DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/05/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 001792

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 08/05/09

INDEX:

(1) Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura: Japanese government
welcomes release of U.S. reporters (Jiji Press)
(2) Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura: Japanese government
given advance notice on ex-President Clinton's trip to North Korea
(Tokyo Shimbun)
(3) Families of abductees urge government to make moves to resolve
abduction issue following release of U.S. journalists (Tokyo
Shimbun)
(4) U.S.-Japan mission to form "G-2" for a nuclear-weapon-free
world: taking the lead in striking a balance between the elimination
of nuclear arms and the peaceful use of nuclear energy (Nikkei)
(5) Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Taro Kono: Three
no-nuclear principles have already fallen apart (Tokyo Shimbun)
(6) Minshuto to staff envisaged national strategy bureau with local
representatives based on idea that came up in Ozawa-Hashimoto
meeting (Yomiuri)
(7) Number of constituencies where DPJ, SDP, PNP will cooperate will
increase three-fold, while number where they will compete will
decrease to one-third of the number for previous election:
Constituency adjustments with eye on formation of coalition
government now over (Nikkei)
(8) 2009 Lower House election: Hereditary candidates in torment
(Yomiuri)

ARTICLES:

(1) Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura: Japanese government
welcomes release of U.S. reporters

JIJI.COM (Full)
12:01, August 5, 2009

At a news conference on the morning of August 5, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura stated that "the Japanese government
welcomes" the release of the U.S. reporters as a result of former
President Bill Clinton's visit to North Korea. He also stated that,
"We hope that this will lead to progress in U.S.-DRPK talks and in
the Six-Party Talks, resulting in progress in the abduction issue
and other pending issues and a move in the direction of
normalization of Japan-DPRK relations."

Kawamura also revealed that the Japanese government had received
advance notice of Clinton's visit. However, he refrained from
commenting on when and how the notice was given.

(2) Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura: Japanese government
given advance notice on ex-President Clinton's trip to North Korea

TOKYO SHIMBUN ONLINE (Full)
Evening, August 5, 2009

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura revealed at a news conference
on the morning of August 5 that "the Japanese government received an
advance notice (from the U.S. government)" on the visit by former
President Bill Clinton to North Korea. However, Kawamura avoided
answering a question on whether Japan had been informed about the
details of Clinton's itinerary, such as his meeting with General
Secretary Kim Jong Il. "I will refrain from making any comments," he
said.


TOKYO 00001792 002 OF 009


Kawamura indicated that "the Japanese government also welcomes" the
release of the two female U.S. reporters. With regard to the impact
of Clinton's visit on the nuclear and abduction issues, Kawamura
limited his comments, saying only: "(The trip to the DPRK) was
separate from the nuclear issue and was for the humanitarian purpose
of working for the release of the two reporters. I am not in a
position to comment on the meeting with General Secretary Kim."

(3) Families of abductees urge government to make moves to resolve
abduction issue following release of U.S. journalists

TOKYO SHIMBUN ONLINE (Abridged slightly)
Evening, August 5, 2009

The two American female journalists who were detained in North Korea
were released earlier today owing to a visit to North Korea by
former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, families of Japanese
abductees urged the government and influential figures later today
to take aggressive measures, saying, "We want to see anyone, anyone
at all in Japan, to make moves toward resolving (the abduction
issue)."

Shigeru Yokota, 76, the father of Megumi Yokota, who went missing at
the age of 13, said, "I want to see anyone, even a private citizen,
conduct talks with North Korea." North Korea promised during the
working-level talks with Japan last August to establish a committee
to reinvestigate (the fate of the Japanese abductees). That promise
has not been delivered. "This side should push the North to take
action," Yokota said in frustration with the abduction issue that
has not moved forward.

Kenichi Ichikawa, 64, elder brother of Shuichi Ichikawa who went
missing at 23, expressed his concern that North Korea might again
set the pace. He thinks both the abduction issue and the Six-Party
Talks have been proceeding according to North Korea's intentions.
Ichikawa said that he is envious that the two American journalists
can now return home.

(4) U.S.-Japan mission to form "G-2" for a nuclear-weapon-free
world:
taking the lead in striking a balance between the elimination of
nuclear arms and the peaceful use of nuclear energy

NIKKEI (Page 3) (Excerpts)
August 3, 2009

Naoaki Okabe, chief editor

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. It
will be a year in which the world takes a historic step toward the
elimination of nuclear weapons and the peaceful use of nuclear
energy. Against the background of the danger of nuclear
proliferation in North Korea and Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama
has proposed a "world without nuclear weapons" and taken steps to
hold U.S.-Russian nuclear disarmament talks. Preparations for a
conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in
spring 2010 are also in progress.

Meanwhile, the prevention of global warming has become a global
issue in the run-up to the Conference on the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (the Copenhagen Conference) in late 2009. The key
to preventing global warming is nuclear energy. Japan, the only

TOKYO 00001792 003 OF 009


country on which an atomic bomb has been dropped, and America, the
only country that has used an atomic bomb, are tasked with a great
historic mission to strike a balance between the elimination of
nuclear arms and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

"As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United
States has a moral responsibility to act," remarked Obama in a
speech in Prague this spring. His words carried the weight of 64
years of history.

Twenty years after the end of the Cold War has the world finally
come to take the "road to sanity" (Alva Myrdal, Nobel Peace Prize
laureate)?

In the final phase of the Cold War, Europe became the arena of a
nuclear crisis amid the U.S.-Soviet confrontation. However, the
present crisis of nuclear proliferation is even more dangerous than
the conflict of the two superpowers during the Cold War era. The
international community's virtual neglect of the issue of the
possession of nuclear arms by India and Pakistan has led to the
crisis of nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran. There is
also the potential danger of nuclear terrorism. Learning a lesson
from this experience, the international community has only one
option -- to unite, adopt a firm attitude, and take action with
respect to the crisis of nuclear proliferation.

While Obama took care to say that a "world without nuclear weapons"
may not be achieved quickly - "perhaps not in my lifetime" - now is
the time to answer the question of what course of action to take to
realize this goal. Yoriko Kawaguchi, former minister of foreign
affairs and environment minister and co-chair of the International
Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, describes
the "road map" for the elimination of nuclear arms as follows:

The first phase is up to 2012. The U.S. ratifies the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and makes progress in nuclear disarmament
talks with Russia. Negotiation for the Fissile Material Cutoff
Treaty is concluded. The second phase lasts until 2025. The number
of nuclear arms is reduced to the minimum. The goal is to have zero
nuclear weapons in the third and last phase beyond 2025.

The road map toward a nuclear-free world coincides almost completely
with the road map for the prevention of global warming - from the
Kyoto Protocol to the post-Kyoto agreement (mid-term targets),and
finally, the long-term targets.

This is because "the worst crises for the 21st Century are the
nuclear crisis and the crisis of global warming." (Kawaguchi)

The trump card for the prevention of global warming is the peaceful
use of nuclear energy. While it is necessary to make maximum efforts
to develop solar energy, wind power generation, and other new forms
of energy, this will not be sufficient. It is critical to increase
the ratio of nuclear power generation. This is the reason why there
is a worldwide trend toward returning to nuclear energy.

In the case of Japan, it should first increase the utilization rate
of nuclear power plants from the current 60 percent level. Director
General Toru Ishida of the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy
says: "Our goal is for nuclear power to cover 40 percent of power
generation. However, this needs to be increased to 50 percent by
building new nuclear power plants and other measures if we are to

TOKYO 00001792 004 OF 009


meet the long-term target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions."

Ishida also points out that there is a considerable gap between the
international appraisal of Japan's nuclear energy technology and the
perceived role of nuclear power plants in the country." The only way
to narrow this gap is by thoroughgoing safety measures.

Nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
will become more important for preventing proliferation while
promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy. With greater reliance
on nuclear power generation, the functions of the IAEA will need to
be reinforced. Close collaboration with the UN Security Council will
also be required. The notion of a fuel bank should also be
considered to prevent the proliferation of uranium enrichment and
reprocessing technology. A multinational management framework will
be necessary for peaceful use of nuclear energy.

A dramatic historical change has taken place. Former U.S. Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger and other players behind the Cold War are
now all calling for denuclearization because it is increasingly
dangerous to rely on nuclear weapons for deterrence, and this is
gaining widespread support among the world leaders from the Cold War
era.

How can we take advantage of this historic trend? Japan's role is of
critical importance. The fact that it has consistently taken action
for the elimination of nuclear arms by sending out messages from
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and through UN resolutions is of great
significance. Yukiya Amano, who has been elected as the "nuclear
watchdog" (IAEA director general),eyes the popularization of the
Japanese model. "It is meaningful to share Japan's experience with
the world," he notes.

In terms of a nuclear-free world and the peaceful use of nuclear
energy, the countries that will play the role of G-2 are Japan and
the U.S., not the U.S. and China. It is also the United States'
mission to demand nuclear disarmament efforts from China. The only
atomic-bombed country and the only country that has ever used
nuclear weapons should overcome history and work hand in hand to
surmount the global crisis of the 21st Century.

(5) Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Taro Kono: Three
no-nuclear principles have already fallen apart

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 23) (Full)
August 5, 2009

Taro Kono, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee, gave an interview to Tokyo Shimbun's "special reporting
section" and said: "The government has been deceiving the people.
The three no-nuclear principles have already fallen apart." Kono met
former Vice Foreign Minister Ryohei Murata on July 10 and confirmed
the existence of a "secret nuclear agreement" between Japan and the
U.S. He is demanding that the government change its statement to the
Diet (that no such agreement existed).

Kono said that he talked with Murata for over one hour. In addition,
testimony from several people involved in this matter, statements by
former U.S. Ambassador Edwin Reischauer and retired Rear Admiral
Gene LaRoque, and other evidence had led him to believe that the
"secret agreement" existed.


TOKYO 00001792 005 OF 009


He also said: "It is absurd that the foreign minister and other
officials are insisting that there was no such agreement without
even investigating, despite the fact that official documents showing
the existence of the secret agreement had been made public in the
U.S. This is unacceptable to the public. The government has the
responsibility to provide an explanation. Since a number of prime
ministers and foreign ministers knew about this, the politicians
should take the blame."

With regard to whether nuclear arms should be brought into Japan,
Kono stated: "The present situation is different from during the
Cold War era, so a proper debate on nuclear deterrence should be
conducted. Even if we are to rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella,
there is too much ambiguity in matters such as the types of nuclear
arms and whether Japan will also be allowed to control the nuclear
button. The secret agreement is nothing but an obstacle to this
debate."

Kono's pursuit of this issue in the previous Diet session fell
through with the dissolution of the Diet. He said that while there
is no mechanism for the members of the next committee to take over
this issue, "if the Foreign Affairs Committee determines that the
government's statement is false and is unacceptable, the
deliberation process will stop. It has such power, at least. I hope
the next committee chairman will continue to pursue this issue,"
expressing his hope.

(6) Minshuto to staff envisaged national strategy bureau with local
representatives based on idea that came up in Ozawa-Hashimoto
meeting

YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full)
August 5, 2009

Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama held a
press conference yesterday in which he revealed a plan to appoint
local representatives as members of the envisaged national strategy
bureau and the administrative renovation council if it takes over
the reins of government in the upcoming House of Representatives
election. The two bodies are planned to be placed directly under the
control of the Prime Minister. The objective of this plan is to have
the wishes of local governments reflected (in the central
government) in reviewing role-sharing between the central and local
governments.

The DPJ manifesto (campaign pledges) vows to establish the national
strategy bureau to formulate a budgetary framework under the
initiative of lawmakers and the administrative renovation council to
review the overall administration.

At the press conference, Hatoyama said emphatically: "The
administrative renovation council will fundamentally reexamine the
modalities of the central and local governments." Hatoyama also
explained the plan to appoint local representatives this way: "We
will make certain that the administrative renovation council and the
national strategy bureau are staffed with one to several local
representatives each."

According to a DPJ executive, the idea of appointing local
representatives to the national strategy bureau and other bodies
came up during the meeting yesterday between DPJ Deputy President
Ichiro Ozawa and Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto. Hashimoto proposed

TOKYO 00001792 006 OF 009


appointing local leaders to key cabinet posts, such as the national
strategic bureau, and Ozawa replied, "That's a good idea," according
to the DPJ executive.

After his meeting with Hashimoto, Ozawa told the press corps, "We
have agreed on a plan to build a new national governing system in
collaboration with local representatives." Ozawa also indicated that
he now clearly understands Hashimoto's idea of introducing a doshu
regional bloc system.

(7) Number of constituencies where DPJ, SDP, PNP will cooperate will
increase three-fold, while number where they will compete will
decrease to one-third of the number for previous election:
Constituency adjustments with eye on formation of coalition
government now over

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
August 5, 2009

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on July 30 finished the work of
selecting candidates for the Lower House election on August 30. It
has cut the number of candidates running on its ticket by 20 from
the 2005 Lower House election. On the other hand, it has increased
cooperation to other opposition parties in the form of increasing
endorsements given to candidates fielded by the Social Democratic
Party (SDP) and the People's New Party (PNP) or not fielding its own
candidates where other opposition parties are fielding their own
candidates to 27, triple the number from the previous election. The
number of constituencies where DPJ candidates will be competing with
candidates of other opposition parties has been decreased from 46 in
the previous Lower House election to 15. The DPJ has adopted this
strategy with an eye on the establishment of a coalition government
after the Lower House election.

Small parties alarmed about being pushed into the background

The DPJ has endorsed candidates for 269 single-seat constituencies
out of 300. In 24 constituencies, it will recommend candidates
fielded by other opposition parties, instead of fielding its own
candidates. It will effectively support Makiko Tanaka, a
non-affiliated candidate to run in the Niigata No. 5 Constituency,
and Tetsuo Kanno, who will run on the SDP ticket in the Miyagi No. 6
Constituency, by not fielding its own candidates there. There are
three such constituencies.

Neither the SDP nor the PNP recommended any DPJ candidates in the
previous election. However, the SDP will recommend DPJ candidates in
21 constituencies and the PNP will recommend DPJ candidates in 248
constituencies, substantively reducing the number of constituencies
where opposition parties' candidates will vie with one another.

The reason opposition parties are strengthening their election
cooperation is to win anti-LDP votes, by unifying candidates running
from opposition parties. Their common aim is to force the LDP and
the New Komeito into the minority. For instance, in the Hyogo No. 6
Constituency, the SDP will not field its own candidate, and the PNP
will recommend a DPJ candidate. In the previous election, an LDP
candidate won the seat there, as the DPN and the SDP respectively
put up their own candidates. The combined votes won by the DPJ and
SDP candidates exceed the number of votes won by the LDP candidate.

In the meantime, candidates of both the DPJ and the SDP will run in

TOKYO 00001792 007 OF 009


14 constituencies, including the Aomori No. 1 Constituency and the
Saitama 13 Constituency. A DPJ candidate and a PNP candidate will
compete only in the Okayama No. 2 Constituency. This is because
although the three opposition parties have a common goal of bringing
about a power shift, small parties, which are alarmed about the
possibility of being pushed into the background between the two
major parties, want to secure as many seats as possible.

Among competing constituencies, where both the DPJ and the SDP put
up their candidates, the combined votes secured by both parties'
candidates in the Kanagawa No. 12 Constituency exceeds votes won by
the LDP candidate who was elected. Deputy President Ichiro Ozawa
began making adjustments toward unifying candidates there. However,
the SDP did not give in. Its senior member said: "This is our
incumbent lawmakers' constituency. It is the DPJ that should give
in."

Impact of JCP votes holds key

Since the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has drastically cut back on
the number of candidates it will field in single-seat constituencies
- from 275 in the previous election to 152, the impact of JCP votes
cannot be disregarded. A senior DPJ Election Committee member
expressed hopes, "Each constituency has 10,000 to 30,000 JCP votes.
We hope 70 percent of those votes come to the DPJ."

A DPJ candidate was defeated by an LDP candidate by about 1,400
votes in the Gunma No. 2 Constituency. Provided that 70 percent of
JCP votes go to a DPJ candidate, votes to be secured by a DPJ
candidate will top those to be won by an LDP candidate.

The situation is similar in the Hokkaido No. 3 Constituency and the
Aichi No. 8 Constituency.

(8) 2009 Lower House election: Hereditary candidates in torment

YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged slightly)
August 5, 2009

At an open forum held on the evening of July 28 at the Miura Civic
Hall in the No.11 district in Kanagawa Prefecture, Shinjiro Koizumi,
a candidate on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ticket to run in
the upcoming House of Representatives election, refuted other
candidates' criticism of the hereditary-seat system of passing down
Diet seats to descendents. He asserted: "The hereditary system for
politicians is different from that for kabuki actors and rakugo
(sit-down comedy) performers. Politicians get hereditary seats after
they are elected by voters.

The practice of candidates running for the Diet seats held by their
parents prevents capable human resources from entering the political
community. Following growing criticism of the hereditary-seat
system, the LDP at one point this spring looked into the
appropriateness of endorsing candidates running for Diet seats held
by their parents, including Shinjiro, the second son of former Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The LDP decided to place full-scale
restrictions on hereditary candidates in the election after the next
Lower House election.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ridicules the Kanagawa No. 11
district as a 100-year-old Koizumi dynasty. Shinjiro's
great-grandfather Matajiro Koizumi served as posts and

TOKYO 00001792 008 OF 009


telecommunications minister and his grandfather Junya was defense
director general. Shinjiro, who would be a fourth-generation
lawmaker, is a synonym for hereditary candidates.

The Shinjiro camp has formulated a strategy while calculating the
merits and demerits of hereditary candidates.

Shinjiro refrained from giving stumping speeches until late June
because Hideaki Takeuchi, secretary general of the LDP Kanagawa
chapter, told him that he should first visit supporters who also
backed his father.

However, since a candidate backed by Junichiro was defeated in the
June 28 Yokosuka mayoral election, Shinjiro became increasingly
alarmed and took to the streets to campaign.

When Shinjiro gives a speech, he is always surrounded by a crowd.
Media reports on the hereditary issue have contributed to raising
Shinjiro's name recognition. On Aug. 2 when his campaign office
opened in Yokosuka City, he stressed: "Every day I am severely
criticism." He said that he did not expect to receive campaign
support from his father and older brother, actor Kotaro Koizumi. He
did not ask the New Komeito to recommend him and rejected the LDP's
offer to let him also run in the proportional representation race.
He appears to be determined to do away with his negative image of
being weak and relying on his father's influence.

Shinjiro Koizumi and DPJ candidate Katsuhito Yokokume, who are in
their 20's, will compete in the Kanagawa No. 11 district.

Yokokume said at a gathering: "It is impossible for me to compete
with a hereditary candidate. But it is my job to correct such
politics." Koizumi and Yokokume have nothing in common except being
young. Yokokume, a native of Aichi Prefecture, decided to run in the
Kanagawa No. 11 district, thinking that LDP-led politics should be
reviewed in the birthplace of Koizumi reform.

On the morning of July 29 in Mihama Ward, Chiba City, Shoichi Usui
(candidate on the LDP ticket) spoke to about 30 aged women, who were
there to play gateball: "My father, Hideo, retired after serving as
a Diet member for 28 years. I will do my best to serve the nation."


Usui decided to mention that he is a hereditary candidate based on
his judgment that if he does not refer to his father, he will be
regarded as a faithless son. His father Hideo was elected to the
Lower House eight times. His grandfather Soichi served in both Diet
chambers. He has many elderly supporters, who call themselves
members of the Usui party. Therefore, Shoichi Usui is positive about
being a hereditary candidate, noting: "The hereditary issue is not
totally negative. It has raised my name recognition."

However, Usui has never mentioned being a hereditary candidate in
his stumping speeches.

DPJ candidate Kaname Tajima, in a DPJ meeting on July 26 in Chiba
City, sought to constrain Usui, saying: "Considering the fact that
both Abe and Fukuda gave up their administrations, it is obvious
that the hereditary-seat system has its evils. Tajima, however,
intends to criticize hereditary candidates only in DPJ meetings,
thinking that if he criticizes the hereditary system, he will be
seen as carrying out negative campaigning.

TOKYO 00001792 009 OF 009



ZUMWALT