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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 TOKYO 002041 
 
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 04/13/06 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Ruling LDP, New Komeito agree on definition of "patriotism"; 
LDP aims to resolve the issue under Koizumi cabinet, New Komeito 
avoids adverse impact on Upper House election 
 
(2) Minshuto's tactic of absenting itself from Diet deliberations 
 
(3) Futenma relocation agreement (Part A): Locals perplexed by V- 
shaped runway plan 
 
(4) Never back down: ex-Nago mayor 
 
(5) 6-trillion-yen MD initiative: Naoki Akiyama, who calls 
himself "broker," has JDA Director-General Nukaga and Mitsubishi 
Heavy Industries wrapped around his finger 
 
(6) Future course of Food Safety Commission - Interview with 
Kiyotoshi Kaneko, professor of neurophysiology at Tokyo Medical 
College: Framework that allows manipulation of reports open to 
question 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Ruling LDP, New Komeito agree on definition of "patriotism"; 
LDP aims to resolve the issue under Koizumi cabinet, New Komeito 
avoids adverse impact on Upper House election 
 
TOKYO SHIMBIN (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
April 13, 2006 
 
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition 
partner New Komeito yesterday put an end to a debate over how to 
describe "patriotism" after discussions that lasted for about 
three years. The LDP wanted to resolve this thorny issue under 
the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, while the New 
Komeito did not want to delay a conclusion of the issue ahead of 
the House of Councillors election next year. The two parties were 
motivated by the same desire to come up with the amendments to 
the Basic Education Law. By playing up their unity, the two 
parties also aimed to rattle the main opposition party Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan), led by Ichiro Ozawa. 
 
The LDP suggested describing patriotism as "loving the country" 
(kuni o ai suru), while the New Komeito insisted that the 
definition of the word should be "cherishing the country" (kuni o 
taisetsu ni suru). Conservative members of the LDP were 
increasingly frustrated with the party making excessive 
concessions in discussions on the amendments to the education 
law. Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, whom conservative 
lawmakers support, remarked in a strong tone: 
 
"We say, 'Let's use pencils and erasers sparingly (taisetsu ni 
suru), but we don't say, 'Let's love pencils and erasers' (ai 
suru), just as we don't say taisetsu ni suru when talking about 
the country." 
 
Abe conferred on the patriotism issue with former Prime Minister 
Yoshiro Mori, a leader of the education zoku (clique) in the 
Diet. Mori advised him, "You should not make an easy compromise." 
The LDP leadership's real intention is, however, that such a big 
job should be resolved under the Koizumi government. Amid 
attention being fixed on Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), 
 
TOKYO 00002041  002 OF 012 
 
 
which recently elected Ichiro Ozawa party president, the LDP has 
to show its intention to submit a bill amending the education law 
in order also to strengthen its own cohesiveness. 
 
The view in the LDP leadership was that some compromises were 
unavoidable in order to realize an early submission of the bill 
to the Diet. A senior Diet Affairs Committee member commented: 
"We focused excessively on language. Even if expressions are 
changed, the education system will not change." 
 
Tadamori Oshima, chair of a panel concerning amendments to the 
law, on April 12 proposed a definition of patriotism that 
included the wording requested by both the LDP and New Komeito: 
"respecting tradition and culture, loving the country and 
homeland, respecting other countries, and contributing to the 
peace and prosperity of the international community." He 
presented this proposal with an eye to the New Komeito and the 
situation in the LDP. 
 
A junior member of the education zoku in the Diet made this 
comment on Oshima's proposal, "The LDP will probably accept it, 
but I don't think the expressions are appropriate for the Basic 
Education Law." 
 
The New Komeito does not want to delay a conclusion any further 
in order to avoid a negative impact on the next Upper House 
election. The panel held its 68th meeting on April 12. Panel 
members though that it was not wise to give the impression that 
they were prolonging the discussion on patriotism. One member 
enthusiastically said, "Since we formulated the proposals, we 
want the government to submit a bill to the current Diet session 
and pass it through the Diet." 
 
(2) Minshuto's tactic of absenting itself from Diet deliberations 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 13, 2006 
 
With Ichiro Ozawa's assumption of the presidency in the 
Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto), signs of change have begun 
to appear in the pattern of confrontation between the ruling and 
opposition parties during the latter half of the current Diet 
session. The party yesterday boycotted deliberations of the House 
of Representatives' Health and Labor Committee, underscoring a 
confrontational stance toward the ruling camp. Meanwhile, the 
ruling bloc is stepping up efforts to strengthen solidarity 
within the party. 
 
Signs of shift to strong attitude - Minshuto 
 
In the absence of Minshuto, the ruling parties and the Japanese 
Communist Party started deliberations on medical system reform 
legislation in yesterday's Health and Labor Committee meeting. 
Minshuto boycotted the session, claiming: "Prospects for starting 
discussion on a basic cancer policy bill submitted by our party 
are nowhere in sight." 
 
Ozawa-led Minshuto will review former head Seiji Maehara's stance 
of "not refusing deliberations." In the first half of the Diet 
session, the largest opposition party was pressed to fight a 
defensive battle over a bogus e-mail scandal. The party is now 
determined to turn the tables. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002041  003 OF 012 
 
 
Minshuto decided to boycott the meeting yesterday not under 
Ozawa's instruction but based on a decision by Diet Affairs 
Committee Chairman Kozo Watanabe and others. Receiving a report 
from Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama, Ozawa told Hatoyama: "An 
explanation is necessary." Watanabe urgently held a press 
conference and said: "We have no intention of taking this kind of 
approach in other committee meetings." 
 
The party's strong attitude reflects elated feelings among 
Minshuto members in the wake of the assumption of Ozawa as party 
presidency. A senior member of the Diet Affairs Committee 
indicated a willingness to craft a Diet strategy based on public 
opinion, saying: "We must not allow the ruling coalition to 
regard us with contempt." 
 
Minshuto is ready to present a counterproposal to the 
government's administrative reform bills during today's Diet 
session. Ozawa reiterated in a meeting of the next cabinet 
yesterday: "I do not necessarily deny the stance of presenting 
counterproposals. Of importance are their contents. The public 
expects us to show differences from the ruling camp." 
 
Efforts to speed up enactment of bills - LDP 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Secretary General Tsutomu 
Takebe at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday: "There are a 
host of bills on the Diet agenda. I want you to make efforts on a 
priority basis to have the bills enacted in coordination with the 
New Komeito." 
 
Tension is mounting in the ruling parties. A senior member of the 
Diet Affairs Committee said in response to Minshuto's boycott 
yesterday: "What the party has said is so inconsistent that it 
will be impossible for the party to obtain public understanding. 
There are no parts on which we make concessions." The ruling 
camp, though, needs to prevent the largest opposition party from 
taking advantage of a lack of unity in the ruling camp and 
disturbing it. 
 
In view of the number of remaining days of the current Diet 
session, the ruling parties aimed to lay down a bill amending the 
Fundamental Law of Education around this time. It is true, 
though, that Ozawa's assumption of office as Minshuto president 
also contributed to speeding up an agreement on revising the law 
in the ruling camp. The government plans to submit the bill to 
the Diet within April and have it enacted at an early date. It is 
considering establishing a special committee on this issue. 
 
The ruling side is determined to have the administrative reform 
promotion bill passed in the Lower Hose next week. In its 
Research Commission on the Constitution meeting yesterday, the 
LDP left the task of dealing with referendum legislation in the 
hands of Policy Research Council Chairman Hidenao Nakagawa. The 
party will discuss a future response possibly next week. 
 
A senior LDP Diet Affairs Committee member said: "If we submit 
the bill amending the Fundamental Law of Education and other 
bills to the Diet, it will unavoidably become necessary to extend 
the session for a lengthy period." On the Diet extension, 
difficult negotiations are expected because it will be linked to 
the LDP presidential election in September. 
 
(3) Futenma relocation agreement (Part A): Locals perplexed by V- 
 
TOKYO 00002041  004 OF 012 
 
 
shaped runway plan 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Pp.24-25) (Abridged) 
April 14, 2006 
 
On April 13, Sakae Toyama, 65, was alone in an anti-base tent in 
Okinawa's Henoko district overlooking the shining sea, looking a 
little annoyed. Earlier in the day, news organizations reported 
that Gov. Keiichi Inamine, who had been adamant about not 
accepting any plans other than the original Camp Schwab offshore 
plan, might go along with a revised plan. 
 
Toyama commented: 
 
"I know that tremendous pressure from both the central government 
and the prefectural assembly is killing the governor. But he has 
to hang in there at least until the gubernatorial election in 
November. If he can hold on till then, we will pick someone who 
is stronger and does not give in to pressure as our new governor. 
Inamine has to withstand the pressure until November." 
 
On April 7, an agreement was reached between Nago Mayor Yoshikazu 
Shimabukuro and Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga 
on a plan to construct two runways in a V shape at the coastline 
of Camp Schwab. To many local residents, it was a bolt from the 
blue. 
 
Toyama complained: 
 
"They have come up with such an awkward plan. It is designed just 
to remove the flight paths from residential areas, disregarding 
noise and other hazardous factors. One-third of training at 
Futenma is devoted to touch and go. The mayor said that such 
training wouldn't be conducted at the new site. I asked the 
deputy mayor if that was true, but he reiterated, 'We will 
discuss specifics later on.'" 
 
On April 11, over 500 anti-base residents assembled together at 
the plaza in front of the Nago municipal government office and 
submitted a letter of protest, demanding Mayor Shimabukuro 
retract his statement tolerant of the Futenma relocation. 
 
Zenko Nakamura, 58, head of a citizens group opposing the 
heliport base, noted: 
 
"In the 1997 Nago plebiscite, residents said 'no' to the heliport 
base. Futenma Air Station must be moved out of Okinawa or even 
out of Japan." 
 
Anti-base group preparing to recall Shimabukuro 
 
Opponents of the base relocation reportedly overwhelmed base- 
supporters in subsequent opinion polls. What is pushing the 
municipal government in the other direction? 
 
Nakamura explained this way: 
 
"To begin with, it is the central government's policy to maintain 
the US-Japan Security Treaty. The government doesn't hesitate to 
get rid of local heads not following this policy. As a result, 
local heads do anything to achieve goals. Citizens and the mayor 
are all aware that it's absolutely ridiculous to build a base at 
a place like this. But the mayor has no other option but to 
 
TOKYO 00002041  005 OF 012 
 
 
follow the government's decision. That's been the way in Okinawa 
for the last 60 postwar years." 
 
A 55-year-old male taxi driver commented in a low voice: 
 
"Many of those opposing the relocation are civil servants, 
including town office workers and teachers. The chamber of 
commerce and industry and local business operators are hopeful of 
receiving local economy revitalization measures in return for 
accepting the base. As you know, Nago has been losing its vigor." 
 
The government has poured 60 billion yen into the northern part 
of Okinawa since the heliport base relocation has surfaced. 
 
Toyama also said: 
 
"Even if the city formally accepted the relocation, it would take 
five, six years to actually begin construction. We will block 
construction at all costs. We will find a strong candidate and 
then recall the mayor." 
 
(4) Never back down: ex-Nago mayor 
 
ASAHI (Page 35) (Full) 
April 13, 2006 
 
Japan and the United States agreed 10 years ago yesterday on the 
relocation and return of Futenma airfield, a US military base 
located in Japan's southernmost island prefecture of Okinawa. 
Tokyo, Washington, and Okinawa have had their respective 
expectations diverge over the airfield's relocation. Tateo 
Kishimoto, the then mayor of Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture, 
clarified his acceptance of the government's proposal to build an 
alternative facility in the island's northern coastal city of 
Nago to take over the airfield's heliport functions. Kishimoto 
was on the front of negotiations for eight years over Futenma 
relocation, and he died a month after retiring from the city's 
mayoralty. Three days before his death, the late mayor left these 
words with the city's new mayor: "Never back down." 
 
Kishimoto died on March 27 from hepatocyte cancer. He was 62. On 
April 2, Nago City held a municipal funeral for him, with about 
4,000 people attending. Among them was Zenko Nakamura, 58, leader 
of a local anti-heliport group. 
 
"Mayor Kishimoto and I were in different positions," Nakamura 
said, "but we were both alike in being at the mercy of national 
policy." 
 
In his younger days, Kishimoto was against the presence of US 
military bases on the island. In 1973, Kishimoto became an 
employee of the city's municipal government office. At the time, 
his quest was to make his local community culturally and 
ecologically rich. His initiative was just the opposite of the 
current trend in Japan of a widening of economic disparities. "He 
was always thinking over what we could do by ourselves to develop 
our communities," says Masatoshi Shimabukuro, 62, who teamed up 
with Kishimoto to that end in those days and who once worked as a 
chief librarian of Nago City. 
 
In 1997, Nago was suddenly called on to host another US military 
base. The Japanese government came up with a plan to build a sea- 
based heliport in waters off the coast of Henoko in the city as a 
 
TOKYO 00002041  006 OF 012 
 
 
replacement for the Futenma airfield. That year, the city polled 
its residents over whether to accept Tokyo's offshore heliport 
plan. A majority of those who cast their votes rejected it. 
However, the then mayor, Tetsuya Higa, accepted the heliport 
plan. Shortly thereafter, he resigned as mayor. 
 
Kishimoto won the race to be Higa's successor as mayor. In the 
eyes of antibase locals, Kishimoto appeared to have changed 
sides, however. 
 
Higa said, "The base won't go away if we only ask them to return 
it." The former mayor added: "I hope we can make a change for the 
better. The mayor should have his back against the wall." 
 
In December 1999, Kishimoto clarified his intention to accept 
Futenma relocation to Nago. 
 
The Defense Agency, which later entered into negotiations with 
Kishimoto, found the mayor a "tough" counterpart. Kishimoto won a 
government package of local economic stimulus measures for 
Okinawa's northern districts to the extent of 100 billion yen for 
10 years. He continued to negotiate Futenma's relocation with the 
government for years, setting preconditions for his acceptance of 
the Futenma relocation plan. 
 
However, Yukio Okamoto, a one-time special assistant to the prime 
minister for Okinawa and later a frequent adviser to Kishimoto, 
took a different view. "He never gave in (to the government) when 
it came to anything in the interests of Okinawa's northern 
localities and also when it came to base-caused noise damage to 
local communities," Okamoto recalled. 
 
Masatoshi Shimabukuro called on Mayor Kishimoto at his office 
from time to time. Shimabukuro remembers Kishimoto saying there 
over Okinawa's traditional awamori spirits: "Masatoshi, never 
stop the antibase movement." 
 
As the city's mayor, Kishimoto refused to meet base opponents. In 
the meantime, the government and local conservative assembly 
members had yet to place full confidence in him. 
 
Katsuhiro Yoshida was also the head of a municipality in the 
island's northern part. Yoshida once served as Kin Town's mayor. 
He remembers that there was alcohol on Kishimoto's breath in one 
morning when he was in a meeting with cabinet ministers. 
 
The government will do anything or whatsoever until I say yes. 
Once I give in, the government will press me hard... With this, 
Yoshida, who also accepted a US military telecom facility's 
relocation to his town, recalled how it was in his negotiations 
with the government. Kishimoto shouldered the heavy burden of a 
base, which was imposed from Tokyo to Okinawa and from Okinawa to 
Nago while he was in office for eight years. He might have felt 
lonely but could not tell anyone... 
 
In January this year, Nago elected its new mayor after Kishimoto 
retired for his health. On March 24, the city's newly elected 
mayor, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, visited Kishimoto at his hospital. 
Kishimoto there said to Shimabukuro: "Never back down." 
 
Two weeks later, Mayor Shimabukuro agreed on the government's 
plan to build two airstrips at a site across the cape of Henoko 
in his city. 
 
TOKYO 00002041  007 OF 012 
 
 
 
The city's deputy mayor and other municipal officials are on the 
road to meet local residents in order to account for the 
agreement reached between Nago and Tokyo. The city government 
held another briefing of local communities yesterday. The new 
mayor, now shouldering the same heavy burden as Kishimoto's, has 
yet to show up before his city's people. 
 
(5) 6-trillion-yen MD initiative: Naoki Akiyama, who calls 
himself "broker," has JDA Director-General Nukaga and Mitsubishi 
Heavy Industries wrapped around his finger 
 
SHUKAN BUNSHUN (Excerpts) 
April 13, 2006 
 
The Japan-US Security Strategy Conference has been held twice a 
year - once in Washington in May and once in Tokyo in November - 
since 2003, but its existence is little known in Japan. This 
conference, however, is attended by eminent people. 
 
A political reporter at a national newspaper explained: 
 
"Attending the conference from Japan are members of the National 
Security Research Group, an organization composed of lawmakers 
working for national defense or defense-related industries, known 
as the kokubo zoku, from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the 
New Komeito, and Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan). The 
chairman of the group is former JDA Director-General Tsutomu 
Kawara, the vice chairman is LDP General Council Chairman Fumio 
Kyuma, and the chief of the secretariat is JDA Director-General 
Fukushiro Nukaga. Besides them are Shigeru Ishiba and Tokuichiro 
Tamazawa, who have each served as JDA director-general, and other 
renowned legislators." 
 
Participants in the same conference from the United States are 
all key government officials, including Secretary of Defense 
Ronald Rumsfeld, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Richard 
Lawless, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, and 
former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. 
 
Given that in addition to key political figures, executives of 
leading defense manufacturers from around the world, such as 
Lockheed Martin and Boeing, attend the conference, it may be safe 
to call the conference a military-industrial gathering. 
 
The sponsor of this grand-scale gathering is Naoki Akiyama, a 
member of the board of directors of the Japan-America Cultural 
Society, a public corporation under the Foreign Ministry's 
control. Akiyama also serves as head of the National Security 
Research Institute, which is affiliated with the society. 
 
"He (Akiyama) is a liaison in the defense area for Japan-US 
exchanges. He seems to be on friendly terms with Mr. Nukaga and 
Mr. Kyuma among Japan's defense lobbyists. He also has friendly 
ties with senior US government officials. He brags that he knows 
all about Armitage's connections with Japan and that he is 
particularly close to Rumsfeld. He has given the impression that 
he thinks Japan-US security issues cannot make progress without 
his advice," said a major newspaper correspondent in Washington. 
 
Last May, when JDA Director-General Nukaga, Kyuma, Taro Aso, and 
others from Japan were visiting the United States, a senior US 
Department of Defense official hosted a reception. "On that 
 
TOKYO 00002041  008 OF 012 
 
 
occasion," the same correspondent revealed, "Mr. Akiyama 
interrupted a conversation between Secretary Rumsfeld and 
Director-General Nukaga and led Nukaga out of the reception hall, 
saying, 'The schedule is tight.' Secretary Rumsfeld reportedly 
exploded, 'What's that? Who's that?' and 'I don't want to see him 
again.'" 
 
According to a book he authored, Shin-Kaso Tekikoku (A New 
Potential Enemy), Akiyama was born in 1943. He learned from 
political commentator Isamu Togawa and received ideas about the 
nature of the state from former Nissho Iwai Vice President 
Hachiro Kaifu. 
 
A Foreign Ministry official gave this account of Akiyama: "I've 
heard his father was a prosecutor and later was involved in 
founding the National Police Reserve (the predecessor of the Self- 
Defense Forces)." 
 
When Japanese lawmakers are visiting the US, Akiyama brings them 
to bigwigs in the US administration or offers an inspection tour 
of the military industry. 
 
"Director-General Nukaga and Mr. Kyuma appear to completely trust 
Mr. Akiyama. Mr. Akiyama assembled 15 correspondents assigned to 
Washington and hosted meetings with Nukaga at beef barbecue or 
Chinese restaurants. The expenses for these meetings were paid by 
Mr. Akiyama with his platinum American Express card. So I thought 
he had plenty of money," another national newspaper company 
reporter said. 
 
Mitsubishi Corp. is a subcontractor of "my firm" 
 
Except for the Japan-US Security Strategy Conference, politicians 
and defense industry executives from Japan and the US have very 
few opportunities to meet. Chiefly for this reason, participants 
in the conference tend to expect a lot from Akiyama. 
 
"During the conference," said a military journalist, "Japanese 
and US legislators working for the defense industry clamor for 
Japan to ease its three principles of weapons exports. They do 
so, reflecting their respective defense industries' desires. 
American firms aim to sell Japan missile defense systems, 
including the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile, while 
Japanese trading houses and defense firms like Mitsubishi Heavy 
Industries will first buy such systems from (US firms) and then 
aim to produce them under license." 
 
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been at the top of Japan's 
defense industry for many years. It is a large supplier for the 
JDA, receiving procurement orders worth at least 250 billion yen 
every year. Mitsubishi Corp. acts as a weapons importer, and 
Mitsubishi Electric dominates such areas as radar technology used 
for satellites. One-third of Japan's defense budget goes the 
Mitsubishi group. 
 
Once the MD initiative is implemented and the three principles of 
weapons exports are eased, the Mitsubishi group will be able to 
achieve an astronomical level of profit. 
 
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Chairman Takashi Nishioka has 
attended the Japan-US Security Strategy Conference as a panelist 
since 2003 and delivered a keynote speech at the conference both 
in 2004 and 2005, demonstrating his enthusiasm for the 
 
TOKYO 00002041  009 OF 012 
 
 
conference. 
 
"Chairman Nishioka has trusts Mr. Akiyama all the more because he 
was introduced by Mr. Akiyama to heavyweights in the US 
government and the US defense industry. Mr. Nishioka appears to 
have played golf together with Mr. Akiyama," said a participant 
of the conference. 
 
In March 2005, one national newspaper reporter for defense 
affairs said, "Shakai Shimpo, the official publication of the 
Social Democratic Party (SDP), reported that executives of the 
Mitsubishi group, including Chairman Nishioka, assisted by 
Akiyama, 'secretly entertained' former JDA Director-General 
Ishiba and defense bureaucrats." 
 
His extensive personal networks in Japan and the US and the way 
he orchestrated an opulent reception in Washington are sufficient 
for people to call him a fixer. 
 
Akiyama leads the National Security Research Institute, and in 
addition, he effectively runs a company called Advac 
International Corporation. 
 
Last year, a former Advac employee we will call "Ms. A" filed a 
lawsuit against Advac for unpaid salary. This February, the Tokyo 
District Court upheld Ms. A's claim and ordered Advac to pay her 
unpaid salary. The records of the case include her testimony as 
to what Akiyama said and how he behaved at the National Security 
Research Institute. 
 
According to the records, Akiyama described Mitsubishi 
Corporation as a "subcontractor" of his company. He believes 
himself to be a "fixer" with strong clout in the JDA over its 
procurement orders to private firms. 
 
But problems about his activities were raised in a way he had 
never anticipated. A journalist for national defense explained: 
 
"The Japan-America Cultural Society, the parent body of Mr. 
Akiyama's Institute, has been provided a total of 38 million yen 
in subsidies by the Japan Foundation from 1997 through 2004. 
Those named in the board of directors of that society include 
national defense lobbyist lawmakers mentioned earlier here in 
this piece and executives of domestic defense-related firms. The 
society was launched with the aim of cultural exchanges between 
Japan and the US. This means that the society is not at all an 
occasion to deal with security issues and military affairs. 
Additionally, the Japan Foundation is an independent 
administrative organization under the control of the Foreign 
Ministry. Reporting that the society has used public money given 
as subsidies for other purposes, the news media took issue with 
this point." 
 
Various questions were also raised about Akiyama's background and 
activities. 
 
The same journalist continued: "Akiyama has let it be known that 
his political activities started with his serving as secretary to 
Tsutomu Kawara. I then asked Mr. Kawara's secretary at the time, 
 
SIPDIS 
but the secretary said that he did not know him." 
 
Although Akiyama has portrayed himself as a close friend of 
former US Secretary of Defense William Cohen, a senior member of 
 
TOKYO 00002041  010 OF 012 
 
 
the Cohen group, when asked about Akiyama, made this reply: "With 
Japan's defense lobby lawmakers standing behind him, he (Akiyama) 
was able to pose as a power broker. He was seen bragging to 
Japanese visitors to the US that he was really close to Cohen, 
but that claim was met with laughter here." 
 
This magazine asked lawmakers belonging to the National Security 
Research Group whether they knew of Akiyama's past activities and 
the suspicions that surround him. LDP Secretary General Takebe, 
House of Representatives member Tamisuke Watanuki, and former 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) President Maehara simply 
repeated these words: "I didn't know," and "I'm surprised." 
Former JDA Director-General Tsutomu Kawara denied the fact that 
Akiyama had served as secretary to him. 
 
JDA Director-General Nukaga, when asked the same question by this 
weekly at Haneda Airport after coming back from Okinawa, made 
only this remark: "I don't know." He quickly got in a car waiting 
for him. Since then he has shown no signs of responding to 
interviews about this matter. 
 
Former JDA Director-General Ishiba, asked about Akiyama's past, 
said, "I didn't know," adding: "Mr. Kawara, Mr. Kyuma, and Mr. 
Nukaga are people we all respect. So, don't you think it is 
strange if we ask them, 'Isn't there any problem with him?'" 
 
Apparently, the major factor that helped Akiyama to build his 
personal network in the US was his connections with heavyweight 
Japanese lawmakers. And the reason why he was able to expand his 
personal network with Japanese lawmakers was because he happened 
to have an acquaintance with veteran lawmakers. Well, from where 
did he cultivate his personal network? One acquaintance of 
Akiyama's explained: 
 
"Akiyama worked as a driver for Isamu Togawa. Akiyama joined 
Togawa when he visited the Foreign Ministry. In doing so, Akiyama 
had opportunities to be friends with politicians, like Ichiro 
Ozawa. Later, he began associating with defense lobbyist 
lawmakers." 
 
Akiyama's golf companion, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Chairman 
Takashi Nishioka, who last July assumed the post as the officer 
responsible for his company's missile work and is also director 
of the Japan-America Cultural Society, is reluctant to mention 
the suspicions now surrounding Akiyama: 
 
"I didn't know Mr. Akiyama was doing such things. Whether he 
committed fraud or not has nothing to do with me. The membership 
fee of the Japan-US Security Strategy Institute? I don't think 
(my company) pays it." 
 
However, a public relations officer at  Mitsubishi Heavy 
Industries said: 
 
"As a leading manufacturer in the aerial and space defense 
sectors, we agreed with the purposes of the talks and took part 
in them. In addition to the payment of 1 million yen a year as 
support money, our company paid 600,000 yen to take part in an 
American tour last spring. We paid the money not to Mr. Akiyama's 
Security Strategic Institute but to the talks, even though the 
recipient is the institute." 
 
A series of scandals involving (the JDA) in recent years has 
 
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strengthened calls for greater transparency in how the defense 
budget is used, but the MD initiative, in which as much as 6 
trillion yen will be invested, is still covered in darkness. 
 
(6) Future course of Food Safety Commission - Interview with 
Kiyotoshi Kaneko, professor of neurophysiology at Tokyo Medical 
College: Framework that allows manipulation of reports open to 
question 
 
ASAHI (Page 15) (Full) 
April 14, 2006 
 
I have no intention to avoid my responsibility for the contents 
of the reports worked out (by the Food Safety Commissions (FSC)). 
I left the panel because I want to work hard at my main job, and 
not out of protest. I want to stress that the advisory panel must 
take a logical and scientifically appropriate stance in order to 
assess risks on a scientific basis. 
 
If there are problems in the panel itself, the credibility of its 
reports will be undermined. The current framework that allows the 
manipulation of reports must be rectified. 
 
The panel called on the government to assess the BSE risk of US 
beef, not the safety-management system, attaching these 
conditions: (1) Specified risk materials, including vertebral 
columns, should be completely removed in the US; and (2) imported 
beef should be limited to that from calves considered at low risk 
of contracting the disease. 
 
It was hard for me to understand the (government's) stance of 
asking the FSC to make a scientific assessment while setting 
aside the important point of risk management. The report 
(released in December of last year) inserted the passage 
"scientific assessment is difficult." That was intended to 
express our concerns or apprehension from the standpoint of 
scientists. However, the panel gave approval "as a result of 
study from a scientific viewpoint." I feel this was regrettable. 
 
One month later, the government imposed a second ban on US beef 
imports in reaction to the discovery of vertebral columns found 
in a US beef shipment to Japan. Is it enough to pursue the 
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW), and the Ministry 
of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) on their 
responsibility? 
 
If the FSC is willing to conduct food safety assessment in a 
serious manner, the panel should be given the right to make the 
government resubmit a list of inquiries if it finds questionable 
points. Otherwise, it will be impossible to make a scientific 
assessment. 
 
The FSC has flown the slogans of "scientific assessment" and 
"fair, neutral, and independent inspection," but this comes in 
the face of real society. There naturally are time limitations, 
and much remains unknown. Despite such circumstances, the panel 
must come up with assessment results. 
 
It is necessary to obtain a national consensus on standards for 
scientific assessment. Japanese people have little experience in 
risk analysis, so they tend to call for "zero risk." But a 
certain level of risk has to be tolerated. 
 
 
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Even if safety is verified scientifically, changes can always 
occur, so there is some latitude. The government should reveal 
the possible risk and then make a judgment. Or it should listen 
to public views and then take measures. If no standards are 
prepared, the public will expect the risk to be as small as 
possible, and then the issue of safety becomes a matter of making 
people feel comfortable. 
 
I keenly feel that experts on risk analysis should also join the 
process of confirming food safety. Should they make a scientific 
assessment from a different angle, our awareness of risk will 
deepen. One idea would be to bring together experts in specific 
areas. If they set standards on what should be regarded as a 
risk, it will become possible for each section of the FSC to have 
"common scales." 
 
In the event such criteria were adopted, the FSC would be able to 
disclose information on risk. If the people demand that risk 
should be minimized, it will become possible for the panel to 
pose questions about cost increases, and both sides will be able 
to exchange views on risk. 
 
Nonetheless, even if the FSC emphasizes safety, it will be vital 
to convince the people. In order to win public trust, it is 
necessary to strengthen the risk-communication system among the 
FSC, the MHLW, and MAFF. 
 
For instance, it would be desirable to set up such a risk- 
communication body as a food security committee involving 
relevant government agencies and disclose information on risk 
assessment and management. The public will become more trustful 
(of the FSC) through such efforts. 
 
SCHIEFFER