DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/04/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000270

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 02/04/09

INDEX:

(1) Nuclear verification process still over the horizon (Sankei)

(2) Japan's think tanks: Idea of merger triggered by financial
difficulties; Human resources not developed (Yomiuri)

(3) Autobiography of former Ambassador Howard Baker: Japan willing
to provide support to U.S.-led campaign against terrorism (Nikkei)

(4) Politics demoralizes SDF personnel (Sankei)

(5) Where is the reduced burden? Town criticizes increased noise at
Kadena Air Base; 126 aircraft arrived at Kadena, 30 planes moved out
of prefecture for exercises (Okinawa Times)

ARTICLES:

(1) Nuclear verification process still over the horizon

SANKEI (Page 7) (Full)
February 4, 2009

Takashi Arimoto, Washington

U.S. President Obama had a telephone conversation on Feb. 2 with
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, during which the two leaders
agreed to keep pressing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons
and nuclear development programs in a verifiable way through the
six-party talks. The Obama administration is expected to push ahead
with the six-party talks while holding bilateral talks with North
Korea. But the question is how to establish a framework for the
verification of North Korea's nuclear facilities, a challenge left
over from the former Bush administration. The answer is still over
the horizon.

According to the South Korean government's press release, Obama told
Lee that he would send Secretary of State Clinton to South Korea in
mid-February. Clinton will also visit Japan and China around her
visit to Seoul to exchange views with her Japanese and Chinese
counterparts on how to negotiate with North Korea from now on.

The U.S. State Department is now going over its North Korea policy
while hearing its officials in charge of negotiations, with the new
administration having come into office,

"It's a wrong argument to choose between the six-party talks and the
United States' direct talks with North Korea," Balbina Hwang, a
former senior adviser to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific
Affairs at the State Department, told the Sankei Shimbun in an
interview. Hwang tackled North Korea issues until January. She
stressed that the United States should also push for its talks with
North Korea in a proactive way under the six-party talks.

At the six-party talks in December last year, the United States and
other six-party members called for North Korea's commitment in
writing to the verification process. However, North Korea
disagreed.

"North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan (who is North
Korea's chief delegate to the six-party talks) said (in October's
talks between the U.S. and North Korea) that North Korea would

TOKYO 00000270 002 OF 008


accept the verification process. But the North Korean delegation is
only made up of officials from its foreign ministry. It does not
reflect the intention of North Korea as a whole." With this, Hwang
implied that there is a limit to Kim's negotiating authority.

According to Hwang, the U.S. government made formal and informal
proposals each time to the North Korean government for getting in
touch with the North Korean military before sitting down at the
negotiating table. Furthermore, whenever the six-party talks were
held, the U.S. delegation always had U.S. military officers attend
the talks, thereby indicating that the United States is always ready
to talk with the North Korean military. However, North Korea did not
comply with the proposal.

In the meantime, Hwang made suggestions for the Obama
administration, maintaining that the United States should first hold
trilateral talks with Japan and South Korea and that it is important
to confirm the three countries' unity. In this sense, Hwang said,
Clinton's tour of East Asian countries is "very good." Furthermore,
she noted that the U.S. government had some problems in its
interdepartmental cooperation under the former Bush administration.
In this regard, she indicated that the Obama administration should
appoint a high-level envoy to coordinate its North Korea policy
within the U.S. government.

(2) Japan's think tanks: Idea of merger triggered by financial
difficulties; Human resources not developed

YOMIURI (Page 13) (Abridged slightly)
February 4, 2009

Masahiko Sasajima, Yomiuri Research Institute

An idea has emerged to combine some private-sector policy research
institutes (think tanks) in Japan that are specialized in foreign
and security policies.

Main points

The idea resulted from a lack of funds for activities. The aim is
to increase the own fund of the envisaged new think tank.

In order to aim at a nonprofit research institute independent of
the government, cultivating human resources and having the ability
to externally transmit information are essential.

Yukio Sato, former president of the Japan Institute of International
Affairs (JIIA),has nurtured this idea over the last five years. A
report proposing the merger that has been released recently has
created a stir among those concerned.

JIIA's budget consists of subsidies from the Foreign Ministry and
its own fund. In fiscal 2007, subsidies from the Foreign Ministry
totaled 420 million yen and own fund 150 million yen. Its own fund
has declined about 60 PERCENT over the last five years. The decline
is ascribable to sharp drops in projects commissioned by the Foreign
Ministry and in corporate membership fees amid economic recession.
This has forced JIIA to scale back on its research projects and give
up on the planned publication of its research results. JIIA is
highly alarmed, with Sato saying, "If this situation persists, we
would have to reduce the scale of our research activities."


TOKYO 00000270 003 OF 008


As a result, JIIA has come up with the idea of increasing the
overall fund by merging with other research institutes specializing
in foreign and security policies into a new organization. On the
mind is banding together with the Institute for International Policy
Studies (IIPS),the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR),
and the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS). The three
organizations are dismissive of the idea. IIPS President Yoshio
Okawara articulately denied the option, saying: "The spirit and
nature of each institute is different, so the merger is difficult.
We cannot buy the idea."

JIIA was founded in 1959 at former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's
initiative as an institute dedicated to researching Japan's national
interests and security policy. In reality, JIIA's activities have
been centered on promoting exchanges with foreign research
institutes with the help of scholars. The UK-based International
Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) was established at around the
same time. The Japanese think tank is way behind IISS, which has
earned a solid international reputation for the publication of The
Military Balance. Compared to Western countries, Japanese research
institutes are all suffering from fund shortages and have been
inactive in nurturing human resources, making policy proposals, and
providing government organizations with human sources.

In the United States, private think tanks are thriving. Funded by
individuals and corporations, think tanks in the United States are
vying with each other over new ideas and influence through their
policy studies and proposals. For instance, the Obama
administration's advocacy of using "smart power" is based on a
proposal by the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS). Further, under the political appointee system, Susan Rice, a
senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has been appointed
ambassador to the United Nations.

Although JIIA's proposal was triggered by financial difficulties,
its real challenge is to foster research fellows capable of making
policy proposals to the government and to acquire the ability to
transmit information externally. Kyoto University Professor Hiroshi
Nakanishi noted: "The weak intellectual and economic foundations
supporting the think tanks are a challenge."

Think tanks in Japan do not function well because bureaucrats keep a
tight grip on information and authority. It is essential for
democratic society to have the function to transmit information to
the people and expand the circle of policy debates from a
private-sector position distinct from academic studies.

If the political appointee system is widely introduced as a result
of civil service reform, think tanks in Japan would become a source
of political appointees. The time has come to review the measures to
expand that role from a broader perspective.

Major Japanese think tanks specializing in foreign and security
policies

Name Number of researchers Annual budget
Japan Institute of International Affairs 10
13 guest researchers 570 million yen
Institute for International Policy Studies 14 270 million yen
Japan Forum on International Relations 12 190 million yen
Research Institute for Peace and Security 20 (mostly university
professors) 96 million yen

TOKYO 00000270 004 OF 008



Brookings Institution 96
Over 200, including guest researchers 32.55 billion yen

(3) Autobiography of former Ambassador Howard Baker: Japan willing
to provide support to U.S.-led campaign against terrorism

NIKKEI (Page 36) (Full)
January 27, 2009

I think that Americans living in modern history will never forget
Sept. 11, 2001.

When terrorists launched the nightmarish attacks on Washington, the
capital of the U.S., and New York that morning, I was at an airport
in Chicago with my wife, Nancy, on my way back to Japan after
attending a ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and seeing my children and
grandchildren in my home state of Tennessee.

Terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed the planes into the Twin
Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, and another
airliner struck into the Pentagon in Washington. Upon learning the
details of the plot by al-Qaeda, an international terrorist group,
the U.S. government issued an order to ban all flights across the
nation, and we were stranded in Chicago. We finally arrived in Japan
on the afternoon of Sept. 15.

On the morning of Sept. 17, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited
the U.S. Embassy to offer condolences for those victimized in the
terrorist attacks. At that time, the prime minister said: "Japan is
willing to render necessary support. Providing support is the
responsibility of Japan as an ally." I responded: "The United States
and Japan are real friends. Both countries must face this challenge
in close cooperation with other countries." I also told Foreign
Minister Makiko Tanaka: "Japan is a powerful ally of and a country
friendly to the United States. We hope Japan will provide support in
a way that represents such a relationship."

Prime Minister Koizumi held a press conference at the Prime
Minister's Official Residence on the night of Sept. 19 and announced
the nation's seven-point assistance package to back up the U.S.-led
antiterrorism campaign. The package included a pledge to make
necessary legal changes to enable the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to
provide rear support if U.S. and other foreign forces launch a
retaliatory offensive. It also included measures to quickly dispatch
SDF vessels to the Indian Ocean for an intelligence-gathering
mission and provide emergency economic aid to India and Pakistan.

Cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in the war on terror further
strengthened through a retaliatory attack against the Taliban in
Afghanistan and other operations. In late October, after the
collapse of the Taliban regime, I frequently met Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, who shored up the Koizumi administration, to
exchange in-depth views on what specific measures Japan should take
based on the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law, which is still a
key political theme in Japan.

The basic plan by the Koizumi administration to support the U.S.
military did not include a plan to dispatch an Aegis-equipped
destroyer of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Indian Ocean.
Although I had anticipated that Japan would decide to do so, I tried

TOKYO 00000270 005 OF 008


to refrain from expressing this desire, emphasizing: "Since Japan as
a sovereign nation made the decision, we will not tell Japan to do
this or that." This stance was the basis of the Bush
administration's policy toward Japan from the start, so I had no
intention to change this policy stance.

One scene I saw when I returned to the U.S. Embassy in Akasaka,
Tokyo after the long journey in the aftermath of the terrorist
attacks has been deeply fixed in my mind. I saw innumerable Japanese
people gathering in front of our embassy to express their
condolences.

Both the U.S. and Japan have respected each other and have
established a favorable relationship despite different cultures,
customs, and religions, needless to say about the tragedy of the
past war. The gathering of so many people around the U.S. embassy
reminded me of the deep ties between the two countries over more
than a half century.

(4) Politics demoralizes SDF personnel

SANKEI (Page 11) (Full)
February 3, 2009

Masashi Nishihara, president of the Research Institute for Peace and
Security (RIPS)

In my recent contacts with some of the ranking officers of the
Self-Defense Forces, I noticed that their morale was down. Over the
past year or so, there were a number of problems, such as the
leakage of confidential data about an Aegis ship, a Maritime
Self-Defense Force destroyer's collision with a fishing boat, and
Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Tamogami's remarks. However, I
heard from them that the SDF's frustration does not stem so much
from being criticized for such incidents but is attributable more to
the unwillingness of politicians to understand the SDF's tasks and
hardships.

Such frustration, if left as is, will not only demoralize SDF
members but will also undermine the SDF as the mainstay for Japan's
national defense. Any country's armed forces will not feel like
doing a difficult mission at the price of their lives if there is no
strong support from the people and their representatives (i.e.,
government and parliament). For the SDF's samurai warriors, honor
comes before anything else.

First and foremost, those in the SDF are frustrated with their
status under the Constitution. They wonder if they are really an
"armed force." None of the politicians in the Liberal Democratic
Party, the New Komeito, and the Democratic Party of Japan will give
a clear-cut answer to that fundamental question. Politicians are
little aware that their negligence has been damaging the
sensitivities of SDF members. It is truly regrettable.

Secondly, Ground and Air Self-Defense Force members were sent to a
"noncombat area" in Iraq. Politicians might simply think to
themselves that this noncombat area was a "safe" place. This is
another reason for the frustration of SDF personnel. SDF members
were sent to Iraq under the Iraq Special Measures Law. In Iraq, they
were tasked with a difficult mission to carry out in a "noncombat
area." Those SDF members accomplished the mission with flying
colors. Moreover, they all came back to Japan safely without any

TOKYO 00000270 006 OF 008


loss of life.

However, the "noncombat area" is defined simply as an area where no
battle is going on. Actually, that area was not free from danger at
all.

The GSDF therefore had to guard its local camp in its own way. In
point of fact, the GSDF camp came under rocket attacks. The same can
be said of the ASDF. Aircraft flying at a low altitude-shortly after
taking off or before landing-are in danger of encountering rocket
attacks from the ground. Given such danger, the ASDF C-130 cargo
planes zoomed up in their takeoffs and spiraled with a random steep
approach (RSA) in their landings at Baghdad Airport and other
airports.

This-according to one SDF staff officer's account-requires a high
level of piloting techniques. The ASDF pilots on the airlift mission
in Iraq have done this 800 times without encountering any attack for
five years. The SDF staff officer contended that this is "a result
of training" and is "a result of strong their willingness to
complete the mission." However, politicians have shown no
understanding. This dissatisfies the SDF officer.

If the SDF had come under attack in Iraq, the opposition parties
would have put the blame on the government by claiming that it was
not a noncombat area and it was a violation of the law. In addition,
the government might have reproved the SDF for a misjudgment of the
situation. For fear of this, the SDF would not tell its hard
experience in Iraq, the SDF officer said. This is also a reason for
politicians' lack of understanding.

Third, the government imposes the "irrational" guidelines on the SDF
to restrict its use of weapons. Politicians, however, do not think
such guidelines are irrational. The SDF officer is dissatisfied with
this.

The government is now preparing to send SDF vessels in order to
crack down on pirates in waters off the coast of Somalia. It looks
like the government will task the SDF vessels with a mission to
protect only Japanese ships and Japan-linked ships until a new law
is enacted.

In addition, the government is going to apply the weapons use
guidelines that will not allow the SDF vessels to fire on pirates or
pirate ships even in the face of danger unless its "legitimate
self-defense" is clear.

The government plans to create a new law, under which the SDF will
be allowed to protect foreign ships and will be also allowed to fire
on pirate ships and capture them. This legislation would face
opposition from the New Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan,
however. The government would therefore have to set strict
guidelines for the SDF's use of weapons.

However, that will result in creating an irrational law to put an
excessive hoop on the SDF vessels in their antipiracy activities.
None of the political parties would think in this way. In that case,
an SDF vessel on an antipiracy mission could be abducted. That is an
unamusing joke.

Then, what if a foreign ship asks for help? One possible response
might be "that's not our mission until a new law is in place." Is

TOKYO 00000270 007 OF 008


this all the SDF can say to that foreign ship? All the SDF can do is
to extend minimal cooperation? If that is the case, such security
policing is unacceptable in the international community. Moreover,
the SDF members there will only be put out of countenance.

Politicians should lose no time in responding to the SDF members'
reasonable frustration. It is extremely unhealthy to keep them
frustrated. I hope politicians will understand their hardships and
encourage them. Politicians must create a political environment in
which the SDF members can be willing to carry out their missions, or
they will not feel like living for the defense of Japan.

The SDF is an entity of armed forces. Based on this political
judgment, politicians should make the SDF and its members take
pride. This is the first step to civilian control.

(5) Where is the reduced burden? Town criticizes increased noise at
Kadena Air Base; 126 aircraft arrived at Kadena, 30 planes moved out
of prefecture for exercises

OKINAWA TIMES (Page 25) (Full)
February 3, 2009

Kadena

"The relocation of training" has been referred to as a showcase to
reduce the burden in the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The
relocation of Kadena Air Base's F-15s to an Air Self-Defense Force
base outside Okinawa started in March 2007. To date, a total of 30
F-15s have taken part in seven cases. At the same time, according to
Kadena Town, since 2007 at least 126 aircrafts, including fighters,
have come from outside the prefecture, increasing the noise. The
town criticized the situation, with one saying: "The number of
aircrafts that have come to the prefecture is far greater than that
of aircrafts moved out of the prefecture. Reality is a far cry from
a reduction in the burden."

(Kenya Fukusato)

The relocation of training was incorporated in an agreement reached
in 2006 between Japan and the United States.

According to the Okinawa Defense Bureau, (the relocation of
training) first took place at ASDF Tsuiki Base (Fukuoka Prefecture),
followed by Komatsu (Ishikawa Prefecture),Misawa (Aomori
Prefecture),Nyutabaru (Miyazaki Prefecture),and Chitose
(Hokkaido).

Meanwhile, 12 F-22A Raptors, the U.S. Air Force's state-of-the-art
stealth fighters, were temporarily deployed at Kadena Air Base for
about three months starting in February 2007. F-22A Raptors have
been temporarily redeployed at the base since January this year.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps conducted joint rapid
response exercises in December 2007 and December 2008 in which some
30 aircrafts, including FA-18 fighters and AV-8 Harriers, vertical
short takeoff and landing fighter/attack aircraft, came from the
Iwakuni base. They repeatedly conducted exercises based at Kadena
Air Base.

According to Kadena Town, relocated training kept F-15s out of the
prefecture for a total of 36 days. The average number of daily

TOKYO 00000270 008 OF 008


occurrences of noise for fiscal 2006 was 109. Of those 36 days, 24
days recorded frequencies greater than the average. Only four days
fell below the average, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and local high
school entrance examination days for which the local municipality
asked not to conduct exercises.

Kadena Mayor Tokujitsu Miyagi said: "The Japanese government has
pledged to lessen the burden, but in reality, the burden has clearly
grown. A reduction in noise, which is what the residents want most,
has yet to be realized. I will negotiate with the government to make
efforts to alleviate the burden while showing data."

Aircraft from outside Okinawa

February 2007 F-22A 12 aircrafts
December 2007 FA-18 30
March 2008 F-16 12
June 2008 Harrier 6
July 2008 FA-18 9
July 2008 Harrier 5
November 2008 FA-18 16
November 2008 Harrier 6
December 2008 FA-18 8
January 2009 F-22A 12
January 2009 F-16 10

Relocated F-15 exercises

Period New location Number of aircrafts
3/5/07 - 3/8/07 Tsuiki 5
5/16/07 - 5/23/07 Komatsu 5
7/16/07 - 7/21/07 Misawa 5
9/3/07 - 9/4/07 Nyutabaru 2
7/23/08 - 7/30/08 Misawa 6
9/2/08 - 9/4/08 Nyutabaru 2
12/8/08 - 12/12/08 Chitose 5

ZUMWALT