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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 001978 
 
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 04/12/06-2 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(8) Interview with Minshuto President Ichiro Ozawa 
 
(9) Destruction and creation; Ozawa-led DPJ gets under way; Ozawa 
vs. Koizumi; Followed similar reform-oriented courses; 
Competition for redefinition of conservatism 
 
(10) Editorial: Has new DPJ President Ozawa really changed? 
 
(11) Yasuo Saito named ambassador to Russia 
 
(12) Editorial: Revised basic environment plan rich in content 
but hard to understand 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(8) Interview with Minshuto President Ichiro Ozawa 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
April 11, 2006 
 
Questioner: Do you think the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has 
changed? 
 
Ozawa: I think the LDP is on its way to destruction. The LDP has 
not changed in a very real sense. For example, despite what it 
said about unnecessary highways not being built anymore in 
reforming the Japan Highway Public Corporation, it has now been 
decided that all planned all highways will be built. The LDP does 
things as the bureaucrats say. Although postal services have been 
changed to a state-owned postal corporation, it is phony. 
 
Questioner: Don't you think Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has 
been doing what the LDP's supporters do not want? 
 
Ozawa: The LDP's support base has already been weakened, since 
the postwar political structure is in the process of destruction. 
Prime Minister Koizumi is wise because he expounded that point. 
He knew that the party could not increase votes even if it 
counted on (its support base). 
 
Questioner: You said that Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) 
would force the ruling coalition to become a minority in next 
year's House of Councillors' elections. How will you work on 
specific measures, including the selection of candidates? 
 
Ozawa: I will do it myself. My role is to consolidate the 
organization and to select candidates (for next year's Upper 
House election). We have to overturn the situation and win in the 
single-seat constituencies that are up for reelection. 
 
Questioner: Do you plan to cooperate with the Japanese Communist 
Party to fight against the ruling coalition parties? 
 
Ozawa: My party will not compete with the JCP but with the ruling 
coalition parties. 
 
Questioner: How will you forge an electoral alliance with the 
JCP? 
 
Ozawa: It'll be very difficult. I have told (the JCP) that it's 
no use fighting elections as a single party. However, since the 
 
TOKYO 00001978  002 OF 007 
 
 
JCP will be fighting against the LDP and New Komeito, we should 
not exclude the JCP from an electoral alliance. The question is 
whether we, opposition parties can obtain a majority of the Diet 
seats. If we do our best, it will be possible to reduce the 
number of seats to be obtained by the LDP to below 50 seats. 
 
Questioner: How about election cooperation with the Social 
Democratic Party? 
 
Ozawa: We will discuss the matter with the SDP as well because 
Mr. Takahiro Yokomichi's group, whose members came from the 
former Social Democratic Party, has agreed on (the party's 
constitutional reform and security policy). The SDP should agree 
on those issues with Minshuto. 
 
Questioner: The House of Representatives Special Committee on 
Administrative Reform is now discussing a bill promoting 
administrative reform. Do you plan to take the floor as a 
questioner? 
 
Ozawa: I don't think so. That is because debate on the bill with 
no substance is meaningless. 
 
Questioner: So, will the first round of the bout between you and 
the prime minister take place at a party-heads debate? 
 
Ozawa: I guess so. 
 
Questioner: When you headed Shinshinto (New Frontier Party), you 
and Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto engaged in a heated debate 
about the role of the prime minister. 
 
Ozawa: Don't you remember I also had a one-on-one debate with Mr. 
Koizumi? However, he did not respond to my questions sincerely, 
talking about matters that had nothing to do with my questions. I 
would like to lock horns with him, but I cannot engage in such a 
battle of words with him. 
 
Questioner: What do you want to ask the prime minister at first? 
 
Ozawa: I have no idea. 
 
Questioner: Mr. Seiji Maehara, your predecessor, stated China as 
a threat to Japan. 
 
Ozawa: Even Prime Minister Koizumi has not use the word "threat." 
When a politician says " threat," that means a threat to the 
Japanese people. If you say "threat," then you will have to 
remove that threat. Therefore, the prime minister does not say 
so. 
 
Questioner: In order to make clear the distinction of your 
party's position from the LDP, do you plan to iron out 
differences of opinions within the party by September and to run 
in the September presidential race backed by that achievement? 
 
Ozawa: We should hasten that work, but the Diet is now in 
session. I think a party consensus should be reached until the 
leadership race since interest in the issue will boost in the 
party at that time. 
 
(9) Destruction and creation; Ozawa-led DPJ gets under way; Ozawa 
vs. Koizumi; Followed similar reform-oriented courses; 
 
TOKYO 00001978  003 OF 007 
 
 
Competition for redefinition of conservatism 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
April 11, 2006 
 
Formation of YKK trio 
 
Prime Minister Koizumi in 1991 formed the YKK trio along with 
former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary General Koichi 
Kato and former LDP Vice President Taku Yamasaki. The move was 
intended to counter the strong-armed stance of Ozawa, who as 
secretary general was dominating the party as he pleased. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Fifteen years have passed since then. Ozawa is now on center 
stage of politics for the first time in about eight years as the 
head of the top opposition party the Democratic Party of Japan 
(Minshuto or DPJ) and will soon come up against Koizumi, who has 
headed the third longest government in the postwar period. 
 
Ozawa devoted himself intensely to the adoption of the single- 
seat constituency system, and it was Prime Minister Koizumi who 
benefited most from it. Koizumi won a landslide victory in last 
year's election campaigning on the issue of postal privatization. 
By a curious irony of chance, Koizumi, who was against the 
introduction of such a system, benefited the most. Koizumi has 
done away with bureaucratic leadership and implemented 
deregulation under the initiative of politicians. The way 
politics should be as projected in Ozawa's "Japan Reform 
Program," published in 1993, coincides with what the Koizumi 
Structural Reform Initiative has aimed for. LDP Diet Policy 
Committee Chairman Hiroyuki Hosoda has analyzed: "The concepts of 
the prime minister and Ozawa are very similar. I suppose if Ozawa 
had taken the reins of government, he would have also privatized 
postal services." 
 
Followed similar courses 
 
The two party leaders have followed a similar course. In 1993, 
Ozawa tried to break apart the LDP, using a split in the powerful 
Takeshita faction as energy to realign political circles and 
bring about a change in government. On the other hand, Koizumi, 
who became prime minister in 2001, has tried to destroy profit- 
distribution-type politics established by the former Tanaka- 
Takenaka faction, to which Ozawa once belonged. 
 
Postwar conservative politics adopted social welfare policies, 
while advocating liberal principles. Though there were calls for 
enacting an independent constitution, politicians have basically 
maintained a policy that prioritized the economy, thus letting 
the nation to be only lightly armed, citing the pacifist 
Constitution. Such politics was unmistakably forced to change due 
to the Gulf war in 1990, when Ozawa was serving as LDP secretary 
general, or due to the protracted economic slowdown at a time 
when Koizumi became prime minister. Ozawa and Koizumi, who are 
just in midcourse in their efforts to redefine conservatism, now 
lead ruling and opposition parties respectively. The birth of the 
Ozawa-led DPJ means that the party will vie with the LDP to 
assume the reins of power. It will also compete with the LDP, 
including post-Koizumi contenders, in redefining conservatism. 
 
Ozawa noted in a campaign speech for the DPJ presidential race on 
April 7: "It is not freedom if only few winners gain. The society 
the DPJ aims for is a fair society, in which those who diligently 
 
TOKYO 00001978  004 OF 007 
 
 
work and make efforts are rewarded." 
 
The notion is slightly different from his original liberal ideas. 
The prime minister has brought about major changes to the LDP 
over the past five years. A growing number of supporter 
organizations are shunning the LDP due to the Koizumi reforms. 
The LDP is now shifting its power base to urban areas, which have 
provided blocs of votes for the DPJ. 
 
Differences narrowing 
 
Competition between two conservative leaders is bound to narrow 
differences between the two major parties. Though this has been 
well expected, Ozawa might find it even more difficult to steer 
his party. Upper House LDP Secretary General Toranosuke Katayama 
said: "If the DPJ claims it can run the government, its policies 
must be implementable, which means they will become similar to 
those of the LDP. I wonder how the DPJ will come up with 
originality." Similar views are being heard also from within the 
DPJ. 
(10) Editorial: Has new DPJ President Ozawa really changed? 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) 
April 8, 2006 
 
Ichiro Ozawa, who is dubbed a politician taking "a strong-armed 
approach" or "a destroyer," was elected as president of the main 
opposition party Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan). 
 
Ozawa polled 119 votes to Naoto Kan's 72 in the party election, 
in which the DPJ's 191 members from both Diet houses took part. 
 
Ozawa is a veteran politician, who brought about a political 
change after leaving the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He 
served in such important LDP posts as secretary general. He knows 
the LDP well. He is well versed in election strategy. He is a 
high-profile politician. 
 
In the light of these points, no one can rank with Ozawa. 
Minshuto suffered a major defeat in last year's House of 
Representatives election and the fake email fiasco. Under such 
circumstances, there was a strong mood in the main opposition 
party to call on Ozawa to become the new party president. 
 
Many in the party, however, are concerned about his reputation 
for dictatorial leadership. 
 
Ten years ago, Kan, Yukio Hatoyama and other lawmakers 
established the Minshuto in an attempt to fight against the LDP 
as well as Ozawa. They felt antipathy toward high-handed 
political approaches by Ozawa, who headed the largest opposition 
party Shinshinto (New Frontier Party) at the time. 
 
Ozawa disliked holding meetings and meeting the press. Since he 
took a strong-armed political approach and top-down political 
method, lawmakers, who were said to be his aides, left him one 
right after the other. His politics is greatly different from 
that of the Minshuto, which aims at forming a network-type 
organization that would connect with outside organizations. 
 
Before the presidential race, Ozawa called at the offices of 
individual party lawmakers and bowed his head. He pledged in a 
campaign speech that he would reform himself in order to bring 
 
TOKYO 00001978  005 OF 007 
 
 
about a political change. He probably wanted his party members to 
see "a new Ozawa." 
 
He must realize his political goals. It would be extremely 
difficult to put together a motley collection of politicians from 
different parties. He must quickly set up a clear difference with 
the huge ruling camp. 
 
The question is whether he can pick appropriate persons as new 
party executives in order to form a unanimous party arrangement. 
 
If Ozawa makes the same mistake as when he dissolved the New 
Frontier Party, his and his current party's dream of believing 
political change is the real structural reform will go up in 
smoke. If so, Japanese politics that must make a government 
change a normal course would suffer a serious setback. 
 
Over the last five years, four Minshuto heads quit their post 
without completing their terms. It is undesirable for the largest 
opposition party to change heads so fast in such a short time. 
 
Ozawa's presidential term runs until September, the remaining 
term of Seiji Maehara. In the fall, the Minshuto will conduct 
another presidential election, participated also by party members 
and supporters. 
 
Ozawa should take the lead in actively conducting debate during 
his tenure. He must give body and substance to his policy vision, 
such as co-existence, a fair country and strengthening Asia 
policy, and bring them all together. 
 
Whether Ozawa has really changed will be seen over the next six 
months. 
 
(11) Yasuo Saito named ambassador to Russia 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
The government decided yesterday at a cabinet meeting to appoint 
Yasuo Saito, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as ambassador to Russia 
effective April 11. Saito replaces Issei Nomura, who has recently 
assumed the post of grand master of the Crown Prince's Household. 
It also appointed other ambassadors, effective April 12. 
 
Ambassador to Russia Yasuo Saito: Left the University of Tokyo in 
mid-course; entered the Foreign Ministry in 1971; served as 
ambassador Saudi Arabia since May 2003, after serving in such 
posts as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to 
France, and director general of the European Affairs Bureau; age 
58; born in Okayama Prefecture. 
 
Ambassador to South Africa Akihiko Furuya: Graduated from the 
University of Tokyo; joined the Foreign Ministry in 1970; served 
as senior executive director of the Japan Bank for International 
Cooperation since November 2002, after serving as minister at the 
delegation of Japan to the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD) and ambassador to Senegal; age 59; native 
of Tokyo. 
 
Ambassador to Bangladesh Masayuki Inoue: Graduated from Chuo 
University in 1974; joined the Education Ministry in 1974; served 
as director general for international science and technology 
 
TOKYO 00001978  006 OF 007 
 
 
affairs since July 2004, after serving as deputy director general 
of the Science and Technology Policy Bureau; age 57; native of 
Tokyo. 
 
Ambassador to Mozambique Tatsuya Miki: Graduated from Osaka 
University of Foreign Studies; entered the Foreign Ministry in 
1967; served as consul general in Hamburg since August 2003, 
after serving as councilor and consul of the embassy in South 
Africa; age 62; native of Osaka. 
 
(12) Editorial: Revised basic environment plan rich in content 
but hard to understand 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 12, 2006 
 
The third basic environment plan has been finalized. The first 
version was produced in 1994, and since then, the plan, laid down 
based on the Basic Environment Law, has been used as the basis 
for the government to work out environment policy. 
 
The Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrialized countries to 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, came into effect in February of 
last year. Since then, the challenge of environment protection 
has become more important. We welcome the production of the new 
basic plan at such a time. 
 
The revised basic plan aims to establish a mechanism toward 
"integrated improvements of the environment, the economy, and the 
society." Under the new plan, even if economic size and 
activities expand, an additional load will not be applied to the 
environment due to the enhanced eco-efficiency of various 
systems. 
 
The new plan also aims to revitalize the economy by creating eco- 
friendly technologies and products, as well as to link local 
communities to each other through environment-protection 
activities. 
 
Such a positive grand design is presented in the new basic 
environment plan. The point of its attention is also fresh. 
 
Regarding coexistence between nature and humans, for instance, 
the plan turns its attention to the role played by rice paddies 
and undeveloped natural woodlands near populated areas and 
stresses the need to maintain and develop the agriculture, 
forestry, and fisheries industries. This stance can be favorably 
accepted. 
 
The new plan also includes policy programs for 10 strategic 
fields that should be addressed on a priority basis, such as the 
air, the water, and chemical agents. Further, the plan presents 
goals and numerical indicators in every program. These indicators 
should make annual assessments much easier. 
 
The revised plan thus is considerably rich in content. However, 
there are two problems. First, it is hard to understand due to 
sentences full of bureaucratese. Efforts are needed to make it 
more understandable for the people by shortening sentences and 
other devices. 
 
Environmental problems will not be settled only with efforts by 
the government and corporations. The people's engagement is also 
 
TOKYO 00001978  007 OF 007 
 
 
indispensable. A message that cannot reach a majority of the 
people is meaningless. 
 
It might be necessary to produce a separate volume intended for 
the general public. In such an edition, it would be desirable to 
include unique ideas or proposals presented at public hearings. 
 
As another problem, the new plan lacks a sense of alarm toward 
the environment. Although environmental problems must be urgently 
tackled, the plan fails to deliver "urgency" to the readers. 
Unless the people tackle the problems, the situation will never 
be improved. 
 
SCHIEFFER