VZCZCXRO4017
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1842/01 0960752
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060752Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0592
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 8168
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5539
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 8696
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 5534
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6717
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1544
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7725
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 9658

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001842 
 
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:  DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/06/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Jiji kokkoku column - contenders to succeed Koizumi voice 
protest against Chinese President Hu's remarks 
 
(2) US force realignment following a wild path (Part 3): 
Supporters turned into opponents because of the government's lack 
of advance consultation 
 
(3) Foreign Minister Aso aims to create economy-oriented country; 
Says he is responsible for dissolving income disparity 
 
(4) LDP reacts against New Komeito's initiative in revising the 
Basic Education Law; Description of "patriotism" unclear 
 
(5) Light and shadow - Reality of five years of Koizumi politics; 
Intergenerational gaps in pension benefits blocking mutual 
assistance 
 
(6) Use of space: Private sector at moment of truth 
 
(7) Half of 12-member prion panel resigns 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Jiji kokkoku column - contenders to succeed Koizumi voice 
protest against Chinese President Hu's remarks 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
April 5, 2006 
 
By Shinya Minamishima; Hideto Fujiwara in Beijing 
 
"I am willing to hold top-level talks if the Japanese leader does 
not visit Yasukuni Shrine." This remark by Chinese President Hu 
Jintao urging the contenders to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi not to pay homage to the shrine is causing ripples across 
the country. Improving relations with China will be one of the 
campaign issues in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 
presidential race. Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda 
has shifted his emphasis to Asia diplomacy. But the so-called 
post-Koizumi candidates and other Japanese leaders are assuming a 
tougher stand toward China in reaction to that country's repeated 
criticism of shrine visits. At one point China appeared to be 
avoiding mentioning the Yasukuni issue, so why has it now turned 
around? 
 
"It gave me the impression that he has become much more 
flexible," Hidenao Nakagawa, chair of the LDP Policy Research 
Council, said to an Asahi Shimbun reporter. Saying, "I can 
understand his personal feeling," Nakagawa on the surface has 
taken Hu's recent remarks as showing a certain level of 
understanding toward the prime minister's "private visit to the 
shrine." 
 
Assuming Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe will replace Koizumi, 
Nakagawa is working hard to pave the way for the successor to 
Koizumi to repair relations with China. He therefore wants to 
take Hu's remarks as positively as possible, but in his heart he 
appears to have mixed feelings. 
 
An aide to Nakagawa argued: "None of the so-called post-Koizumi 
candidates can declare, 'I won't visit Yasukuni.' (Hu's) remarks 
 
TOKYO 00001842  002 OF 011 
 
 
will have the opposite effect. President Hu has made a mistake." 
 
It was not long before the opposite effect emerged. Reacting to 
Fu's remarks, Abe told a press conference on April 3: "I can't 
accept (President Hu's assertions)." Foreign Minister Aso as well 
used strong language in criticizing (China) at a press briefing 
yesterday: "(China's) approach is beyond our understanding." 
Finance Minister Tanigaki also stated, "It's important for us to 
be able to have discussion if a dispute arises. Refusing to meet 
is a problem." 
 
How to mend fences with China will be a key campaign issue in the 
presidential race. But declaring "I won't visit the shrine" in 
response to Hu's statement could be viewed as giving in to 
pressure from China. Workable options for improving relations 
with China seem limited. 
 
Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) 
Chairman Kakutaro Kitashiro told a press conference yesterday: 
"Stopping the shrine visits would become even more difficult once 
this turns into a political issue. People would question whether 
the person avoided making shrine visits in response to China's 
call. I think it is regrettable that President Hu made such 
remarks." 
 
One Japanese lawmaker who had been present in the meeting 
(between Hu and the heads of seven Japanese groups) explained: 
"President Hu would like to somehow improve relations with Japan. 
But he is in a situation that requires him to mention (the 
Yasukuni issue). I think it is regrettable to see the Japanese 
government and influential lawmakers critically comment on his 
words." 
 
Main points from President Hu's remarks 
 
China-Japan relations have been faced with a difficult situation 
in recent years, which is something I do not want to see. Neither 
China nor the Japanese people are responsible for that. The cause 
lies with a few Japanese leaders who have repeatedly visited 
Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals. I am ready 
to hold top-level talks if Japanese leaders stop visiting the 
shine. I regard shrine visits by representatives of the Japanese 
government as part of government policy. I can understand 
personal feelings, but I hope to see the sentiments of a victim 
nation respected. 
 
China intended to highlight friendship but changed its mind after 
much debate due to Koizumi's statement just before Hu's speech 
 
 "President Hu made clear the Chinese government's stance on 
progress in China-Japan relations," the Chinese Foreign Ministry 
Spokesperson Liu Jianchao said at a regular press briefing on 
April 4 in referrence to the president's meeting with the heads 
of seven Japan-China friendship organizations. 
 
Chinese officials had continued discussions until just before the 
meeting about whether to bring up the Yasukuni issue in Hu's 
speech. 
 
At the beginning, officials well-versed in relations with Japan 
had been drafting Hu's speech in a way to highlight friendship 
and exchange but not to mention the Yasukuni issue. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001842  003 OF 011 
 
 
However, the draft encountered a number of objections while being 
circulated from the Foreign Ministry to influential officials, 
including State Councilor for Foreign Affairs Tang Jiaxuan, with 
one official arguing: "The Yasukuni issue can't be avoided, for 
it is the major sticking point in China-Japan relations in the 
political area. This is a fundamental principle." In addition to 
this, Prime Minister Koizumi's remarks made at a press conference 
on March 27, in which he said, "I can't understand why they 
assert they can't hold high-level talks because of my visits to 
Yasukuni Shrine," made it definite that the Yasukuni issue should 
be referred to in Hu's speech. 
 
Many working-level Chinese officials knowledgeable about Japanese 
public opinion were strongly concerned that a reference to the 
Yasukuni issue would incur a backlash from the Japanese side. But 
this concern never reached the high-level officials. "Even in 
Japan, it would be impossible for junior officials to advise 
their seniors," a researcher of Japan-China relations remarked. 
 
The Chinese leadership tried to show its people its willingness 
to improve relations with Japan. The Chinese Communist Party's 
paper, the People's Daily, reported on the meeting between 
President Hu and the heads of seven Japanese groups top on the 
front page, giving the headline "Talks wrapped up in friendly 
atmosphere." 
 
In the same meeting, Hu also stated, "The Japanese people are not 
to be blamed for the worsened China-Japan relations," and "China 
hopes they will help China to move forward," in signaling his 
message to the Japanese public, but this message became less 
noticeable owing to his mention of the Yasukuni issue, some 
Chinese officials pointed out regretfully. 
 
(2) US force realignment following a wild path (Part 3): 
Supporters turned into opponents because of the government's lack 
of advance consultation 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 26) (Abridged) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso toured a US base in Kanagawa Prefecture 
on December 16, 2005. The foreign minister later called on Zama 
Mayor Katsuji Hoshino at the municipal government office. 
 
When the topic turned to the proposed relocation of the US Army 
1st Corps headquarters to Camp Zama straddling Zama and 
Sagamihara, Hoshino said, "We will consider it if we can get 1 
trillion yen in return." This enormous amount of money reflected 
Hoshino's determination to reject the transfer. 
 
Hoshino is a conservative local politician. He often took part in 
events to promote friendship between the US base and local 
communities. He was regarded as tolerant of the relocation plan. 
Camp Zama covers an area of 62 hectares. Of it, only one-seventh 
goes into Zama, which has not suffered any visible damage from 
the base. 
 
But the city was turned upside down by a US force realignment 
interim report that specified the transfer of the US Army 1st 
Corps to Camp Zama. 
 
On March 11, over 1,000 residents staged a protest around Camp 
Zama. Hoshino became the city's first mayor to lead such a 
 
TOKYO 00001842  004 OF 011 
 
 
demonstration, according to the city's liaison division. 
 
Protests stem from local distrust of the way the government has 
handled the US force realignment issue. Hoshino had repeatedly 
asked the government if a new Army command would be established 
at Camp Zama more than a year before the interim report was 
produced. In response, the government always said, "We haven't 
discussed anything specific." Hoshino was fed up with the 
government's response. 
 
"If the government had consulted with local authorities 
beforehand, things would not have been tangled to this extent," a 
person close to Hoshino said. The government has offered vague 
explanations to Zama since Tokyo and Washington produced the 
interim report last October. 
 
In stationing Self-Defense Force troops at Camp Zama in 1971, 
Zama Town (currently Zama City) and the Yokohama District Defense 
Facilities Administration Bureau chief signed a memorandum of 
understanding vowing to make maximum efforts to reduce the base. 
A local resident curtly said, "The relocation of the 1st Corps 
command to Camp Zama runs counter to the MOU." But the government 
has simply reiterated, "We will make ardent efforts based on the 
spirit of the MOU." 
 
Some city officials have begun indicating that the city should 
start thinking of how to settle the issue. But Hoshimo has been 
urging the government to present a concrete philosophy and vision 
not to make US bases permanent fixtures in Japan. 
 
Zama is not the only municipality that is reacting furiously to 
the planned US force realignment, abandoning its receptiveness. 
 
Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, conducted a plebiscite on March 12 
in which 43,000 residents -- over 50% of all voters -- said "no" 
to the transfer of a carrier-borne aircraft unit from the Atsugi 
base to the air station in the city. 
 
Reportedly, local concerns about night landing practice (NLP) 
affected voting. 
 
In September 2000, bad weather around Iwojima forced the US Navy 
to conduct NLP at the Iwakuni base. 
 
The Iwakuni municipal office received over 140 complaints about 
the two days of NLP that produced deafening noise. 
 
The government explained that when the runway is moved 1 
kilometer further offshore in fiscal 2008, noise would be reduced 
to one-third of the current level, adding that NLP would be 
carried out on Iwojima. But local residents are still 
apprehensive. Iwakuni City Assemblyman Jungen Tamura said, "If 
pressed hard by the US military, the central government may allow 
it to conduct NLP at the Iwakuni base." 
 
The government's explanations to base-hosting municipalities have 
clearly been insufficient. "The responsibility for national 
security rests exclusively with the central government," a 
Defense Agency official noted. Many agency officials also believe 
that there is no need to obtain local consent. Their arrogance 
has turned even those who were receptive of base issues into 
opponents. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001842  005 OF 011 
 
 
(3) Foreign Minister Aso aims to create economy-oriented country; 
Says he is responsible for dissolving income disparity 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
April 4, 2006 
 
Reporters asked Foreign Minister Abe about differences in the 
policy stances of Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a rival of 
his in the race to succeed Prime Minister Koizumi, and himself. 
Aso replied in his usual rough language: "Differences between Abe 
and me? I suppose we are different in our economic policies." In 
view of the fact that the remark was made shortly after he 
returned home, after fulfilling a major diplomatic role in a 
strategic dialogue with his US and Australian counterparts in 
Sydney, Australia, this was a well-calculated reply intended to 
demonstrate that he is an economic expert. 
 
He made a speech titled "Creating a New Era" in Sapporo on April 
¶1. The speech lasted for more than an hour, and he devoted a 
large part of it to economic issues. 
 
He noted, "We must create a small but strong government." He thus 
added his own view to the ongoing argument calling for a small 
government in order to indicate that he is not a mere successor 
to the Koizumi administration. 
 
His slogan for the LDP presidential election is: "I will boost 
Japanese companies' international competitiveness by promoting 
market liberalization." He has tackled deregulation as the LDP 
Policy Research Council chairman and the internal affairs 
minister under the Koizumi administration. Looking back on his 
efforts, Aso contributed an article to the community magazine of 
Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, his home constituency, in which he 
wrote: "The average annual income of taxi drivers has fallen due 
to deregulation. However, whether this is bad or not depends on 
your attitude, because middle-aged persons have been employed as 
taxi drivers because of deregulation. Actual income disparities 
and a sense of income disparity sound similar but are not the 
same." 
 
As a politician, he is determined to dissolve the growing 
national sentiment concerning income disparities, rather than 
making an issue of the disparity itself. 
 
Becomes corporate president at age of 32; Experiences successes 
and failures 
 
Since the Meiji era, it had been said that the Aso family was one 
of three leading families in Chikuho, Fukuoka Prefecture. 
 
In 1966, he entered Aso Industry, run by his father. Japan's 
energy policy at the time was at a turning point. The company was 
about to shift its mainstay product from coal to cement. Looking 
back on his first day at the company, he wrote in the company's 
business history book: "I thought there was a funeral that day." 
Several years later, he was engaging in labor negotiations with 
quick-tempered trade union members as a representative of the 
company. In 1973, he assumed the company presidency. He then 
launched new ventures, as his character did not allow him just to 
remain a keeper of what he inherited from his father. 
 
Foreseeing the arrival of the age of eating out, he opened a 
Chinese fast-food restaurant, but this business did not go well. 
 
TOKYO 00001842  006 OF 011 
 
 
He also established a company that undertook accounting for 
corporate clients. It was a unique business at the time. He also 
succeeded in expanding hospitals and supermarkets. He is 
confident that he managed the member firms of the group well, 
while being buffeted by the nation's energy policy. 
 
He has a strong belief that companies that did not rely on the 
government have survived the long economic slump following the 
bursting of the economic bubble. He advocates the importance of 
deregulation, because he has confidence he obtained as a 
corporate manger. 
 
His foreign policy also different from Abe's 
 
Aso, a determined advocate of deregulation, is aiming to create 
an economy-oriented country governed by a new economic policy 
that goes beyond what was done by his grandfather (the late Prime 
Minister Shigeru Yoshida). 
 
The key element in his policy is realism. He is regarded as a 
hard-liner on China in terms of diplomacy, the area of his 
responsibility. At the same time, he also plays up the need for 
Japan to contribute to the development of that nation as an 
economic power. 
 
Regarding Yasukuni Shrine, during a commercial TV program he was 
asked which he thinks has more weight - national interests or his 
own sentiment. He stressed his differences with Prime Minister 
Koizumi, noting, "It is only natural for any lawmaker to give 
priority to national interests." During an NHK program the same 
day, he was asked whether he had decided not to visit Yasukuni 
Shrine if he became prime minister. He replied, "Of course not. I 
will not reveal every single decision of mine." 
 
Aso has begun clarifying his differences from Abe not only in 
economic policy terms but also in foreign policy terms. 
 
(4) LDP reacts against New Komeito's initiative in revising the 
Basic Education Law; Description of "patriotism" unclear 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
April 5, 2006 
 
A ruling camp study panel on a revision of the Basic Education 
Law, chaired by Tadamori Oshima, will today begin discussion on 
how to describe the word "patriotism" in the revised law, a main 
issue in constitutional reform. The discussion in the ruling camp 
will reach a crucial point. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 
lawmakers are unhappy with and critical about the "closed-door 
negotiations" that have been conducted under the New Komeito's 
initiative. 
 
In a joint meeting yesterday of the LDP's Education, Culture, 
Sports, Science, and Technology Division and the Research 
Commission on the Education System, participants made the 
following comments: 
 
"It is a problem that (the contents of discussions and what was 
agreed in the ruling bloc) have yet to be revealed. We therefore 
cannot conduct any debate on the issue." 
 
"I want to see a convincing decision, not a sneaky one." 
 
 
TOKYO 00001842  007 OF 011 
 
 
Chairman Oshima said, "I want to work out the matter before the 
cherry blossoms are scattered." However, the course of action is 
unclear. 
 
The study panel conducted discussions behind closed doors and has 
not disclosed the agenda. The panel reported verbally to relevant 
LDP divisions. The Basic Education Law, which the Education 
Ministry characterizes as the foundation of all education laws, 
will be revised for the first time since its establishment 59 
years ago. However, there are few members in the ruling camp who 
know about specific parts that should be revised and how 
descriptions in clauses should changed. 
 
Regarding a reference to patriotism, the LDP has proposed that it 
be described as "love of country," while the New Komeito has 
insisted that it be expressed "cherishing the country." The two 
parties have stood their ground. As a compromise, an idea has 
emerged for describing patriotism as spirit of loving and 
cherishing the country. In a meeting on March 28 of its education 
panel, the New Komeito confirmed its opposition to the LDP's idea 
that patriotism be described as love of country. Given the 
situation, it is difficult to foresee how the matter will be 
resolved. 
 
A source familiar with the LDP said, "There were many cases in 
which the LDP was forced to accept the New Komeito's view" in the 
discussions so far. The New Komeito's views are reflected in the 
contents of an agreement. One example is that the expression 
"cultivation of a religious sentiment" would not be stipulated in 
a revised law. 
 
House of Representatives member Tetsuo Saito, a study panel 
member, said: "Non-denominational religious education is 
impossible. Some have noted that extensive religious education is 
difficult." The New Komeito's view was accepted. 
 
In recent years, there have been cases of schools removing 
temples and shrines from school outings and not having students 
say "itadakimasu" prior to lunch in the view that such actions 
are religious. These excessive cases would not be affected by 
revisions to the law. 
 
At the same time, it has been decided that the present clause 
stipulating that "education will not be subjected to improper 
control" will be retained in the new law. This clause has been 
applied in lawsuits against hoisting of the national flag and 
singing of the national anthem. In a House of Councillors Budget 
Committee session on March 23, Social Democratic Party head 
Mizuho Fukushima claimed that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's 
action of sending employees to schools to check whether the 
schools have students sing the anthem was "improper control." In 
March last year, Ehime Gov. Moriyuki Kato, who had praised a 
history textbook for junior high schools formulated by Fusosha 
Publishing Company, was accused of violating the Basic Education 
Law, which prohibits unjustified involvement in education. 
 
In the LDP there remains strong criticism about the improper 
control clause. This clause, however, will be retained in keeping 
with the New Komeito's wishes. 
 
Some LDP lawmakers are unhappy with the situation, with one 
lawmaker saying, "We should reconsider the purpose of revising 
the education law." 
 
TOKYO 00001842  008 OF 011 
 
 
 
(5) Light and shadow - Reality of five years of Koizumi politics; 
Intergenerational gaps in pension benefits blocking mutual 
assistance 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
March 28, 2006 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has addressed the reform of the 
nation's social security system, taking up a different theme 
every year. The security system includes pension, nursing, and 
medical programs. 
 
The Koizumi administration, based on the view that income earners 
should pay their due burden, raised the percentage of medical 
costs borne by high-income elderly patients to 30%, the same 
level as that for the younger generation. The administration also 
carried out systemic reforms, including a significant reduction 
in the amount of deductions for public pensions. As a result, the 
intergenerational gaps in pension benefits were narrowed from a 
short-term perspective. 
 
When it comes to lifetime burdens and benefits, however, wide 
discrepancies remain between the elderly and younger generations. 
 
Tokyo Gakugei University Professor Wataru Suzuki last year 
released a report on intergenerational discrepancies in the ratio 
of total pension, nursing, and medical insurance premiums and 
benefits to lifetime earnings. The report noted that under the 
current social security system, the burden imposed on subscribers 
born in 1960 or after outweighs benefits. The report also 
specified that the wide intergenerational gaps were attributed 
mainly to the pension system. 
 
In the case of those who earn 300 million yen over their lives, 
there is a maximum differential of about 80 million yen between 
subscribers born in 1940 and those born in 2005. 
 
The pension reform in 2004 narrowed this gap by nearly 10 million 
yen, but this does not help much. Although Prime Minister Koizumi 
has advocated overall reform of the social security system, he 
remains unable to dramatically correct such differentials in 
pension burdens between different generations. 
 
Under the social security system, premiums paid by young 
subscribers are used to finance pension payments for elderly 
subscribers. The spirit of mutual assistance is indispensable 
here. But younger persons who will not be able to receive 
benefits equivalent to the total amount of premiums they pay are 
increasingly dissatisfied with the wide disparities. They 
naturally distrust the current pension system. 
 
(6) Use of space: Private sector at moment of truth 
 
MAINICHI (Page 13) (Full) 
April 5, 2006 
 
Japan has embarked on a quasi-zenith satellite (QZS) project 
without the private sector's hand for now. All eyes were on the 
QZS project-a Japanese version of the global positioning system 
(GPS)-as Japan's first attempt to deliver dual-purpose satellites 
for governmental and commercial use. The private sector, however, 
has now given up on its part in the project due to the slim 
 
TOKYO 00001842  009 OF 011 
 
 
chance of commercialization. In April, the government fully 
privatized the H-2A rocket-Japan's mainstay launch vehicle-for 
commercial satellite delivery missions. The private sector's 
participation in space development is now at a moment of truth. 
 
Japan plans to orbit three QZS skybirds designed to pass over its 
archipelago for positioning, telecommunications, and 
broadcasting. The first QZS payload delivery has now been set for 
FY2008, with the other two orbiters in later fiscal years. Car 
navigation systems currently use US-launched GPS satellites, and 
cellphones use stationary satellites. They are easily susceptible 
to interference from mountains and buildings. The QZS, however, 
passes almost right over Japan and can retain its precision. 
 
The QZS project was, first and foremost, an unprecedented joint 
venture between the government and the private sector. The 
private sector estimated the economic side effects at 
approximately 21 trillion yen. In the areas of telecommunications 
and broadcasting services, however, one segment broadcasting, or 
"One Seg" for short, a new type of digital terrestrial 
broadcasting for mobile phones and car navigation equipment, 
there are now services using infrastructure on the ground. 
Additionally, the government has yet to designate any of its 
ministries or agencies for official jurisdiction over the 
prospective providers of QZS-based positioning services. This 
also discouraged the private sector from taking part in the QZS 
project. In the end, a government panel recommended that the 
government to go it alone for the time being. The government has 
therefore decided to launch a satellite of lower precision in 
fiscal 2009. 
 
In the meantime, the government has transferred its H-2A delivery 
of commercial satellites from Rocket System Corp. (RSC), a 
national policy concern made up of space-related manufacturers, 
to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). However, the H-2A is 
costly. US and European rivals have successfully returned many 
launch vehicles to flight. Japan, given its low rate of 
successful liftoffs, can hardly expect to make it in the 
international market. 
 
In 2002, the private sector set up a new company, Advanced Space 
Business Corporation (ASBC), to undertake commercial satellite 
delivery services. "We had plans to participate from the stage of 
developing systems," says Hisanobu Takayama, strategic planning 
chief at ASBC. "But," he added, "we'd like to commercialize 
satellite use now." 
 
Atsushi Ishizuka, who oversees a division for cooperation among 
industry, academia, and the government at the Japan Aerospace 
Exploration Agency (JAXA), is sending out information to push for 
the private sector's entry into the space business. "Technology 
alone is not good enough to make it in the business," Ishizuka 
noted. He went on: "There are also some cases of companies 
entering the market without sufficient analysis. It's important 
to grasp customer needs." 
 
(7) Half of 12-member prion panel resigns 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 24) (Slightly abridged) 
April 6, 2006 
 
Half of the 12-member prion panel has resigned amid Japan's 
second ban on US beef imports following the discovery of a recent 
 
TOKYO 00001842  010 OF 011 
 
 
ineligible shipment. The research group of the Food Safety 
Commission (FSC) is tasked with assessing the safety of US beef. 
 
Tokyo Medical College Professor Kiyotoshi Kaneko is one of the 
six who resigned. He explained why he left the panel. 
 
"On the assumption that specified risk materials (SRM) have been 
satisfactorily removed in the US, the panel had not conducted 
full deliberations. The report presented by the US, based on this 
premise, inserted this passage that 'it is difficult to evaluate 
the scientific equivalency of risk between Japan and the US.' I 
felt helpless, since such risks have not been assessed in a 
strict manner." 
 
Tokyo University Professor Emeritus Kazuya Yamanouchi, who was 
also a panel member, commented: 
 
"I was not asked to stay on, so it is not correct to say that I 
voluntarily resigned. . . . Our panel was told to discuss 
measures to ease the nation's blanket-testing system on the day 
before Japan and the US set conditions for Japan to ease its 
requirements at their working-level talks. There must have been 
some political pressure applied in the process of discussing US 
beef imports." 
 
Regarding the resignation drama, a responsible official of the 
FSC said: "No term limit had been set for panel members, but the 
FSC decided in a meeting in March to reelect members for the 
prion research panel on April 1. The term of office for its new 
members has also been set at two years from this April. In 
addition, the age limit for members is now 70. Excluding those 
who had indicated a willingness to resign, the FSC asked all 
other members if they intended to stay on." The official added: 
"We do not take the view that "the members who quit were all 
dissatisfied with the deliberations. Not all the remaining 
members are supportive of the idea of resuming US beef imports. 
It is wrong to think that the conclusion was set in advance 
before the start of deliberations." 
 
The FSC is an independent body set up in the Cabinet Office in 
July 2003 in the wake of the outbreak of BSE with the aim of 
restoring consumers' trust in food. Some observers have pointed 
out that political pressure is behind panel deliberations, one 
quipping: "The conclusion has already been reached." 
 
In a press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo 
Abe dismissed the allegation that there was political 
intervention in the recent resignations of six panel members. But 
Aoyama Gakuin University Professor Shinichi Fukuoka said: 
"Although I do not know the reason why the members resigned, the 
deliberation process at the council was quite political." 
 
Professor Fukuoka explained: 
 
"When a cow infected with BSE was found in the US in late 2003, 
the FSC examined the nation's domestic safety measures to prevent 
BSE, though it had received no request from anywhere. In such 
discussions, the panel set the condition for resuming US beef 
imports of allowing beef from cattle 20 months of age or younger. 
It is suspected that there was political intervention by the 
bureaucracy. . . . Although the panel is an independent body, its 
nature is much the same as other advisory panels'. It is possible 
for the government to adopt its policy measures even without 
 
TOKYO 00001842  011 OF 011 
 
 
receiving a report of recommendations from the expert panel, but 
it just wants approval from experts. It is desirable to include 
consumers among panel members, but consumers' views have always 
been discounted." 
 
A university professor who once served as member of a government 
advisory panel commented: 
 
"Recent councils are better than past ones owing to such 
requirements as disclosing proceedings in principle. But 
depending on the contents of statements, members might be pressed 
to take responsibility. Some sensible members might have judged 
it better to resign after saying what they should say if it is 
true that a conclusion has already been set." 
 
SCHIEFFER