JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 1/28/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 000198

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TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA

SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 1/28/09

Index:

1) Top headlines
2) Editorials
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei)

Defense and security affairs:
4) Government today will order MSDF to prepare for dispatch to
waters off Somalia for anti-piracy mission (Nikkei)
5) U.S., Japan agree to funding arrangement for move of U.S. Marines
from Okinawa to Guam (Asahi)
6) Okinawa continues to press central government in working team
meeting to shift Futenma relocation site toward the ocean off Camp
Schwab (Asahi)

7) Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, now visiting Saudi Arabia,
calls for cooperation on coping with global climate change (Asahi)


8) Despite no-visa agreement, Russia is asking for Japanese visitors
to the northern territories to provide disembarkation cards (Tokyo
Shimbun)

9) Tourisms slumps in Japan, down 24 PERCENT last month (Mainichi)


10) Japanese companies may get a boost from President Obama's
stricter auto-emission standards (Mainichi)

Diet affairs:
11) Second supplementary budget finally passes the Diet (Mainichi)

12) Opposition parties criticize the second supplementary budget's
passage, saying that the public is against the package (Nikkei)
13) Government reveals 32 cases of "watari" - retired bureaucrats
flitting from one private-sector position to another picking up pay
and pensions at each stop (Yomiuri)
14) Former LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa denies that he is
pushing for political realignment (Asahi)
15) Machimura faction of the LDP may split apart if Nakagawa leaves
(Mainichi)

16) Poll finds 63 PERCENT of the public against sitting on a jury
that will have to hand out a capital-punishment sentence (Mainichi)


Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Government panel to make on-site visits to resolve public
environmental hazard problems: Shortening period of time taken for
settlement and increased use of system aimed at

Mainichi:
Second supplementary budget enacted, based on constitutional rule
giving priority Lower House's decision

Yomiuri:
Diet passes second extra budget featuring 2 trillion yen cash
handout plan

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Nikkei:
Government to back bank stakes in borrowers under aid plan: New
system valid until end of 2010: 1.5 trillion yen loss compensation
framework

Sankei:
Passage of second extra budget: Full implementation of cash handout
plan before end of fiscal year difficult; Enactment of fiscal 2009
budget also becoming unclear

Tokyo Shimbun:
About 400,000 nonpermanent workers likely to lose jobs within
current fiscal year, according to estimate by industrial
organization -- 4.7 times higher than government estimate

Akahata:
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member of JCP offer consultation service
in streets to temp workers who lost jobs and evicted from company
housing, by helping them apply social security benefit and find
accommodation

2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Passage of second supplementary budget after many twists and
turns: What will likely happen in future concerned about
(2) Guantanamo: Underbelly of war on terror to disappear

Mainichi:
(1) Anti-piracy measures: Maritime policing activities are a measure
just for once
(2) Measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions: Before falling behind
new competition

Yomiuri:
(1) Passage of second extra budget: Do not use joint committee of
both Houses to delay Diet deliberations
(2) Reinforcement of Chinese Navy: What is the aim of building
aircraft carrier?

Nikkei:
(1) Assistance to companies with public money should be extended in
a fair and transparent manner
(2) Environmental measures press U.S. industry to change

Sankei:
(1) Battle over cash handout plan: Have sense of alarm about
stagnant national administration
(2) Restriction on exhaust fumes to question new administration
about its seriousness

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Obama diplomacy: Revival of confidence first
(2) Accommodation ladder accident: Buck-passing of slighting safety
measures

Akahata:
(1) Bomb disposal: State should fulfill full responsibility

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)


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Prime Minister's schedule, January 27

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
January 28, 2009

07:33
Took a walk around his official residence.

10:02
Attended a cabinet meeting at the Kantei.

13:23
Arrived at his personal office in Nagata-cho.

13:52
Arrived at his official residence.

15:59
Met Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs Shinohara and
Deputy Foreign Minister Otabe.

16:41
Met Ambassador to China Miyamoto.

17:01
Met incoming and outgoing supreme court justice Kanetsuki and
Izumi.

17:33
Attended a meeting of lawmakers in the Diet Building.

17:42
Attended a Lower House plenary session.

17:53
Issued an official appointment to Met Toshiba Advisor Morimoto as a
member of the APEC Business Advisory Commission, with METI Trade
Policy Bureau Director General Okada and Foreign Ministry Economic
Affairs Bureau Director General Suzuki.

18:11
Met LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Hori, New Komeito Policy
Research Council Chairman Yamaguchi, and co-chairs of the ruling
camp's project team on anti-piracy measures Nakatani and Sato, with
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura.

18:59
Dined at a Japanese restaurant in Tsukiji with his family members.

21:14
Returned to his official residence.

4) Order to prepare for MSDF anti-piracy mission to be issued today
under existing law; Prime minister plans to present new law to Diet
in March

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
January 28, 2009

The government will convene a Security Council of Japan meeting
today to confirm a policy course or expediting preparations for
dispatching the Maritime Self-Defense Force on an anti-piracy

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mission in waters off Somalia under existing legislation. Following
this, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada is expected to issue an order
within the day to the Maritime Self-Defense Force to prepare for the
dispatch.

Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council Chairman Kosuke
Hori, his New Komeito counterpart Natsuo Yamaguchi and others last
night called on Prime Minister Taro Aso at his office and requested
an early maritime policing action order to dispatch the MSDF
dispatch under the SDF Law.

In response, the prime minister emphatically said: "It is necessary
to deal with pirates at sea under existing law. Sooner or later, I
would like to ask the ruling parties to make preparations for (new)
legislation." The prime minister later indicated to the press corps
that a new law would be presented to the Diet "around March."

Ahead of this, policy chiefs of the LDP and New Komeito met and
endorsed the ruling bloc project team's interim report specifying:
(1) an early dispatch of the MSDF under existing legislation, and
(2) a plan to submit a new law to the Diet in early March.

Yamaguchi asked that joint exercises between the MSDF and the Japan
Coast Guard that will be conducted before the dispatch should be
opened to the public.

Following the defense minister's order to prepare for the dispatch,
the government will formulate at an early date an action plan
specifying a lineup of destroyers and specific duties. The Defense
Ministry, in collaboration with police authorities and the JCG, will
draw up a set of action standards listing specific cases allowing
using weapons in legitimate self-defense and emergency evacuation.

5) Bilateral pact eyed for funding Guam relocation

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
January 28, 2009

Japan will enter into a bilateral arrangement with the United States
regarding the planned relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to
Guam in the process of realigning U.S. forces in Japan, the Foreign
Ministry said yesterday. The arrangement will specify that the
Japanese government will set the ceiling of its funding for this
Guam relocation at 2.8 billion dollars (approx. 250 billion yen). In
addition, the pact will prohibit the U.S. government from using the
money for any other purposes.

The government has for the first time earmarked spending related to
the Guam relocation in its budget for fiscal 2009, and the pact is
intended to prepare a legal framework.

The Japanese and U.S. governments are expected to sign the bilateral
pact in early February. The government will ask the Diet during its
current session for its approval of the pact.

In order to prepare for Diet deliberations, Foreign Minister
Nakasone will visit Okinawa Prefecture for two days from Jan. 31.
During his visit to the island prefecture, Nakasone will visit
Futenma airfield and Camp Schwab, where an alternative facility is
planned to be built. He will also exchange views the Okinawa Gov.
Hirokazu Nakaima and other local officials.


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In May 2006, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed on a roadmap
for the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. Based on the roadmap,
the United States will relocate 8,000 Marines and 9,000 family
members to Guam. Japan is to provide financial backing for that
purpose.

"Japan will fund the Guam relocation for multiple years," a senior
Foreign Ministry official said. "We will enter into this agreement
since we need binding over the U.S. side as well," the official
added.

6) Okinawa calls for offshore relocation for Futenma alternative

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
January 28, 2009

The government yesterday held a meeting of its working team in Tokyo
with officials from Okinawa's prefectural and municipal government
officials to discuss the pending issue of relocating the U.S. Marine
Corps' Futenma Air Station (to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in
Okinawa Prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago). In the meeting,
Okinawa Prefecture and Nago City asked the government to fully
consider the local request to move the alternative facility to an
offshore area as much as possible. The government reported on the
progress of an environmental impact assessment currently conducted
around the relocation site. "We would like to promote the plan in an
appropriate manner while considering the local living and natural
environment," a government official said, seeking local
understanding.

In addition, an official from Ginoza Village, which is situated on
an extension of the alternative facility's tarmac, said, "We want
the government to do this based on the agreement to avoid flying
over the village." A government official explained, "There is no
change in the agreement to avoid flying over the village, but they
could fly over there in some training."

7) Abe calls for cooperation on measures against global warming

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
January 28, 2009

Tsuyoshi Yamashita, Riyadh

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is visiting the Middle East as
a prime ministerial special envoy, addressed the Global
Competitiveness Forum on January 27. In his speech, Abe called for
cooperation on measures against global warming, stating: "Japan has
been proceeding with a project to develop innovative technologies
that can achieve economic growth and a reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions at the same time. Buds of cooperation with Middle Eastern
countries, including Saudi Arabia, have begun to sprout."

Abe also indicated that the global economic crisis has resulted from
an excessive concentration of speculative funds in U.S. and European
markets, noting: "Because there not enough investment opportunities
in emerging nations and developing countries, blood concentrated in
a part of the body and the part burst." He added: "Countries in the
world should advance measures for the promotion of innovation."

8) Japanese officials on humanitarian mission requested to submit
disembarkation cards before arriving on Kunashiri

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TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full)
January 28, 2009

(Kenji Nakajima, Moscow)

Japanese Foreign Ministry officials and others on a humanitarian
mission were not allowed to enter the disputed Kunashiri Island
yesterday, according to informed sources. Russian authorities
requested that the members of the mission submit disembarkation
(E/D) cards before landing on the island. Such submission would mean
that the Japanese side accepts the Russian claim that the four
northern islands belong to Russia, so the officials rejected the
request. The Russian side intends also to require Japanese visitors
to the four islands under the visa-free exchange visit program to
submit E/D cards. If the Russian side does not withdraw the request,
the mutual visit program will inevitably be affected.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Japanese officials and five
civilians belonging to a relief organization left Nemuro, Hokkaido,
on a chartered vessel carrying medical and other aid materials early
yesterday and arrived off the Kunashiri Island on the morning of the
same day.

Those in charge of Japan's humanitarian aid to the four northern
islands have been allowed to enter the islands only with
identification cards, based on an agreement that both sides' legal
positions "will not be undermined," in line with the visa-free
exchange program among Japanese and Russian residents on the four
islands.

But the Russian side has indicated that it would seek Japanese
visitors to the four islands under the mutual visit program to
submit E/D cards starting 2009. Russia applied this policy to the
transport of humanitarian aide. For coordination, the chartered ship
left the port behind the initial schedule.

Unless the Russian side withdraws the request, the visa-free visit
program, which is scheduled to resume this spring, may be suspended.


9) Number of foreign travelers to Japan decreased in latter half of
last year, affected by recession, yen appreciation

MAINICHI (Page 8) (Excerpts)
January 28, 2009

The number (estimate) of foreign travelers to Japan in 2008
increased 0.1 PERCENT over the previous year to 8.352 million,
recording the fifth consecutive yearly rise, according to a report
announced yesterday by the Japan National Tourist Organization
(JNTO). But the number sharply decreased in the latter half of the
year due to economic recession. It now seems difficult to attain the
government goal of raising foreign travelers to 10 million in 2010.


In December, the number dropped by 24.1 PERCENT , marking the second
largest monthly dip, following the 34.2 PERCENT marked in May 2003
because of the effect of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS). The decrease last year is attributed to the appreciation of
the yen, in addition to economic recession.


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Travelers from South Korea totaled 2.383 million, marking the
largest number but 8.4 PERCENT below the previous year due to a
weak won. Those from the U.S., beset with a financial crisis, and
from Britain decreased by 5.8 PERCENT and 7.0 PERCENT ,
respectively.

10) U.S. to strengthen emission restrictions, welcomed by Japanese
companies as "tailwind"

MAINICHI (Page 8) (Excerpts)
January 28, 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that the U.S. will
strengthen restrictions on exhaust emissions from vehicles. Many in
the Japanese automobile industry have welcomed this policy, with one
executive of a leading automaker said: "Tighter restrictions would
provide a tailwind for us." Japanese companies have leading-edge
technologies to produce equipment for eco-friendly vehicles. A
company executive said: "The U.S. new policy is expected to help
boost our business."

President Obama's new policy will raise the level of emission
controls in the U.S. to that of Japan and European countries.
Specific measures have yet to be worked out, but the U.S. is
expected to restrict sales of certain models and to urge makers to
change their leading products from large-size models to compact
cars.

Japanese manufacturers have advanced technologies to produce
fuel-efficient compact cars, as well as hybrid cars. In addition,
many of the auto models produced in the U.S. have been designed to
fit the regulations of Japan and Europe on the premise that they
will be put on the global market. Given this, a leading company
executive said: "I think there will be no need to review our sales
and production strategies on a large scale." Honda Motor Co.
developed a model that satisfies the U.S. Muskie Act, which was said
to be the tightest in the world in 1973, boosting its profile in the
U.S. A mid-ranking executive said: "We may be given a good
opportunity to increase our sales."

11) Second supplementary budget enacted, based on constitutional
rule giving priority Lower House's decision

MAINICHI (Top Play) (Almost Full)
January 28, 2009

The fiscal 2008 second supplementary budget that incorporates the
flat-sum cash handout plan totaling 2 trillion yen was enacted on
the evening of January 27. Following the confirmation made by the
joint committee of both Houses that decisions by the ruling and
opposition camps differ, Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono declared at
a plenary session of the Lower House that the decision of the House
of Representatives should be the decision of the Diet, based on
Article 60 of the Constitution that gives priority to the decision
reached by the Lower House. Following the end of the joint committee
of both Houses, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) agreed to have four government
speeches, including Prime Minister Taro Aso's policy speech, on the
28th. Now that the second extra budget has secured Diet approval,
the focus of a battle between the ruling and opposition parties will
shift to the fiscal 2009 budget. Debate on a hike in the consumption
tax and the employment issue is expected to occur.

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The Diet on the 27th got into high gear for normalization, based on
arbitration by Lower House Speaker Kono and Upper House President
Eda. The joint council of both Houses held two sessions in the
afternoon. It took only about two hours for both meetings to end
because the DPJ did not hold out.

The joint council reported the outcome of the meeting to Chairman
Kono. Kono then called to his office LDP Diet Policy Committee
Chairman Tadamori Oshima and several others and asked them to
postpone four government speeches. The postponement of those
speeches was formally decided at a meeting between Oshima and his
DPJ counterpart Kenji Yamaoka. A compromise was apparently made with
the ruling parties postponing four government speeches in return for
the DPJ accepting the termination of the joint committee of both
Houses and passage of the second extra budget.

Oshima and Yamaoka also signed a confirmation paper noting: (1)
delivering the four speeches on the 28th; and (2) holding
interpellations in both Houses on the 29th, 30th and February 2.
They also agreed to hold a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on
February 3.

The DPJ will have Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and former
Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, with whom the party forms a joint
parliamentary group, stand at the podium at the Lower House
interpellations on the 29th. It wants to toughen its confrontational
stance toward the Aso administration by letting Tanaka display her
"destructive power," according to a senior official of the party's
Diet Policy Committee. The DPJ will pursue the ruling parties at the
budget committee debate on: (1) the consumption tax; (2) amakudari
practice; (3) reallocation of road construction special revenues;
and the employment issue. It intends to suspend a vote in the Upper
House on bills designed to secure fiscal resources to finance the
flat-sum cash benefit plan as a card to shake up the ruling
parties.

12) Second extra budget enacted, with opposition camp criticizing,
"Most of the public is against it"

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
January 28, 2009

When asked by reporters about the Diet passage of the fiscal 2008
second supplementary budget bill, Prime Minister Taro Aso stressed:
"It was great that the bill containing employment measures and
measures to directly support the livelihoods of the people was
enacted." He added: "Unless the bills related to the budget are
passed, we will not be able to implement a free gynecological exam
plan and cash handout program, even if we wanted to."

All opposition parties criticized in unison the passage of the bill.
Yukio Hatoyama, secretary of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),
told reporters: "It is extremely regrettable that the bill to which
a majority of the public opposes was enacted." He, referring to four
government speeches to be delivered today, said: "It will be Prime
Minister Aso's first and last policy speech."

Japanese Communist Party Diet Affairs Committee Keiji Kokuta
criticized the cash handout program, saying: "It is the ultimate
pork-barrel spending for the election." Social Democratic Party
Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno released a statement that went:

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"The public's view calling for dropping the cash handout program
from the budget was rejected by the majority of the ruling coalition
members in the Lower House."

13) Government: 32 watari cases in past three years

YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full)
January 28, 2009

The government yesterday adopted in a cabinet meeting a written
response stipulating that there had been a total 32 cases over the
past three years from 2006 through 2008 of the watari practice in
which ministries or agencies can arrange cushy jobs multiple times
at government-related corporations for retiring senior bureaucrats.


During the three years, there were 19 watari cases in 2007, eight in
2008 and five in 2006. A total of 11 ministries and agencies
arranged the watari practice for retired bureaucrats. The 11
ministries include: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications, which arranged six cases; the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport, each of which carried out five cases;
the National Personnel Authority, four watari cases, and other
ministries. The written response states that as the center for
personnel exchanges between the public and private sectors was
established late last year, the center will strictly prohibit in
principle the watari practice from now on. The government has
adopted the written response to memorandum on questions presented by
House of Representatives member Mitsunori Okamoto of the Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ).

14) Nakagawa dismissive about political realignment

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
January 28, 2009

Hidenao Nakagawa, a former secretary general of the Liberal
Democratic Party, in the taping of an Asahi Newstar program
expressed a view dismissive of political realignment occurring
before the next general election. He said: "(Political realignment)
might occur in the near future, but the Democratic Party of Japan is
now united (to aim at) a change of government, so I don't think the
party will make a move."

Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in an Asahi Shimbun interview had
urged Nakagawa to leave the faction due to his words and actions
regarding the political situation in connection with a consumption
tax hike plan. Asked about this fact, Nakagawa expressed his
displeasure, saying: "He did not say such a thing directly to me. I
am talking about policy, not the political situation. Such words as
"rebellion" and "internal strife" come from the old LDP nature."

15) Many Machimura faction members calling for dropping Nakagawa
from the faction's three-leader system

MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full)
January 28, 2009

A gulf exposed with the consumption tax hike issue appears to be
widening in the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP). In a meeting last night of former Chief Cabinet

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Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, who heads the faction, and first-term
lawmakers, many said that the system of the faction being led by
three leaders, including Machimura and Hidenao Nakagawa, was
difficult to understand. The view that Nakagawa should be excluded
from the leadership and Machimura alone should head the faction was
presented in succession in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Nakagawa, who has strengthen criticism of the Aso
administration, in the taping of an Asahi Newstar program yesterday,
expressed his annoyance with former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's
criticism of his objection to the government's proposal of hiking
the consumption tax by calling him a rebel. He said: "I think the
word 'rebel' itself shows the nature of the old LDP."

Nakagawa, who served as chief cabinet secretary of the Mori cabinet,
has close ties with Mori, but Mori recently has been highly
dissatisfied with Nakagawa for his critical view of the Aso
administration.

16) Poll: 63 PERCENT opposed to involvement in death sentence

MAINICHI (Page 1) (Abridged)
January 28, 2009

In a recent telephone-based nationwide poll conducted Jan. 24-25 by
the Mainichi Shimbun, respondents were asked about the lay judge
system which will start in May. When asked if citizens should take
part in the court's death sentence, 63 PERCENT answered "no," with
only 28 PERCENT saying "yes." Respondents were also asked whether
they would participate if they are chosen to become lay judges. To
this question, "yes" accounted for 49 PERCENT , fewer than a
majority. The poll shows a strong feeling of resistance to the lay
judge system that may hand down capital punishment.

The lay judge system is to try those charged with serious crimes,
such as murder, robbery resulting in death or injury, and arson. Lay
judges, chosen from among the people, will not only take part in a
guilty-or-not-guilty judgment but will also determine appropriate
punishment for the accused. In some cases, the death penalty is
likely.

Among male respondents, 35 PERCENT answered "yes" when asked if
they thought citizens should take part in a death sentence, with 60
PERCENT giving negative answers. Among female respondents, "yes"
accounted for 21 PERCENT , with "no" reaching 66 PERCENT . As seen
from the figures, the feeling of resistance was stronger among
women. In the breakdown of generations, the highest figure of
negative answers was 69 PERCENT among those in their 50's, and the
lowest figure of negative answers was 55 PERCENT among those in
their 20s.

In the meantime, 14 PERCENT answered that they were willing to
participate in the lay judge system, with 35 PERCENT saying they
would participate because it is mandatory to do so. In a previous
face-to-face survey taken in September 2006, the proportion of those
"willing" to participate was 17 PERCENT , with the proportion of
those citing the "mandatory" reason at 34 PERCENT . The proportion
of those who would not like to participate if possible was 46
PERCENT , the same as in the last survey. The results of the
previous survey and the one taken this time cannot be simply
compared due to different polling methodologies. However, there was
no change in this tendency even though the lay judge system is about

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to start.

ZUMWALT