DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 01/29/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TOKYO 000212 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 01/29/09 INDEX: (1) Second extra budget finally clears Diet; With no coordination functions, ruling and opposition camps fail to make good use of joint committee of two chambers (Nikkei) (2) "Substance" of cooperation will become necessary (Asahi) (3) Okinawa Police send papers to public prosecutors on three U.S. servicemen suspected of assaulting man (Ryukyu Shimpo) (4) Deformed gobies found in Yokosuka port in field survey by health insurance doctors' association; high concentration of zinc detected (Akahata) ARTICLES: (1) Second extra budget finally clears Diet; With no coordination functions, ruling and opposition camps fail to make good use of joint committee of two chambers NIKKEI (Page 3) (Abridged slightly) January 28, 2009 The pitched battle between the ruling and opposition camps over a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 finally came to an end yesterday. As seen in mediation efforts by the leaders of the two Diet chambers, the fierce battle has exposed the absence of coordination functions from the two camps, with the next Lower House election approaching. The political knockabout at a joint committee of the two chambers, which was supposed to look for common ground, has also brought to light serious flaws in the system to make decisions under the divided Diet. When a decision was made to take a vote on the second extra budget in the Upper House, the ruling parties were certain that the budget would clear the Diet on January 26. They anticipated that the opposition-controlled Upper House would adopt a bill to revise the government's budget bill to remove a cash handout plan. The ruling parties had in mind a constitutional provision stipulating the precedence of the more powerful Lower House's decision. But their scenario derailed when the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) adopted the odd strategy of protracting the joint committee session. There was some opposition in the DPJ to prolonging the meeting. Despite that, frustration from a lack of factors to force the prime minister into dissolving the Lower House during Diet deliberations on a fiscal 2009 budget bill prompted the DPJ to use this strategy. After the matter was settled through the committee talks that lasted two days for the first time in 15 years, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Tadamori Oshima complained to his DPJ counterpart Kenji Yamaoka that the opposition bloc had protracted the session far too long. In response, Yamaoka proudly said: "The joint committee session carried historical significance." The DPJ's plan was to play up its achievement by rejecting the unpopular cash handout plan. The party hopefully thought that such might result in a chance to push the Aso administration, which puts top priority on the enactment of the fiscal 2009 budget before the TOKYO 00000212 002 OF 004 end of March, to the breaking point. DPJ Vice President Hajime Ishii in a press conference yesterday referred to what had taken place at the joint committee as a preview, leaving the door open for another fierce battle over the 2009 budget. Nevertheless, the DPJ's approach of prolonging the joint committee session after taking a vote in the Upper House has drawn fire from within the opposition camp, with Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Tadayoshi Ichida describing it as "incomprehensible." Some senior DPJ lawmakers are worried about the public's reaction to the joint committee session that exposed the Diet's lack of order amid the deteriorating economy. The face-off between the ruling and opposition camps clearly showed the lack of their ability to coordinate views. The ruling parties insisted on the prime minister delivering his policy speech on January 27. Yet allowing the prime minister to deliver his policy speech before the enactment of the second extra budget ran the risk of intensifying the clash with the opposition camp. On the night of January 26, the ruling parties asked for mediation by Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono. Advice by Kono and Upper House President Satsuki Eda quickly paved the way for a settlement. Flaws in the system have also become clear. In many cases in recent years, talks have failed because a join committee was composed of members supporting the decision of each chamber. A joint committee has been set up in 13 cases under the current Constitution. Every time, the committee failed to produce a final plan. This time around, the opposition bloc abruptly demanded that minutes be disclosed ahead of the joint committee meeting. The opening of the meeting delayed significantly due to the conflict with the ruling camp. The opposition bloc took advantage of the practice of deciding on the method of running the meeting in advance talks among Lower House representatives. It has also become clear that the direction of talks might change considerably depending on who -- a ruling party member or an opposition party lawmaker -- takes on the chairmanship, which is determined by lottery. In his talks with Seishiro Eto and other LDP lawmakers yesterday, Lower House Speaker Kono asked to study the proper form of a joint committee of the two chambers. A senior DPJ lawmaker said: "Once we win the (next) Lower House election, a joint committee will no longer be necessarily." (2) "Substance" of cooperation will become necessary ASAHI (Page 10) (Full) January 29, 2009 Yukio Okamoto, foreign affairs commentator We can see by the positions taken by Hillary Clinton at the congressional hearing to confirm her appointment as secretary of state, as well as the statements of other personnel appointments that the Obama administration attaches importance to Japan-U.S. relations. Nevertheless, the alliance will now enter an era in which TOKYO 00000212 003 OF 004 managing it will be fairly difficult. Since 9/11, security has been a top priority subject for the Japan-United States relationship, continuing on from the Cold-War period. Recently, a number of wide-ranging issues have been added on. Having wasted the legacy of the Koizumi administration, Japan has become unable to take risks on the security front due to conflict between the ruling and opposition camps in the Diet. The government's official development assistance (ODA) program also continues to shrink. The entire country is now turning inward. The honeymoon-like period with the Obama administration is expected to last about half a year. Sooner or later, Japan will be asked, "What are you going to do?" An icy view has grown in Europe and the United States, namely that while Japan is aiming at a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, it is unwilling to send troops to Afghanistan. During the friend-or-foe Bush era, (Japan) had only to show that it was (a U.S.) friend in a symbolic way. The dispatches of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq and the Indian Ocean were prime examples. But from now on, not only symbolic presence and words but also the substance of cooperation are deemed necessary. To begin with, foreign policy in principle should be nonpartisan. The Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan need to stop fighting each other for a while and discuss external relations. The ODA budget must be increased, and Japan must turn itself into a country that can take risks in order to protect its people. (3) Okinawa Police send papers to public prosecutors on three U.S. servicemen suspected of assaulting man RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 23) (Full) January 29, 2009 Okinawa police on January 28 sent papers to the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office on three U.S. Marines aged between 22 and 26 belonging to the US Marine Corps' Camp Schwab on suspicion of assaulting a man at a parking lot in Misato, Okinawa City. According to the police, the three U.S. Marines in early hours of December 13, 2008 parked their compact passenger car at a long-term parking lot. When a man (22) who lives in Okinawa City told them that they could not park their car there, they hit him in the face and fled the scene. The man suffered a facial contusion, which took about two weeks to heal completely. One of the three servicemen hit the man in the head and the face, while the other two tried to take his vehicle key, etc., from his pockets and bag by force. Okinawa police handled the case by relying on the voluntary investigation of US armed forces of the U.S. servicemen. (4) Deformed gobies found in Yokosuka port in field survey by health insurance doctors' association; high concentration of zinc detected Shimbun Akahata (Page 15) (Full) January 29, 2009 TOKYO 00000212 004 OF 004 The Kanagawa Prefecture's health insurance doctors association has released a report of a field survey it had conducted in the Port of Yokosuka located near the U.S. forces' Yokosuka Naval Base facilities in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The report confirmed that deformed gobies (haze) were found in the area. The association since 1998 has been annually carrying out a field survey of environmental pollution likely to have been caused by Yokosuka Naval Base. In a survey conducted on November 16, 2008, 36 spiny gobies were captured. An X-ray examination found abnormalities such as bent bones in 23 (63.9 PERCENT ) and external abnormalities, such as curvature, in six (16.7 PERCENT ). There has been concern about pollution caused by heavy metal. High concentrations of zinc, arsenic and PCB were detected in the fish found to have abnormalities. Similar surveys were carried out in Tsurumi River, which runs through Machida City, Tokyo, Yokohama City and Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture. An X-ray examination of 13 spiny gobies captured there found no abnormalities. They had no external abnormalities, either. Dredging work to deepen the sea bed was carried out in preparation for the deployment of U.S. forces' nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington at the Yokosuka Port. Referring to the discovery of many deformed gobies from the area, Tetsuo Nomoto, director of the pollution and environmental measures department of the Kanagawa Prefecture health insurance doctors association, pointed out, "It is feasible to think that the dredging work has caused an increase in the occurrence of abnormalities in the area in front of the Naval Base." He continued, "It is necessary to continue the survey. Naturally, it is dangerous to eat any gobies caught in this area." ZUMWALT