Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TOKYO2944
2009-12-30 05:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:  

JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/30/09

Tags:  OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA 
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PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2944/01 3640556
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300556Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8450
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/USFJ //J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 0449
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 8103
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 1915
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 5215
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 8604
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2449
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 9114
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 8541
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 002944 

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: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/30/09

INDEX:
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 002944

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: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/30/09

INDEX:

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

Futenma issue:
4) Ozawa expresses reluctance to accept existing Futenma plan
(Yomiuri)
5) Okada says existing plan for Futenma facility relocation
acceptable in the absence of better alternative (Nikkei)
6) Ozawa considers Shimoji Island as candidate for Futenma
replacement facility (Sankei)

Defense & security:
7) Hit-and-run case involving U.S. service member to be referred to
prosecutor's office after the turn of the year (Tokyo Shimbun)

Secret accords:
8) Blue-ribbon panel confirms existence of 3 secret accords (Tokyo
Shimbun)
9) Okada says blue-ribbon panel's report on secret accords may
appear after January (Tokyo Shimbun)

Politics:
10) New Komeito shifts toward Ozawa (Mainichi)

Foreign relations:
11) Japanese, Indian leaders agree to strengthen bilateral security
cooperation (Nikkei)

Economy:
12) Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan proposes
JAL legal liquidation plan; rejected by banks (Yomiuri)

Opinion:
13) Yomiuri poll: 20 governors give child allowances low marks
(Yomiuri)

Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Pension records of 4,727 South Koreans verified by Social Insurance
Agency

Mainichi:
Record 44,000 civil cases filed with Tokyo District Court in 2009

Yomiuri:
Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan proposes JAL
legal liquidation plan; rejected by banks

Nikkei:
Government debts reaching limit of reliance on household savings

Sankei:
Rikuzan-kai paid Ozawa 400 million yen in 2007

Tokyo Shimbun:
Lower House member Ishikawa explains "loan" of 380 million yen from


TOKYO 00002944 002 OF 007


Ozawa in land deal

Akahata:
Surplus profits of major manufacturers twice that of the bubble
period

2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Attempted terrorist attack on U.S. plane: How to prevent a
repeat of the nightmare
(2) 30,000 suicides: Give more support to the bereaved families

Mainichi:
(1) Japan-India summit: Cooperate also on global issues
(2) Do not forget Middle East peace

Yomiuri:
(1) Looking back on 2009, international affairs: The world moved
with the advent of the Obama administration

Nikkei:
(1) Japan-India relationship has potential for dramatic expansion
(2) Strategies of oil producing countries changing with global
warming

Sankei:
(1) Looking back on 2009: Do not take "old things" lightly; hidden
errors in good impression of "new things"

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Thoughts at the end of 2009: Futenma and bonds between Japan and
the U.S.

Akahata:
(1) Emissions goal: Hatoyama administration should persist in 25
PERCENT reduction

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

Prime Minister's schedule

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
December 30, 2009

December 28

(Local time)
Night Stayed overnight at Oberoi Hotel.

December 29

Night Offered flowers at Raj Ghat in Delhi. Held summit talks with
Prime Minister Singh at the Hyderabad House.
Noon Signed a joint statement. Afterward held a joint press
conference and attended a luncheon party hosted by Prime Minister
Singh and his wife.
Afternoon Left Palam Air Base in the city on a government plane.

December 30

(Japan time)

TOKYO 00002944 003 OF 007


00:35 Arrived at Haneda Airport.
01:11 Arrived at his official residential quarters

4) Ozawa expresses reluctance to accept existing Futenma plan

YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full)
December 30, 2009

The secretaries general and the Diet Affairs Committee chairmen of
the three ruling parties - the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),the
Social Democratic Party (SDP),and the People's New Party (PNP) -
held an end-of-the-year party at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo last
night and had pleasant talks for over two hours. According to an
attendee, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa expressed his intention
to cooperate with the SDP and the PNP in conducting election
campaigns in next summer's Upper House election. Ozawa also voiced
his wish to continue the three-party alliance even after the Upper
House election, saying, "Let's get together like this in the summer
and at the end of next year as well." The attendee also indicated
that Ozawa expressed his reluctance to go along with the existing
plan to relocate Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, saying that
"beautiful waters should not be reclaimed."

5) FM Okada: If there are no good proposals for Futenma relocation,
current plan continues to be valid

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged)
December 30, 2009

At a news conference on Dec. 29, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada
commented on the relocation of the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station
in Okinawa. He said: "If a better proposal comes up, we should go
ahead with it; otherwise, the current plan continues to be valid."
This statement reflects Okada's view that if the panel of the
government and the ruling parties fails to find a new relocation
site, it is possible that a solution based on the existing plan to
relocate the Futenma base to the coastal area of Camp Schwab as
agreed between Japan and the U.S. may be adopted.

6) Ozawa: Futenma base should be moved to Iejima or Shimojishima
island

SANKEI (Page 1) (Abridged)
December 30, 2009

Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of
Japan, has told ruling party lawmakers that he would consider an
outlying island of Okinawa Prefecture as a new relocation site for
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa
Prefecture, sources revealed yesterday. Ozawa is positive about
building an alternative facility at the U.S. military's Iejima
island airfield in the Okinawa prefectural village of Ieson, or
alternatively at Shimojishima airport in the Okinawa prefectural
city of Miyakojima.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has also hinted at the relocation of
Futenma airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. The DPJ will propose
relocating Futenma airfield to either of the two outlying islands
when the government and the ruling coalition hold a consultative
meeting. Meanwhile, the DPJ will exclude the current plan to
relocate Futenma airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab, a U.S.
military facility located in the Henoko area of the island

TOKYO 00002944 004 OF 007


prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago, from its listing of
feasible options for the Futenma relocation.

"We must respect the voices of people in Okinawa Prefecture," Ozawa
told Muneo Suzuki, president of the New Party Daichi, indicating his
negative view of the current plan. He added, "Is it acceptable to
pollute the beautiful sea?"

According to ruling party lawmakers, Ozawa told them on Dec. 15
about his idea of relocating the heliport functions of Futenma
airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. "There may be a site that can be
used in an area that is not being used (by the U.S. military),"
Ozawa was quoted as saying. He also indicated that the government
should look into the possibility of relocating Futenma airfield to
Iejima island or Shimojishima island. He referred to Shimojishima
airport when he met with ruling party executives yesterday.

7) U.S. Army staff sergeant, suspect in hit-and-run incident in
Yomitan, Okinawa, to be indicted in early January

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 27) (Excerpts)
December 30, 2009

In the hit-and-run incident in Yomitan Village, Okinawa, in November
that resulted in the death of a 66-year-old man, the Okinawa
Prefectural Police decided on Dec. 29 to send the indictment papers
charging a 27-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant from the Torii
Communications Station with negligent driving resulting in death to
the public prosecutor's office as soon as Jan. 4. The police will
continue investigations to build a case of violation of the Road
Traffic Law (hit-and-run) against him. The staff sergeant was
interrogated on a voluntary basis by the police for a few times at
first, but refused to make himself available for questioning
subsequently. He is currently being detained by the U.S. Army inside
Torii Station.

8) MOFA committee confirms existence of three Japan-U.S. secret
agreements

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Abridged)
December 30, 2009

The experts' committee (chaired by Tokyo University Professor
Shinichi Kitaoka) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on four
secret Japan-U.S. agreements pertaining to security confirmed as of
Dec. 29 the existence of three secret agreements through the
discovery of related documents. Previous MOFA internal
investigations had been unsuccessful in positively substantiating
the existence of one of them -- the secret agreement allowing the
introduction of nuclear arms during a contingency on the Korean
peninsula. With regard to the fourth secret agreement on Japan's
payment of the cost of restoring land to its original state at the
time of Okinawa's reversion to Japanese administration, the
committee intends to expand its investigation to former officials of
the Ministry of Finance.

9) FM Okada says MOFA experts' committee's report on four secret
Japan-U.S. agreements may be delayed

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full)
December 30, 2009


TOKYO 00002944 005 OF 007


At a news conference on Dec. 29, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada
commented on the submission of the report by the experts' committee
on four secret Japan-U.S. agreements. He said: "The committee is
deepening its deliberations. There is an opinion that the process
will take a bit more time." He pointed out that the report may be
delayed beyond January 2010, when it had been originally scheduled
to appear.

10) New Komeito shifting weight to Ozawa

MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly)
December 30, 2009

Ryuko Tadokoro

The New Komeito has begun clearly shifting weight to Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, trying to woo
him. Ozawa's power is indispensable for realizing the New Komeito's
long-cherished wish of granting local voting rights to permanent
foreign residents. The shift also alludes to the party's plan to
cooperate with the DPJ in the future.

After becoming an opposition party, the New Komeito has moved closer
to the DPJ, moving away from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),its
former coalition partner. In fact, the party did not join the LDP's
continued boycott of deliberations in the previous extra Diet
session. But the New Komeito is still overshadowed by the gigantic
ruling party, the DPJ.

The New Komeito shifted to a critical stance toward the DPJ after
the issue of "politics and money" involving Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama and Ozawa came to light. But the party has made a
distinction in response to the two. On Dec. 24, the day the Prime
Minister's former secretary was indicted for falsifying donations,
New Komeito Representative Natsuo Yamaguchi called for the early
resignation of the Prime Minister. But after the first hearing of
the trial of Ozawa's first state-paid secretary, Yamaguchi released
a statement that simply called for an effort to uncover the truth
about the incident.

There have been more cases illustrating the New Komeito's
consideration for Ozawa. In contrast to the LDP's lashing out at
Ozawa over the government's involvement in the Emperor's special
audience with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, Yamaguchi defended
Ozawa, who had touched on the resignation of the Imperial Household
Agency grand steward.

Ozawa has expressed a plan to submit to the next regular Diet
session a local suffrage bill as government-sponsored legislation.
The New Komeito pins great hopes on Ozawa over the matter, long
shelved under the previous LDP-New Komeito administration. "In our
party there is an emotional resistance to Mr. Ozawa," a senior New
Komeito lawmaker said, "but after all he is the person who is
controlling the DPJ,"

11) Japanese, Indian PMs agree to strengthen bilateral security
cooperation

NIKKEI SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Abridged)
December 30, 2009

New Delhi

TOKYO 00002944 006 OF 007



Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met with Indian Prime Minister Singh
at the state guest house in New Delhi in the morning of Dec. 29 (the
afternoon of the same day in Japan). The two leaders signed an
action plan for strengthening cooperation in security and agreed to
accelerate negotiations for the conclusion of an economic
partnership agreement (EPA). Prime Minister Hatoyama requested India
sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at an early date.
Prime Minister Singh responded that "if the U.S. and China signed
the treaty, there would be a new situation."

The action plan includes strengthening cooperation through holding
annual talks at the level of foreign affairs and defense vice
ministers (two plus two),establishing a "maritime security forum"
for defending Indian Ocean sea lanes, and conducting anti-piracy
measures in the Somalia offing. The action plan is based on the
Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation signed by former Prime
Minister Taro Aso and Prime Minister Singh.

12) Legal liquidation of JAL presented

YOMIURI (Top play) (Excerpt)
December 30, 2009

The presidents of Japan Airlines' main creditor banks, executives of
the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC),
and Land and Transport Minister Seiji Maehara met in Tokyo yesterday
to discuss the carrier's rehabilitation. Although the ETIC presented
options that combine financial aid from the body and the legal
liquidation of JAL, the group of banks rejected them, citing a
possible expansion of their losses and adverse effects on flight
operations. They have decided to re-discuss the matter early next
year. Meanwhile, five relevant cabinet ministers are scheduled to
hold talks today. Efforts to coordinate views among the concerned
parties on methods to revive the carrier are gaining momentum.

13) Poll: 20 governors disapprove of child allowance plan

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged)
December 30, 2009

The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a spot questionnaire survey of the
nation's 47 governors over the government's budget for fiscal 2010.
In the survey, a total of 20 governors gave negative answers when
asked about the government's plan to provide child allowances. The
government plans to have local public entities partially shoulder
the burden of payouts for the child allowances. However, the survey
reveals that there is deep-seated opposition to the plan among the
governors, with the governor of Ibaraki Prefecture saying the plan
is "finagling."

Prime Minister Hatoyama had initially indicated that the government
would fund the child allowance payout plan. Meanwhile, the nation's
local governments are currently shouldering the burden of
approximately 570 billion yen to make up for the state-budgeted slot
for the current payout of childcare benefits. Eventually, the
government decided to retain this budget slot and add to it for the
newly planned payout of child allowances.

The government's child allowance plan has incurred criticism from
local governors. "It's a makeshift approach with no concept of role
sharing between the central and local governments," said the

TOKYO 00002944 007 OF 007


governor of Aichi Prefecture. There were also opinions voicing
concerns about what will become of the child allowance scheme in the
future. "The government unilaterally decided to impose the burden on
us without accounting for the payout plan, and we will have more
administrative work," said the governor of Gumma Prefecture. "It is
completely unclear how the program will be funded in fiscal 2011 and
beyond," the Tokyo governor said.

In the meantime, there were affirmative answers from seven
governors, with the governor of Niigata Prefecture saying the
government has come up with a future course of action for child
rearing in society and avoided setting an income limit. However,
most governors called for the government to fund the child allowance
payout plan in its entirety in and after fiscal 2011, with the
governor of Shiga Prefecture insisting that the child allowance plan
should be funded by state coffers.

ROOS