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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 TOKYO 002063 
 
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 04/17/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Former US ambassadors to Japan Mondale, Foley, and former 
Japanese ambassador to US Saito attend Tokyo seminar on China 
 
(2) Futenma relocation agreement (Part B): Locals perplexed by V- 
shaped runway plan 
 
(3) FSX: F-22 locks on F-4 
 
(4) Kasumigaseki confidential: Leadership struggle among security 
affairs officials 
 
(5) LDP presidency in 2006: Interview with General Council 
Chairman Kyuma 
 
(6) Interview with former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato on 
2006 LDP presidential election: Yasukuni will turn into a major 
campaign issue 
 
(7) Rapid move to lift second ban on US beef imports; Government 
holding town meetings with consumers throughout country 
 
(8) Future course of Food Safety Commission - Interview with 
Nobuko Hisawa, external director of Snow Brand Milk Products Co.: 
Need to help consumers understand experts 
 
(9) A visit to Yasukuni Shrine's war memorial museum Yushukan: A 
documentary film depicts the war as a "war of survival and self- 
defense" 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Former US ambassadors to Japan Mondale, Foley, and former 
Japanese ambassador to US Saito attend Tokyo seminar on China 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 15, 2006 
 
Former US ambassadors to Japan Walter Mondale and Thomas Foley 
and former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Kunihiko 
Saito participated on April 14 a seminar sponsored by the Japan 
Business Federation and other organizations. China's recent rapid 
economic growth was the main topic of discussion. Mondale, who 
was appointed ambassador to Japan by President Bill Clinton, 
criticized President George W. Bush's handling of the nuclear 
issue as being inconsistent. 
 
Citing nuclear programs by North Korea and Iran, Mondale stated, 
"The global mechanism of (nonproliferation of nuclear weapons) 
has now been distorted." He was also critical about an accord 
concluded in March between the United States and India, saying, 
"Iran might say why is India allowed nuclear weapons but we are 
not." 
 
Saito focused his comments on China: 
 
"China's totalitarian regime has suppressed freedom of speech in 
the country. Relations between, Japan, the United States and 
China are not an equal triangle. Since equidistant diplomacy is 
unrealistic, it should not be sought." 
 
(2) Futenma relocation agreement (Part B): Locals perplexed by V- 
 
TOKYO 00002063  002 OF 013 
 
 
shaped runway plan 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Pp.24-25) (Abridged) 
April 14, 2006 
 
A plan agreed April 7 by Defense Agency Director General 
Fukushiro Nukaga and Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro is designed 
to build two runways in a V shape -- one for takeoffs and the 
other for landings -- at Camp Schwab to remove residential areas 
from the flight paths. 
 
But local residents wonder if the US military would operate the 
runways in the way that the government explained. 
 
Tsutomu Aragaki, a Naga-based lawyer who heads an NGO to revise 
 
SIPDIS 
the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement, predicted: 
 
"The problem with the US forces in Japan is that they don't keep 
their promises. Once the runways are opened, its operation would 
be left entirely to the US military. Noise will not diminish just 
because the runways are built in a V shape." 
 
According to Aragaki, descriptive pamphlets distributed to local 
residents by the Defense Agency simply indicate the noise level 
on the ocean side, briefly explaining that the level of noise on 
the residential side would be 75% of that of the ocean side. 
"Although helicopter noise is projected, the noise level of fixed- 
wing aircraft is not taken into account," Aragaki said. 
 
The additional runway that will require greater landfill is also 
likely to cause problems for the marine environment. 
 
Reclamation would wipe out dugongs 
 
Nanzan University Prof. Shigekazu Mezaki, who has conducted 
submersible surveys around the Henoko district, noted 
apprehensively: 
 
"The marine habitat will be destroyed as a result of reclaiming 
land for the second runway. And consequently, dugongs in this 
area would all die out. There are vocal international calls for 
protecting dugongs, a rare species." 
 
Aragaki also said angrily: 
 
"The two countries are still discussing the runways, but in the 
future, they are certain to look into the option of building a 
military port there. They would try to have base functions that 
are greater than those mentioned in the government's original 
offshore plan. Such a plan would result in more noise pollution 
and the destruction of nature." 
 
What does the V-shaped plan mean to the US military? 
 
"It would be an ideal base for the US military," military affairs 
commentator Motoaki Kamiura categorically said. 
 
In Kamiura's view, two runways in a V form cannot be used 
exclusively for landings and takeoffs. He thinks fixed-wing 
aircraft would use the landward runway and helicopters the one on 
the ocean side. 
 
Kamiura also noted: 
 
TOKYO 00002063  003 OF 013 
 
 
 
"Helicopters are sometimes forced to make emergency landings. The 
land sitting on an extension of the runway on the ocean side can 
be used in an emergency landing." 
 
Chances are also high that MV22 Ospreys would use the landward 
runway once they are deployed in Okinawa in around 2012. The MV22 
can land and take off vertically. But it also needs a short field 
depending on its air-load. 
 
Kamiura speculated: 
 
"Nukaga said that the runways would be 1,500 meters long, whereas 
Shimabukuro indicated they would be 1,300 meters. The Defense 
Agency thinks that 1,300 meters is too short for the operation of 
Ospreys." 
 
Sociology Prof. Masaie Ishihara of Okinawa International 
University, where a Futenma-based helicopter crashed in 2004, 
commented: 
 
"After that accident, the US military was careful for a while in 
determining flight paths. Those days are over. US aircraft today 
fly over anything, anywhere -- universities, hospitals, daycare 
centers. So people in Okinawa all know that it is a lie that US 
planes will not fly over residential areas, as was agreed upon by 
Nukaga and Shimabukuro. Although the US base issue has been 
confined to Okinawa, US force realignment will spread the issue 
to cities in mainland Japan, such as Kanoya in Kagoshima, Komatsu 
in Ishikawa, and Iwakuni in Yamaguchi. People say, 'Let's share 
pain with Okinawa.' I would say, 'Let's eliminate the fundamental 
cause of pain.'" 
 
(3) FSX: F-22 locks on F-4 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 27) (Full) 
April 14, 2006 
 
The Defense Agency will shortly kick-start its process of 
selecting a fighter support experimental, or FSX for short. The 
FSX is a follow-on fighter jet model for the Air Self-Defense 
Force (ASDF) to replace the F-4EJ-Kai, an advanced model of the F- 
4EJ fighter jet. The agency will set up an in-house board under 
the ASDF Air Staff Office in order to screen FSX candidate 
models. At the outset, it will inquire of US and European 
aircraft manufacturers in writing about their candidate lineups. 
The ASDF, however, has another mainstay fighter model, the F-15, 
in addition to the F-4 series. Curiously enough, FSX selection to 
replace the F-4 is also up to the F-15's fate. 
 
The Defense Agency plans to replace a total of 91 F-4EJ-Kai 
fighters, which have become superannuated, with new ones. The 
agency has already decided to introduce the first seven new ones 
under its current midterm defense buildup program for five fiscal 
years from 2005 to 2009. 
 
Japan once developed an FSX model on its own, which made its 
debut as the F-2. However, the F-2 was later found defective. 
Learning a lesson from such a fiasco, the Defense Agency has 
given up on the choice of going ahead with FSX development at 
home. For now, there are six candidates on the list, broken down 
into four US-developed fighter jet models and two European 
models. The four US models are the F-15X fighter, the FA-18E/F 
 
TOKYO 00002063  004 OF 013 
 
 
fighter attacker, the F-22 multipurpose fighter, and the F-35 
joint strike fighter. Meanwhile, one of the two European models 
is the Eurofighter, co-developed by European Union (EU) 
countries. The other European model is the Dassault Rafael, 
developed by France. 
 
The most likely candidate is the F-22. The US Air Force has 
already introduced this model, and the US government is also 
enthusiastically driving sales promotion for it toward foreign 
governments. The problem, however, is its price. The F-22 is 
expensive even for US military specs as it is priced at 15 
billion yen per unit. In the past, the Defense Agency have had 
domestic aircraft manufacturers reproduce US-developed fighter 
jets under license. If Japan chooses licensed production for the 
F-22 as well, its unit cost is deemed certain to skyrocket to 
nearly 30 billion yen. 
 
The F-4's unit cost is 1.7 billion yen. Even the F-2-reportedly 
the world's most expensive fighter-is priced at 13 billion yen. 
However, the unit cost is said to go down with mass production. 
As it stands, all eyes were riveted on the F-15-another mainstay 
fighter model currently in the ASDF's employ-over whether or when 
it will be mothballed. 
 
The ASDF's F-15 fighters can be broken down into two types. One 
is the MSIP (for multi-stage improvement programme), and the 
other is pre-MSIP. The F-15 of the MSIP type is an advanced 
model, which is loaded with digitalized firearms control systems. 
About 90 of the ASDF's F-15 fighters are of this MSIP type. The 
ASDF, meanwhile, has another version of the F-15, which is of the 
pre-MSIP type. The F-15 of this version is an older model that is 
equipped with analog systems. About 110 of the ASDF's F-15s are 
of this pre-MSIP type. The ASDF is now in the process of 
renovating and modernizing each F-15 fighter of the MSIP type by 
replacing its radar and arithmetic unit. This renovation costs an 
investment of 5 billion yen for each F-15 jet of the MSIP type. 
 
In the case of upgrading the F-15 fighter jets of the pre-MSIP 
type, the first necessary step is to digitalize their systems for 
MSIP compatibility. This will require a huge amount of money, so 
the pre-MSIP fighters have been left unattended without being 
renovated. Consequently, the pre-MSIP F-15s are falling behind 
the MSIP F-15s in performance. 
 
"The F-15's pre-MSIP system is old and will end its shelf-life in 
time," one ASDF official noted. This official also said, "The F-4 
fighters and the pre-MSIP fighters total about 200." He presumed 
the F-22's price would go down with mass production if both the F- 
4 fighters and the pre-MSIP fighters were replaced with the F-22. 
The ASDF "is even more likely to introduce the F-22." In the case 
of choosing to replace the F-4s only, the FA-18 will have an 
advantage because its price is lower and estimated at 
approximately 8 billion yen. 
 
The F-22 is a state-of-the-art hypersonic fighter jet that 
cruises faster than the speed of sound. Meanwhile, the FA-18E/F 
is deployed to the US Navy's Atsugi base for a carrier-based 
wing. Its design concept is old, but its reliability is high. One 
ASDF staff officer said, "In the process of screening FSX 
candidate models, we'll have to consider various factors, 
including the future of the pre-MSIP fighters." 
 
(4) Kasumigaseki confidential: Leadership struggle among security 
 
TOKYO 00002063  005 OF 013 
 
 
affairs officials 
 
BUNGEI SHUNJU (Page 235) (Full) 
May 2006 
 
The Japanese government's response to the issue of realigning the 
US forces in Japan has highlighted a nasty leadership struggle 
among Defense Agency officials, who do not seem to care about 
national interests. 
 
It is said that Administrative Vice Defense Minister Takemasa 
Moriya (joined the Defense Agency (JDA) in 1971), who has been 
serving in his post for about two years and six months, will be 
retained in this summer's personnel reshuffle, having earned 
enormous trust from Iwao Iijima, Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi's private secretary. Moriya at his own has replaced 
officials one after the other, including Defense Facilities 
Administrative Agency (DFAA) Director General Shoei Yamanaka and 
Defense Policy Bureau chief Senri Yamauchi. There is no one at 
JDA who can stop Moriya. 
 
When negotiations on the relocation of the US Marine Corps' 
Futenma Air Station to Nago City deadlocked between the central 
government and the local government, senior Foreign Ministry 
officials, having lost this initiative to the Defense Agency, 
spoke behind Moriya's back: 
 
"Moriya bears full responsibility for the negotiations. He must 
go to the United States to break an impasse on the talks. He will 
probably not be able to do so because he can't speak English." 
 
A series of bid-rigging scandals involving DFAA officials 
prompted a personnel change battle in the agency. An anti-Moriya 
group had links to the Foreign Ministry. 
 
Since the Defense Policy Bureau is not allowed to take a neutral 
position, Director General Kazuo Ofuru, who wants to become next 
vice minister, supports Moriya. Administrative Vice Foreign 
Minister Shotaro Yachi, who was criticized by Iijima during his 
tenure as assistant deputy chief cabinet secretary, and North 
American Affairs Bureau Director General Chikao Kawai have 
remained spectators. 
 
Iijima, who has long been critical about the Foreign Ministry, 
backed Moriya. The battle between Moriya and anti-Moriya defense 
officials and the confrontation between Moriya and the Foreign 
Ministry thus involved the Prime Minister's Official Residence, 
as well. As a result, the Bush administration found out the power 
struggle. Ambassador to the US Ryozo Kato, who should be serving 
as a bridge between Tokyo and Washington, was unable to take 
appropriate measures to cap it, even though he has a channel of 
communication to Iijima. 
 
The Koizumi cabinet in its final months has revealed that an 
uncontrollable situation exists regarding Japan's security 
policy, the basis of Japanese diplomacy. 
 
(5) LDP presidency in 2006: Interview with General Council 
Chairman Kyuma 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
April 13, 2006 
 
 
TOKYO 00002063  006 OF 013 
 
 
Questioner: What do you think will become the main issues in the 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election? 
 
Kyuma: Usually there are no major issues in an LDP presidential 
race. Yet, the focus is now unnecessarily on the Yasukuni Shrine 
issue. I think it's not good to choose the prime minister based 
on such an issue in considering future elections. 
 
Questioner: Don't you think the next LDP leader should do 
something to repair strained Japan-China relations? 
 
Kyuma: Japan should do something before it has to be told what to 
do by China. My personal view is that it is wrong that Yasukuni 
Shrine has enshrined former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and other 
leaders who carried out the war together with drafted soldiers 
who died in the war. The government should tell the shrine to 
separately enshrine Tojo and others from the war dead. I think 
unless Yasukuni accepts separate enshrinement, the government 
should not allow cabinet members to formally visit that Shinto 
shrine. If the government so acts, the prime minister would be 
able to say to China, "You shouldn't meddle in our internal 
affairs." 
 
Questioner: Do you think the next prime minister should deal with 
the Yasukuni issue on his own in order to find ways to resolve 
it? 
 
Kyuma: Yes, I think so. The next prime minister should work out 
(measures to resolve the issue). 
 
Questioner: In that sense, who do you think is the most suitable 
person to be a successor to Prime Minister Koizumi? 
 
Kyuma: I don't know because candidates in order to win elections 
tend to take different views. Among the members of the Tsushima 
faction, to which I belong, there are members who have close ties 
with Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe. A faction is a tool for 
political battles. Factions are made up of lawmakers who may not 
subscribe to the same policies. Candidates do not compete with 
each other on policy in the presidential race. The race is just a 
power struggle. 
 
Questioner: Do you think the faction system will operate in the 
upcoming leadership race? 
 
Kyuma: I don't think so. (Even if a faction decides its own 
candidate) and if that candidate is likely be defeated, faction 
members will not necessarily vote for that candidate. I think we 
have learned that we must back the right candidate under the 
single-seat constituency election system. 
 
Questioner: Some observers think that since factions always bet 
on the winning horse, they will back Mr. Abe in the end. 
 
Kyuma: It is not necessarily so. It is not that simple. Everybody 
thinks Mr. Abe is the most likely candidate, but is that really 
true? Mr. Abe should not just surround himself with only persons 
supporting him but with other people as well. Otherwise, he won't 
be able to win the race. 
 
Questioner: What's your assessment of the other competent 
candidate, Mr. Yasuo Fukuda? 
 
 
 
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TOKYO 00002063  010 OF 013 
 
 
remains wary. The US had insisted that the inclusion of vertebral 
columns were a unique case involving only the meat packers that 
shipped the products in question. However, the MHLW strongly 
insisted on the need to inspect the remaining 30 plus meat 
processing plants and has succeeded in having the US accept the 
request. 
 
The reinspections of authorized meat packers will likely take at 
least two weeks. US Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture Chuck 
Lambert takes the position, "The two countries have reached a 
final settlement on additional measures." The MHLW has, however, 
checked this stance with a senior official noting: "We cannot 
proceed unless the results of inspections are satisfactory. It is 
premature to discuss a timeline to resume beef imports now." 
 
This official's stance is based on this notion: "In terms of 
probability theory, it is impossible to completely prevent the 
incident like the one that occurred last time. The international 
rule is that exporting countries are responsible for safety 
measures. It is not acceptable if Japan is regarded as being 
equally guilty to the US." 
 
However, there is no wary atmosphere at the Prime Minister's 
Official Residence (Kantei) like late last year, when the 
resumption of US beef imports was decided after a hiatus of two 
years. 
 
Prime Minister Koizumi gave this reply at a meeting of the Lower 
House Special Committee on Administrative Reform on April 13: "If 
you were in the American people's shoes, you would think US beef 
is safe, because Americans eat beef every day, more than Japanese 
do. You would complain why don't Japanese eat US beef, which is 
so safe." 
 
Though he later added, "My position is that I want the US to 
observe Japanese standards, if it wants to export its beef to 
Japan," his statement indicated his stance of searching for a 
timetable for reinstating the beef trade. 
 
The prime minister is expected to visit the US, when bilateral 
relations are fraught with various pending issues, such as USFJ 
realignment and the Iraq issue. Some officials at the Kantei take 
the view that it should undertake coordination of the views of 
MAFF and the MHLW over the beef issue as well. 
 
However, a hasty resumption of beef imports could incur 
objections from consumers. Toshiko Kaneko, chief of the 
secretariat of the National Liaison Committee of Consumers' 
 
SIPDIS 
Organizations, expressed concern: "Behind the background of the 
current problem is sloppiness in responses from both Tokyo and 
Washington. It is necessary for them to explain matters in a 
manner acceptable to the people, instead of simply saying, 'We 
want consumers to trust us.' If they make the same mistake again, 
trust in food safety will be lost." 
 
(8) Future course of Food Safety Commission - Interview with 
Nobuko Hisawa, external director of Snow Brand Milk Products Co.: 
Need to help consumers understand experts 
 
ASAHI (Page 15) (Full) 
April 14, 2006 
 
Six members of the Food Safety Commission (FSC) resigned 
 
TOKYO 00002063  011 OF 013 
 
 
recently. They must have had their respective reasons, but I 
think the number is fairly large. All of them were calling for 
caution in resuming US beef imports. Given this, consumer 
confidence in the FSC may have been undermined. 
 
Through news reports, though, I felt the members were 
dissatisfied with the panel's evaluation results regarding the 
BSE risk of US beef prior to Japan's resumption of imports last 
December. 
 
I was skeptical of the fact that the government had asked the FSC 
to deliberate on the safety of US beef, even though scientific 
data on US safeguard measures had not been fully collected yet. I 
thought that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare should judge 
whether to resume imports or not. Even so, if the ministries had 
independently made a decision on the BSE issue, in which the 
public is highly interested, they would have come under heavy 
fire. I felt sorry for the panel members because they had to work 
based on insufficient information. 
 
In my view, the uproar over their resignation was attributed 
mainly to a lack of understanding among the public of the roles 
shared by the food panel, which is tasked with assessing the risk 
of food on a scientific basis, and the ministries, which make 
policy judgments based on the assessment. 
 
This January, Japan imposed a second ban on US beef imports in 
reaction to the discovery of a specified risk material in a US 
veal shipment to Japan. On that occasion, government officials 
and politicians made remarks taken as calling for pressing the 
responsibility on the FSC or sounding as if the food panel had 
decided to resume imports. 
 
The resignation of six members is somewhat incomprehensible. The 
report released by the FSC last December reflected these members' 
views, too. They said: "It is impossible to make a scientific 
assessment due to a lack of data," and, "It is necessary to 
clarify the responsibility of the FSC and the government offices 
responsible for implementing policies." Given this, I believe the 
government did not use their views, so it is hard for me to 
understand why they had to resign. 
 
Most consumers neither read the report nor are informed of the 
details of their resignation, so they thought the six members had 
quarreled with the rest and left the group. Such a situation is 
truly regrettable now that the FSC - set up in 2003 - has 
achieved satisfactory results. Labeling the new members replacing 
the six as siding with the government is also irrational. 
 
In the mid-1970s, I began to have an interest in food safety out 
of concern about food addictives. Since then, I have joined 
activities by consumer cooperatives, but it was difficult to 
obtain information related to the risk of food for a long period 
of time. 
 
Since the FSC was established under the Basic Food Safety Law, 
discussions have been conducted openly, and even data 
disadvantageous to the industry have been disclosed. This might 
be a dream-like event for those who know much about Japan's 
conventional regulations on food safety. High expectations have 
been placed on the recent deregulatory moves. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002063  012 OF 013 
 
 
In order to win consumer confidence, the committee should 
exchange information with consumers. The panel has put its energy 
in strengthening the risk-communication system to inform persons 
concerned of risk-assessment results. Panel members have also 
been carrying out activities in earnest, such as making speeches 
in various locations across the nation. 
 
To provide consumers with special scientific knowledge, 
(technical) skills are necessary. More staff might be needed to 
give detailed information to consumers in an understandable way. 
 
We consumers probably should not watch the recent resignation 
drama just out of curiosity. We should become more aware of the 
need to understand the domestic situation and the system related 
to food safety. 
 
(9) A visit to Yasukuni Shrine's war memorial museum Yushukan: A 
documentary film depicts the war as a "war of survival and self- 
defense" 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
April 17, 2006 
 
By Yuji Shinogase 
 
The war memorial museum Yushukan is located at Yasukuni Shrine at 
Kudan, Tokyo. This museum has come under criticism at home and 
abroad as a facility that justifies Japan's war of aggression. 
What does Yushukan display and how? I visited there ahead of the 
shrine's spring festival, which starts on April 21. 
 
Yushukan is a five-minute walk from the Torii gateway on the 
approach to Yasukuni Shrine. 
 
When I entered Yushunan, I saw young couples and others trying to 
take pictures of the zero fighter displayed in the lobby with 
their mobile phones. 
 
I first went to the audio-visual room and watched the documentary 
film, We Will Never Forget: Thankfulness, Prayer, and Pride. 
 
The film recalls the efforts Japan made after the Meiji 
Restoration in 1868 not to be colonized by Western powers. 
 
The narration of the film explains how the Pacific War started: 
"There are some who say that Japan had the choice of abandoning 
its interests and returning to what it was prior to the Sino- 
Japanese War of 1894-95. But this would be the same as losing a 
war without having fought one, so Japan did not have this 
option." The narration ends by concluding: "It was a war of 
survival and self-defense in which a tiny nation in the Far East, 
Japan, rose up against the great powers." 
 
After the movie, an elderly woman wiped away tears with a 
handkerchief, saying: "I don't know why, but tears come to my 
eyes." 
 
In the exhibition room, photo panels and items related to the 
military are displayed to from the wars that Japan fought in 
chronological order from ancient times to the modern era. 
 
In the room dedicated to the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45, the 
war is described thusly: "A insignificant incident at the Marco 
 
TOKYO 00002063  013 OF 013 
 
 
Polo Bridge led to illegal attacks by the Chinese regular army, 
which eventually led to the North China Incident (Sino-Japanese 
War of 1937-45). Behind this lay a determination on the Chinese 
side to reject peace with Japan." 
 
In the Greater East Asia War (Pacific War) room, the reason for 
the start the war is described: "The final choice remaining for 
(US) President Roosevelt was to drive a resource-poor country, 
Japan, into a corner through an embargo on trade and force it to 
go to war." Meanwhile, Japan's position is described in this way: 
"As part of the efforts to improve relations with the US, the 
(Fumimaro) Konoe cabinet decided to sign the Tripartite Pact 
(Japan, Germany, and Italy) and adopted a policy to intimidate 
the US in order to avoid a war with it." 
 
In the Deities of Yasukuni room, photographs of the war dead and 
notes left behind by them are on display. A young woman stood in 
front of a farewell note written by Lt. Commander Masataka 
Furukawa, who flew on a suicide mission. The note goes: "We young 
men participate in the war because we hate the war. We hope many 
people understand the pure sentiments of such young men like us 
who are going to fight." 
 
There are some 5,000 photographs of the deceased, including one 
of former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who was sentenced to death 
as a Class-A war criminal. In it, he is described as General, 
Lord Hideki Tojo. Next to him is the photo of a young Army 
sergeant. 
 
There is a notebook where guests can leave their impressions of 
their visit to Yushukan. Pros and cons of the war were written in 
the notebook. A 13-year-old visitor wrote: "Japan has been 
portrayed as `evil' because it lost the Greater East Asia War. 
The Japan at the time was great." A 48-year-old visitor, however, 
wrote: "There was a great deal of discrimination against other 
Asians at the time, but there is no mention of that here. This is 
very self-serving." 
 
Yushukan: Built in 1882 to honor and venerate the souls of 
deceased persons and teach the modern history of Japan. After the 
Pacific War, was renamed the Yasukuni Shrine Treasury Museum and 
was again changed in 1986 to Yushukan. Two-story building is used 
for display and has an area of about 11,200 m2. Excluding photos 
of the deceased, has some 3,000 items on display, such as 
farewell notes, drawings, and weapons. Name of the building is 
derived from Chinese philosopher Xun Zi and means "to learn from 
people of high integrity through exchanges." 
 
SCHIEFFER