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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 001904 
 
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 04/10/06-2 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
Defense issues: 
 
DPJ merry-go-round: 
 
(20) Ichiro Ozawa wins party helm 
 
(21) Ozawa the tough: PM Koizumi 
 
(22) Naoto Kan named to party's No.2 post 
 
(23) Outline of Ozawa's inaugural policy speech 
 
(24) New DPJ President Ozawa's platform 
 
Opinion poll: 
 
(25)  57% see DPJ under Ozawa as hopeful in Kyodo poll 
 
(26) Kyodo poll shows Fukuda rises to 22% in post-Koizumi race, 
Abe at 52% 
 
Economic & diplomatic agenda: 
 
(27) US, Japan to drive down patent highway 
 
(28) Yoshinoya to restart 'gyudon' beef bowl menu in September, 
calls for gov't to resume US beef imports 
 
(29) Japan, DPRK reps meet in Tokyo over abductions 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(20) Ozawa elected new president of Minshuto (Democratic Party of 
Japan), defeating Kan by 47 votes 
 
YOMIURI (Top play) (Lead paragraph) 
April 8, 2006 
 
Minshuto yesterday afternoon held a joint meeting of party 
lawmakers of both the houses of the Diet and elected Ichiro 
Ozawa, 63, former DPJ vice president, to succeed Seiji Maehara, 
who resigned from his post after accepting responsibility for the 
fake email mess. Ozawa defeated former DPJ President Kan, 59, by 
47 votes. Ozawa's victory presumably comes from widespread 
expectations for his strong political abilities amid concern in 
the party about how to rebuild itself. After the election, Ozawa 
indicated his intention to offer key posts to Kan and Secretary 
General Hatoyama in an effort to bring about party unity. The 
major challenge for Ozawa in the days ahead is how to restore 
public confidence that the party has lost. 
 
(21) Prime Minister Koizumi: Ozawa is tough 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 10, 2006 
 
Speaking to reporters on the night of April 7, Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi said of Minshuto's (Democratic Party of Japan) 
new President Ichiro Ozawa, "I think he is tough, because he 
knows our party well." Asked about Ozawa during the time when he 
served as secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party 
 
TOKYO 00001904  002 OF 005 
 
 
(LDP), Koizumi responded, "(At the time) Mr. Ozawa was a party 
presidential candidate, so he did not deal with me at all." 
Commenting on the fact that the two have essentially traded 
places, Koizumi said, "Life is interesting, isn't it?" 
 
Asked whether Ozawa really has changed his political methods, 
Koizumi said, "People don't change so easily." 
 
(22) Minshuto's (Democratic Party of Japan) new lineup: Kan 
chosen as vice president, other executive officers, including 
Hatoyama, reappointed 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
April 9, 2006 
 
Minshuto President Ichiro Ozawa yesterday met the press at party 
headquarters and announced a new party lineup, choosing Naoto Kan 
as vice president and reappointing all other executive officers, 
including Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama, Policy Research 
Council Chairman Takeaki Matsumoto, and Diet Affairs Committee 
Chairman Kozo Watanabe. Ozawa said he did so by attaching 
importance to internal harmony and taking into account how to 
reduce the impact of the lineup change on debate in the Diet, 
which is in session. The new lineup was approved at the general 
meeting of party lawmakers of both the houses of the Diet. 
 
(23) A gist of Ozawa's political views 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged) 
April 8, 2006 
 
A change of government represents true structural reform for 
Japan. Staking my 36 years of experience as a politician and my 
thoughts about politics, I have now renewed my resolve to strive 
for a change of government. I was warmly received by Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan) as a member and encountered a number 
of like-minded people. The party is faced with a crisis. I would 
like to overcome this crisis and restore public confidence in the 
party. A two-party system and a change of government are things 
we must pursue. 
 
The important point for Minshuto to regenerate itself is to bring 
about party unity. If all Minshuto members line up to play 
together like Japan did in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), I 
believe we can without fail win the gold medal of a change of 
government. Staking my fate as well as the party's fate on the 
Upper House election in 2007, I will do my utmost to achieve 
victory. 
 
Japan's backbone is in danger of giving way as a result of 
haphazard Koizumi politics, and the nation continues to wander. 
In order to rebuild such a Japan, a clear philosophy and a 
blueprint are essential. My idea is to bring about co-existence. 
Co-existence between human beings concerns the issue of peace. Co- 
existence with nature concerns the environment. I think Japan 
should play a leading role in both areas. Koizumi politics has 
mixed up freedom and selfishness and caused society to become one 
with disparity or survival of the fittest. Minshuto aims to bring 
about a society where those who work hard, make efforts, and are 
honest will be rewarded. 
 
I will present an axis of confrontation with the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) in all the areas of policy planning, Diet 
 
TOKYO 00001904  003 OF 005 
 
 
debates, and daily activities. I will lead Minshuto. I am now 
writing a book to flesh out what I proposed in my book, Nihon 
Kaizou Keikaku (A Plan to Remodel Japan), published 13 years ago. 
I will come up with a direction that Japan will head for, and 
after obtaining agreement from the party, I will strive to win 
victory in the unified local elections, as well as the Upper 
House election, while underscoring Minshuto's platform. In 
September, when my tenure of office expires, I will hold a 
presidential race in which local assembly members as well as 
party supporters will participate. On that occasion, policy 
debates should be held openly. 
Recently, I have recalled a famous line in the climax of The 
Leopard, a film I watched during my youth: "You must change to 
remain the same." For the future and the children, I must reform 
myself and Minshuto. For that, the first thing to do is to change 
myself. I will reform Minshuto as well as Japan. Staking all my 
political life on this battle, I vow to continue working hard to 
bring it about. 
 
(24) Main points from Ozawa's policy pledge 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 8, 2006 
 
Making Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) reliable 
 
Make the two major party system function 
 
Show an axis of confrontation with the Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP) in the areas of policies, Diet debate, and daily activities 
 
Manage the party in a responsible way for the public, the party 
members, and party supporters 
 
Come up with a set of reform measures 
 
Pursue the collusive ties among political, bureaucratic, and 
industrial circles 
 
Emphasize the importance of grassroots activities 
 
Establish unity of the party bringing together wisdom from older 
people, power from middle-aged people, and ideas from the youth 
 
Thoroughly share the awareness of being an ally among Diet 
members, local assembly members, secretaries, and the party 
staff. 
 
To rebuild Japan into a fair nation 
 
Philosophy: 
 
The people are the leading player in reform. Those who work hard 
and make efforts should be rewarded, not only "winners." Current 
systems should be changed instead of making cosmetic reforms for 
mere cost reduction or personnel reduction. Tradition and culture 
should be revitalized and developed. 
 
Eight reform measures: 
 
The basic portion of pensions, nursing care costs, and elderly 
medical fees should be paid for from the consumption tax. A new 
income tax system should be introduced so that every citizen 
 
TOKYO 00001904  004 OF 005 
 
 
should report their income, while income tax rates should be 
reduced and various deductions scrapped and allowances improved. 
Subsidies from central government ministries and agencies with 
strings attached should be abolished, and subsidies should be 
provided entirely to local governments to use as their own 
financial resources. The central government should be responsible 
for compulsory education, and local governments should be 
responsible for implementing it with their own ideas. Agriculture 
should be liberalized, and a deficiency payment system for major 
products should be adopted. Global environmental preservation 
should be made a national goal. Security principles based on the 
philosophy of the Constitution should be established. With 
relations with the United States as the cornerstone, Japan should 
improve relations with its neighbors, such as China and South 
Korea. Family ties and local communities should be revitalized. 
 
(25) Kyodo poll: 57% have expectations for DPJ's Ozawa; 72% see 
change of government as difficult 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
April 9, 2006 
 
Kyodo News conducted a nationwide opinion survey April 7-8 on 
Minshuto's (Democratic Party of Japan) election of Ichiro Ozawa 
as its president. The poll showed that 57.4% had expectations for 
Ozawa. Of the pollees, 43.8% said that they favored Ozawa's 
stance of marking clear differences with the Liberal Democratic 
Party. However, 72.7% said that they did not think Minshuto would 
take the reins of government. The figures showed that the public 
does not have a high opinion of the main opposition party, which 
failed to handle the fake email issue properly. 
 
Public support for Minshuto increased to 19.9% from the 11.3% in 
late February when the party was suffering from the false email 
fiasco. 
 
In contrast, the approval rate for the cabinet of Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi dropped by 7.3 percentage points to 47.2% from 
the previous survey on April 1-2. It was the first time since 
last August that the support rate for the Koizumi cabinet dropped 
below 50%. The Koizumi cabinet's disapproval rating increased by 
4.3 percentage points to 39.9%. The reason seems to be that 
public attention was focused on the Minshuto presidential race. 
 
(26) Kyodo poll: Public support for Fukuda surges to 22%; Abe 
secures majority support as possible successor to Koizumi 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
April 9, 2006 
 
Kyodo News conducted a nationwide opinion poll on who should be 
the next prime minister. The poll found that 51.9% favored Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, 22.1% former Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, 5.8% Foreign Minister Aso Taro, 2.9% 
 
SIPDIS 
Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, and 0.4% someone else. 
 
(27) Patent application screening process to be shortened to 
within nine months starting in July, Japan, US expected to agree 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
April 8, 2006 
 
Patent officials of Japan and the US will introduce in July a 
 
TOKYO 00001904  005 OF 005 
 
 
system that allows the prompt screening of patent applications 
made by companies of the other country. The system is called a 
patent screening highway initiative. The two countries are 
expected to formally reach agreement during an expert meeting in 
May. At present, it takes years for patent applications made by 
Japanese companies in the US to be screened. Under the new 
system, the screening period will be drastically shortened to 
within nine months. This will help companies obtain patent rights 
quicker, enhancing their international competitiveness. 
 
(28) Yoshinoya plans to reinstate beef bowl on menu in September; 
Calls for resumption of US beef imports 
 
ASAHI (Page 13) (Excerpts) 
April 8, 2006 
 
Yoshinoya D&C, a leading beef bowl restaurant chain, on April 7 
released its financial statement. The statement included an 
estimate for business results for the term ending February 2007 
premised on the reinstatement of some varieties of beef bowl on 
the menu starting this September. President Shuji Abe said, "At 
present, there are no concrete prospects for a resumption of US 
beef imports, but the second embargo can be settled technically. 
It would be negligence of the government if the ban were not 
removed." He thus strongly called for a resumption of the beef 
trade at an early date. 
 
(29) Meeting between Japanese, North Korean chief delegates to 
six-party talks 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 9, 2006 
 
Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian 
and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, held talks with North Korean Foreign 
Vice Minister Kim Kye Gwan for about two hours on the night of 
April 8 at a Tokyo hotel. Sasae strongly called on Kim to resolve 
the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, and 
urged him to return to the negotiation table of the six-party 
talks on the North's nuclear development programs. 
 
As expected, however, Kim, the North's chief delegate to the six- 
party talks, did not respond positively on the abduction issue, 
and he reiterated Pyongyang's position that the North would not 
return to the six-party talks unless the United States lifted 
financial sanctions on it. After the meeting, Sasae told 
reporters, "We explained our basic positions on the abduction 
issue and the six-party talks." 
 
Sasae and Kim agreed to conduct bilateral talks among the chief 
negotiators of the six-party talks members on the sidelines of a 
conference to be held on April 10 and 11 in Tokyo. 
 
SCHIEFFER