DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS (1) 08/17/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001886 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 (1) 08/17/09 INDEX: (1) Coordination underway for Japan-U.S. summit in late September (Yomiuri) (2) Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau director-general contributes an article saying, "There were documents connected with the secret nuclear pact" (Asahi) (3) Former Foreign Ministry bureau chief intends to cooperate on investigation of secret nuclear pact after Lower House election (Yomiuri) (4) Government to monitor flight routes of Futenma military helicopters all year round from 2010 (Yomiuri) (5) Joint policy platform of three opposition parties calls for reviewing planned split of Japan Post into four businesses, omits foreign policy, national security (Sankei) (6) LDP, DPJ to clash in 263 districts in Lower House election (Tokyo Shimbun) (7) DPJ endorses Makiko Tanaka as official candidate for Lower House election; Husband Naoki will also join DPJ (Mainichi) (8) Prime minister opts not to visit Yasukuni to avoid stirring up political issue; DPJ's Hatoyama does the same (Yomiuri) (9) Consumer Affairs Minister Noda visits Yasukuni Shrine; Former Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe also pay respects at the shrine (Nikkei) (10) National memorial facility for war dead now likely with backing from DPJ's Hatoyama and SDP (Yomiuri) (11) Prime Minister Aso negative about building a national memorial facility (Mainichi) (12) Three opposition parties make policy switch in joint policy platform from structural reform line promoted by LDP, New Komeito (Nikkei) (13) Japanese, U.S. governments considering new energy cooperation in Okinawa and Hawaii (Tokyo Shimbun) ARTICLES: (1) Coordination underway for Japan-U.S. summit in late September YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) August 16, 2009 The Japanese and U.S. governments are coordinating to hold a Japan-U.S. summit meeting when the G-20 financial summit is held in Pittsburgh on September 24-25. If a change of administration results from the House of Representatives election on August 30, and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama becomes the prime minister, this will be his first meeting with President Barack Obama. The Japanese government has the following events lined up for the prime minister's trip to the United States in late September: the UN Climate Change Summit at the UN headquarters in New York on September 22, a speech at the UN General Assembly on September 24, and participation in the "Summit on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament" at the UN Security Council led by President Obama. The prime minister will travel to Pittsburgh for the financial summit after the UN events. President Obama is scheduled to visit Japan in November, but due to the possibility of a change of government in Japan, coordination is now underway for holding a bilateral summit at an early date. TOKYO 00001886 002 OF 008 (2) Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau director-general contributes an article saying, "There were documents connected with the secret nuclear pact" ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) August 15, 2009 Former Ambassador to the Netherlands Kazuhiko Togo, 64, who served in such posts as director general of the Treaties Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, has contributed an article to the Asahi Shimbun on a secret nuclear pact between Japan and the United States designed to exempt stopovers in Japan by U.S. warships and aircrafts carrying nuclear weapons from prior consultations between the two countries. Although it stops short of confirming the existence of the secret agreement itself, the article reveals that the Foreign Ministry had a large volume of documents on the handling of the Japan-U.S. agreement which is now referred to as the secret pact. The article says, "The time has come to explain to the public about what the problem is and how the government has handled it." According to his notes, after becoming the Treaties Bureau's director-general of in July 1998, Togo disposed of documents on bilateral talks for conclusion in 1960 of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty and on its operation thereafter. The notes also say that the documents on the introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons into Japan represented the largest portion of what was disposed of. Also included in them were documents on how past Treaties Bureau directors-general handled this matter as well as on discussions in the Foreign Ministry on how it should handle the secret deal in case documents and testimonies on it were made public, according to the notes. (3) Former Foreign Ministry bureau chief intends to cooperate on investigation of secret nuclear pact after Lower House election YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) August 16, 2009 Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau Director-General Kazuhiko Togo, 64, gave on Aug. 15 an interview to the Yomiuri Shimbun regarding an allegation that the governments of Japan and the United States has concluded a secret pact allowing U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons to stop at Japanese ports. In the interview, Togo said if the new administration decided to investigate the secret pact after the next House of Representatives election, he would cooperate. Togo also expressed his willingness to testify on the documents he saw while he was in office and on how they would have been handled if the government and the Diet had decided to investigate the facts. The government and the ruling coalition have persistently denied the existence of the secret pact, adding that they have no plans to investigate it. Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama and others have made it clear that if their party takes power through the upcoming Lower House election, a DPJ government will investigate the pact and make (the results) public. Togo said on Aug. 15: "Contemplating how the government has responded to the nuclear issue and on what to do with the three non-nuclear principles in the future is more important than the existence or nonexistence of the secret pact." TOKYO 00001886 003 OF 008 Togo retired from the Foreign Ministry in 2002 after serving as director-general of the Treaties Bureau (currently International Legal Affairs Bureau) between July 1998 and August 1999. In a Yomiuri Shimbun interview conducted in July of this year, Togo indicated anonymously that several files on the secret nuclear pact entered into when the revised U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was concluded in 1960 had existed during his term of office. (4) Government to monitor flight routes of Futenma military helicopters all year round from 2010 YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) August 16, 2009 The government has decided to monitor the flight routes of military helicopters at the Futenma Air Station (Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture) throughout the year from next January. It will set up flight route monitoring equipment to see if the designated routes over the military base at takeoff and landing, which were set in consideration of the danger posed by military aircraft on nearby residential areas, are being observed. The Ministry of Defense conducted a preliminary investigation for one week in late August 2008 and determined that data gathering is possible. Antennas and cameras will be installed around the air field by next January to receive radio waves from the base around the clock and draw up a track chart. The government has been taking steps to remove the danger posed by the Futenma base until its relocation in the wake of the crash of a military helicopter in Ginowan City in August 2004. An agreement was reached with the U.S. side that the helicopters would avoid flying over the residential areas at takeoff and landing, and trees, towers, and obstacles on the air field have been removed. (5) Joint policy platform of three opposition parties calls for reviewing planned split of Japan Post into four businesses, omits foreign policy, national security SANKEI (Top Play) (Full) August 15, 2009 The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),the Social Democratic Party (SDP),and the People's New Party (PNP) yesterday revealed their joint policy platform for the upcoming House of Representatives election. The platform includes measures for reviewing the government's plan to split Japan Post into four businesses and keep the 5% consumption tax unchanged. The measures in the three parties' platform will become their basic policies if they win a majority (241 seats) in the Lower House election and establish a coalition government. But the platform stops short of mentioning specific measures on the foreign and national security fronts, reflecting major differences of opinion on the dispatch of Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops overseas and other issues in these areas. The joint platform rejects the policies mapped out by the cabinet led by Junichiro Koizumi, which contributed to the ruling camp's overwhelming victory in the previous Lower House election in 2005. It notes: "The economic policy giving priority to market fundamentalism and a competitive market mechanism has destroyed public livelihoods and local economies. Further, it has increased TOKYO 00001886 004 OF 008 public anxiety and caused the collapse of the social security and education safety nets." As a specific measure, the platform proposes keeping the current 5% consumption tax unchanged. Regarding postal services, it suggests reviewing the government's plan to split Japan Post into four businesses in response to a strong proposal from the PNP, as well as freezing the sale of the government's shares in three companies in the Japan Post group, such as Yucho Bank and Kampo Life Insurance. Regarding child-rearing and educational support measures, the platform proposes such measures as introducing a child allowance system. In the social security area, it vows to resolve the pension record-keeping fiasco and other problems. With no direct reference to foreign and security policies, the platform just notes: "We, as the people of the only nation to have suffered nuclear bombing, will abide by the three principles, including pacifism, in the Constitution of Japan." In a press conference in the Diet Building yesterday, DPJ Policy Research Council Chairman Masayuki Naoshima said: "We would like to obtain support (from the voters) for the measures we have presented and bring about a change of government and a coalition government. We are determined to deliver our promises one after another." He thus stressed his determination to turn the measures into action at an early date if the opposition camp seizes political power. (6) LDP, DPJ to clash in 263 districts in Lower House election TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Excerpts) August 16, 2009 The official campaign for the 45th House of Representative election will kick off on Aug. 18 and candidates will launch their campaigns for the election to be held on Aug. 30. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are expected to clash in 263 districts of the 300 single-seat constituencies. Most of the attention is now focused on whether the LDP-New Komeito coalition government will remain in power or the DPJ will realize a change of government. According to the Tokyo Shimbun's survey, about 1,300 candidates plan to run in the single-seat constituency and proportional representation (180 seats) races in the upcoming Lower House election. The LDP is expected to file 289 candidates in the district races; and the DPJ is expected to file 271 candidates. Both parties are now carrying out final coordination of their candidates for the proportional representation segment. The LDP is now having difficulty coordinating candidates who will run only for the proportional representation race. In the previous election, candidates running in single-seat constituencies complained about the party's policy of listing former lawmakers on the upper ranks, citing a decrease in the seats for candidates running for both district and proportional representation seats as a reason. The DPJ intends to give priority to candidates running in the single-seat constituencies by not fielding candidates running only TOKYO 00001886 005 OF 008 for the proportional representation segment. (7) DPJ endorses Makiko Tanaka as official candidate for Lower House election; Husband Naoki will also join DPJ MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) August 15, 2009 Makiko Tanaka, a former foreign minister, will run in the upcoming House of Representatives election as a candidate on the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ticket from the No. 5 district in Niigata Prefecture. Makiko's husband, House of Representatives member Naoki Tanaka, who left the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last October, will also join the DPJ. DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama is going to visit them in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, on the 15th, at which time they will announce the news together. After bolting the LDP in 2003, Makiko was elected to the Lower House in the 2005 general election as an independent. Although she is a member of a DPJ parliamentary group, she had not joined the DPJ. Naoki left the LDP in order to support Makiko in the Lower House election. (8) Prime minister opts not to visit Yasukuni to avoid stirring up political issue; DPJ's Hatoyama does the same YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) August 16, 2009 Prime Minister Taro Aso offered flowers at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery and participated in the memorial ceremony for the war dead hosted by the government on August 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II, but did not visit the Yasukuni Shrine. The only cabinet minister who made the Yasukuni visit was Minister for Consumer Affairs Seiko Noda. Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama also opted not to visit the shrine. If the prime minister had visited Yasukuni, it could become a political issue ahead of the official declaration of candidacy for the House of Representatives election on August 18, but August 15 ended in quiet prayers for the war dead. With regard to the Yasukuni visit, certain Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members, who were alarmed by the party's low support rating, had asserted that "the prime minister should visit Yasukuni Shrine on August 15 to restore support from the conservative voters" ahead of the Lower House election. However, Aso told reporters on August 10: "It is wrong to make people who sacrificed their precious life for the country into pawns for political maneuvering or involve them in the commotion over the election. (Yasukuni) is supposed to be a place for quiet prayers," indicating he would not make the shrine visit. It appears that he learned a lesson from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pledged in the 2001 LDP presidential election to visit the shrine and made this a political issue in the next five years. Aso used to visit the Yasukuni Shrine during its spring and autumn festivals each year until he became the minister of internal affairs and communications in April 2005. However, he stopped doing so after becoming the foreign minister in October 2005. In August 2006, he suggested that Yasukuni Shrine should voluntarily dissolve as a religious corporation and become a special public corporation under TOKYO 00001886 006 OF 008 the government's management. After becoming the prime minister, he has limited himself to making a contribution for the religious rites during the spring and autumn festivals out of his own pocket. Hatoyama stated at a news conference on August 11 that if he becomes the prime minister, he "has no plan to visit (Yasukuni) and will ask the cabinet members to refrain from doing so." (9) Consumer Affairs Minister Noda visits Yasukuni Shrine; Former Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe also pay respects at the shrine NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) Evening, August 15, 2009 Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, former prime ministers, visited Yasukuni Shrine in Kudankita, Tokyo, on the morning of Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II. Among the Aso cabinet ministers, only Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Seiko Noda paid her respects at the Shinto shrine. Prime Minister Taro Aso did not visit, but instead offered flowers at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. A nonpartisan parliamentary group (headed by Yoshinobu Shimamura), including Liberal Democratic Party Election Strategy Headquarters Acting Head Makoto Koga and LDP Upper House Chairman Hidehisa Otsuji, also visited the shrine on the morning of Aug. 15. According to Shimamura, who held a press conference, a total of 41 persons, including his group members, such former Lower House members as Koizumi and Abe, and incumbent House of Councillors members, visited Yasukuni. From the government side, Senior Vice Minister of Justice Tatsuo Sato and Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Nobuo Kishi visited the shrine. From the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),Upper House members Yuichiro Hata and Hirokazu Shiba visited. Aso and 15 of his cabinet members had announced earlier that they would not visit the shrine. Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone has not clarified his intention, but he appears to have decided not to visit Yasukuni. (10) National memorial facility for war dead now likely with backing from DPJ's Hatoyama and SDP YOMIURI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) August 16, 2009 The building of a non-religious national memorial facility for the war dead is now becoming a real possibility. Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama has indicated that he will promote the construction of such a facility if the DPJ takes over the administration, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has also said that it will cooperate with this project. At a news conference in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture on August 15, Hatoyama said: "The Emperor has not visited Yasukuni Shrine for many years. A facility where the Emperor can offer his prayers in peace is probably necessary. Our party will work on this," reiterating a positive stance on building a new facility. DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada has also indicated that an experts' committee will study this issue. Meanwhile, the SDP has been calling on other parties to cooperate in drawing up a construction plan during the term of office of the next Lower TOKYO 00001886 007 OF 008 House. For now, there is no opposition to this plan in the DPJ. However, there are also DPJ members who visit the Yasukuni Shrine with Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Diet members because "the main facility for mourning the war dead is Yasukuni." When the plan to construct a new facility reaches the implementation stage, it is possible that opposition may emerge. In the past, a similar plan emerged during the Koizumi administration but was met with strong opposition, causing the project to be shelved. The hurdles remain for a "Hatoyama administration." (11) Prime Minister Aso negative about building a national memorial facility MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) August 15, 2009 Referring to the fact that Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama has taken a forward-looking stance toward the idea of constructing a national memorial facility for the war dead, Prime Minister Taro Aso made a negative comment: "I think the biggest question is whether the public will agree such an idea. I wonder whether the construction of a national memorial facility can resolve the Yasukuni issue. I don't think it's that simple." Aso was responding to questions from the press corps at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). Hatoyama on Aug. 12 stressed the need for a new memorial facility, saying: "It is not desirable for the prime minister and cabinet ministers to visit" Yasukuni Shrine. Aso proposed in 2006 when he was serving as foreign minister an idea of changing the status of Yasukuni Shrine from a religious organization to a government-affiliated corporation in order to resolve the issue of the separation of politics and religion. (12) Three opposition parties make policy switch in joint policy platform from structural reform line promoted by LDP, New Komeito NIKKEI (Page 1) (Full) August 15, 2009 The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party yesterday announced their joint policy platform for the upcoming House of Representatives election. The platform includes measures to freeze the sale of the government's shares in Japan Post and to abolish the current government's annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines to curb the natural growth of social security spending. The three opposition parties have thus underscored their stance of shifting from the structural reform line promoted by the government of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito. DPJ Policy Research Council chairman Masayuki Nagashima said in a press conference: "After the election, we will start consultations on our coalition government," indicating his eagerness to hold policy talks based on the joint policy platform. It is unprecedented for opposition parties to compile their common policy goals before an election. The platform lists specific TOKYO 00001886 008 OF 008 measures to rebuild the livelihood support, employment, and social security systems. Naoshima stated: "To put these measures into practice, we would like to win the Lower House election and take over the reins of government. These measures can be taken as the three parties' campaign pledges." The platform also proposes reviving the mother-and-child welfare benefit system and scrapping the health insurance system for people aged 75 or older and the Services and Supports for Persons with Disabilities Law. On these issues, the opposition parties locked horns with the government in Diet deliberations. They aim to stress their intention to make a policy switch after a change of government. Regarding economic measures, the opposition parties regard support for households as the top priority task. Specifically, the platform lays out plans to introduce a system to offer a monthly child-raising allowance, eliminate public high school tuition fees, and to improve working conditions for nursing-care workers. (13) Japanese, U.S. governments considering new energy cooperation in Okinawa and Hawaii TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Excerpts) August 15, 2009 It was learned on Aug. 14 that the governments of Japan and the United States are now considering launching a joint project on clean energy development such as solar power and biofuels, based in Okinawa and Hawaii. The two governments are considering holding energy symposiums and conduct technology development aimed at increasing the level of energy self-sufficiency on the islands. They hope to reach an agreement on the matter as part of a new economic cooperation framework when President Barack Obama visits Japan in November. This information was revealed by sources connected to Japan-U.S. relations. Coordination between the two governments is underway in order to build new cooperative relationships in such areas as global warming prevention measures and environmental conservation. This direction is not expected to change even if the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) takes over the reins of government. The two governments aim to build strong relations between Hawaii and Okinawa as a symbol of bilateral cooperation. ZUMWALT