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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 001775 
 
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 04//06 
 
 
Index: 
 
1)   Top headlines 
2)   Editorials 
3)   Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
Defense issues: 
4)   JDA chief to meet with Nago mayor over Futenma relocation 
5)   JDA deputy chief urges Nago City to give answer at an early 
date on Futenma relocation plan 
6)   Tokyo may call off coordination with Nago City over Futenma 
relocation 
7)   Japan may postpone troop pullout to this fall or later: MOFA 
official 
8)   NATO mulls expanding cooperation with Japan at US overtures 
9)   71% want constitutional status for SDF in Yomiuri poll 
 
Political merry-go-round in DPJ: 
10)  Ichiro Ozawa gets pole position in DPJ race 
11)  Ozawa gaining more support in DPJ for party post 
12)  - This time around, Naoto Kan looking for chance to come 
back as DPJ head 
13)  New DPJ head's term up until the end of September 
 
Foreign ties: 
14)  US concerned about Iraq's nuke program, Washington to ask 
   Tokyo to freeze Japan's Azadegan oil stake 
15)  Prime Minister Koizumi to visit Africa in May, aiming to 
check China infiltration 
16)  North Korean security official, who is expert on Pyongyang's 
US policy, to visit Japan 
17)  Visiting Polish foreign minister in meeting with Japanese 
counterpart suggests need to continue arms embargo toward China 
 
US beef: 
18)  Beef panel replaces half its members, including those 
   cautious about resuming Japan's US beef imports 
19)  Farm, health ministries to hold public hearings across the 
nation on US beef 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
90% of short track training camps used skating rink run by Japan 
Skating Federation Director Kameoka between 1998 and 2004 at fee 
30% higher than usual; Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and 
Technology Ministry to launch investigation 
 
Mainichi, Yomiuri, Sankei, and Tokyo Shimbun: 
Minshuto presidential race: Support for Ozawa expanding; Kan also 
searching for ways to run in race; Hatoyama, ex-socialist, 
Yokomichi groups to throw support behind Ozawa 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
Financial Services Agency to cap ATM cash transfers at 100,000 
yen next year to prevent money laundering 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
 
TOKYO 00001775  002 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
(1)  "Invasion" versus "advances": Discussions must be conducted 
based on facts 
(2)  Postal businesses: Newly launched watchdog has heavy 
responsibility 
 
Mainichi: 
(1)  Logic behind postal services expansion strategy absurd 
(2)  Thoughts on social disparity: A society that produces few 
winners is uninteresting 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1)  Time is right to revise the Constitution 
(2)  New Japan Medical Association president elected: Distance 
from LDP not only the issue 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1)  Newly launched Postal Privatization Committee holds key to 
success of postal privatization 
(2)  Prime Minister Thaksin's empty victory 
 
Sankei: 
(1)  Minshuto presidential race: All-party discussion essential 
(2)  Heisei era grand mergers: Greater efficiency takes 
innovative ideas 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1)  Condominium security: Cooperation of residents essential to 
eliminate blind spots 
(2)  Thai general election: Fresh start essential 
 
3) Prime Minister's schedule, April 3 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2)  (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
08:02 
Met at Kantei with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Futahashi. 
Issued written official appointment to Cabinet Intelligence 
Director Mitani, attended by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries 
Nagase, Suzuki, and Futahashi. 
 
09:00 
Attended Lower House Administrative Special Committee session. 
 
11:57 
Returned to Kantei. 
 
13:00 
Attended Lower House Administrative Special Committee session. 
 
17:03 
Attended LDP executive meeting. 
 
17:35 
Issued at Kantei a written official appointment to Postal 
Privatization Committee Chairman Tanaka, joined by Internal 
Affairs Minister Takenaka. 
 
18:20 
Enjoyed opera at Suntory Hall along with women's gold medalist 
figure skater Arakawa, Suntory President Saji and his wife, and 
Sankei Shimbun President Sumita and his wife. 
 
TOKYO 00001775  003 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
 
21:39 
Met Saji and his wife and Sumita and his wife at Tokyo ANA Hotel. 
 
23:35 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
4) Defense chief to meet with Nago mayor 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga will meet with 
Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro this evening over the issue of 
relocating the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the city 
of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to a coastal area of Camp Schwab 
in his city. In the meeting, Nukaga will ask for the mayor's 
understanding on the coastal relocation plan. Meanwhile, Defense 
Agency Administrative Deputy Director General Takemasa Moriya 
said in a news conference yesterday that the Defense Agency had 
sent a letter to the municipal government of Nago City in late 
March, rejecting the city's proposal of substantial changes to 
the coastal relocation plan. "There's no change in our request," 
Shimabukuro told reporters, stressing his intention to urge the 
government go make concessions. 
 
In the meantime, Japan and the United States will hold a three- 
day session of intergovernmental working-level consultations in 
Washington from today, with senior officials for foreign and 
defense affairs attending. Their discussion will focus on the 
issue of sharing the cost of relocating US Marines from Okinawa 
to Guam. "It will be considerably difficult (this time)," Vice 
Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi told a news conference yesterday. 
"If we can reach an agreement this month, that's good," he added. 
 
5) Defense Agency urges Nago to provide early answer on Futenma 
relocation plan 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
The Defense Agency has now called on the city of Nago, Okinawa 
Prefecture, to give an answer at an early date on the 
government's modified plan to relocate the US Marine Corps' 
Futenma Air Station to a coastal area on the premises of Camp 
Schwab in Nago. "The government will not make any more 
proposals," Defense Agency Administrative Deputy Director General 
Takemasa Moriya told a press conference yesterday. 
 
Meanwhile, Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro yesterday called for 
the government to make still greater concessions. Moriya revealed 
that the government documented an agreement to move the flight 
paths of US military aircraft from the skies over the city's 
residential areas when Nukaga and Shimabukuro met March 26. 
Moriya said Nago City would consider the documented agreement. 
 
6) Defense Agency may break off talks with Nago on Futenma 
relocation; Senior official criticizes the city's stiffened 
stance 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
April 4, 2006 
 
TOKYO 00001775  004 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
 
A senior Defense Agency official indicated yesterday that if 
there was no progress, the government might discontinue revision 
talks with Nago on a plan to relocate the US Marine Corps' 
Futenma Air Station. The official thus criticized Nago's 
stiffened stance toward the Defense Agency's proposal to make 
minor changes, such as changing the angle of the planned runway. 
The government may give up on obtaining local consent, a factor 
specified in an interim report on the realignment of US forces in 
Japan. 
 
Since March 21, Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga 
and Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro have held a total of four 
days of talks on making changes to the plan to relocate Futenma 
Air Station to the coastline of Camp Schwab in Nago. They were 
scheduled to meet again on March 29, but it was postponed due to 
the death of former Nago Mayor Tateo Kishimoto. 
 
Their next meeting has not been set. Shimabukuro indicated to 
reporters yesterday that he would not respond to a call for talks 
unless the Defense Agency presents further concessions, saying, 
"(Talks) will be held if there are some changes to (the 
government's plan)." Shimabukuro also reiterated his call to make 
major changes and remove the site for an alternate facility to 
the ocean side. 
 
Administrative Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya also in a 
press conference yesterday explained developments in revision 
talks and rebutted Shimabukuro's standpoint. 
 
Nukaga and Shimabukuro sorted out basic policy in writing in 
their March 26 meeting, including the following: (1) the Defense 
Agency proposed paying attention to the safety of local 
residents, environmental conservation, and feasibility based on 
the government's plan; (2) Nago called for measures to remove the 
flight paths from the Henoko, Toyohara, and Abu districts; and 
(3) the two sides agreed to respect each other's views and reach 
a conclusion swiftly. 
 
In the talks with Nukaga, Shimabukuro reportedly refused to give 
his consent on the spot with the Defense Agency's plan to make 
minor changes to remove some municipalities from the flight paths 
in mind, saying, "I'll have to consult with local communities if 
I can put together Nago's views." Moriya indicated that Nago 
should first present its view on the government's "slightly 
modified plan," saying, "We will be waiting for a sincere reply." 
 
A senior Defense Agency official criticized Shimabukuro's 
response, saying, "The defense chief and the mayor stopped short 
of reaching an agreement on removing some municipalities from the 
flight paths. But the mayor later explained something different 
to local communities. He spoke with a forked tongue." The 
official also suggested that the government might discontinue 
revision talks depending on how Shimabukuro reacts to the 
government, saying, "If talks are protracted, we will have to 
make a decision." However, if the government gives up on 
obtaining local consent, Washington may become even more 
distrustful of Tokyo. 
 
7) Yachi: GSDF withdrawal may occur in fall or later 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
 
TOKYO 00001775  005 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
April 4, 2006 
 
A few days ago, Foreign Minister Taro Aso indicated that Japan 
might not withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force troops from southern 
Iraqi city of Samawah until this fall or later. Touching on Aso's 
comment, Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi said in a press 
conference yesterday: "Theoretically, this is possible. I have an 
impression that the timing has been slipping somewhat (from 
originally planned)." 
 
8) NATO willing to expand military ties with Japan in response to 
US proposal 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Minoru Kageyama, London 
 
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been studying 
the possibility of expanding its strategic relations with Japan 
and other countries in response to a proposal made by the United 
States, according to the April 3 edition of the British newspaper 
Financial Times. NATO hopes to strengthen its ties with nonmember 
countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, South 
Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Senior Foreign Vice Minister 
Yasuhisa Shiozaki met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop 
Scheffer when he visited Europe late last year. The two shared 
the need to strengthen relations between Japan and NATO, but it 
remains unknown what kind of cooperation is possible in the 
military area. 
 
According to a senior NATO official, the US has called on NATO to 
strengthen its military ties with Japan and South Korea. NATO has 
already established close military relations with Sweden, 
Finland, Australia, and New Zealand, which have not joined NATO, 
through their dispatch of troops to operations by the NATO-led 
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. 
 
Some NATO officials take the view that it would be possible to 
persuade Japan to accept the NATO offer if it proposes that Japan 
transfer Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops now stationed in Iraq to 
Afghanistan when they are reorganized, according to the 
newspaper. 
 
NATO has arranged to hold a summit meeting to discuss the 
reorganization of its membership, but the Japanese Foreign 
Ministry plans to make no specific approach, including a dispatch 
of troops to Afghanistan. 
 
9) Poll: 71% want Constitution to clarify SDF existence 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
April 4, 2006 
 
The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a nationwide opinion survey March 
11-12. The survey showed that 56% said that the Constitution 
should be amended, the ninth consecutive year that a majority of 
pollees in similar surveys have favored revising the 
Constitution. It also showed 71% said that the supreme law should 
clarify the existence of the Self-Defense Forces. November will 
mark the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the 
Constitution. The results of the poll have again brought to light 
 
TOKYO 00001775  006 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
public support for a new basic law responsive to changes in 
society. 
 
Regarding Article 9 of the Constitution, 39% - the fifth- 
consecutive new high - said it should be revised because there 
was a limit to interpreting the article and putting it into 
practice. The survey showed that 33% said the article should be 
handled as it has been so far, but 21% said it should be strictly 
upheld and that its spirit should not be watered down through 
changing interpretations. 
 
Concerning the right to collective self-defense, 27% said the 
Constitution should be amended to allow the country to exercise 
the right, while 23% said interpretation of the Constitution 
should be changed to allow for the right to be exercised. As a 
result, 50 % favored exercising the right, while 44% said the 
right should not be exercised. 
 
Asked which constitutional issues they were interested in, 19% of 
respondents named the war-renouncing article and the SDF, the top 
for the fifth consecutive year, followed by the Emperor and the 
imperial family with 31% and Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to 
Yasukuni Shrine with 28%. 
 
10) Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) presidential race: Tide 
of opinion now favoring Ozawa, with few moves to back another 
candidate 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
The main opposition party, Minshuto, will choose its new leader 
on April 7. Ichiro Ozawa, former vice president of the party, is 
gaining support from a large number of party members. The trend 
toward supporting Ozawa is spreading to a conservative group and 
a former socialist group in the party, while other groups in the 
party are slow to put up an opponent candidate. Yesterday, 
Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama in trying to build consensus in 
 
SIPDIS 
the party separately met with Ozawa and former party president 
Naoto Kan. 
 
Late yesterday, lawmakers supporting him, including former Vice 
President Hiroshi Nakai, visited Ozawa at his office and urged 
him, "If you decide to run for the race, we will do our utmost to 
back you." Ozawa reportedly told them, "I appreciate your 
encouragement." 
 
Some 30 lawmakers close to Hatoyama gathered at his office 
yesterday afternoon. Many of them lauded Ozawa for his strong 
leadership, pointing out the fact that when he had been the head 
of the former Liberal Party (Jiyuto), he decided to merge with 
Minshuto and helped the party gain more seats. They agreed to 
back Ozawa as a presidential candidate. The group of former 
socialists, including Lower House Vice Speaker Takahiro 
Yokomichi, also gathered at a restaurant in Tokyo. Many of them 
were of the opinion that they should support Ozawa. 
 
Meanwhile, Kan told the press corps after questioning at a Lower 
House Administrative Reform Special Committee session yesterday: 
"Even if I were to do a handstand, that would have no meaning 
unless our party wins public confidence. The first thing to do is 
to think about the party as a whole." When asked about Ozawa, Kan 
 
TOKYO 00001775  007 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
stated with some implications about coordination: "He has vast 
experience and high support among the public. I think he is an 
important person with whom I have to cooperate." 
 
Kan and some 20 lawmakers close to him gathered in Tokyo 
yesterday. According to House of Representatives member Satoshi 
Arai, many insisted that Kan should run in the presidential race, 
but after the meeting, Kan made only this remark to the 
reporters: "I have yet to make a final decision at this point. I 
will exchange views with many members of the party." 
 
One leading lawmaker at this gathering indicated a positive 
attitude about unifying candidates, but there is concern in the 
party that if the new president were chosen by discussion, it 
could be criticized as a rigged election. 
 
Hatoyama met with Kan in the Diet building yesterday, and the two 
shared the view that the new president should be chosen openly, 
and that all lawmakers should join hands with whomever is chosen. 
Late yesterday, Hatoyama also met with Ozawa. Ozawa told 
Hatoyama: "There is a tendency to hate discussion itself, but 
that is somewhat strange." 
 
While trying to avoid criticism of closed-door discussion, 
Hatoyama intends to pursue coordination in the party in trying to 
build consensus on Ozawa and to ensure that no bad aftertaste 
will be left after an election. 
 
11) Minshuto presidential election: Ozawa winning greater 
support, plans to meet Kan shortly 
 
MAINICHI (Top Play) (Lead paragraph) 
April 4, 2006 
 
In the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for April 7, 
full-scale coordination has begun within the Democratic Party of 
Japan (Minshuto). Yesterday afternoon, Secretary General Yukio 
Hatoyama met with former Vice President Ichiro Ozawa, former 
President Naoto Kan, and others. Various groups in the party also 
discussed yesterday what response they should make, and the 
Hatoyama-led group decided to support Ozawa's bid for the party 
presidency. As support for Ozawa increases within the party, Kan 
in a meeting of lawmakers supporting him last night also made 
remarks that could be taken as a willingness to support Ozawa's 
bid, saying: "In order to unite the party, there is the 
possibility that Mr. Ozawa and I will support each other." Ozawa 
and Kan are expected to meet soon to confer on a final response. 
 
12) Minshuto presidential race; Hatoyama group, former JSP 
members to support Ozawa's bid, while Kan considers running 
 
YOMIURI (Top Play) (Lead paragraph) 
April 4, 2006 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) held a joint plenary 
meeting of party members of both houses of the Diet yesterday and 
formally decided to hold an election on April 7 to select a 
successor to President Maehara. Former party President Naoto Kan 
met with supporters last night and indicated that he would 
consider running in the election. Meanwhile, former Vice 
President Ichiro Ozawa expressed his willingness yesterday to 
seek the top party post. In response, lawmakers from a group led 
 
TOKYO 00001775  008 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
by Secretary General Hatoyama and those who came from the former 
Japan Socialist Party have decided to support Ozawa. The 
presidential race may be a one-on-one fight between Ozawa and 
Kan. 
 
13) Minshuto sets expiration of term of office for new president 
at end of September 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
In a joint plenary meeting of party members of both houses of the 
Diet held at party headquarters yesterday, the Democratic Party 
of Japan (Minshuto) decided on details concerning the election of 
a successor to President Maehara. The party will hold the 
election at a Tokyo hotel on April 7, and the term of office of 
the new president will run through this September - the remainder 
of Maehara's term. 
 
14) US asks Japan to suspend Azadegan oil field development 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Takashi Sakamoto, Washington 
 
The US administration has decided to ask the Japanese government 
to immediately suspend Azadegan oil field development and to 
implement financial sanctions on Iran without a UN resolution if 
negotiations on sanctions against Iran at the United Nations 
fail, a US State Department official told a Yomiuri Shimbun 
correspondent. 
 
The official revealed the view that Japan's indication of the 
possibility of scrapping the contract on Azadegan oil development 
would induce a concession from Iran, saying, "It will become a 
tool to apply pressure on Iran to abandon nuclear weapons." 
Washington will convey this policy to Tokyo before late June, 
when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the United States. 
 
15) Prime Minister Koizumi to visit Africa during Golden Week 
holidays in bid to check China 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Ethiopia, Ghana, and 
Sweden during the Golden Week holiday period. The purpose of 
Koizumi's trip to Africa appears to be to check China, which has 
actively developed Africa diplomacy in an attempt to secure 
resources. 
 
Koizumi will spend seven days for this overseas trip from April 
29 through May 5. He is expected to hold talks with Ethiopian 
government and African Union (AU) leaders at the AU headquarters 
in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. He intends to play up 
Japan's stance of strengthening relations with African countries 
and dealing with poverty and starvation. It will be the first 
time for a Japanese prime minister to visit the AU headquarters. 
 
Koizumi said, " I'm not looking for short-term success." He seems 
to be seeking to check China, which has been making efforts to 
 
TOKYO 00001775  009 OF 010 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
gain African support. 
 
16) North Korean official for security affairs who took part in 
Japan-DPRK talks to come to Japan at the invitation of a private 
organization 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
North Korea's Foreign Ministry America Bureau Deputy Director 
Jong Thae Yong, who was responsible for security talks in the 
Japan-DPRK Comprehensive and Parallel Talks held in February, 
will visit Japan in mid-April, several sources familiar with 
Japan-DPRK relations revealed yesterday.  At the invitation of a 
private sector organization, Jong will visit Japan, and he is 
reportedly expected to attend a security-affairs-related 
conference. Jong is an expert on US affairs. He also took part in 
the six-party talks dealing with the North Korean nuclear 
programs. 
 
17) "It is necessary to continue arms embargo against China," 
says Polish foreign minister 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Foreign Minister Aso last evening met with his Polish counterpart 
Meller at the Foreign Ministry's Iikura Guest House in Tokyo. 
During the meeting, Aso expressed his concern about the EU 
mulling the possibility of lifting the embargo on exports of 
weapons to China: "China's military spending lacks transparency. 
It is showing growth of more than 10%. I am against the idea of 
lifting the arms embargo on China." 
 
Meller indicated understanding for Japan's position, noting: "In 
my view, the arms embargo should be maintained. At present, no EU 
members are in favor of lifting the measure." 
 
18) Half the members of Prion Expert Council responsible for 
discussing BSE issue replaced: Members cautious on resuming US 
beef imports rotate out 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 9) (Slightly abridged) 
April 4, 2006 
 
The Cabinet Office's Food Safety Commission (FSC) yesterday 
announced the renomination of members of the Prion Expert Council 
and the Agricultural Expert Council as of April 1. Six out of 12 
members of the Prion Expert Council, which has pursued 
discussions on domestic measures to prevent BSE infection and 
conditions for resuming US beef imports, have been replaced. 
Several members who had been cautious about a US beef import 
resumption have stepped aside. There are 16 expert councils under 
the FSC, and there is no fixed term of office for members. In 
June 2004, the Cabinet Office decided to set the term of office. 
Following this decision, 14 councils established the term of 
council members and held elections on October 1 last year. 
 
Tokyo Medical College Professor Kiyotoshi Kaneko, one of the six 
members who quit, had been wary about a resumption of US beef 
imports. He made this remark: "Some newly-elected members take a 
cautious view on the issue. I believe they will fulfill their 
 
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SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 04//06 
 
role. I found it hard to express views that are different from 
the government's. I hope to see the consolidation of an 
environment that respects such views." 
 
19) Nationwide town-hall meetings to exchange views on US beef 
import ban to start from Apr. 11 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
April 4, 2006 
 
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) and 
the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) yesterday 
announced a plan to hold town-hall meetings to exchange opinions 
with consumers on the ban on US beef imports between April 11 and 
April 21 at nine locations across the country. During the 
meetings, MAFF and MHLW will explain the US Department 
Agriculture's report on the inclusion of vertebral columns in a 
US beef shipment and its replies to questions posed by Japan. 
 
About 150 to 250 participants will be invited to each session. 
Those who want to take part can obtain an application form from 
the websites of the two ministries and send the form in by fax. 
The schedule of the meetings is as follows: Naha on the 11th, 
Sapporo on the 12th, Sendai on the 13th, Osaka on the 14th, 
Niigata on the 17th, Nagoya on the 18th, Hiroshima on the 19th, 
Fukuoka on the 20th, and Tokyo on the 21st. 
 
DONOVAN