in the Region

9. M&As Continue to Expand in Kyushu

10. METI Tasks Independent Study Group To Review Security
Criteria for Investment

11. Opposition Takes Another Swipe at Government Over "White
Collar Exemption" Bill

12. Embassy Outreach on Bilateral Economic Relationship in
Niigata and Ibaraki

13. Former CEFP Member Yoshikawa Talks Critically about Japan's
Economy

14. Japanese Customs Cracks Down on Counterfeits Imported for
Individual Use

15. Agriculture: Japan's Farmers to Get Their Voice in
Washington

16. Last Chance for Japanese Farmers?

17. Holy Cow, Beef Is Expensive!

18. Japan's 32nd Case of BSE May Raise Questions

19. Ban on U.S. Potatoes Lifted

20. No Economic Impact from Avian Flu in Okayama--Yet

21. Ports: Cost Reductions, Efficiency Boost Planned for Hanshin
Super Core Port

22. Civair: Japan-Canada Aviation Talks Conclude

23. MLIT Hires U.S. Consulting Firm for Basic Study on Airports
and Competitiveness

24. JAL's Plan with Eight Percent Layoffs and Pay Cuts

25. Bid-Rigging Post Mortem: Wakayama Wants More National Money
for Road Construction


2. (U) This cable contains the Japan Economic Scope from February
9, 2007.


3. (SBU) Inbound FDI Negative for 2006, Japan Likely to Miss
Five-Year FDI Target
--------------

In 2006, Japan experienced a net outflow of foreign direct
investment by non-residents for the first time in 17 years.

According to Ministry of Finance figures, total FDI inflow to
Japan by non-residents was 4.93 trillion yen ($42.5 billion),up
almost 50% from 2005. Unfortunately, disinvestment by non-

Japanese investors in the same period was 5.67 trillion yen or
$49.1 billion. The difference was a net outflow of FDI of 740
billion yen ($6.6 billion.)

The biggest contributing factor was the sale by British firm
Vodafone of its Japan operations to Softbank in April 2006 for
$16.3 billion. The same month, General Motors Corporation sold a
17 percent stake in Suzuki Motors for $1.98 billion. These two
deals contributed to a net outflow of $14.8 billion in the month
of April 2006 alone. Without these two large disinvestments,
Japan's FDI flows in the first 11 months of 2006 would have been
a respectable $11.68 billion, up from $2.8 billion in 2005 and
$7.8 billion in 2004.

As a result of these disappointing numbers, Japan will almost
certainly fail to meet the target set by former Prime Minister
Koizumi of doubling the nation's stock of FDI from its 2001 level
within five years. In nominal terms that target translates into
13.2 trillion yen ($119 billion) of FDI by the end of 2006. With
only one month's figures left to be booked, Japan's year-end
stock of FDI likely will be only about 11 trillion yen.

See the attached Excel document for MOF's month-by-month figures
for FDI flows.


4. (SBU) Keidanren Chairman Visits Australia, Wants an FTA

TOKYO 00000645 002 OF 009


--------------

No talks have started yet since their launch was announced, but
the Japanese continue to discuss the merits of a free trade -- or
economic partnership -- agreement with Australia.

Fujio Mitarai, Chairman of the Japan Business Federation
(Keidanren),visited Australia the first week in February,
meeting with government officials including Prime Minister John
Howard and his counterparts in the Australian business
community. Mitarai underscored Keidanren's support for a
deal. He pointed to the difficulties of getting Japan's
agricultural sector on board and suggested that one way forward
would be to phase in tariff reductions over a 10-20 year period.
For his part, according to press reports, Howard emphasized that
he wanted to see key agricultural products on the table in the
negotiations. A MOFA official we talked to February 8 told us
that Howard's strong public line underscores how "clever" he has
been in handling the launch of the talks. Note, the MOFA
official said, that Howard called for "some movement" on
agriculture. The GOJ expects the Australians to be flexible when
the talks begin, and "some" more accurately translates into not
much.

For more on Keidanren's views about a Japan-Australia FTA, click
here.


5. (SBU) Japanese Reaction to U.S. WTO Subsidy Case Against
China
--------------

The Japanese press has covered extensively the U.S. decision late
last week to file a subsidy case against China. After the
announcement, Japanese Trade Minister Amari indicated Japan may
join the case as a third party. He told reporters that U.S.
Trade Representative Susan Schwab had asked him last month if
Japan would be interested in joining the United States in filing
the complaint together.

Consultations with the Japanese on the possibility for a joint-
filing had been on-going for several months prior to the February
2 action. Noteworthy among these discussions was a series of
working level meetings between USTR officials and their MOFA/METI
counterparts to identify common ground for joint-action -- the
process of which began with an exchange of information on related
areas of concern last May.

According to Kyodo news, however, Amari has hinted that Japan
would likely take a "softer" third party approach, because many
Japanese companies run joint ventures with Chinese partners and
capital. A Nikkei editorial noted that the United States had
moved quickly since its December Strategic Dialogue meetings with
the Chinese to take a hard-line approach against Beijing. In
part, the newspaper notes, USTR is compelled to show a tough
posture to satisfy Congress in advance of a request to extend
Trade Promotion Authority.

Click here to read Ambassador's Schwab's remarks and click here
to read a recent press release.


6. The New Reg Reform Council Launched
--------------

Japan's new Council on Regulatory Reform was officially
established in January, taking over the mandate of the Council on
the Promotion of Regulatory Reform and the Office of Trade and
Investment Ombudsman.

Chaired by Takao Kusakari, its 15 members include eight experts
who served in the previous Council. In its first meeting on
January 31, the Council identified some key issues reflecting
Prime Minister Abe's priorities: promote innovation, raise
productivity; build an open economy and society; realize high
standards of living; revitalize regions; and realize a society
with "a second chance." It is not yet clear, however, how these
goals will translate into deregulation policies.
The Council is expected to issue a report in late May, and the
Cabinet will adopt a new Three-year Regulatory Reform Plan soon

TOKYO 00000645 003 OF 009


after.

See Tokyo 387 and 154 for more details. Also, for more
information in English click here and for more information in
Japanese click here.


7. (SBU) Meets Niigata and Kanagawa Prefecture Governors
--------------

On February 1 in Niigata and February 5 in Yokohama, EMIN met
respectively with the governors of Niigata and Kanagawa
prefectures.

Although their current economic situations differ (Kanagawa's is
booming, becoming a national center for biotechnology and R&D,
while stereotypically rural Niigata barely has been able to stay
abreast of the national average growth rate),both governors
pressed their case to host jointly the next G-8 summit in 2008.
Niigata and Yokohama have filed a joint application to host the
summit -- foreign and finance ministers would meet on the west
coast in Niigata, while Yokohama would receive the leaders'
meeting. They both see Kyoto as their main competition. While
they would welcome the prestige that accompanies hosting a G-8
summit meeting, Kanagawa governor Matsuzawa was explicit that
wining such a bid comes with high costs: the prefectures largely
are expected to pick up the enormous fees for providing police
and security protection. Given the recent trend for summits to
be located in remote resort areas, governor Matsuzawa was less
than wholeheartedly enthusiastic about securing victory.


8. (SBU) Central Asian Countries Discuss Improving
Infrastructure in the Region
--------------

The Japanese government held its Second Tokyo Dialogue on Central
Asia Plus Japan on January 30 during which representatives from
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
as well as officials from Japanese industry and government
discussed regional cooperation on water resources, electric power
and the diversification of Central Asia's energy supply routes.
The Central Asian countries are seeking non-European customers
for their energy and so have turned to Japan for its financial
and technological cooperation to develop and modernize their
respective infrastructures. They also want more oil and gas
exploration to increase production and export.

For Japan, Central Asia is attractive from an energy standpoint
but poses geographical problems such as the lack of sea access
and the volatile southern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Success for Japanese business and government will require a long-
term commitment in the region, but that will require political
stability and transparent decision-making processes.
Central Asian countries stand ready to turn to Russia or China if
Japan hesitates, despite their heavy-handed influence in the
region.

Japan Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Petroleum and
Natural Gas Division Deputy Director Kazuhiro Iwatani emphasized
Japan's need to diversify supply away from the Middle East and
called on the central Asian countries to cooperate on improving
the investment climate to meet Japan's efforts to provide funding,
technology and human resources.

Former Japanese Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan Akio
Kawato expressed his disappointment that the region's supply of
uranium was not discussed during the dialogue and proposed that
nuclear power plants be built in the region. He also expressed
concern over the lack of security in the southern regions
bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan and suggested that Japan send
a peace-keeping force to the area.


9. (SBU) M&As Continue to Expand in Kyushu
--------------

Kyushu is no exception to a recent M&A boom in Japan, which
reached a record high in 2006.

According to M&A consultancy Recof Corp, the value of M&As

TOKYO 00000645 004 OF 009


involving Kyushu, including Okinawa, firms nearly quadrupled to
Yen 324.8 billion ($2.7 billion) in 2006 from Yen 83.5 billion
($696 million) in 2005.

The number of M&A transactions (140 cases) in the region in 2006,
also a record, was up about 7 percent from the previous year.
A Recof official noted that a call for structural reform,
succession problems in small-medium companies, a declining
birthrate and aging population, and a renewed perspective of M&A
by top management are among the major factors behind this upsurge.

The official predicts the number of M&As to continue to increase
in Kyushu, with growth particularly strong in Okinawa.
In addition, he expects that heavily regulated sectors, including
financial and transportation services, will maintain a
significant role in M&A activity throughout the region.


10. (SBU) METI Tasks Independent Study Group To Review Security
Criteria for Investment

METI has established an outside study group to recommend possible
revisions to rules governing which sectors require prior
notification and government approval for foreign direct
investment.

The group's report, due in April, will feed into formal
recommendations from the ministry about whether changes are
needed to the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law.
The December announcement of the study group's formation
coincided with a call from Keidanren for stricter national
security review of inward M&A, but METI insists the timing is
coincidental.

The chairman of the study group told the Embassy he did not
expect his group to recommend significant new restrictions on
inward FDI.

For more information see Tokyo 454.


10. (U) Opposition Takes Another Swipe at Government Over "White
Collar Exemption" Bill
--------------

In a TV Asahi news roundtable devoted to measures to address
Japan's growing "social gaps" and improve the nation's pension
system, a Japan Communist Party Diet member criticized the Abe
Administration for drafting a bill (since withdrawn) to decrease
the number of workers eligible for overtime pay "under pressure"
from the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren),the ACCJ, and the
U.S. Government.

In fact, reducing the eligibility for overtime for white-collar
workers earning above nine million yen ($75,000) annually is one
of the United States' labor mobility recommendations at the bi-
annual Investment Initiative talks.

Another commentator, reflecting negative press coverage of the
draft bill, described it as leading to a "no-overtime-pay" system
rather than a "go-home-on-time" system.


11. (U) Embassy Outreach on Bilateral Economic Relationship in
Niigata and Ibaraki
--------------

EMIN recently had the opportunity to speak to groups in Mito and
Niigata, two large cities north of Tokyo on the bilateral
economic and trade relationship.

His basic message was that the U.S.-Japan economic relationship
is in pretty good shape compared to that 10 or 20 years ago, but
we should not be complacent and instead continue to push for
reform and a further opening of Japan to foreign investment,
goods and services.

He acknowledged U.S. and Japanese industry's appeal for a
bilateral FTA, cautioned that further reform, especially of
Japan's agricultural sector, is first necessary, and asked his
audiences if Japan is ready to undertake such reform.

TOKYO 00000645 005 OF 009



U.S. hopes and views for civair, regulatory reform and postal
privatization were also reviewed.


12. (SBU) Former CEFP Member Yoshikawa Talks Critically about
Japan's Economy
--------------

University of Tokyo Professor Hiroshi Yoshikawa had both praise
and criticism for the current state of the Japanese economy at a
lunch seminar hosted by the Maison franco japonaise on February 2.
He spoke glowingly of the years he spent as a private sector
member of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Council for
Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP),noting in particular Koizumi's
leadership of the Council and the fact that the former prime
minister had attended nearly all of the 200 CEFP meetings during
his tenure, which added greatly to the Council's effectiveness.
Yoshikawa remains concerned over Japan's low consumption rate and
its high youth unemployment rate--about 10 percent for people
between the ages of 15 and 24. One in three young people works
only part-time, he said, and over 700,000 are classified as NEET,
a British term meaning "not in employment, education or
training."

Yoshikawa raised Japan's public debt-to-GDP ratio of 150 percent,
the worst among OECD countries, and compared Japan to Great
Britain after WWII, whose public debt-to-GDP ratio at the time
was 200 percent. Yoshikawa described two groups of thought on
shrinking the ratio, one headed by Hidenao Nakagawa that
advocates achieving primary balance, and the other headed by
Kaoru Yosano backing an increase in the growth rate; Yoshikawa
places himself in the second group.

Another concern is the Japanese government's growing social
security obligations due to the aging population. Yoshikawa
pointed out, however, that Japan's capital expenditures and
technological progress historically have had a much greater
impact on GDP than labor, and he gave two examples: During 1955-
70 Japan's labor force grew only one percent while real GDP grew
9.6 percent--similar to China's present GDP growth rate. Not
quite as spectacular but not insignificant either, Japan's labor
force again grew only one percent during 1975-90 while real GDP
grew 4.6 percent.

Yoshikawa noted that raising the consumption tax would be
necessary to fund social security and ruled out increasing income
tax, because a large number of Japanese successfully avoid paying
the tax, as well as increasing corporate tax, because corporate
tax in Japan is already high compared to other financial centers.
Yoshikawa commented that Tokyo should worry more about competing
with Hong Kong and Singapore to become a world financial center
than New York and London and said pointedly that Japan is not
open enough. In particular, he criticized Tokyo traffic, the
distance from the city center to Narita Airport, and the lack of
adequate English signs.

Yoshikawa also took the University of Tokyo to task. Despite
its ranking by the London Times as 11th or 12th in the world, he
said non-Japanese professors make up a paltry one percent of its
teaching ranks, unheard of in most other top-ranked schools.


13. (U) Japanese Customs Cracks Down on Counterfeits Imported
for Individual Use
--------------

Japanese Customs officials announced this week that they will
step up inspections of luxury goods imported by individuals to
intercept more counterfeits.

In mid-2006, Japan's Customs began examining more name-brand
goods that individuals were bringing in, including packages
addressed to individuals. They found that more and more fakes
are being brought into Japan for resale under the guise of
personal use, which is still legal in Japan. Most of the goods
were purses and wallets and more than 80 percent of the
counterfeits came from China.

METI and the IP Strategy Headquarters have told the Embassy that

TOKYO 00000645 006 OF 009


they back bills to outlaw individual imports of fakes and to ban
advertising of counterfeits in online auctions, an increasingly
popular way to bring in fakes.

Coach told Embassy during a recent visit that it is now the
number two luxury brand in Japan in dollar terms after Louis
Vuitton.


14. (SBU) Agriculture: Japan's Farmers to Get Their Voice in
Washington
--------------

Japan's Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA),the
country's chief farmers' lobbying arm, is dispatching a senior
official to Washington on February 11 to sign a contract with a
well known law firm to represent its interests in the United
States better. During a meeting at JA headquarters February 8,
Executive Director Shigeo Fuji told us the Japanese Embassy was
making arrangements for his visit.

Fuji would not tell us which law firm the organization had
selected to represent it, but the firm enjoys a high lobbying
profile. Fuji said JA would employ a full time representative at
the firm to do its bidding. JA is famous in Japan for its
unbending opposition to expanded agricultural trade, either
through the Doha Round or in Japan's bilateral negotiations,
including the one set to begin with Australia.


15. (SBU) Last Chance for Japanese Farmers?
--------------

The second Task Force meeting under the auspices of the Council
of Economic and Fiscal Policy to review economic partnership
agreements and agriculture reforms met on February 7.

According to the Japan Agriculture News, the group discussed mid-
and long-term strategies for forging partnership agreements.
A source we have on the Task Force told us that its function is
in part to provide the "naiatsu," or domestic pressure, on
Japan's farm sector to get it to reform.

According to our source, absent another round of significant
agricultural reforms -- following up on last year's reforms which
included the introduction of direct payments and measures
intended to promote farm consolidation -- Japan's farm sector
will begin to diminish.

Our source, an agricultural economist, sees a future for Japanese
farmers, but only if they become much more productive.


16. (U) Holy Cow, Beef Is Expensive!
--------------

On February 5, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and
Fisheries (MAFF) reported that retail prices for domestically
produced beef are at their highest level in three and a half
years.

Retail prices for short loin beef averaged $26.76/lb (or 718 yen
per 100 grams). Import restrictions on U.S. beef, high feed
prices, and strong demand for sukiyaki and other winter dishes
are responsible for the high prices.

In the United States, the USDA-reported wholesale price for a
similar cut was $4.67/lb in the same period.


17. (U) Japan's 32nd Case of BSE May Raise Questions
On February 5, 2007, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and
Welfare (MHLW) announced Japan's 32nd case of BSE (mad cow).

Japan banned the use of ruminant meat and bone meal (MBM) in
cattle feed on September 18, 2001, and a few weeks later extended
the feed ban to all animals.

The infected cow was born in August 2001, potentially raising
questions about the enforcement of Japan's feed rules.
Meat from the Hokkaido-born Holstein cow was destroyed and did
not enter commerce.

TOKYO 00000645 007 OF 009



Japan remains the only country in Asia that is officially
recognized as having BSE.


18. (U) Ban on U.S. Potatoes Lifted
--------------

On Wednesday the Government of Japan agreed to lift the re-
instated ban on U.S. grown potatoes. This action will allow
fresh U.S. potatoes to come to Japan under a strict protocol that
was agreed to about a year ago.

Under the protocol, fresh potatoes must come from approved states
that were visited by MAFF, be cleaned in the United States before
shipping, sent inside special bags inside of a special sealed
container, inspected upon import and sent directly to an approved
controlled potato chip manufacturing facility near the port, to
be made into potato chips.

There are numerous other measures to mitigate potential risks
such as the washing of containers after loading, special double
doors in the chipping facility, and special measures for
disposing of peels and waste material.

The protocol also includes a seasonal restriction, allowing
shipping between February 1 and June 30. This season restriction
has nothing to do with phytosanitary concerns and was meant to
appease Japanese domestic growers who do want to limit access to
the fresh potato market.

Domestic growers are nonetheless opposed to the protocol, even
though the Japanese chip manufacturers claim that the domestic
industry is not able to supply them with enough potatoes to keep
their factories running throughout the year.

Potatoes from the United States were imported for the first time
in 2006 under this protocol until a new pest, white cyst nematode,
was found in Idaho. At that time Japan immediately banned all
shipments of U.S. potatoes.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has been
working closely with MAFF over the past year to provide
information necessary to lift the ban. The lifting of the ban on
Wednesday excluded potatoes from Idaho.


19. (SBU) No Economic Impact from Avian Flu in Okayama -- Yet
--------------

According to Japanese government officials, the January 27
discovery in Okayama Prefecture of Japan's seventh case of H5N1
Avian Influenza has not adversely affected poultry prices or
sales volumes to date. All 12,000 chickens in the affected farm
were culled and disinfected within three days. The same
officials suspect the source of the infections to be migratory
birds from Mongolia and northern China.

Rapidly setting up emergency disaster headquarters in Okayama,
local officials appear to have learned from bitter experiences in
Kyoto in 2004, when the spread of the virus went unreported for
more than a week, resulting in a massive cull, a decline in
consumer confidence, and the suicide of a poultry farm owner.
Local MAFF offices conducted inspections throughout the region
and directed several stores to remove inappropriate signs touting
"no Okayama eggs or meat" and "no Miyazaki products" from their
stores. Post is reporting separately to EST Tokyo on the local
AI situation.


20. Ports: Cost Reductions, Efficiency Boost Planned for Hanshin
Super Core Port (U)
--------------

As part of the GOJ Ministry of Finance (MOF) 52.4 billion yen
($437 million) 'Super Core Port' project, the Hanshin (Osaka-
Kobe) port will be dredged to a new depth of 16 meters by the end
of fiscal 2008 in order to facilitate super-large ships in Osaka
Bay.

Operation costs at the Hanshin port will be cut by 30 percent and

TOKYO 00000645 008 OF 009


cargo loading/unloading time will be shortened in fiscal 2009
through enhanced coordination of facilities and a software
upgrade.

The ports of Osaka Bay have been developed in a chaotic
bureaucratic hodgepodge of jurisdictions, which has served to
throttle efficiency in port services and reduce the
competitiveness of the regional economy.

Last September, regional leaders launched a working group
designed to promote the comprehensive linkage of the four
international trading ports of Kobe, Osaka, Amagasaki-
Nishinomiya-Ashiya and Sakai-Semboku.

Under the project, the four Osaka Bay ports will be treated as a
single port, and tonnage dues paid by foreign vessels will be
unified and streamlined starting in JFY 2007.


21. (U) Civair: Japan-Canada Aviation Talks Conclude
--------------

MLIT announced on its web page that bilateral aviation talks with
Canada were concluded in Ottawa in January. The bilateral
negotiations were lead by Tadashi Shimura, Director of
International Airport Division, MLIT and by Nadir Patel from
Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
The talks gave seven new passenger flights to each side for
service to/from airports other than Tokyo, such as Osaka. Also,
Canadian airlines will change the current aircraft to a larger
aircraft (B-777) for the existing routes out of Tokyo because the
unit used to measure the air traffic will now be measured by
number of flights rather than a coefficient unit as in the past.
Unlimited flight numbers will be permitted for code shares with
third country airlines as well.

Japan and Canada have had aviation relation since 1955 and JAL
and Air Canada (code shared with ANA) fly seven flights per week
between Narita-Vancouver, Toronto-Narita, Vancouver-Narita, and
Vancouver-Kansai. The passenger numbers between the two
countries were 790,000 and 796,000 in FY2004 and FY2005
respectively.


22. (SBU) MLIT Hires U.S. Consulting Firm for Basic Study on
Airports and Competitiveness
--------------

We recently learned that the Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) of
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) has been
conducting a basic study on airports' roles and competitiveness
in other countries.

JCAB engaged a U.S. consulting firm in August 2006 to survey
foreign airports on: roles of multiple airports in metropolitan
areas and international competitiveness of those airports.
Studies were conducted in cities such as London, Paris and New
York for the first topic and Dubai and Istanbul for the second.

As a part this study, an ACCJ member told us that the U.S.
consulting firm has reached out to foreign airlines about how
they could run airport operations better on behalf of MLIT.
The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2007, but it
is yet to be determined how or if the GOJ will implement the
final report.


23. (U) JAL's Plan with Eight Percent Layoffs and Pay Cuts
--------------

Japan Airlines announced a medium-term corporate business plan
for the four years FY2007 to March 2011 on February 6.

Through reduction of 4,300 employees, an early retirement
allowance program, executive pay cuts of 45-60 percent, a general
review of its domestic and international routes, and introducing
first-class service on domestic routes and premium economy on
international routes, the company seeks to prepare itself to take
maximum advantage of the internationalization and expansion of
Haneda Airport and the increase of slots at Narita Airport after

2009.

TOKYO 00000645 009 OF 009



The airline outlined five goals: improvement of safety standards;
improvement profitability through cost reductions; downsizing
through aircraft renewal and strengthening aircraft
competitiveness; shifting to high profit routes and strengthening
overall product competitiveness and; concentrating resources to
the air transport segment.

For the company's international flights, JAL plans to increase
its share of China services from 27 percent in 2006 to 33 percent
by 2010. It also plans to increase the flights between Tokyo and
New York, Paris, Moscow, and Delhi in 2007, but plans to reduce
flights between Tokyo and Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and cancel
routes between Tokyo and Zurich, and Osaka-Brisbane-Sydney. JAL
is also scheduled to join One World this April.


24. (SBU) Bid-Rigging Post Mortem: Wakayama Wants More National
Money for Road Construction
--------------

New Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka, a former METI bureaucrat,
mentioned at a lecture at the Kansai Press Club that Wakayama
planned to build more national roads in the prefecture, which has
the least developed highway system in the six-prefecture Kansai
region.

National roads are funded and managed by the national government,
but there is a type of national road that the prefecture could
manage on its own and still receive a GOJ subsidy.

Governor Nisaka said his prefecture's budget was too tight to
improve the road system on its own, and he instead wants to push
for national funds for new road projects, citing the economic
benefits from tourism promotion and disaster prevention measures.

Governor Nisaka has to tread carefully to avoid becoming overly
identified with new public works projects, given his
predecessor's arrest in connection with bid-rigging on a public
tunnel project and allegations of massive bribery.

SCHIEFFER