DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/24/09

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/24/09

INDEX:

INDEX:

(1) Japan-U.S. leaders confer by phone on restarting the Six-Party
Talks on North Korea, agree on goal of a nuclear-weapons free world
[Nikkei]

(2) Rengo to call for SOFA revision in U.S.; Rengo Okinawa president
and others to hold talks from April 30 with labor union supporting
President Obama [Ryukyu Shimpo]

(3) F-22 a link for Japan-U.S. alliance [Sankei]

(4) Gaps in views of Ozawa and Okada [Asahi]

(5) Major financial institutions to log combined net loss of 4
trillion yen in fiscal year 2008 [Nikkei]

(6) Japan posts first trade deficit in 28 years, shaking up status
as trade-oriented nation [Asahi]

(7) Editorial: China must increase naval transparency [Nikkei]

(8) TOP HEADLINES

(9) EDITORIALS

(10) Prime Minister's schedule, April 23 [Nikkei]

ARTICLES:

(1) Japan-U.S. leaders confer by phone on restarting the Six-Party
Talks on North Korea, agree on goal of a nuclear-weapons free world

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
Eve., April 24, 2009

Prime Minister Taro Aso this morning held a 15-minute conversation
by phone with U.S. President Obama. The two leaders agreed to
continue to closely cooperate to bring about an early resumption of
Six-Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear program and other
issues. Prime Minister Aso stated that he "strongly supports" the
President's nuclear-disarmament stance that aims at having a
nuclear-weapons free world. The President said, "Japan is a leader
in this area, and I would like us to tackle this together in the
future."

The telephone conversation occurred at the request of the American
side. The President brought up the Pakistan assistance conference
that Japan hosted, saying: "It was extremely beneficial. I would
like to thank Japan." The President mentioned the response to the
launching by North Korea of the Taepodong 2 ballistic missile, which
the North called a "satellite." He praised it by saying, "The U.S.
and Japan were able to cooperate closely at the United Nations
Security Council." The Prime Minister, too, responded by saying,
"The UNSC reached a swift agreement, and the presidential statement
had strong content." The two leaders confirmed that they would
continue to coordinate a visit to Japan by the President in the
latter half of this year.

(2) Rengo to call for SOFA revision in U.S.; Rengo Okinawa president

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and others to hold talks from April 30 with labor union supporting
President Obama

RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full)
April 23, 2009

Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) Okinawa President
Nobumasa Nakamura will visit the United States from April 30 through
May 3 along with Rengo President Tsuyoshi Takagi and others. During
their stay in the United States, they will hold talks with America's
largest labor union, which supports the Obama administration, and
call for a review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement
(SOFA) and the closure of Futenma Air Station. It will be the first
time for a Rengo Okinawa representative to accompany the Rengo
[president's] trip to the United States.

President Nakamura and others will hold talk for two days from April
30 with executives of the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) composed of 56 labor unions
with a membership of 11 million. U.S. Labor Department and Treasury
Department officials might attend the talks.

President Nakamura said: "The SOFA is an unequal pact, but it has
never been revised. We want to present Okinawa's frank views to the
Obama administration through the talks."

President Nakamura will ask that the SOFA should be revised in a way
to: (1) hand over the custody of an accused U.S. service member [to
the Japanese side] before indictment, (2) allow municipal officials
to enter a U.S. base in an emergency situation, (3) require the U.S.
military to clean up the environment in returning its base, (4)
apply Japanese laws when conducting military exercises, and (5)
apply three labor laws to base workers. At the same time, the
president will seek the realignment and reduction of bases,
including the closure and return of Futenma Air Station.

President Nakamura expressed his hope, saying: "The American labor
union has a history of being suppressed by authority. I think
[AFL-CIO] will sympathize with Okinawa's circumstances."

Rengo President Takagi and others will discuss responses to the
effort for eliminating nuclear weapons and the global financial
crisis.

Rengo and AFL-CIO hold talks every several years. This time around,
President Takagi called for President Nakamura's participation in
discussing the peace issue.

(3) F-22 a link for Japan-U.S. alliance

SANKEI (Page 5) (Full)
April 23, 2009

Hiroyuki Noguchi

If the Japan-U.S. alliance should ever rupture, it would probably be
attributable to Japan's constitutional constraints that do not allow
Japan to participate in collective self-defense. The fear I had was
that it would be Japan's own fault. However, President Obama and his
administration are now about to prove that such is not the case. The
Obama administration is reluctant to export F-22 fighters to Japan.
The F-22, which is the U.S. Air Force's fifth-generation fighter

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jet, is the most likely candidate for Japan's follow-on mainstay
fighter. Facing China's abnormal military expansion, the F-22 should
be a 'guardian deity' to protect the skies of freedom and democracy
in East Asia. However, the Obama administration, giving heed to
China, is hesitant to export the F-22 to Japan. At every turning
point in history, America has tended to be "love sick" over China,
and time and again, this infatuation for China has threatened
Japan's national interests.

The F-22 is also known as the "Raptor." True to the nickname, its
real power is tremendous. The F-22 Raptor scored "144-0" in a
simulated dogfight and "241-2" in another. The results astonished
the top guns of air forces around the world. The dogfights were
conducted with the participation of such distinguished fighters as
the F-15, F-16, and F-18, which were developed by the United States
and are currently deployed in Japan and other U.S. allies. In the
dogfights, the F-22 Raptor downed a combined total of 385 fighters,
losing only two. They can be no match for the F-22, which is a
stealth fighter that is hardly detectable to enemy radar because of
its configuration and materials. The F-22 outshines other
state-of-the-art fighters in supersonic flying performance and
supermobility as well. In a nutshell, the F-22 is a standout.

The U.S. Congress has embargoed exports of the F-22 for security
reasons. In a way, this ban can be taken for granted. At the 2007
Japan-U.S. summit, however, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked the
United States to provide Japan with information as an exception.
That is because Japan was facing a vital threat from China's rapid
deployment of advanced fighter attackers and missiles. China also
deploys the Su-27, a mainstay fighter for the Russian air force in
the 1990s, and the Su-30, an advanced type of the Su-27. Moreover,
China has developed the J-10, a new fighter jet, with technical
know-how introduced from Israel. China is expected to deploy stealth
aircraft like the F-22 Raptor 10 to 12 years down the road.

East Asia-where such apparent threats as China, North Korea, and
Russia are rampant-retains the Cold War structure even now.
Nevertheless, Secretary of Defense Gates announced his decision on
April 6 to stop producing the F-22, reasoning that it was designed
with a concept drawn from the Cold War era. The Pentagon chief also
referred to a substantial review of the plan, with asymmetric wars
in Afghanistan and terrorism in mind, from the conventional one that
regards China and Russia as potential threats. The F-22 is no
exception, in other words.

Even so, what Gates said could be a trial balloon. It cannot be
taken at face value. In the U.S., many members of
Congress-particularly from the Republican Party-think the United
States should sell the F-22 to Japan, with an eye on China. Capitol
Hill legislators backed by the munitions industry or labor unions
cannot overlook the U.S. government's provisional course of action,
either. The reason why President Obama has yet to make his final
decision is reportedly because he wants to see how Congress in
particular will respond.

What lies behind the call-off of F-22 production is the price. The
F-22, priced at 19.8 billion yen in FY2001, has been lowered from
year to year. Even so, its per unit cost is still steep at 14
billion yen, more than double that of the F-15, which is the F-22's
predecessor. This is costly spending at a time when there is an
international economic crisis. The F-22 is so superior that it
cannot easily be exported to allies. This brought about a vicious

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circle of abstaining from mass-production and boosting the price
further. The initial plan was to produce a total of 750 F-22s but
production has now been scaled back to 187.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is also strongly upset, claiming that
it needs 234 to 381 F-22s before the downscaling of the production
line. The weapons industry is also insisting on continuing F-22
production. In 44 states, a total of 25,000 people have jobs related
to F-22 production. It is certain that the production of F-22s, once
started for delivery to Japan, will greatly contribute to the U.S.
economy and its job security.

Japan's F-2 support fighter, currently operational on the front, was
co-developed with the United States. The F-2's development cost was
almost on a par with the F-22's. Given its cost efficiency, it was
not a huge burden on Japan.

The Obama administration is now apparently beginning to give way
over the North Korean nuclear and missile issues without consulting
with Japan. Will it be also joining hands with China, which is
edging toward Japan's territorial waters? If the United States makes
friends with China while turning a blind eye to China's military
expansionism and its oppression of speech, people, and religions,
then the pro-U.S. conservatives at Japan's political and economic
centers would all alike turn into the mere conservatives. As a
result, they may come to abhor the United States and turn into
anti-U.S. conservatives.

Exporting the F-22 to Japan will serve not only to prevent the
nightmare of Japan and the United States breaking away from each
other but also create strong links between the two countries.

(4) Gaps in views of Ozawa and Okada

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
April 24, 2009

Noriko Akiyama

Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro Ozawa ordered his
party to look into completely prohibiting corporations and
organizations from making donations [to individual politicians].
Katsuya Okada, a DPJ vice president, who heads the party's Political
Reform Promotion Headquarters, however, calls for restricting the
hereditary-seat system of passing down Diet seats to descendents
[seshusei]. While Ozawa is being pressured to resign, Okada is
regarded as most likely person to replaced him. The two DPJ leaders,
who withdrew from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1993, are
now struggling over "political reform."

In a general meeting yesterday of the political reform task force,
the idea of restricting the hereditary-seat system was easily
approved, but banning corporations and organizations from donating
money to individual politicians did not go smoothly. Twenty-one
junior lawmakers submitted a written statement calling for an
immediate ban on donations from corporations and organizations.
Okada tried to propose implementing the ban five years from now, but
such Lower House members as Goshi Hosono and Sumio Mabuchi called
for an immediate ban, saying: "It is meaningless to ban them five
years in the future;" and, "The DPJ should determine that it will
change the Japanese political culture." The panel has decided to
hold a meeting again.

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In the wake of the arrest of his state-paid secretary, Ozawa
proposed on March 17 a total ban on donations from corporations and
organizations to individual politicians. He then entrusted Okada
with the issue. Speculation was life that Ozawa made strategic
arrangements for picking Okada as his successor. But it is hard to
say that they have got on well with each other.

On April 20 Okada told reporters: "I wonder if the way of thinking
that corporate donations are bad but individual ones are good is
acceptable."

Many DPJ members felt strong discomfort on a policy of totally ban
corporate donations in order to wipe away the image of Ozawa, who
had continued to receive a huge amount of donations from one
company. Okada proposed imposing restrictions also on fund-raising
party tickets, in a bid to close loopholes with a ban on donations
from companies receiving orders for public works projects.

However, Ozawa said: "The public is interested in a complete ban."
Since Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and other officials have
called for a total ban, Okada will be forced to accept Ozawa's
proposal. At a press conference on April 21, Ozawa expressed his
willingness to continue serving as the DPJ president, saying:

"[Corporate donations to individual politicians] should be totally
prohibited. I presume that our party will stipulate a total ban as
its general will in a set of campaign pledges (manifesto) for the
next House of Representatives election. That is the best way (to
fulfill my responsibility for explaining the donation scandal)."

Probably having felt the Ozawa would remain in his post by totally
prohibiting corporate donations, Okawa gave him a warning, saying:

"Under the situation where 60-70% of the public has said that they
are not satisfied with an explanation (by Ozawa of the arrest of his
secretary),it is impossible to bring about a change in government.
I strongly hope for Mr. Ozawa's explanation."

Ozawa and Okada left the LDP in 1993 under the banner of political
reform. They have a relationship like that of teacher and student. A
person who knows them at that time said: "Mr. Ozawa favored Okada."
The two, however, are now waging a psychological war.

The restrictions on the hereditary-seat system the Okada-led
taskforce compiled yesterday has an aspect that can be taken as
sarcasm toward Ozawa, who is a typical politician succeeded to the
Diet seat held by his father. Former DPJ Policy Research Committee
Chairman Yoshito Sengoku, who has distanced himself from Ozawa, said
yesterday in a meeting of lawmakers: "Many voters in Japan want to
move away from politics that is controlled by political nepotism and
enormous money."

(5) Major financial institutions to log combined net loss of 4
trillion yen in fiscal year 2008

NIKKEI (Page 3) (Excerpts)
April 24, 2009

Japan's financial institutions, such as major banks, brokerages and
insurance companies, are believed to have suffered a combined net
loss of about 4 trillion yen for the year ended March 31,

TOKYO 00000955 006 OF 012


underscoring the heavy toll of the global financial crisis on their
earnings and investments. The red ink is the largest since a roughly
4.7 trillion yen loss in fiscal 2002, when financial institutions
grappled with the disposal of nonperforming loans. In addition to
banks, the global financial market crisis directly hit institutional
investors such as the Norinchukin Bank. With the latest red ink
making lenders cautious, looming concerns about a credit crunch are
casting a dark shadow on the outlook for the domestic economy and
stocks.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said Thursday it now expects to log a
group net loss of 580 billion yen for fiscal 2008, following in the
footsteps of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., which has already
announced a projected net loss of 390 billion yen. Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group Inc. is expected to revise down its projected net
loss to several hundred-billion yen, and Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings
Inc. to 80 billion yen.

The global financial market crisis has also wreaked havoc on the
portfolios of major institutional investors such as Norinchukin
Bank, which will book about 600 billion yen in losses for fiscal

2008.

In the insurance industry, a handful of major life insurers, such as
American International Group Inc.'s Alico Japan, are believed to
have fallen into the red. If insurers grow cautious and begin
reining in investment risk, the stock market could feel the burden.

Brokerages are also expected to disclose hefty losses. Nomura
Holdings Inc. is likely to report a record group net loss of 700
billion yen for fiscal 2008, while Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and
Nikko Citigroup Ltd., a unit of Citigroup Inc., are also expected to
log net losses.

Hefty losses ascribable to three factors -- delay in improvement in
margin spreads, reliance on stock investments, and lax risk
management

Yasuo Ota

Japan's major financial institutions are poised to book large net
losses for the year ended March 31, due largely to their inability
to learn three bitter lessons from past mistakes and make
appropriate changes.

Japanese banks have branched out into mutual fund sales and other
businesses in an effort to generate commission revenues, but their
core lending operations tend to show weak profitability because of
lagging improvement in margin spreads.

At the same time, the banks' ongoing emphasis on shareholdings has
put a burden on their earnings. After repaying past infusions of
public funds, major banks boosted cross-shareholdings. Companies
with which they enjoyed close ties sought such arrangements, fearing
hostile takeover attempts from foreign investors.

Based on lessons learned from the burst of Japans' economic bubble,
the banks should have known the danger of relying too heavily on
stock investments. Yet with the domestic economy entering a
long-term expansion, the banks began reviving the cross-shareholding
practice.


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Risk management practices at the banks were never fully implemented,
leading to painful losses on high-risk instruments snapped up to
turn a profit. Securitized products with liquidity risks and hedge
fund investments with scanty disclosure are prime examples of the
areas that ended up hurting the banks. In some cases, top banks'
lenders were not thoroughly aware of the risks being taken on their
watch because of the complex and specialized nature of the
investments.

The huge public fund infusions of the late 1990s aimed to revive the
financial system and underpin the economy by helping big banks
rebuild. But the latest credit crunch suggests that the banks do not
have a thorough grasp of their social responsibilities.

Some pundits are urging another round of public fund infusions into
major financial institutions. While such actions may be inevitable
to avert a crisis, the banks need to implement business reforms that
underline their self-discipline and willingness to fulfill their
responsibilities to society.

(6) Japan posts first trade deficit in 28 years, shaking up status
as trade-oriented nation

ASAHI (Page 3) (Full)
April 23, 2009

With imports outpacing exports in fiscal 2008, Japan posted its
first trade deficit of 725.3 billion yen in 28 years since fiscal
1980, according to a report released by the Finance Ministry on
April 22. The result came because global trade shrank due to the
financial crisis. Japan's exports have declined almost 50% on a
monthly basis since January 2009. Japan, as a trade-oriented nation,
achieved economic growth in the postwar period. Will its growth
model no longer hold true?

Limits of growth dependent on U.S. pointed out

Japan recorded a trade deficit of approximately 1.4 trillion yen 28
years ago, following the second oil crisis. The value of exports
boosted 22.8% over the previous year, but the value of imports also
grew 14.0% as prices of crude oil shot up, triggered by the Iran
Revolution. As a result, Japan posted a trade deficit, and an
approximately 3.1 trillion yen deficit could not be shaved off in
fiscal 1979.

The main cause of the annual trade deficit in fiscal 2008 was a
record 16.4% plunge in exports. Japan's exports to the U.S., the
country that triggered the financial crisis, began to fall in
September 2007. Since June 2008, the rate of decrease has been in
the double-digit range. In October, following the collapse of U.S.
investment bank Lehman Brothers in September, exports to China also
began to decrease.

As a result, Japan's overall exports shifted to negative territory
in October, and exports shrank 26.7% in November, 35% in December,
and 45.7% this January.

China, which is gradually becoming Japan's largest export market,
produces toys and furniture with plastic and metal materials
imported from Japan and sells such assembled products to the U.S.
and other countries. Slack domestic demand in the U.S. will put a
damper on China's production activities and will eventually reduce

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Japan's exports to the U.S. and China.

Japan's exports to China have exceeded those to the U.S. on a
monthly basis since last summer, but the Japanese economy has still
been affected by U.S. economic conditions.

President Barack Obama has said: "We are beginning to see a ray of
hope." Other administration officials have also made remarks
indicating their confidence of the turning around of their economy.
But the U.S. economy has experienced ups and downs. The situation is
such that it will be difficult for Japan to rapidly boost its
exports again.

Japan External Trade Organization's (JETRO) International Economic
Research Department Head Toshiki Takahashi said: "Japan is a trade-
and investment-oriented nation, rather than a trade-oriented nation.
The trade deficit itself is not a serious problem." He keeps in mind
the fact that the black figure of income, such as dividends and
interest from abroad though overseas operations, has been larger
than the trade black figure since fiscal 2005.

Even so, the scale of income surplus has also contracted on a
monthly basis since October 2008, when the financial crisis became
serious. Some observers take the view that economic growth dependent
on the U.S. has already reached its limits. This view is gaining
influence.

Emerging countries hold key to recovery

In reference to Japan's trade deficit recorded for the first time in
28 years, Finance Minister Yosano stressed the need to expand
domestic demand, saying: "It is necessary for the decreased external
demand to be covered with the effect of our economic stimulus
measures."

Whenever the economy tumbles, the government advocates the need for
expanded domestic demand in order to bring about an autonomous
recovery." Such a slogan always starts with a roar and end with a
whimper, as Japanese society has faced a declining population.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. President Masami Iijima called on the government
to take measures to stimulate developing countries' domestic demand
to Japan through its official development assistance (ODA) program.
As seen from the fact that the Group of 20 (G-20),composed of such
emerging countries China, India and Russia, in addition to Japan,
the U.S., and European countries, have played the leading role in
mapping out measures to cope with the financial crisis, emerging
countries are enhancing their international presence. Various
countries have hammered out measures to boost domestic demand, but
the dominant view in the Japanese business world is that such
measures will produce results first in emerging countries."

The question is how the government and the private sector will cope
with the replacement of major players.

According to JETRO, merger and acquisition (M&A) by Japanese firms
overseas between October and December in 2008 increased triple in
value terms over the same period a year ago. Food manufacturers and
retailers are said to be linked to domestic demand, but a number of
companies in these areas have begun operations overseas.

For instance, Suntory Ltd. bought up a leading beverage company of

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New Zealand in Oct. 2008, and Asahi Breweries, Ltd., acquired an
Australian beverage department of a leading British food company in
December of the same year.

In the manufacturing industry, Toyota Motor Corp. Nissan Motor Co.
have cut production costs and have accelerated the development of
low-price vehicles which people in emerging countries can afford to
buy. Japanese firms are trying to find potential markets and to
explore new demand in an effort to recover their business
performance.

The government also needs to come up with new ideas beyond the
framework of conventional economic stimulus measures designed to
temporarily boost domestic demand.

(7) Editorial: China must increase naval transparency

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
April 24, 2009

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, on the occasion of
marking its 60th anniversary, held its first international fleet
review yesterday at Qingdao, Shandong. The Chinese navy invited
representatives from 29 countries, including Japan's Maritime
Self-Defense Force and the naval forces of the United States and
Russia, to show a stance of deepening exchanges with its foreign
counterparts. However, we are concerned about China's nontransparent
naval expansion.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, concurrently presiding over the Central
Military Commission as the Chinese military's top brass man,
reviewed the fleet. The fleet review was on an unprecedented scale,
as seen from the Chinese media's repeated saturation coverage.

In recent years, China has hurried to build up its naval forces. The
fleet review displayed China's naval preparedness, and the event was
apparently aimed to heighten the communist government's centripetal
force. This is the first time that China has invited foreign naval
representatives to its naval review. This was probably intended to
dodge the 'China-is-a-threat' argument.

Naval vessels from 14 countries-including the United States, Russia,
and South Korea-were also there at Qingdao. However, no MSDF vessels
were invited to the event. A Chinese daily noted: "Not a few Chinese
people will recall their unpleasant memories as they see a naval
vessel flying a Japanese flag." This is another example that shows
how difficult it is to carry out defense exchanges between Japan and
China. As it stands, the two countries will need to continue their
tenacious confidence-building efforts.

China forwent its rumored announcement of a plan to build its first
aircraft carrier. However, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie,
who met with Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada in March, and some
other top brass officers have declared their desire to build
flattops.

It is hard to understand that the Chinese military's high-ranking
officers have not clarified the strategic aim of building AIRCRAFT
carriers while explaining that the reason why China is going to
build AIRCRAFT carriers is "because China is a big power." In the
meantime, the Chinese government has not unveiled its budgetary
measures in such areas as research and development.

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China needs to secure sealanes for its globalized economic
activities. In addition, China's financial power is growing. Given
such factors, China is highly likely to continue its military
buildup. In Asia, China is already spending the largest amount of
money on its national defense. China's failure to fulfill its
accountability will cause its neighbors to become even more
concerned. The communist government itself should hurry to increase
military transparency.

China has been increasing its fleet activities in waters around
Japan. A high-ranking naval officer of China reportedly talked about
his idea of dividing the Pacific Ocean into eastern and western
halves with Hawaii in between when that Chinese naval officer met
with the U.S. Pacific Command chief the year before last. The
Japanese government and the Self-Defense Forces must be on the alert
for China's military buildup.

(8) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Survey: 30% of public hospitals eye cutting number of beds due to
shortage of doctors and declining income

Mainichi:
No. 7 reactor at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant set to
resume operations in May after "Golden Week" holidays

Yomiuri:
China informs Japan and U.S. of its decision to launch system next
month forcing foreign manufacturers to reveal source codes of their
digital home appliances and other high-tech products

Nikkei:
Government eyes easing conditions for tax cut in research and
development

Sankei:
Prime minister to earnestly consider changing government's
interpretation of right to collective self-defense

Tokyo Shimbun:
14,000 elderly on welfare live unregistered care homes

Akahata:
LDP, New Komeito ram antipiracy bill through Lower House

(9) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) Japan urged to play active role in effort to realize
nuclear-free world
(2) Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation must make fresh start


Mainichi:
(1) Antipiracy legislation: Ruling coalition must compromise on Diet
approval
(2) Chiba mayor arrested over bribery

Yomiuri:
(1) Speedy antipiracy debate needed in Upper House

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(2) Chinese Navy greets 60th anniversary: Military buildup
demonstrated in first naval parade

Nikkei:
(1) Critical phase not over for Japanese, U.S. financial institutes
(2) Chinese Navy needs more transparency

Sankei:
(1) DPJ must respond to call for early enactment of antipiracy
legislation
(2) Industrial revitalization amendment must be emergency step

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Continued antipiracy revision talks urged
(2) SMAP vocalist Kusanagi arrested for public indecency

Akahata:
(1) Revitalization of small businesses need solid measures

(10) Prime Minister's schedule, April 23

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
April 24, 2009

07:10
Met Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsumoto at the Kantei. Joined
by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura.

09:00
Attended a meeting of the Lower House Antipiracy Special Committee.

12:04
Arrives at the Kantei.

12:57
Attended a meeting of lawmakers in the Diet Building.

13:02
Attended a Lower House plenary session.

14:50
Met at the Kantei with Palau President Toribiong.

15:39
Met Cabinet Office Vice Minister Yamamoto. Followed by Vice Foreign
Minister Yabunaka.

16:38
Met Akita Governor Satake, with Election Strategy Council Vice
Chairman Suga and Lower House member Koji Futada present.

17:17
Met Cabinet Intelligence Director Mitani. Followed by former
Ambassador to the U.S. Yanai and Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yanagisawa.

19:08
Dined with Administrative Reform Minister Amari at a Japanese
restaurant in the ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo.

21:09
Met Amari at his official residence.

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ZUMWALT