DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/27/09

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/27/09

INDEX:

(1) Japan-U.S. Summit: U.S. places high expectations on Japan (Part
2) (Asahi)

(2) Diet debate likely to kick off March 11 on Guam relocation
(Ryukyu Shimpo)

(3) Relocation scale variable: Nakasone (Ryukyu Shimpo)

(4) DPJ's Maehara in Lower House committee calls for review of Three
Principles on Arms Exports (Akahata)

(5) Japan, China to start talks on two treaties: extradition treaty
and prisoner-transfer treaty; Foreign ministers expected to reach
agreement to start negotiations (Asahi)

(6) IWC proposal seeks mutual compromises in dispute over whaling
(Nikkei)

(7) Job losses: Safety net full of defects; "Government in reality
did not help me" (Asahi)

(8) TOP HEADLINES

(9) EDITORIALS

(10) Prime Minister's schedule, February 26 (Nikkei)

ARTICLES:

(1) Japan-U.S. Summit: U.S. places high expectations on Japan (Part
2)

ASAHI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged)
February 26, 2009

President pins hopes on Japan's economic power, urges Japan to
expand domestic demand to conquer financial crisis

"Why has Japan come first?"

"That is because Japan is our great partner."

U.S. President Barack Obama, sitting next to Prime Minister Aso,
promptly replied to a question by a reporter in the Oval Office just
before the start of their private meeting.

Obama added: "Japan is the cornerstone of U.S. security policy in
East Asia and a major U.S. economic partner." Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, who has just returned from a round of visits to
Asia, was also in the meeting room.

The Obama administration's stance of placing emphasis on Japan was
underscored by Clinton's section of Japan as the destination of her
first overseas trip in her new role and Obama's invitation of Aso to
the White House as his first foreign guest. Pointing out that the
administration has assigned persons knowledgeable about Japan to the
State Department and the Defense Department, some sources familiar
with Japan-U.S. relations take the view that its consideration to
Japan might be more than the Bush administration's in its first
term.

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However, the U.S. side is fully aware of the fact that the Aso
administration is significantly losing its grip on power.

On the day of the Japan-U.S. summit meeting, major U.S. newspapers
carried articles dispatched from Tokyo, with such titles as:
"Japan's embattled leader to meet Obama" (Washington Post) and
"Japan's Prime Minister Aso aims to improve image through U.S.
visit" (Wall Street Journal). These titles emboss the prime
minister's plight.

The Washington Post also reported on the front page that the rate of
public support for President Obama was 68 PERCENT in its latest
opinion survey. This figure is in contrast to the slightly over 10
PERCENT level for Aso.

One Obama administration source called the prime minister "a dead
dog." As shown by this, the administration properly understands the
current state of Japanese politics. In addition, those knowledgeable
of Japan share this view: If the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
assumes political power, "it will become somewhat difficult to
manage the bilateral alliance," said former Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage. Particularly focusing on the DPJ's views,
such as comparison of the Japan-U.S. alliance and the United Nations
as diplomatic tools, some U.S. government sources define the DPJ's
way of thinking as a "high school student's composition."

Despite such Japanese circumstances, Washington places
unprecedentedly high expectations on Japan, because in the Asia
Pacific region, there is no other nation but Japan that has great
national power and on which the U.S. can rely. The global economic
crisis, climate change and other crucial international challenges
cannot be resolved by the U.S. alone.

Chuck Todd, NBC chief White House correspondent, said: "Now that the
U.S. needs help to override the ongoing economic crisis, there is no
more essential economic partner than Japan."

In the summit, Obama urged Japan to expand domestic demand. He also
expressed hopes to see that Japan will create more jobs related to
environmental technologies and stabilize its exchange market. When
considering the Aso administration's limitations, however, the U.S.
apparently has placed such expectations not on the administration
but on Japan and its people. The question is whether Japan will be
able to respond to the U.S. expectations.

(2) Diet debate likely to kick off March 11 on Guam relocation

RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full)
February 27, 2009

The government made a cabinet decision on Feb. 24 to present the
Diet with the already-signed agreement on relocating U.S. Marines in
Okinawa to Guam. The Diet is likely to enter into deliberations on
March 11 over the Guam relocation pact, given the House of
Councillors' schedule for its deliberations on the fiscal 2009
budget that is expected to clear the House of Representatives today.
The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a
meeting of its directors to schedule deliberations. However, if the
opposition bench calls for early entry into deliberations, the Diet
could then enter into deliberations on March 6.


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The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee regularly
meets on Wednesdays and Fridays. The committee can meet on March 4
at the earliest. In the first week of March, however, the House of
Councillors will start deliberations on the budget with all cabinet
ministers attending. Accordingly, the House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committee can hardly be scheduled to meet that week
with the foreign and defense ministers attending. The committee will
therefore hold a meeting of its directors during the latter half of
the first week of next month and will likely decide to enter into
deliberations on March 11 in the second week of next month.

In addition to the Guam relocation pact, the Foreign Ministry is
going to present more than 10 treaties to the Diet. In normal cases,
the Diet deliberates on several treaties all together or separately.
The Guam relocation pact has direct bearing on the budget, so it is
expected to be subject to separate deliberations. If the House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meets on March 11, the
Guam pact will likely be debated on a priority basis.

The House of Representatives is expected to pass the Guam relocation
pact with a majority of votes in favor of it, given the ruling
coalition holds a majority of the seats in the lower chamber.
However, once the Diet debate kicks off, all eyes will be on the
leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto),which is
opposed to relocating Futenma airfield as specified in the Guam
relocation pact and which is upholding its advocacy of relocating
the airfield elsewhere outside Okinawa Prefecture or Japan. In the
case of treaties up for Diet approval, the House of Representatives
takes precedence over the House of Councillors. Accordingly, any
treaties before the Diet will be approved spontaneously 30 days
after they are sent to the House of Councillors even if they are
left pending in the upper chamber, and the Guam pact will come into
effect in as early as April.

(3) Relocation scale variable: Nakasone

RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full)
February 27, 2009

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, sitting in yesterday on the
House of Representatives Budget Committee, answered an
interpellation over the planned relocation of 8,000 U.S. Marines in
Okinawa and 9,000 family members to Guam and indicated that the Guam
relocation's scale could change. "The number of persons is always
variable and this is not the actual number of persons," Nakasone
stated before the committee. "This is, so to speak, an approximate
number based on the number of troops," he added. He was replying to
a question asked by Seiken Akamine, a House of Representatives
member of the Japanese Communist Party.

Prime Minister Taro Aso, who will visit Okinawa Prefecture on March
7, was asked about where to visit in Okinawa Prefecture. Aso stated,
"The Liberal Democratic Party is coordinating the schedule for me as
LDP president, and I don't know the schedule." He was replying to a
question asked by Kantoku Teruya, a House of Representatives member
of the Social Democratic Party.

(4) DPJ's Maehara in Lower House committee calls for review of Three
Principles on Arms Exports

AKAHATA (Page 2) (Full)
February 27, 2009

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In a House of Representatives Budget Committee session on Feb. 26,
Seiji Maehara, vice president of the main opposition Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ),called for a review of the Three Principles on
Arms Exports, which ban Japan's weapons exports based on its
pacifist Constitution. He made the request in order for Japan to
promote joint development of arms with other countries.

Maehara, who took the floor to question Prime Minister Taro Aso
about his visit to the United States, repeated his stock argument
that Japan should jointly develop arms and equipment with other
countries. He stated: "It is now time for Japan to review the
contents of the Japan-U.S. alliance. Where should we start?" He then
added: "Since the Three Principles on Arms Exports prohibit Japan"
from jointly developing weapons with other countries, "reviewing
them is unavoidable."

Referring to the 2004 chief cabinet secretary's statement, which
regarded Japan-U.S. joint development and production for "a missile
defense system" as an exception to the Three Principles, Aso
responded: "We have decided to study every individual case and then
reach a conclusion."

(5) Japan, China to start talks on two treaties: extradition treaty
and prisoner-transfer treaty; Foreign ministers expected to reach
agreement to start negotiations

ASAHI (Top Play) (Full)
February 27, 2009

Foreign Minister Nakasone, who will visit China on February 28, is
expected to reach an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Yang
Jiechi to begin negotiations on concluding a treaty to extradite
suspects and a prisoner-transfer treaty. They are also expected to
agree to start negotiations to conclude an agreement on search and
rescue operations in the East China Sea. Agreement also will be
reached to expand the teacher exchange program to 1,500 teachers
over the next three years.

The extradition treaty would allow suspects who fled to their home
country to be sent back to the other country for trial. The treaty
on prisoner transfer is intended to make those convicted of crimes
in each other's country serve out their prison terms in their
country. Japan has so far only signed extradition treaties with the
U.S. and South Korea. Regarding a prisoner-transfer treaty, Japan is
a signatory to an international agreement prepared by the Council of
Europe. However, a treaty with China on the transfer of prisoners
would be the first bilateral accord for Japan.

Chinese nationals accounted for about 30 PERCENT of foreign
prisoners in Japan as of the end of 2007. If the two countries sign
such a treaty, it would reduce the burden on Japanese prisons and
help Chinese convicts rehabilitate themselves through prison terms
in their own country. The planned extradition accord will also speed
up criminal investigations.

Japan has already signed maritime search and rescue agreements with
the U.S., South Korea and Russia. Such an agreement with China would
help materialize a previous agreement to turn the East China Sea
into a "sea of peace, cooperation and friendship" for the two
countries, following the agreement on the joint development of gas
fields signed in June last year.

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The exchange of teachers has also been carried out as part of
exchanges of young people. However, its scale was small. Both
countries have determined that the role of teachers is important in
improving public sentiments toward each other's country. The size of
teacher exchanges will be expanded to 1,000 from China and 500 from
Japan. The teachers would come from elementary, junior and senior
high schools, as well as universities. They would deepen mutual
understanding by observing classes.

Top leaders of both countries last year visited each other's country
a record five times in the history of relations between the two
countries. The two countries will reach an agreement at the upcoming
foreign ministerial meeting to strengthen broad-based collaboration
with the aim of maintaining close bilateral relations in 2009, as
well.

(6) IWC proposal seeks mutual compromises in dispute over whaling

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
February 25, 2009

A panel of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) released a
report in early February that suggested allowing Japanese whalers
who specialize in small whales to catch minke whales in Japan's
coastal waters. But the report also called for reducing or
discontinuing large-scale research whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Will this proposal contribute to bringing about a settlement in the
dispute that has continued over Japan's research whaling since the
1980s?

The panel began discussing future options for the IWC in earnest
last year, joined by 31 countries, including Australia, which
opposes whaling. Chairman William Hogarth and others members of the
panel compiled the report on their own discretion, based on the
contents of the discussions.

The report takes up more than 30 items, of which points at issue are
Japan's research whaling and coastal commercial whaling. The IWC
report suggests that Japan should reduce the number of whales caught
in the Southern Ocean under the research whaling program by 20
PERCENT each year and make the number zero in five years or place
restrictions on research whaling with an upper limit set.

According the chairman's report, the panel would maintain for five
years the general principle of allowing minke whales to be taken in
Japanese coastal waters, while freezing commercial whaling
(moratorium). Although the report is a stopgap compromise proposal,
it is significant in that it urges pro-whaling and anti-whaling
countries to make mutual concessions.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba
commented: "Japan will reject a proposal that would halt its
research whaling."

Kazutaka Sangen, the mayor of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, also
said: "The research whaling in the Southern Sea and the coastal
whaling share the same destiny. If Japan suspends the research
whaling program, it might be told to also stop coastal whaling five
years later. Japan as a whole should consider what response it
should make." Taiji is a town that has been whaling for 400 years.


TOKYO 00000455 006 OF 010


The mayor, however, also said: "If scaling down research whaling in
the Southern Ocean is possible, we can offer cooperation." Some
coastal whalers have begun to call for reviewing the research
whaling program in the Southern Ocean, given that the program has
gradually expanded. The mayor's remark also reflects the reality
that coastal whalers have had to put up with the situation.

Whale meat marketed as a by-product of the research whaling has
increased about five times more than the level at the start of the
program to about 5,000 tons annually. But meat prices have dropped
to half of what they were at their highest level. Coastal whalers
catch species that are excluded from WTO regulations, such as the
Baird's beaked whale, although the catches are placed under
restraints set by the Fisheries Agency. They have continued
operations in the red.

Before the moratorium was introduced, coastal whalers took 300 to
400 minke whales annually. Recently, though, such whalers have
become mere research whaling's subcontractors. Coastal whalers have
seen the expansion of research whaling as pressure on the "private
business" by the "government's business." Given this, many of them
expect to see research whaling scaled down.

In a briefing for coastal whalers early this month, an official of
the Fisheries Agency, even while saying: "It is impossible to
drastically reduce the scale of whaling for the purpose of
scientific research easily," indicated the ministry would review the
program.

The IWC will listen to views from various countries about the
chairman report during its meeting in Roma starting on March 9.
Australia, a representative of anti-whaling countries, is determined
not to ease its call for abolishing research whaling, but the U.S.,
the current chair of the IWC, reportedly has said that an agreement
could be reached without Australia. The upcoming meeting will also
be a crucial juncture for Japan.

(7) Job losses: Safety net full of defects; "Government in reality
did not help me"

ASAHI (Page 3) (Abridged slightly)
February 8, 2009

A temporary male staffer (38) working at a auto air-conditioner
plant in Shiga Prefecture received a dismissal notice late last year
because the company had excess capacity due to production cutbacks.

He only started working in November on a two-month contract. The
company pledged that he would be covered by employment and health
insurances when his contract was renewed early in the following
year. However, the recession prevented him from having his work
contract renewed.

It has been nearly three years since he was ejected from the social
safety net, losing his employment and health insurances and his
pension scheme. After leaving university before graduating, he has
worked at various plants as a nonpermanent worker or subcontractor.
He quit a food factory in Gifu Prefecture over trouble with a
permanent worker. Since then, he has not been able to pay insurance
premiums.

After quitting the food factory in Gifu, he lived on the streets for

TOKYO 00000455 007 OF 010


a year and a half. He gave up on the idea of applying for welfare
benefits, determining that it would be impossible to receive such,
if he applied while being homeless. He then found an apartment, not
due to public assistance but because he began to earn income by
selling the "Big Issue," a magazine aimed at helping homeless people
become self-reliant.

This individual, who is now looking for another job, said, "I am
worried about my health, because it was tough to live on the
streets. I want a health insurance card, but I cannot think of my
future, as all I can do is just to support myself on a day-to-day
basis."

Another man (51),who worked at an auto parts plant in Tochigi
Prefecture, was notified of the termination of his work contract
after two years of employment there. He earned 1,200 yen for night
work -- about 100,000 yen in a month after the deduction of
dormitory fees and heating and electricity expenses. He had no
savings. He got by but had to get an advance on his salary when he
worked less.

He has become increasingly concerned about his life in the future,
such as how to find the next job, when he is in his 50s, where to
live after being evicted from the company housing, etc. Applying for
welfare benefits has crossed his mind. He queried the local
government of his home town in the Tohoku District twice on the
phone. However, an official in charge of social benefits turned down
his request, saying, "I am sorry, we cannot pay you welfare
benefits, because people like you who are not sick can work. Please
find a job and work until you turn 65."

For a while, he seriously thought that the only way he could make a
living would be to go to prison. He in the end found a
construction-related job. He said, "When I was really in trouble,
the state did not help me."

When lifetime employment was common, companies served as a role to
provide employees' social security. The mechanism of social security
was set, premised on permanent employees. Now that that
Japanese-style employment system has collapsed, and one of three
workers has become a nonpermanent worker, the number of people who
are ousted from the social security network is on the increase.

Relief measures: Social benefit system cold to working generation

A safety net to rescue unemployed people is not fully functioning.
People who are entitled to receive unemployment benefits are, in
principle, those who have been insured for more than a year. There
are cases in which nonpermanent workers who have been hired for a
short period of time cannot meet requirements for receiving
benefits. There are also many who cannot afford to pay medical
insurance and pension premiums due to unstable income.

The last safety net for those whose income base has been undermined
is social security benefits. However, Senshu University Professor
Naoyoshi Karakama, a specialist in social security studies,
lamented: "Now, when streets are full of jobless people, is the time
when the social security system should be fully used, and yet, such
people in the working generation are not receiving benefits."

It is not unusual for young people in Europe and the U.S. to receive
benefits from the social security system. In Japan, among 1.07

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million households that receive social security benefits, those in
the working generation -- excluding sick, disabled and elderly
people -- account only 200,000 or roughly 20 PERCENT .

Japan's welfare benefit system, which is based on the principles of
nondiscrimination and impartiality, does not make any distinction
according to age and the cause of poverty. It is said that the
system is in fact to harsh on the working generation. According to
an investigation by the Japan Federation of Bar Association (JFBA),
so-called "water's edge operations," which are illegally designed to
prevent young people from receiving welfare benefits, are widely
carried out by local governments throughout the nation. For this
reason, many workers who were forced out of their jobs do not even
go for advice due to misunderstanding that they are not entitled to
receive welfare benefits or due to an aversion to the idea of
receiving welfare benefits.

A proposal for further tightening the system to the working
generation has been made. The expert research group of the Council
on Economic and Fiscal Policy has proposed shortening the welfare
benefit payment period to five years because of the fiscal burden,
which reached 2.63 trillion yen in fiscal 2006 -- up 27 PERCENT
over five years.

The U.S. Support System for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families,
which started in 1997, is the precedent of the five-year welfare
benefit payment. Under that system, the number of recipients
decreased 60 PERCENT from the peak period. Cases in which
recipients were unable to find jobs after the expiration of the
payment, lost houses and are unable to receive sufficient medical
services have been reported. The deep-seated view is that if such a
system is introduced in Japan, it would no longer be possible to
call the welfare system the last safety net, as Hanazono University
Professor Atsushi Yoshinaga said.

How to improve situation: Self-reliance effort should be backed with
quicker assistance

Cases in which attorneys or members of private-sector organizations
accompany jobless people when they go to municipal offices to apply
for welfare benefits are becoming visible. Their aim is to help them
surmount local governments' so-called water's edge operations
intended to turn down applications. Another aim of their
accompanying jobless people is to monitor illegal activities seen at
the counter of municipal offices. Officials, for instance, refuse to
give application forms, saying that since they are young, they
should work.

The JFBA last year compiled an amendment to the Public Assistance
Law. The key elements of the draft amendment include the
introduction of a system to block the water's edge operations and
the provision of positive assistance to the working poor. The draft
amendment also includes a proposal for enabling people in the low
income bracket, whose income only slightly exceeds the level
eligible for welfare benefits, to receive housing and medical
allowances. The report thus proposes reforming the system to make it
more usable. It also aims at helping low income earner become
self-reliant.

(8) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:

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Japan, China to discuss bilateral extradition accord, treaty for
repatriation of convicts

Mainichi:
GM reports net loss of 3 trillion yen for 2008: Sales suffer 17
PERCENT drop

Yomiuri:
U.S. to see 171 trillion yen deficit in fiscal 2009

Nikkei:
Government mulls boosting funds for CP purchases, public loans to
4.5 trillion yen

Sankei:
Defense Ministry start mulling intercepting North Korean missiles
after introduction of missile defense system

Tokyo Shimbun:
U.S. to boost public fund framework by 24 trillion yen in Budget
Message by President

Akahata:
U.S. forces Japan realignment, transfer of marines to Guam: Burden
of Okinawa unlikely to decrease; possibility of deployment of
another unit

(9) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) To Prime Minister Aso: We call on dissolution of Lower House at
early date

Mainichi:
(1) New piracy law: It is necessary to halt easing of guidelines for
use of weapons
(2) North Korea's test-launching warning: Even launch of artificial
satellite unacceptable

Yomiuri:
(1) Cell-phone use by children: Fill gap in perception between
parents and children
(2) Ten years since Japan's first brain transplant: Organs no longer
available from abroad

Nikkei:
(1) Pain of South Korean president over economy one year since
taking office
(2) Secure safety of medical technology for reproduction

Sankei:
(1) USFJ curtailment: Democratic Part of Japan President should
clarify entire picture of his stance
(2) New astronauts: Change in selection of candidates indicates
Japan's space development has entered turning point

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Children and cell-phones: Many parent do not know reality of
situation
(2) Foreign minister to visit China: Pour oil on trouble waters in
East China Sea


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Akahata:
(1) Financial revitalization: Setting international rules to be
called into question

(10) Prime Minister's schedule, February 26

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
February 27, 2009

07:34
Met Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsumoto at the Kantei.

09:00
Attended a Lower House Budget Committee meeting.

12:13
Called at Imperial Palace to report his return.

12:31
Arrived at the Kantei

14:55
Met Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Uruma.

15:21
Met Upper House member Yoriko Kawaguchi, chair of the international
committee of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. Followed by
the Ecuadorean Telecommunications Management Agency Director General
Jaramillo, with Internal Affairs & Communications Deputy Vice
Minister Terasaki.

16:04
Met Cabinet Office's Vice Minister Yamamoto and Decoration Bureau
Director General Fukushima. Followed by International Basketball
Federation Chairman Elphinstone, Japan Basketball Association Vice
Chairman Samuro and others.

17:07
Met Cabinet Intelligence Director Mitani. Later, met Internal
Affairs & Communications Minister Hatoyama, Chief Cabinet Secretary
Kawamura, and Uruma. Kawamura stayed behind.

18:24
Met LDP Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters Head Chuma.
Followed by baseball special envoy Sadaharu Oh and others.

19:35
Met his local support group members at the Hotel New Otani.

21:34
Returned to his official residence.

ZUMWALT