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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001962 
 
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 04/12/06 
 
 
Index: 
 
1)   Top headlines 
2)   Editorials 
3)   Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
North Korea problem: 
4)   US-DPRK contacts in Tokyo produce no results 
5)   Pessimism about talks starting between US, DPRK 
6)   Assistant Secretary Hill reveals that $24 million in North 
Korean accounts have been frozen 
7)   As host of 6-party academic conference, Japan's efforts to 
restart formal talks did not pay off 
8)   DNA testing shows abductee Megumi Yokota was married to 
South Korean also abducted by North Korean agents 
9)   Government to ask Pyongyang to clear up true identity of 
Megumi Yokota's husband, seek Seoul's cooperation in pursuing 
issue 
 
10)  Former Prime Minister Mori is off to China as representative 
  of athletic association 
 
USFJ realignment: 
11)  Nago to ask for shorter runways at Camp Schwab 
12)  Dream of joint civilian-military use of Yokota Air Base far 
from achieving reality 
 
Political agenda: 
13)  Prime Minister Koizumi receives gift of one of Elvis 
  Presley's scarves 
14)  Ichiro Ozawa plans to run in September Minshuto presidential 
race, sees it as "vote of confidence" 
15)  Ruling camp works out new proposal to resolve issue of 
inserting "love of country" into amendments to Basic Education 
Law 
 
Trade issues: 
16)  Consumers blast US beef system in government's first open 
  hearings on BSE issue 
17)  Agricultural Minister Nakagawa wants US to "swiftly resolve" 
issue of bones in beef shipment to Hong Kong by US company 
certified to export to Japan 
18)  Third round of Japan-ASEAN FTA talks end, with next session 
set for June 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi, Yomiuri, Sankei & Tokyo Shimbun: 
Tokyo demands Pyongyang to reveal the truth, seeks cooperation 
from Seoul; Abductee Megumi Yokota's husband may have been South 
Korean 
 
Mainichi: 
Flood gate scandal: MLIT found to have urged firms to continue 
bid-rigging practice despite their call for its abolition 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
Fees for NHK television viewers: Ministry of Internal Affairs and 
Communications considers penalty for nonpayment, envisions a 
possible cut in fees 
 
TOKYO 00001962  002 OF 011 
 
 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1)  Abductee Megumi Yokota: It's time for Japan and ROK to join 
hands 
(2)  Court ruling on Janome Machine case: Caution against payoff 
 
Mainichi: 
(1)  NDA testing: Japan, ROK need to join hands to resolve the 
abduction issue 
(2)  France's repeal of CPE: An omen of split of EU? 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1)  Ozawa-led Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan): Axis of 
confrontation should be shown quickly 
(2)  Abductee Megumi Yokota's husband: North Korea's inhumanity 
felt from outcome of DNA testing 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1)  Pension disparity between government and private sector must 
be removed by political initiative 
(2) No chart shown after establishment of three types of nursery 
schools 
 
Sankei: 
(1)  DNA analysis on abductees: Japan, ROK need to work together 
to resolve the abduction issue 
(2)  Basic environment plan: Substance is good but hard to 
understand 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1)  Abductee Megumi Yokota: Joint efforts by Japan, ROK are 
essential to rescue abductees 
(2)  People lost in springtime mountains: Information 
indispensable to save lives 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, April 11 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
08:31 
Attended a cabinet meeting. 
 
09:55 
Met at Kantei with Nomura, who is in charge of the Crown Prince 
Naruhito's household, followed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Futahashi. 
 
11:01 
Met with members of a group calling for the return of the 
Northern Territories, including Hokkaido Gov. Takahashi. 
 
14:35 
Met National Music Publishers' Association Honorary Chairman 
Watanabe and others. 
 
15:19 
Attended videotaping for LDP public affairs at LDP headquarters. 
 
TOKYO 00001962  003 OF 011 
 
 
 
16:57 
Met at Kantei with Vice Foreign Minister Yachi, followed by 
Justice Minister Sugiura and Japan Judicial Support Center 
Director Kaneko. 
 
17:55 
Met State Minister for the Declining Birthrate Inoguchi. 
 
19:03 
Dined at the Hotel Okura with Upper House Steering Committee 
Chairman Mizote and other ruling party directors, joined by 
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzuki and chief Cabinet Secretary 
Abe. 
 
21:04 
Returned to his residence. 
 
4) Academic conference ends without any contacts between US, 
North Korean delegates to six-party talks; Remain at odds over 
financial sanctions 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
Chief negotiators to the six-party talks on the North Korean 
nuclear issue engaged actively in separate talks in Tokyo 
yesterday. Chief delegates, centering on Chinese Vice Foreign 
Minister Wu Dawai, futilely tried to convince the United States 
and North Korea, to hold bilateral talks in the run-up to 
resuming the six-party talks. The chief negotiators to the 
multilateral talks, who assembled in Tokyo to attend an academic 
conference, will now return to their respective countries empty 
handed. 
 
A source traveling with US Assistant Secretary of State 
Christopher Hill categorically said to reporters yesterday, "As 
the assistant secretary repeatedly noted, there will be no 
bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea." 
 
Chinese and Japanese sources also indicated that there would be 
no contacts between the US and North Korea. 
 
The thorniest point between the US and North Korea was the 
financial sanctions taken by the US against the North. North 
Korea insisted that it would not return to the six-party talks 
unless the US lifted the financial sanctions. Meanwhile, the US 
maintained that it would not hold talks with the North unless 
Pyongyang returned to the multilateral negotiating table. 
 
Hill commented last night about the financial sanctions against 
the North: 
 
"I understand that a bank in Macau has frozen assets worth 20 
million dollars. The value of frozen assets is smaller than the 
profit that would result in the energy areas as a result of 
pushing the six-party talks forward. North Korea may pass up 
great gain as a result of adhering to one issue." 
 
5) Pessimism about possibility of holding US-North Korea 
dialogue; Plan to involve third country also fraught with 
difficulty 
 
TOKYO 00001962  004 OF 011 
 
 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 8) (Excerpts) 
April 12, 2006 
 
Delegates from Japan, the US, China, South Korea, and North 
Korea, who assembled in Tokyo coinciding with an ongoing 
international academic conference yesterday, bilaterally met and 
searched for the possibility of direct dialogue between 
Washington and Pyongyang, the key to restarting the stalled six- 
party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. A plan to realize 
such a dialogue in the form of involving a third country, such as 
China, was floated, but coordination of views on this proposal 
was unsuccessful. The confrontation between the two countries 
over the US financial sanctions against the North is so deep- 
rooted that a pessimistic atmosphere spread about prospects for 
finding a breakthrough in the stalemate. 
 
Brief contact ends in disagreement 
 
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top envoy from 
the US, and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, chief delegate 
from North Korea, yesterday morning briefly met at the conference 
hall where the International Academic Conference is taking place. 
Hill called on North Korea to make an unconditional return to the 
six-party talks, saying, "Why don't we meet in Beijing (the venue 
of the talks)?" The brief meeting appeared to have ended in 
disagreement with Kim conveying the North's stance of making the 
removal of the financial sanctions a condition for its return to 
the negotiating table. 
 
Hill is scheduled to leave Japan on April 12. Alarmed about time 
running out, Japan, China, and South Korea mulled a plan to hold 
bilateral dialogue involving a third country as a proposal to 
bring both the US and North Korea together. Kim visited the 
Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign 
Minister Wu Dawei, chairman of the six-party talks. Related 
sources pinned hopes on the possibility of realizing US-North 
Korea dialogue. 
 
A hard-line view against Pyongyang is rising in the US. In North 
Korea, anti-US sentiment is growing. Amid such circumstances, the 
scope of discretion allowed to both Hill and Kim was limited. 
This has apparently contributed to the bogged-down coordination 
of views on the proposal. Delegates from the six countries are 
busily engaging in talks, but the outlook for restarting the six- 
party talks is increasingly becoming unclear. 
 
6) North Korea had 24 million dollars in now-frozen bank accounts 
in Macau 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 8) (Full) 
April 12,2006 
 
Christopher Hill, US Assistant Secretary of State responsible for 
East Asian and Pacific affairs, yesterday revealed to reporters 
in Tokyo that North Korea had a total of 24 million dollars in 
its now-frozen bank accounts in Macau. 
 
7) Japan efforts as host of academic conference were in vain 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
TOKYO 00001962  005 OF 011 
 
 
 
The Japanese government attempted to present the just-ended 
academic conference as a stage for informal talks leading to a 
resumption of the six-party talks. Ahead of the conference, the 
Foreign Ministry had lobbied North Korea, and Vice Foreign 
Minister Kim Gye Gwan visited Tokyo as a result. At that point, 
the Foreign Ministry felt a certain level of satisfaction. But to 
Japan's disappointment, there were no bright prospects for 
bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea. 
Japan's enthusiasm as the host of the conference did not produce 
any tangible results. 
 
Foreign Ministry Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau chief 
Kenichiro Sasae, who serves as Japan's chief delegate to the six- 
party talks, met with Kim for a total of five hours between April 
8 and 11. In the talks with Kim, Sasae strongly urged the North 
to return to the six-party talks early and unconditionally. He 
also pressed the North for a "sincere response" to the abduction 
issue, explaining that "pressure" for economic sanctions against 
the North has been growing in Japan since the Japan-North Korea 
comprehensive parallel talks in February. 
 
8) Abductee Megumi Yokota's husband might be Kim Yong Nam 
abducted in 1978 by North Korea, according to government's DNA 
testing; Tokyo urges Pyongyang to take action 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Excerpts) 
April 12, 2006 
 
Meeting the press yesterday afternoon, Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Shinzo Abe released the results of DNA testing showing a strong 
possibility that Kim Hye Gyong, the daughter of Megumi Yokota, 
who had been abducted at the age of 13 by North Korea, may have a 
blood relationship with Kim Yong Nam, a South Korean abductee 
believed to be Megumi's husband. Later in the day, the government 
gave an account of the results to Megumi's parents, Shigeru and 
Sakie, as well as Yong Nam's mother and sister via the South 
Korean Embassy in Tokyo. 
 
On the same day, the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian 
Affairs Bureau Director-General Kenichiro Sasae conveyed the 
results of DNA tests to visiting North Korean Vice Foreign 
Minister Kim Kye Gwan and strongly demanded him to "come up with 
a sincere response" in order to resolve the abduction issue" by 
taking such steps as allowing abductees to return home as well as 
revealing the whole truth. Kim reportedly told Sasae: "We'll 
carefully examine the case and take it into consideration." 
 
According to Abe and the Foreign Ministry, the DNA analysis was 
conducted as part of the efforts to gather information related to 
the abduction issue. For the DNA testing, blood, hairs, and 
buccal cells of parents of five South Korean men allegedly 
abducted by North Korea, including those of Kim Yong Nam were 
used. 
 
9) Tokyo demands Pyongyang reveal the truth, seeks cooperation 
from Seoul 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Lead paragraph) 
April 12, 2006 
 
The government yesterday released the results of DNA tests 
 
TOKYO 00001962  006 OF 011 
 
 
showing a strong possibility that Japanese abductee Megumi 
Yokota's daughter, Kim Hye Gyong, may have Kim Yong Nam, a South 
Korean man abducted by North Korea, as her father. The Foreign 
Ministry conveyed the results to North Korean Vice Foreign 
Minister Kim Kye Gwan and strongly demanded that North Korea 
should come up with a sincere response to such issues as allowing 
abductees to return home and revealing the whole truth. It also 
asked the South Korean government to team up with Japan in 
dealing with the abduction issue. Yet, some in the government are 
concerned that North Korea will toughen its stance, and whether 
South Korea will look positively on Japan's request is a delicate 
question. The outcome of the DNA testing is likely to affect the 
ongoing move to restart the six-party talks. 
 
10) Former Prime Minister Mori to visit China as chairman of 
Japan Amateur Sports Association 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
April 12, 006 
 
It was learned yesterday that former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori 
had received an invitation addressed to the chairman of the Japan 
Amateur Sports Association from China to the opening ceremony of 
the non-Olympic Games to be held on May 20 in Suzhou, Jiangsu 
Province. Mori will likely to visit China. 
 
The Japan Amateur Sports Association invited China's former 
General Administration of Sport head Yuwang Weimin to the Saitama 
National Sports Festival in October 2004, but China did not 
invite Mori to last October's national athletic meet, the largest 
sports festival in China. 
 
China explained the reason for not inviting Mori, saying, "We 
have too many foreign dignitaries." But the Japanese side assumed 
that China's real reasons were Mori's luncheon with former 
Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui in December 2003, Prime Minister 
Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, and anti-Japanese 
demonstrations in China. Some Japanese officials, therefore, had 
expressed unhappiness with China's conduct. 
 
11) Futenma relocation: Nago City intends to seek to shorten 
planned runways 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
By Teruhisa Mimori, Nakae Ueno 
 
Following Nago City's acceptance of the relocation of the US 
military's Futenma Air station from Ginowan City in Okinawa 
Prefecture to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in Nago City in the 
prefecture, Nago Vice Mayor Bunshin Suematsu yesterday revealed 
his intention to seek another round of consultations with the 
central government to discuss the idea of moving the two planned 
runways even further offshore and shortening their lengths. The 
idea has come out in consideration of greater than expected local 
objections. But chances are slim that the central government will 
accept Nago City's request. 
 
12) Yokota airbase: Local host chiefs differ on joint use 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 25) (Abridged slightly) 
 
TOKYO 00001962  007 OF 011 
 
 
April 12, 2006 
 
Japan and the United States plan to use the US Air Force's Yokota 
base together. Specifically, the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) is 
expected to move its Air Defense Command (ADC), currently 
headquartered in the city of Fuchu, Tokyo, to the Yokota base, 
which is located across five cities and a town in Tokyo, 
including Fussa. Local governments hosting the base consented to 
the ASDF's planned joint use of the base. Meanwhile, the Japanese 
and US governments were to have released a final report in March 
on their still-ongoing talks over the realignment of US forces in 
Japan. However, those six municipalities have their own stances 
when it comes to the idea of allowing civilian aircraft to use 
the base as a dual-use airport. In addition, there are also 
different expectations even among their mayors favoring the 
ASDF's joint use of the base. 
 
On Feb. 13, Mizuho Town's Mayor Koemon Ishizuka met the press for 
the first time in a blue moon. In the press conference, Ishizuka 
remarked that he would accept the ASDF's joint use of the Yokota 
airbase. "Mizuho is secure only when Japan is secure," Ishizuka 
said, adding: "We should cooperate on national policy unless it's 
an intolerable burden." 
 
The town of Mizuho is situated north of the Yokota base, and one 
of its runways stretches from the south to the north. The town 
has therefore suffered from aircraft noise in particular. 
Ishizuka is in the van of those crying out, even among those six 
municipalities, to get the base back into their hands. He 
bitterly decried the planned realignment of US forces in Japan. 
The mayor's sudden change of mind puzzled his critics in the town 
assembly. 
 
Following Ishizuka's clarification, Akishima City's Mayor Joichi 
Kitagawa and Musashimurayama City's Mayor Mitsuo Arai also 
changed their minds to accept the ASDF's joint use of the Yokota 
base. The two mayors called on the Tokyo bureau chief of the 
Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) and were briefed 
by the DFAA's regional chief on the realignment of US forces in 
Japan. The briefing led them to confirm that aircraft noise would 
not intensify even after the ADC's relocation to the base. 
 
"Each local government has its own stance. However, I accept the 
Air Defense Command's move to Yokota in order to facilitate use 
of the base by commercial aircraft." This statement came from 
Musashimurayama Mayor Arai when he clarified his acceptance of 
the ASDF's joint use of the base before his city's municipal 
assembly in its March 28 meeting. It was an answer to a Japan 
Communist Party (JCP) member, who wondered if moving an ASDF 
headquarters to the Yokota base could lead to joint military- 
commercial use of the base. This JCP assemblyman added, "I don't 
think Mizuho and Akishima are taking such a view." With this, he 
pointed to the different standpoints of local heads. 
 
Mayor Arai underscored the ASDF's joint use of the Yokota base as 
a step paving the way for commercial use of the base. This stance 
conflicts with Mizuho Mayor Ishizuka's perspective. "If we accept 
the command's relocation to the Yokota base, we can prevent joint 
military-commercial use," Ishizuka says. 
 
Akishima Mayor Kitagawa and Mizuho Mayor Ishizuka remain 
committed to opposing commercial flights to and from the Yokota 
 
TOKYO 00001962  008 OF 011 
 
 
base. Mayor Kitagawa criticized Mayor Arai, saying: "It's too 
short-sighted to play up the positive side of commercial use." 
The Akishima mayor also said, "The (mayoral) election is just 
around the corner-that's why he's in favor of joint military and 
civilian use." 
 
Joint military-civilian use will have a great impact on local 
communities. There are arguments far more clearly for and against 
such dual use than in the case of the ASDF's joint use of the 
Yokota base with the US Air Force or joint military-military use. 
In the city of Musashimurayama, both municipal officials and 
local residents are supportive of military-commercial use, 
expecting it to help extend the Tama Urban Monorail to the city. 
In the city of Akishima and in the town of Mizuho, however, local 
communities would suffer from even more serious noise pollution. 
Their mayors, both taking the view that this would make the base 
permanent, are opposed to the US military's dual use of the base 
with commercial airliners. 
 
"The government should implement economic stimulus measures, and 
I take it for granted," Mayor Ishizuka said. The three local 
mayors favoring military-military use have their own political 
judgment in mind, expecting the government to give something in 
return. 
 
Yoshikazu Ono is a representative of Yokota base neighbors who 
have instituted a class action lawsuit against the Yokota base's 
aircraft noise, demanding the suspension of nighttime flights. 
Ono said: "I didn't think I would hear them (mayors) say things 
like that. They let us down." 
 
13) Prime Minister Koizumi pleased to receive Elvis Presley's 
scarf; He says, "Cool" 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met yesterday with Music 
Publishers Association of Japan Honorary Chairman Misa Watanabe 
and others at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and 
received letters from Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie and 
Yoko Ono. In their letters, Lisa Marie and Yoko Ono called for 
extending the term of copyright, which is now 50 years from the 
death of the creator, to 70 years. Koizumi said to Watanabe, 
"Relevant offices will study it." 
 
Koizumi is a big fan of Elvis. He received a scarf worn by Elvis 
and a framed photograph of him from Lisa Marie. The prime 
minister said, "He was cool, wasn't he?" 
 
14) Ozawa's Minshuto takes off in full swing; Ozawa steadily 
preparing for "confidence vote" in September presidential race 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
April 12, 2006 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) held a joint plenary 
meeting of party members of both houses of the Diet yesterday and 
approved the new lineup of party executives. The new leadership 
led by Ichiro Ozawa has now taken off in full swing. Meanwhile, 
Acting President Naoto Kan, who was defeated in the party-head 
election on April 7, has indicated that he would not run for the 
 
TOKYO 00001962  009 OF 011 
 
 
regular presidential election in September. The presidential race 
is likely to be a confidence vote for Ozawa as long as no major 
changes occur. Attention is now being focused on whether Ozawa 
will be able to display a magnificent performance as a strong-arm 
politician. 
 
"I am determined to work hard with the resolve of forming an 
Ozawa administration through our victories in the House of 
Councillors election next year and the next House of 
Representative election," Kan said before Minshuto headquarters' 
members and secretaries in the Diet building yesterday afternoon. 
He expressed his determination to support Ozawa's efforts to take 
over the reins of government. This remark surprised lawmakers 
supporting Kan. 
 
Some observers had been overheard saying: "If Kan loses the party 
presidential election, which marked his sixth candidacy, his 
political career would come to an end," as a Minshuto member 
said. Given this, the post of acting president is a good 
opportunity for Kan. He has reciprocated Ozawa's "warm-hearted" 
treatment. 
 
Besides his crushing defeat in the presidential race, there seems 
to be this cool judgment behind Kan's expression of support for 
Ozawa, as said by a Kan-supporting group member: "If the party 
holds an presidential election many times in a short period of 
time and repeatedly engage in a political conflict, the people 
will lose interest in our party. In such a case, Minshuto will 
never be able to grab political power." 
 
The Ozawa group has also welcomed Kan's support of Ozawa, a 
member remarking: "It has now become certain that the next 
election will be a vote of confidence for Mr. Ozawa in effect. 
The party has banded together more strongly than before." 
 
15) LDP's Oshima to present own proposal for revising the Basic 
Education Law; Words "love" and "nation" likely be stipulated in 
his proposal 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
April 12, 2006 
 
In a meeting today of the ruling coalition's panel on a revision 
of the Basic Education Law, the panel's chair Tadamori Oshima 
will present his ideas regarding the description of "patriotism," 
on which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its 
coalition partner New Komeito have been at odds. The panel is 
coordinating a plan to incorporate the words "love" and "country" 
based on a plan suggested by former chair Kosuke Hori last summer 
that (the people) should respect tradition and culture and love 
and cherish the nation. 
 
The New Komeito leadership has taken a position of accepting 
Oshima's plan as long as the plan makes it clear that patriotism 
does not mean to love the governing structure. Many in the LDP 
are unhappy with the plan, however. Therefore, whether the ruling 
camp will be able to summit a draft revision to the Diet is 
unclear. 
 
Regarding the description of "patriotism," the LDP has suggested 
that it should be described as "love of country," while the New 
Komeito has insisted that it be described as "cherishing the 
 
TOKYO 00001962  010 OF 011 
 
 
country." The ruling camp's panel confirmed in an interim report 
last June that "country" does not include "such governing 
systems" as state power and government. Based on that, Hori 
presented his proposal last summer. Oshima then revealed on April 
5 that he would present his plan to stipulate the expression that 
(the Japanese people) should respect other countries and the 
international community, accepting the New Komeito's assertion. 
One of the panel members said, "Mr. Oshima will probably 
formulate a proposal based on Mr. Hori's suggestion." 
 
16) Government holds first public hearing on US beef; Consumers 
voice criticism 
 
YOMIURI (Page 9) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
The Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry and the Health, 
Labor, and Welfare Ministry sponsored for the first time a town- 
hall meeting in Naha yesterday to solicit views on the ongoing 
suspension of US beef imports. 
 
About 50 participants, including consumers and meatpackers, 
attended the meeting, and various opinions and critical comments 
were presented. One said: "The inspection program for imports has 
not been properly functioning," and another claimed: "The 
Japanese government appears to be siding with the US, instead of 
trying to protect the Japanese people's lives." 
 
In response, officials from the two ministries gave explanations, 
such as: "There was no problem in the inspection program, but 
safety procedures were not being observed." 
 
17) Agriculture minister urges US to deal with inclusion of bones 
in beef shipment to Hong Kong 
 
ASAHI (Page 11) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
Referring to the inclusion of bones, a material banned as a mad 
cow disease risk, in beef products shipped to Hong Kong by a 
leading US meat processor, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries Shoichi Nakagawa yesterday told reporters after a 
cabinet meeting, "The US should deal with the incident promptly 
and properly." 
 
The Hong Kong government on April 7 placed a ban on imports of 
beef products from Cargill Meat Solutions because of the 
incident. MAFF said that Cargill is one of the 37 meat processors 
that have been authorized to export products to Japan. 
 
18) Next round of FTA talks with ASEAN set for June 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
The Japanese government and the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN) wound up their third round of talks on concluding 
a free trade agreement (FTA) in Tokyo yesterday with no agreement 
reached. Japan proposed more than 90% of the items traded between 
both sides should be made duty-free, but ASEAN called on Japan to 
present preferential measures. In the next round set for June, 
ASEAN is expected to come up with countermeasures. 
 
TOKYO 00001962  011 OF 011 
 
 
 
SCHIEFFER