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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 002377 
 
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 05/01/06 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Japan, US to pressure North Korea over human rights issues 
 
(2) Foreign Minister Aso off to US, Belgium, Lithuania; Aims to 
regain setback in upcoming LDP leadership race by taking 
advantage overseas trip 
 
(3) Minshuto head Ozawa suspending diplomatic activities 
 
(4) Government withholds opinion on US-India civilian nuclear 
cooperation; May go along with it in view of attaching emphasis 
to relations with US and India 
 
(5) Late former Yasukuni Shrine Chief Priest Tsukuba avoided 
enshrining Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine out of 
consideration for Emperor's shrine visit, according to his eldest 
son and shrine's former public relations office chief 
 
(6) USFJ realignment (Part 3): Japan, US teaming up to deal with 
newly emerging crises; Bilateral fusion under way with challenges 
in store 
 
(7) Resumption of US beef imports; Final judgment to be reached 
as early as June 
 
(8) Editorial: 50 years later, government has yet to fulfill 
responsibility for victims of Minamata disease 
 
(9) US concerned about Japan's role behind Iran's nuclear 
development 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Japan, US to pressure North Korea over human rights issues 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 1, 2006 
 
The governments of Japan and the United States have begun 
boosting their pressure on North Korea over human rights issues. 
On April 28, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and 
coalition partner New Komeito submitted a bill dealing with North 
Korea's human right violations. Meanwhile, US President Bush, 
after meeting with abductee Megumi Yokota's mother, Sakie Yokota, 
and other relatives of abduction victims, made clear he would 
take a resolute attitude toward North Korea over human rights 
issues. 
 
Japan: Bill introduced by lawmakers will back government's 
efforts 
 
The centerpiece of the ruling parties' legislation against North 
Korea's abuse of human rights is to obligate the government to 
invoke economic sanctions on that country if no improvement is 
seen. The government intends to gradually put into practice steps 
to boost pressure on the North while maintaining its basic policy 
of dialogue and pressure. By demonstrating an even firmer stance 
toward North Korea, the ruling parties aim to press it to make 
concessions. 
 
The legislation specifies, "It is the government's responsibility 
to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to North 
 
TOKYO 00002377  002 OF 011 
 
 
Korea." It also states, "If no significant improvement is seen in 
North Korea's violations of human rights, the government shall 
take punitive measures in accordance with such laws as the 
Special Measures Act on Banning Specified Vessels' Entry into 
Japanese Ports and the amendment to the Foreign Exchange and 
Foreign Trade Control Act.  Establishing a special week to raise 
awareness of the abduction issue and working together with 
international agencies are also mentioned in the legislation. 
 
The ruling parties aim to enact the bill into law during the 
current session of the Diet while keeping tabs on Pyongyang's 
response. As the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) has already 
submitted to the Lower House a bill aimed at rescuing people who 
have suffered North Korea's human right violations, a lively 
debate is expected between the ruling and opposition camps in the 
weeks ahead. 
 
In the government, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe set up a 
task force on the abduction issue. The task force is driving 
North Korea into a tight spot by gathering information on illegal 
acts by North Korea and strictly enforcing existing laws on that 
country. Japan has already taken such steps as promoting a review 
of the reduction or exemption from the fixed assets tax on the 
General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun)- 
affiliated facilities and bolstering the monitoring of 
international mail and illegal radio signals. 
 
As of May 1, the government will review the simple screening 
system for exports of portable commodities, under which crews of 
foreign ships that call at Japanese ports can bring commodities 
out of Japan with an oral declaration. The aim is to prevent used 
goods from being brought out of Japan for sale abroad by 
obligating people to fill out an application form like they do 
for usual customs clearance. 
 
Along with these efforts for the strict application of the 
existing laws, the ruling parties will give indirect support to 
the government's efforts to tackle the abduction issue by 
preparing legislation that will expressly urge North Korea to 
make concessions. 
 
Points of the ruling parties' bill against North Korea's human 
right violations 
 
 
Illuminate the actual state of North Korea's human right 
violations and prevent them 
 
Make utmost efforts to resolve the abduction issue, as it is the 
government's responsibility to do so 
 
Work together with local governments to raise public awareness 
 
Take necessary measures to restrain abuse of human rights in 
accordance with such laws as the Special Measures Act on Banning 
Specified Vessels' Entry into Japanese Ports and the amendment to 
the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Act if no 
significant improvement is seen in human right violations 
 
Set Dec. 10-16 as a week for making North Korea's human right 
violations widely known 
 
Have the government annually submit and release a report on its 
 
TOKYO 00002377  003 OF 011 
 
 
approaches to North Korea's human right violations to the Diet 
 
Strive to exchange information and strengthen cooperation with 
other countries and international organizations. 
 
US: "Second arrow" to follow financial sanctions 
 
By Hiroshi Maruya, Washington 
 
"For Americans, it's hard to believe that a leader would 
encourage the abduction of children. If North Korea expects to be 
respected in the world, it must respect human rights and must 
allow this mother to hug her child again." US President Bush 
criticized North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Il in strong 
language for its violations of human rights in his meeting with 
Sakie Yokota and relatives of abduction victims. 
 
Bush said to Yokota: "It takes courage to speak out about someone 
who does not respect human rights. You are doing that." Bush 
agreed to the meeting with relatives of abduction victims in 
order to highlight pressure in dealing with human right issues, 
as the financial sanctions imposed on North Korea have proven 
effective. 
 
The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been 
stalled since last November, as Pyongyang has strongly objected 
to US financial sanctions. When chief representatives to the six- 
party talks gathered in Tokyo recently, the US representative 
refused to meet with the North Korean official. North Korea wants 
to break the impasse by holding direct negotiations with the US, 
but the US has said that it will only discuss financial sanctions 
within the framework of the six-party talks. The US has no room 
to compromise with the North. 
 
The US termed three countries - Iraq, Iran, and North Korea - an 
Axis of Evil. The US toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, 
but since then things in that country have not gone as favorably 
as the US expected. In dealing with Iran, the US has indicated 
that it is ready to impose sanctions, but other countries have 
yet to go along. The US intends to be hard on North Korea and to 
achieve results by doing so. 
 
The Department of State's annual report released on April 28 once 
again lists North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. These 
political circumstances lay behind President Bush's meeting with 
relatives of an abduction victim. 
 
The US Congress, as well, is raising pressure on North Korea in 
line with the administration. 
 
US House Committee on International Relations Chairman Hyde 
emphasized: "I will pressure the State Department to put the 
abduction issue high on agenda." Special Envoy on Human Rights in 
North Korea Lefkowitz indicated that the US plans to accept North 
Korean defectors in the near future. 
 
(2) Foreign Minister Aso off to US, Belgium, Lithuania; Aims to 
regain setback in upcoming LDP leadership race by taking 
advantage overseas trip 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
April 30, 2006 
 
 
TOKYO 00002377  004 OF 011 
 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso leaves on April 30 for an 8-day trip, 
which will take him to the United States, Belgium and Lithuania. 
He will deliver a speech as a first Japanese cabinet minister at 
headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 
Brussels. He will also be a first Japanese cabinet minister to 
visit Lithuania, in which Chiune Sugihara, a well known Japanese 
consult general, issued transit-visas for Jewish refugees during 
World War II. Aso aims to fight for a rollback in the upcoming 
party presidential race, making a big scene in his diplomatic 
stage. 
 
Aso is expected to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 
in the US, the first leg of his tour. He just met with Rice in 
March in Australia. He plans to play up his close ties with her 
through their talks. He also intends to show his own channels of 
communication to such key US government officials as Vice 
President Richard Cheney and Stephen Hadley, assistant to 
President George W. Bush. 
 
Attending together with eight new Diet members a seminar of the 
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Aso will 
deliver a speech there on Japan's East Asia diplomacy. He will 
exchange views with Capitol Hill members on the North Korea and 
China situations. 
 
In Belgium, Aso will meet with Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and 
European Union Commission Chairman Manuel Barroso. 
 
At NATO headquarters, he will give a speech on fight against 
terrorism and Japan's contribution to international peace. 
 
In Lithuania, he will visit the Chiune Sugiura Memorial Hall. 
 
An aide to Aso revealed the aim of his overseas trip, saying: 
 
"Mr. Aso intends to play up a stance of placing emphasis on a 
human rights issue, including abductions by talking about 
Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and visiting the 
Sugiura Memorial Hall." 
 
According to the results of various opinion polls on a successor 
to Koizumi as prime minister, Aso lags behind Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Shinzo Abe. Can he take advantage of his overseas trip 
 
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to gain popularity? 
 
(3) Minshuto head Ozawa suspending diplomatic activities 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
April 28, 2006 
 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) President Ichiro Ozawa has 
not been engaging in diplomatic activities, such as traveling 
abroad and receiving courtesy calls by foreign ambassadors to 
Japan. The major reason has been because he was busy with 
supporting the campaign of the party's candidate in a House of 
Representatives by-election for the Chiba No. 7 constituency. 
Some party lawmakers, however, say that he should at least 
receive courtesy calls by foreign ambassadors. 
 
Ozawa told senior party members immediately after assuming the 
party's presidency that he would not travel abroad during the 
course of the current Diet session. It has been a practice for 
party heads to visit foreign countries during the Golden Week 
 
TOKYO 00002377  005 OF 011 
 
 
holiday period in early May. The year before last, then President 
Naoto Kan traveled to Europe. President Katsuya Okada made a trip 
to the Middle East and Africa last year. 
 
Ozawa reportedly will spend his holidays enjoying fishing in 
Japan. He has turned down requests from foreign ambassadors to 
pay courtesy calls, citing, "Receiving courtesy calls is 
meaningless," according to an aide to Ozawa. 
 
(4) Government withholds opinion on US-India civilian nuclear 
cooperation; May go along with it in view of attaching emphasis 
to relations with US and India 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
May 1, 2006 
 
The government decided yesterday to put off clarifying its view 
for the time being on a nuclear cooperation agreement reached 
between the United States and India. Under the agreement, the US 
allows India to possess nuclear weapons as an exception from the 
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). A senior Foreign Ministry 
official confusedly said: 
 
"If Japan supports the accord, it will have to change its postwar 
foreign policy of advancing nuclear nonproliferation as the only 
country to have suffered nuclear attacks." 
 
The expectation is that even if the US side asks Japan in a 
foreign ministerial slated for May 3 in Washington to back the 
accord, the Japanese side will refrain from giving a specific 
answer. 
 
Under the agreement, India accepts inspections by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) only on its civilian 
nuclear facilities, while the US provides nuclear-related 
technology and fuel to India. Britain, France, and Russia have 
welcomed the agreement. Since the Japanese government, however, 
has yet to make a decision, the Foreign Ministry was considering 
a response prior to the Japan-US foreign ministerial. As a 
result, the ministry has determined that there is no need for a 
hurried decision on the matter, as the US Congress is now 
discussing bills related to the accord and because India and the 
IAEA have not put an end to negotiations on the inspection 
matter. 
 
However, there is growing sentiment in the government and ruling 
coalition to go along with agreement, given relations with the US 
and India. 
 
(5) Late former Yasukuni Shrine Chief Priest Tsukuba avoided 
enshrining Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine out of 
consideration for Emperor's shrine visit, according to his eldest 
son and shrine's former public relations office chief 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) 
April 29, 2006 
 
By Ryuko Tadokoro 
 
The late Fujimaro Tsukuba, former chief priest of Yasukuni Shrine 
during the period right after the end of World War II (WWII) 
through 1978, had intentionally sidestepped the idea of 
enshrining WWII Class A war criminals at the shrine, according to 
 
TOKYO 00002377  006 OF 011 
 
 
testimony from the shrine's former public relations office chief 
and others. Tsukuba also indicated concern that enshrining them 
would stand in the way of the Emperor's visits to the shrine. 
Tsukuba died in March 1978, and soon after his death, his 
 
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successor chief priest enshrined the Class A war criminals. The 
testimony is proof that the process leading to the enshrinement 
of Class A war criminals followed a somewhat a zigzag path, 
although there is an argument that what led the shrine to honor 
Class A war criminals was the list of names prepared by the 
former Health Ministry and sent by it to the shrine. 
 
Tsukuba hailed from a family that had once been a part of the 
 
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imperial family. He took office as the fifth chief priest in 1946 
and died at the age of 73 while in office. His successor was the 
late Nagayoshi Matsudaira. In October 1978, Matsudaira decided to 
enshrine 14 Class A war criminals, including former Prime 
Minister Hideki Tojo, at the shrine. The shrine's former Public 
Relations Office Chief Hisao Baba, 81, who had been an aide to 
Tsukuba, and Tsukuba's eldest son, Hisaharu, 75, a former Waseda 
 
SIPDIS 
University professor, recently agreed to interviews with the 
Mainichi Shimbun. 
 
According to Baba, when he asked Tsukuba whether he had a plan to 
enshrine Class A war criminals, soon after former Prime Minister 
Tojo and others were executed, Tsukuba told him: "It would 
concern the Imperial Household Agency. Enshrining them will be 
impossible while I am alive." Referring to the expression, 
"impossible while I am alive," Baba explained, "What he desired 
would be not to enshrine them in actuality." As for the words, 
"concern the Imperial Household Agency," Baba pointed out that 
(Tsukuba) had been concerned about the possible impact of the 
Emperor's visit to the shrine. Tsukuba also indicated 
consideration for public sentiments that "A great number of the 
public was fixated on 'hate against Tojo.'" 
 
Meanwhile, according to Tsukuba's eldest son, Hisaharu, Tsukuba 
stated, "Class B and C war criminals were considered to be the 
same war victims as general soldiers, but Class A war criminals 
were responsible for the war." Tsukuba remained cautious about 
enshrining Class A war criminals throughout his life. In 1966, 
the former Ministry of Health sent a list of names of Class A war 
criminals to the shrine. In 1970, the general assembly of 
representatives of shrine believers decided to enshrine Class A 
war criminals. This decision was entrusted to Tsukuba, but 
Tsukuba did not implement it while he was alive. When it comes to 
 
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the Emperor's visit to the shrine, Emperor Showa visited the 
shrine eight times after 1945, but since 1975 there has been no 
visit by an Emperor to the shrine. Some have argued that 
consideration for the collective enshrinement of Class A war 
criminals has led Emperor Showa and the current Emperor to forgo 
visiting the shrine. 
 
(6) USFJ realignment (Part 3): Japan, US teaming up to deal with 
newly emerging crises; Bilateral fusion under way with challenges 
in store 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 28, 2006 
 
Japan and the United States are going to forge a new partnership 
through the realignment of US forces in Japan-not only in the 
area of readiness for emergencies but also in the area of 
counterterrorism and missile defense. Their 'bilateral fusion' is 
 
TOKYO 00002377  007 OF 011 
 
 
steadily under way on the sidelines of consultations on specific 
realignment plans. 
 
"Beat it into your body, not into your head!" 
 
On Jan. 9, a group of Japanese rangers assembled at a US Marine 
Corps base in California. They were sent there from the Ground 
Self-Defense Force (GSDF) as its first batch of trainees. Their 
training was a far cry from being a leisurely overseas business 
trip. The GSDF sent 125 members to the US mainland base, where a 
drill sergeant and his unsparing directives were in store for 
them. 
 
The GSDF trainees swam in the winter sea with weapons on their 
backs and rowed rubber dinghies to go ashore at a simulated 
landing point. Morning, noon, and night, they kept on training 
with this menu over and over again. Their seaborne training was 
in anticipation of what to do and how to win back an uninhabited 
island off Okinawa and Kyushu-if and when that island falls under 
the occupation of foreign commandoes. "You're professionals." 
With this, a USMC brass officer warranted the GSDF soldiers after 
their training sessions conducted for about three weeks. 
 
The US Marines currently deploys 17,000 troops in Okinawa 
Prefecture and will redeploy 8,000 of them to Guam. However, 
Okinawa will remain a frontline bastion readied for emergencies. 
The United States wants Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to 
acquire the capability of responding to emergencies for the time 
being. "They want the SDF to be able to fight together in the 
real sense of the term," says a senior official of the Defense 
Agency. 
 
In late February, the SDF and US Forces Japan (USFJ) conducted a 
command post exercise (CPX) at a basement of the Defense Agency's 
headquarters. The CPX was codenamed "Keen Edge." Its scenario was 
that a "purple" country fueled missiles, and that an "orange" 
country's submarine intruded into Japan's territorial waters in 
the East China Sea. The CPX simulated and confirmed joint 
counteractions to be taken by the SDF and USFJ against these 
countries in two colors on the computer screen. 
 
In the CPX, the two countries were unnamed. "It's apparent to 
everyone that the purple country is North Korea and the orange 
country is China, which is pushing for its military buildup," an 
official of the Defense Agency says, however. 
 
The US Army's 1st Corps, currently headquartered on the US 
mainland, covers the Pacific basin. In the process of realigning 
US forces in Japan, the Pentagon will relocate the 1st Corps' 
command functionality to Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture. In the 
meantime, the GSDF will set up a new unit, called the Central 
Readiness Command (CRC), which also will be headquartered at Camp 
Zama. 
 
The Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) will relocate its Air Defense 
Command (ADC) functionality to the US Air Force's Yokota base, 
and Yokota will be a missile defense strongpoint. Along with this 
force realignment, USFJ will install a mobile radar system, 
called "X-band radar," at the ASDF's Shariki Detachment base in 
Aomori Prefecture. Meanwhile, Japan will also set up its own 
radar systems in three years at four locations, including the 
island of Shimokoshikijima in Kagoshima Prefecture. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002377  008 OF 011 
 
 
With bilateral defense cooperation deepening, the Defense Agency 
and the SDF are facing new challenges. "What's this all about?" 
With this, an USFJ official filed a strong protest with the 
Defense Agency and the SDF in January this year over the outflow 
of data about a surface-to-air missile (SAM) being developed for 
the GSDF. 
 
Data about Japan's missile development has nothing to do directly 
with US forces. USFJ realignment, however, is intended for the US 
armed services to share intelligence with their respective SDF 
counterparts even more closely through such steps as integrating 
their commands. Japan and the United States are moving ahead with 
further cooperation. Specifically, the SDF and USFJ have plans to 
share radio frequencies for their communications. Japan's 
security awareness probably appeared lax in the eyes of USFJ 
officials. 
 
That is not the only problem. One other example is the US Army's 
1st Corps headquarters, which will be moved to Camp Zama. The 
Japanese government has explained that its relocation to Zama 
does not conflict with the Japan-US Security Treaty, which 
stipulates the scope of USFJ command to areas within the bounds 
of the Far East region. In the Diet, however, opposition parties 
are critical of the 1st Corps' command relocation to Zama. "We 
don't know how the Far East clause will be ensured," says one in 
an opposition party. The relocation of the 1st Corps' command to 
Camp Zama will likely be a point of contention in Diet debates. 
 
In addition, there is a problem in the area of missile defense as 
well. What if Japan shoots down a ballistic missile targeted at 
Guam or elsewhere in the United States? In this case, the problem 
is that Japan will bump against its constitutional prohibition on 
participating in collective defense. Some wonder if it is 
possible to sort out missiles heading for Japan. In early May, 
the Japanese and US governments are aiming to wrap up their USFJ 
realignment talks and reach a final agreement thereupon. Still, a 
number of challenges will be left even afterward. 
 
(7) Resumption of US beef imports; Final judgment to be reached 
as early as June 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 3) (Almost full) 
April 30, 2006 
 
The government will speed up efforts to take procedures necessary 
for making a final decision on the issue of whether to resume US 
beef imports as early as June. The plan is to hold talks with the 
US government when Golden Week is over so that prior inspections 
of US meat processing facilities can be started before the end of 
May. Some government officials want to see the beef issue settled 
before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the US in late 
June. However, in view of deep-seated skepticism about the US 
beef safety control system seen among Japanese consumers, a final 
decision could be delayed. 
 
Government to inspect all meat processing facilities; Difficult 
to eradicate distrust 
 
Now that the Japanese government on April 24 completed town 
meetings with consumers at 10 locations throughout the country to 
exchange views on a possible US beef import resumption, it thinks 
that it has paved the way to a certain degree for it to decide 
whether to resume US beef imports. A number of voices skeptical 
 
TOKYO 00002377  009 OF 011 
 
 
about the US BSE testing system and calls for strengthening 
measures to prevent a recurrence of the inclusion of vertebral 
columns in its beef shipment were heard during the town meetings. 
In response, a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) stressed that as a condition for 
reinstating the beef trade, it is necessary to carry out prior 
inspections at US beef processing facilities and strengthen the 
quarantine system. 
 
The US government intends to promptly reinspect all 37 meat- 
processing facilities that are authorized to ship products to 
Japan. It wants to start talks with Japan on specific conditions 
for reinstating the beef trade. During such talks, Japan will 
seek US approval to conduct prior inspections. Secretary of 
Agriculture Johanns had already indicated a basic policy of 
accepting inspections by Japan. 
 
When Tokyo decided to resume US beef imports last December, it 
came under fire as having made a hasty decision, because it had 
not yet completed inspections of all meat packers. It will, 
therefore, call on the US side to allow it to carry out detailed 
inspections of slaughterhouses and inspection sites during prior 
inspections. It wants to inspect all of the 37 facilities before 
it decides whether to resume beef imports or not. 
 
The government also intends to improve the quarantine system for 
US beef arriving at Narita Airport. Only portions of imported 
items have thus far been subject to inspection, but the 
government will undertake coordination with a view to extensively 
increasing the number of items subject to inspection. There is 
also the strong possibility of carrying out spot-checks on 
imported products. The aim is to obtain understanding from 
consumers by strengthening border controls. 
 
The government's ostensible position is that it is not necessary 
to decide to resume US beef imports before Prime Minister Koizumi 
visits the US. However, pressure for an early resumption before 
the mid-term elections for Congress in November is mounting. 
Chances are that unless Japan comes up with a definite stance of 
resuming US beef imports by the time the prime minister visits 
the US, calls for retaliatory action might increase. 
 
However, there are many challenges before beef imports can be 
resumed. Even if prior inspections are started in late May, they 
will not be finished before early June. The government is 
expected to reach a final decision after holding another round of 
town meetings with consumers. However, it is unclear to what 
extent the government can press ahead with procedures for 
reinstating the beef trade and secure safety of US beef in a 
short period of time. 
 
Consumers have deep-seated distrust of US beef. A number of 
members of the Prion Expert Council of the government's Food 
Safety Commission, which had discussed conditions for resuming US 
beef imports up to late last year, quit in late March, causing 
dismay among consumers. 
 
If another violation occurs, both the US and Japanese governments 
are bound to face harsh criticism. The government is pressed to 
make a difficult decision, sandwiched between domestic opinion 
and US demands. 
 
(8) Editorial: 50 years later, government has yet to fulfill 
 
TOKYO 00002377  010 OF 011 
 
 
responsibility for victims of Minamata disease 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 28, 2006 
 
In the many trials dealing with Minamata disease, the courts 
handed down judgments that held the government accountable due to 
a sluggish, bungled, and negligent response for failing to 
prevent the spread of human suffering triggered by industrial 
mercury poisoning. On May 1, Japan marks the 50th anniversary of 
the first official report of the outbreak of the disease, but the 
Minamata problem has yet to be resolved. The government is still 
unwilling to set a course allowing more patients to receive 
compensation and relief. Such a stance has delayed a settlement, 
and negotiations crucial to the sufferers' lives and health are 
still going on. 
 
Among those who have been recognized as Minamata victims, there 
are government-certified claimants and legally recognized 
claimants. These two categories have set different standards of 
recognition and amounts of compensation. In the screening 
conducted so far for administrative recognition, about 15,000 
applications were rejected, and 3,800 patients are waiting for 
their applications to be screened. There are 13,000 persons who 
have not been recognized as Minamata patients but carry the 
official designation as patients suffering from mercury 
poisoning. 
 
The nation has yet to prepare both a unified system and 
recognition standard. Some criticize that the government has 
given priority to the task of narrowing down those entitled to 
compensation over giving relief to disease victims. The lack of a 
unified system is attributed to the government's rigid approach. 
 
In lawsuits filed by Minamata disease patients calling for 
compensation in 1990, five courts (Tokyo, Kumamoto, Fukuoka and 
Kyoto district courts, and Fukuoka High Court) admitted that the 
central and Kumamoto governments, as well as Chisso Corp, which 
dumped mercury into Minamata Bay, had failed to fulfill their 
respective responsibilities. The courts advised them to reach an 
out-of-court settlement with the plaintiffs. Chisso and the 
Kumamoto prefectural government followed the advice, but the 
central government adamantly refused to sit on the negotiating 
table. 
 
In 1995, the Murayama cabinet tried to bring a political 
settlement to the Minamata issue by hammering out measures to 
widen the scope of those eligible for compensation under a 
different framework from the patient-recognition systems. At that 
time, too, the central government ministries concerned refused to 
admit their faults and blunders. They tried to solve the issue by 
complicating the nation's system further. In 2004, the Supreme 
Court handed down a judgment admitting the government's 
responsibility for patients' ordeal. The government ministries, 
though, claimed that a legal judgment is different from an 
administrative one. The bureaucracy is still unwilling to 
introduce a comprehensive compensation system. 
 
During a period from the official report through the scientific 
discovery of the disease caused by highly dangerous organic 
mercury dumped by Chisso into Minamata Bay, the government 
continued to refuse conducting scientific research and turned 
down demands from local residents for having Chisso stop 
 
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discharging contaminated water. It is considered that during this 
period, the mercury contamination in the waters reached its 
highest level, resulting in damaging many local persons' lives. 
 
The chief lawyer of the plaintiffs' group said that lawsuits have 
proceeded smoothly since judges began to contact fetal Minamata 
patients. In order to conquer the disease and come up with a 
rational compensation system, the government must learn the 
actual state of the disease and the reality of the damage. 
 
We must continue to carefully monitor what response the 
government will make to Minamata victims. 
 
(9) US concerned about Japan's role behind Iran's nuclear 
development 
 
Sentaku, May 2006 
(Full) 
 
Japanese research institutes reportedly have played a certain 
role behind Iran's nuclear development. 
 
According to Japanese government officials, dozens of Iranian 
scientists have been studying at Tohoku University and other 
research institutes in Japan in the area of state-of-the-art nuke- 
related technologies such as plasma fusion that has both military 
and civilian application. If research in areas other than nuclear 
science is also included, there are about 10,000 Iranian 
researchers and students in Japan. The US government is 
increasingly concerned about this situation. 
 
A senior US State Department official said that North Korea and 
Iran have actively cooperated with each other in the military 
area, including missile development. It is also conceivable that 
the two countries have shared research results produced in the 
areas of nuclear and missile development to some extent. If that 
is the case, the Iran problem may have some effect even on 
Japan's national security. 
 
Japan has taken a hard-line stance toward North Korea, but it is 
open-minded toward Iran. If it is found true that Iran and North 
Korea have established cooperative ties in the military area, 
Japan will be forced to take a tougher stance toward Iran. 
 
DONOVAN