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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 000713 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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 02/09/06 
 
 
Index: 
 
1)   Top headlines 
2)   Editorials 
3)   Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
US beef imbroglio: 
4)   USDA auditors' report cites 20 downer cattle as having been 
  placed in US food chain 
5)   Sloppiness again revealed in US beef-safety control; 
Minister Nakagawa: "Low possibility of such occurring in Japan's 
distribution system" 
6)   Minshuto's Kawauchi, Agriculture Minister Nakagawa clash on 
US beef issue in Lower House Budget Committee 
7)   Prime Minister Koizumi in Diet remark urges US not to use 
BSE-prone bone meal as animal feed 
8)   LDP to dispatch fact-finding mission on beef issue to US 
9)   Japan to likely inspect Japan-bound US beef in local plants 
but whether Japanese consumers will regain trust in product is 
unclear 
 
Defense issues: 
10)  US asks Japan to foot 75% of $8 billion bill to relocate 
  Okinawa Marines to Guam 
11)  JDA chief asked DFAA branches to work on relevant local 
assemblies to persuade them to accept planned US force 
relocations 
12)  Questionnaires sent to US Congress, Japan's Diet members 
probing views on SOFA revision 
 
13)  Japan-North Korea talks end after four days with no results 
 
14)  Chinese official tells visiting LDP lawmaker Beijing has 
  given up on Koizumi     8 
 
15)  ADB President Kuroda calls for a unified East Asia FTA 
 
16)  Government plans to unify three ODA functions, bring all 
  grant aid under JICA 
 
17)  Changing Imperial Household rules to allow female on the 
  throne unlikely this year as Koizumi goes along with turning tide 
  of opinion 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: Mainichi: Sankei: 
Introduction of bill amending Imperial House Law to current Diet 
session difficult; Prime minister "The bill should be presented 
in a manner that satisfies all parties concerned" 
 
Yomiuri: 
Central Education Council draft report; Increase in class time 
for Japanese, mathematics, and science at elementary and middle 
schools to stem decline in academic performance 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
Nissan to make vehicles targeting BRICs' markets; Production to 
possibly start in 2009; Over 100 billion yen to be invested 
 
 
TOKYO 00000713  002 OF 011 
 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Livedoor found to consistently have kept billions of yen in bank 
accounts under other companies' names; Money laundering or 
hoarding? 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1)  Revision of Imperial House Law: Waiting for birth of 
Princess Kiko's third child is one option 
(2)  Japan-North Korea talks: Watching the next step 
 
Mainichi: 
(1)  Japan-North Korea talks: North Korea is responsible for 
dispelling suspicion over abduction issue 
(2)  Decision to construct expressways as originally planned: 
Fear becomes reality 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1)  Princess Kiko pregnant: We are looking forward to the day of 
birth 
(2)  Japan-North Korea talks: Pressure should be an option 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1)  Takeover of Westinghouse by Toshiba reflects rising needs 
for nuclear power plants 
(2)  Thorough discussion needed for revision of Imperial House 
Law 
 
Sankei: 
(1)  Torino Winter Olympics: Wishing for the success of Japanese 
athletes 
(2)  Northern Territories Convention questions the prime 
minister's will to protect Japan's sovereignty 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1)  Japan-North Korea talks: Abduction issue put on hold 
(2)  Princess Kiko pregnant: Hoping she can deliver child in calm 
environment 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, Feb. 8 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2)  (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
08:21 
Met at Kantei with deputy chief cabinet secretaries Nagase and 
Futahashi. 
 
09:00 
Attended a Lower House Budget Committee meeting. 
 
12:02 
Arrived at Kantei. 
 
13:00 
Returned to the Budget Committee meeting. 
 
17:13 
Met Policy Research Council Chairman Nakagawa at Kantei. 
 
TOKYO 00000713  003 OF 011 
 
 
 
18:40 
Dined at a restaurant in the First Square in Otemachi with 
members of the Seven Companies Association composed of executives 
of press companies, including Yomiuri Shimbun Group Headquarters 
Chairman Tsuneo Watanabe. 
 
20:46 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
4) USDA audit report: 20 downer cattle in 2004-2005 were put in 
the US food chain 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
By Jun Kimura in Washington 
 
It was revealed on Feb. 8 that in an inspection report on BSE 
prevention measures issued by the US Department of Agriculture 
(USDA), 20 downer cattle that showed signs of BSE infection were 
slaughtered at US abattoirs and placed into the food chain 
without checking out the cause. Since it is forbidden to process 
for food any cow that is unable to walk, the sloppiness of the US 
system has again been uncovered. With this, Japanese consumers 
inevitably will further increase their anxiety about US beef. The 
cases are likely to have an impact on the timing of resumption of 
US beef imports, banned for a second time over a shipment of meat 
containing Specified Risk Material. 
 
According to the report, during the period June 2004 to April 
2005, a total of 29 head of downer cattle in two of the 12 
slaughterhouses inspected were put into the food chain. Of them, 
20 were not determined to be unable to walk due to injury or the 
like, and the cause of their condition was not recorded in the 
documents. 
 
The facilities had USDA inspectors, but the cattle had passed 
visual inspections as normal when they arrived there, and 
afterward when they were unable to walk, further inspection was 
not fully carried out. The companies were warned by the USDA Food 
Safety and Inspection Service, and they promised to correct the 
problem. 
 
The report in commenting on visual inspections pointed out that 
although all cattle are supposed to be covered, in the 33 
slaughterhouses, 5-10 % of the inspections were "desk-drawer" 
type. However, since USDA ordered a stop to paper inspections in 
July 2005, warnings were sent to correct the situation. 
 
5) US sloppy management of anti-BSE inspection system revealed 
again, with discovery of downer cattle entering food chain 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 7) (Excerpts) 
February 9, 2006 
 
A report released by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 
revealed that cattle that could not walk had been slaughtered for 
human consumption at some slaughterhouses in the US. Such a 
possibility had been discussed at the expert panel of the Food 
Safety Commission. The information highlights again the USDA's 
sloppy management of its inspection system to ensure the safety 
 
TOKYO 00000713  004 OF 011 
 
 
of food. The revelation is expected to raise concerns about the 
safety of American beef among Japanese consumers and eventually 
affect the development of ongoing talks on a resumption of US 
beef imports by Japan. 
 
This issue was taken up during a meeting of the House of 
Representatives Budget Committee yesterday. In response to a 
question by Democratic Party of Japan member Hiroshi Kawauchi 
about a possibility inclusion of non-ambulatory cattle in 
shipments to Japan, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister 
Shoichi Nakagawa said: "The risk is extremely small (because 
Japan has attached certain conditions for beef bound for Japan)." 
 
In meetings of the prion-expert panel last year, some members had 
pointed out the danger of abnormal cattle overlooked in the US. 
In the US, examiners observe cows transported by truck to check 
if they can walk properly to the slaughter area. If they find 
some abnormality about a cow, the cow will be further examined. 
Japan has adopted a similar method. 
 
However, the number of head of cattle slaughtered a day at a 
large-scale facility in the US is more than 10 times that in a 
large-size facility in Japan. According to an estimate by the 
expert panel, examiners observe a head of cattle for about 80 
seconds in Japan, but the time is only about 12 seconds in the 
case of the US. Given this, the panel points out the danger of 
non-ambulatory cattle overlooked. 
 
Even so, the expert panel says that since only beef from cattle 
20 months of age or younger is imported to Japan, even if 
examiners had overlooked abnormal cattle, the risk of BSE- 
contaminated beef included in Japan-bound shipment is very low. 
 
Nakagawa's reply was intended to emphasize that Japan has thus 
adopted a thorough defensive system. Nonetheless, the expert 
panel had discussed until just before it gave the nod to the 
resumption of beef imports last year whether the age of cattle 
can be accurately assessed in the US. Under such a situation, the 
Food Safety Commission in its report of recommendations out last 
December assessed the BSE risk of American beef on the premise 
that the US government abide by the conditions for beef imports 
it reached with the Japanese government. 
 
6) Fierce battle on BSE issue between Agriculture Minister 
Nakagawa, Minshuto's Kawauchi 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) lawmaker Hiroshi Kawauchi, 
who has continued to grill the government onr the issue of US 
beef imports, clashed head-on with Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa in a meeting of the House of 
Representatives Budget Committee yesterday. 
 
Kawauchi persistently asked how meat-processing facilities in the 
US were authorized to handle Japan-bound beef before and after 
the Japanese government decided to resume imports last December. 
In response, Nakagawa sought to defend the government's position, 
making such replies as: "We need to confirm matters in the 
future." 
 
 
TOKYO 00000713  005 OF 011 
 
 
Kawauchi also revealed the fact that livestock farmers in the US 
have given feed to pigs containing meat and bone meal, a 
specified risk material that can transmit BSE to cows. He called 
on the government to urge the US to correct that situation. But 
Nakagawa only replied: "We have constantly made such a request." 
 
Kawauchi had presented a memorandum on questions about the issue 
of US beef imports, and the government had filed a written reply. 
The government decided last November to resume US beef imports, 
but the prior inspection of local meat-processing facilities in 
the US, a precondition for resuming imports provided for in the 
written reply, was not carried out. 
 
Kawauchi fulminated the government's bungled handling of matters: 
"Can you say there was no mistake?" He ended his questions with a 
"declaration of battle," saying: "I am determined to continue to 
pursue this issue." 
 
7) Government to ask for tighter US regulations on animal feed 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated to the Lower House 
Budget Committee yesterday that the government would urge the US 
to tighten regulations to prohibit feeding chickens and pigs meat- 
and-bone meal containing specified risk materials from cows so as 
not to spread BSE. Koizumi was responding to a question from 
Hiroshi Kawauchi of Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan). 
 
8) LDP to send BSE fact-finding team to US 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party has decided to send a fact-finding 
team to the United States today due to the recent shipment of US 
beef that included specified risk materials. The team will 
consist of five LDP members belonging to the Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries Department and other groups, including 
Toshikatsu Matsuoka. The team will visit meat-processing plants 
the opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) mission had 
visited earlier. The LDP intends to demonstrate the importance of 
food safety to put the general public at ease. 
 
9) US beef; Prior inspection system likely to be implemented as 
condition for resuming imports; Whether distrust can be dispelled 
is unclear 
 
MAINICHI (Page 9) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Prior inspections of meatpackers by the Japanese side will likely 
be set as a condition for removing the second ban on US beef 
imports. Such inspections were not carried out when the import 
ban was removed last December despite a cabinet decision to do 
so. Heated debates took place over whether the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of 
Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) violated that decision. However, 
a growing number of lawmakers now support a call for carrying out 
inspections before the lifting of the second ban. The aim of such 
inspections is motivated by the desire not so much to expect some 
 
TOKYO 00000713  006 OF 011 
 
 
results from the inspection but rather to dispel the consumers' 
distrust in US beef. However, whether prior inspections can 
obtain the understanding of consumers is unclear. 
 
Appearing on a TV talk show, MAFF Minister Shoichi Nakagawa on 
Feb. 5 referred to the possibility of conducting prior 
inspections. He noted, "We will consider what we should do before 
lifting the ban, including sending inspectors from Japan for a 
thorough inspection." As if to echo Nakagawa's statement, US 
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns told reporters on the 6th, 
 
SIPDIS 
"We are ready to cooperate on matters requested by Japan." 
Chances are that in view of the fact that the opposition camp and 
consumer organizations had called for prior inspections from the 
beginning, a method of authorizing facilities that underwent 
prior inspections to export their products to Japan will likely 
be adopted. 
 
The Japanese side did not carry out prior inspections before the 
resumption of beef trade last December. It instead was conducting 
inspections of all facilities with a schedule to complete such in 
March. Asked about reasons why the Japanese side did not carry 
out prior inspections, Nakagawa cited: (1) It is not possible to 
inspect actual meat-packing operations before the resumption of 
imports; and (2) there is no difference between prior inspections 
and ex post facto inspections in terms of efficacy, and so, prior 
inspections are duplicative. In order to have US meatpackers 
observe import conditions, it is most effective to have a 
Japanese inspector stationed at each company on a permanent basis 
or carry out spot checks. However, in view of Japan's relations 
with the US, such methods are not realistic. At any rate, the 
Japanese government wants to avoid a situation in which it has to 
directly take responsibility for the safety of US beef. 
 
The opposition camp pursued such a stance of the government in 
the Diet with Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) head Seiji 
Maehara firing up his offensive in a Diet debate, "The government 
failed to fulfill the responsibility to have the US observe 
import conditions." He thus challenged the government, 
questioning whether it did all it could do. If the Japanese side 
had carried out prior inspections, such a situation as that US 
government inspectors were not aware of import conditions would 
not have occurred. 
 
Nakagawa also stated that even if the US issues a report on the 
cause of the inclusion of specified risk materials in a Japan- 
bound beef shipment and measures to prevent an occurrence, that 
alone would not convince Japanese consumers. The government 
characterizes inspections to be carried out prior to the removal 
of the send import ban as an additional measure to convince the 
consumers. However, in that event, it will be pressed to make a 
difficult judgment over to what extent the Japanese side should 
involve itself in inspection procedures. 
 
10) US estimates 8 billion dollars for relocation of US Marines 
to Guam 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
The United States has presented to Japan an estimate of 8 billion 
dollars (950 billion yen) for the planned relocation of US 
Marines, including its command, to Guam as part of the US force 
 
TOKYO 00000713  007 OF 011 
 
 
realignment, sources revealed yesterday. Senior foreign and 
defense officials of the two countries will start talks today in 
Tokyo to discuss how estimates were arrived at, Japan's financial 
contributions to the relocation, and other factors. 
 
The total estimate includes costs required for building the 
command and billets in Guam. Because specific facilities are not 
being described, Japan intends to ask for the breakdown of the 
total cost before entering talks on Japan's share. Japan will 
send officials in charge to Guam on Feb. 12 to take a firsthand 
look at the planned relocation site. 
 
11) Nukaga reveals that Defense Agency sent e-mails to defense 
facilities administration bureaus to lobby local assemblies not 
to adopt anti-base resolutions 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga indicated before 
the Lower House Budget Committee yesterday that the Defense 
Agency had sent e-mails to the seven regional defense facilities 
administration bureaus in the nation instructing their workers 
responsible for US force realignment affairs to lobby the 
assemblies of possible US base relocation sites not to carry out 
anti-base activities, such as adopting anti-relocation 
resolutions. Nukaga was replying to a question from Japanese 
Communist Party member Seiken Akamine. 
 
Nukaga said: 
 
"In order to obtain local understanding and cooperation, it is 
important to grasp the trends of local assemblies. That is why 
the agency sent e-mails. We had no intention of applying pressure 
on local assemblies." 
 
12) Governors association to survey Japanese, US mapmakers on 
SOFA 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
The association of the governors of 14 prefectures hosting US 
bases, chaired by Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa, revealed a 
plan yesterday to send out questionnaires to Japanese and US 
lawmakers to find out their views on the Japan-US Status of 
Forces Agreement (SOFA), which is being criticized in Japan as 
unfair. The association plans to collect replies by the end of 
February to announce the results in early March. 
 
Questionnaires will be send to 80 lawmakers belonging to the 
Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee and Security Committee and 
the Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the 
Japanese side, and 86 lawmakers belonging to the Senate and House 
Armed Services Committees on the US side. 
 
The association has questions about the SOFA that allows Japan to 
have pre-indictment custody with US consent of only those US 
military personnel suspected of having committed serious crimes. 
The group is also unhappy with the pact that gives Japan only 
limited search and seizing power regarding aircraft accidents 
outside US bases. The association has asked the government to 
 
TOKYO 00000713  008 OF 011 
 
 
specify some steps in the pact, such as the application of 
environmental legislation to the US bases. 
 
A source connected with the Kanagawa prefectural government, 
which is serving as the group's secretariat, noted, "Revising the 
pact requires the approval of the two parliaments, so we would 
like to grasp the intentions of lawmakers concerned." 
 
13) Japan-DPRK dialogue ends, failing to achieve progress; North 
Korea's position of giving priority to US becomes clear 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Hiroshi Minegishi, Toyofumi Amano, Beijing 
 
The governments of Japan and North Korea yesterday wound up their 
five-day dialogue but failed to achieve substantial progress. 
North Korea did not budge from its hard-line stance in dealing 
with the abduction issue and the settlement of past accounts 
relating to Japan's colonial rule of Korea. On the nuclear and 
missile development issues, the North urged Japan to call on the 
United States to lift the financial sanctions now imposed on 
Pyongyang as a step to bring the six-party talks back on track. 
What became clear through the 22 hours of the first set of 
parallel talks between Japan and North Korea was that the DPRK 
gives priority to the US. 
 
On Feb. 8, at a press conference in the North Korean Embassy in 
Beijing, Ambassador Song Il Ho was asked about the conditions for 
his country to come back to the six-party talks. Song gave a 
prompt answer: "The lifting of financial sanctions." He admitted 
that in the talks on Feb. 7, he urged Japan to act as a mediator 
between his country and the US, noting: "The Americans are more 
attentive to views from the Japanese than those from us, aren't 
they?" Song thus revealed his insistence on having the sanctions 
lifted. 
 
Before the start of the negotiations, the Japanese team had 
assumed to some extent that the North Koreans would take a hard- 
line stance. However, in the talks on settling past accounts, the 
North Korean negotiators rejected a package of economic 
cooperation, the approach specified in the Japan-North Korea 
Pyongyang Declaration. They instead demanded separate 
compensation on such issues as the former military comfort women. 
They also called for Japan to hand over seven members of 
nongovernmental organizations supporting North Korean defectors, 
linking them to the abduction issue. This demand was beyond what 
the Japanese team had foreseen. 
 
The aim of the parallel talks was to use progress in the 
negotiations on normalization as momentum for achieving results 
on the abduction and nuclear issues. But with the food situation 
in North Korea having improved ever so slightly and with 
Pyongyang expecting further assistance from China and South 
Korea, the "economic card" that Japan was hoping to play has lost 
its usefulness recently. 
 
The major issue facing North Korea now is how to respond to the 
financial sanctions the US Department of the Treasury has imposed 
on a Macau bank with which North Korea has had transactions. This 
issue is showing signs of evolving into a global net to encircle 
 
TOKYO 00000713  009 OF 011 
 
 
North Korea, given that banks in Japan, South Korea, and other 
nations are moving to follow US banks, which have halted 
transactions with the Macau institution. For North Korea, moving 
on the abduction issue would be meaningless unless there is 
progress on the financial sanctions. The reason the North Koreans 
accepted the parallel talks with Japan this time is probably 
because they wanted to fend off international pressure and use 
the talks to achieve a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations 
with the US. 
 
Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stated: "The 
negotiations did not go smoothly. There remains a wide gap. We 
need to continue to make a tenacious effort." His statement, 
though, was not as crisp and clear as usual. 
 
14) China's State Council member Tang Jiaxuan says, "We no longer 
expect anything from Prime Minister Koizumi" 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Masahiko Takekoshi, Beijing 
 
Tang Jiaxuan, a councilor of China's State Council and former 
foreign minister, yesterday met with visiting House of 
Representatives member Takeshi Noda of the Liberal Democratic 
Party (LDP) who heads the Japan-China Association. In the 
conversation, Tang referred to the currently strained relations 
with Japan in part because of Prime Minister Koizumi's continued 
visits to Yasukuni Shrine and expressed a sense of disappointment 
about improving ties with Japan, telling Noda: "We no longer 
expect anything from Prime Minister Koizumi. There is little 
possibility that our relations will turn for the better while he 
is in office." Tang continued, "We need to have a long-term 
perspective," indicating an interest in who will succeed Koizumi. 
 
In a meeting late last year with the LDP's Deputy Secretary- 
General Ichiro Aisawa, Tang had taken the stand that in order to 
break the impasse in the strained relations, Japan and China 
should hold a foreign ministerial meeting as quickly as possible. 
 
Meanwhile, Tang revealed that in a planned meeting between 
representatives of seven Japan-China friendship groups and the 
Chinese leadership, including President Hu Jintao, slated for 
late March, "An important statement (on Japan-China relations) 
will be released." 
 
15) ADB President Kuroda advocates a single East Asian FTA, 
stresses efficacy of ACU 
 
YOMIURI (Page 9) (Full) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda delivered 
yesterday a speech on economic cooperation in the East Asian 
region at the Japan National Press Club in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. 
He stated: "It is important to integrate many (bilateral) free 
trade agreements into a single FTA in East Asia." He advocated 
the creation of an East Asian Community, which would manage the 
economy of the entire region. 
 
Kuroda also underscored the need for establishing an East Asian 
 
TOKYO 00000713  010 OF 011 
 
 
version of Group of Seven (G-7), which will be made up of finance 
ministers and central bank governors from the Association of East 
Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, China and South Korea (ASEAN plus 
Three), saying, "It is significant for East Asia to initiate a 
process for policy dialogue, which is like the G-7 composed of 
Japan, the United States and European countries. 
 
Regarding an Asian Currency Unit (ACU) the ADB has advocated, 
Kuroda stressed the efficacy of a new currency unit, noting, 
 
"With the creation of an new currency unit, we will be able to 
monitor how Asian currencies move against the dollar and euro and 
such will be useful for the currency policy of each country." 
 
16) Government, LDP to integrate three ODA functions into one and 
bring all grant aid under JICA 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Slightly abridged) 
February 9, 2006 
 
In an effort to reform the official development assistance (ODA) 
program, the government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 
started yesterday looking into the possibility of bringing the 
grant aid function of the Foreign Ministry under the Japan 
International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It has already been 
revealed that the yen loan aid function of the Japan Bank for 
International Cooperation (JBIC) would be merged into JICA. The 
government and the LDP intend to unify three ODA operational 
organizations into one body, including planning functions, in 
order to strengthen cooperation and promote the efficiency of 
operation. 
 
The Foreign Ministry made the proposal to the LDP in a joint 
meeting yesterday. It would integrate into JICA three ODA 
functions -- loan aid in cooperation with JBIC, technical aid 
that JICA is closely involved in, and the grant aid function, now 
controlled by the ministry. JICA President Sadako Ogata also 
said, "We should move forward with ODA reform while further 
strengthening cooperation." The ministry secured the LDP's 
approval. 
 
The government has already revealed a plan of creating an 
organization under the prime minister's direct control in charge 
of the planning of ODA projects. With the proposal of the 
unification plan this time, the planning and operational 
functions will become separate organizations. 
 
17) Prime Minister Koizumi likely to give up submission of bill 
revising the Imperial House Law to current Diet session following 
Princess Kiko's pregnancy 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpts) 
February 9, 2006 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last night made this statement 
about the bill to revise the Imperial Household Law to allow 
females and their descendents ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne: 
 
"Further cautious discussion is necessary to decide the issue. If 
possible, it would be desirable that the law be amended by 
unanimous approval. In order to submit it to the Diet, 
consideration is needed so that the bill will not be used as a 
 
TOKYO 00000713  011 OF 011 
 
 
tool in a political fight." 
 
Koizumi indicated that in his remark that his government would 
forgo submission of a bill to revise the Imperial succession law 
to the ongoing Diet session. In addition to Princess Kiko being 
pregnant with her third child, since he cited "unanimous 
approval" as a condition for submission of the bill to the Diet, 
it has now become difficult for the government to submit it to 
the ongoing Diet session. 
 
Asked by reporters about whether he would give up the submission, 
Koizumi did not deny the possibility, responding: "It is too 
early to make a decision. The first thing to do is discuss." He 
then added: "At present, setting an arena to carefully discuss 
the issue for a conclusion is necessary rather than setting a 
deadline." He indicated that in his remark that he was not wedded 
to the plan to submit the bill to the current Diet session. 
 
Koizumi announced in his policy speech on Jan. 20 that his 
government would submit the revision bill to the Diet. He has 
reiterated his intention to get the bill passed during the 
current Diet session. Following Princess Kiko's pregnancy, the 
prevailing view is that conditions for the submission of the bill 
have now changed, according to a senior official. The prime 
minister, therefore, seems to have shifted his policy line. 
 
SCHIEFFER