VZCZCXRO7508
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2715/01 1370830
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170830Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2170
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 8870
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 6238
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 9456
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 6203
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 7401
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2303
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8479
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0298

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 14 TOKYO 002715 
 
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 05/17/06 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Koizumi orders cabinet decision on "big-boned policy 
guidelines" before end of current Diet session, rejecting LDP's 
call for postponement 
 
(2) Okinawa Times-Asahi Shimbun joint poll in Okinawa Prefecture 
on Koizumi cabinet, political parties, Gov. Inamine, USFJ 
realignment, Futenma relocation 
 
(3) Poll on USFJ realignment 
 
(4) Minshuto bill amending Fundamental Law of Education includes 
rightist expressions for patriotism, religion, perplexing LDP 
 
(5) Poll on education law amendment 
 
(6) Leaders of Mindan, Chongryon to hold first meeting today to 
resolve conflict, issue joint statement 
 
(7) Reconciliation between Mindan, Chongryon as top leaders meet 
and issue a joint statement of cooperation toward uniting 
resident Koreans in Japan 
 
(8) Post-Koizumi contenders - A study of Taro Aso (Part 2): Under 
pressure from his background, he makes himself out to be a bad 
guy 
 
(9) Poll: 92.5% read newspapers 
 
(10) Self-protection of bureaucrats a universal practice 
 
(11) Yachi faction on the rise 
 
(12) Market opening efforts stalled; Patriotic economy; Rising 
protectionism; Japan rushing to defend itself against inflow of 
foreign funds 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Koizumi orders cabinet decision on "big-boned policy 
guidelines" before end of current Diet session, rejecting LDP's 
call for postponement 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Abridged slightly) 
May 17, 2006 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has ordered the Liberal 
Democratic Party to fine-tune "big-boned policy guidelines" 
before the current Diet session ends on June 18 for a cabinet 
decision in June, rejecting the party's informal request to 
postpone it until July. 
 
According to a person connected with the LDP, Koizumi said in 
response to a senior Policy Research Council executive's call to 
defer the planned cabinet decision: "That's out of the question. 
You must work hard for a cabinet decision before the current Diet 
session adjourns." 
 
A growing number of LDP lawmakers are calling for an extended 
Diet session to get a bill to amend the Fundamental Law of 
Education and other bills approved. But Koizumi has repeatedly 
declared, "I'm not thinking of extending the session." 
 
TOKYO 00002715  002 OF 014 
 
 
 
Koizumi is believed to have rejected the LDP's request in order 
to demonstrate his resolve to settle important bills before June 
¶18. 
 
"Big-boned policy guidelines" show directions regarding the 
government's important policies, such as economic and fiscal 
policies. The Council of Economic and Fiscal Policy compiles them 
around in June every year for a cabinet decision. They are 
reflected in compiling budgets for the following fiscal year. 
 
To sum up the Koizumi reform drive, this year's guidelines are 
expected to incorporate strategies for expenditure-and-revenue 
reform and economic growth. The government plans to adopt the 
guidelines in June. 
 
(2) Okinawa Times-Asahi Shimbun joint poll in Okinawa Prefecture 
on Koizumi cabinet, political parties, Gov. Inamine, USFJ 
realignment, Futenma relocation 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Full) 
May 14, 2006 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage, rounded off.) 
 
Q: Do you support the Koizumi cabinet? 
 
Yes                                         34 
No                                          45 
Other answers (O/A) + no answer (N/A)       21 
 
Q: Which political party do you support now? 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)                         22 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto)            15 
New Komeito (NK)                                        3 
Japanese Communist Party (JCP)                          2 
Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto)               4 
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto)              0 
New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon)                -- 
Liberal League (LL or Jiyu Rengo)                      -- 
Okinawa Socialist Masses Party (OSMP or Shadaito)       1 
Other political parties                                 0 
None                                                   40 
O/A + don't know (D/K)                                 13 
 
Q: Do you support Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine? 
 
Yes           58 
No            27 
O/A+N/A       15 
 
 
Q: The Japanese and US governments have now reached a final 
agreement on the realignment of US forces in Japan, including 
Futenma airfield's relocation to another site in Okinawa 
Prefecture and Okinawa-based US Marines' redeployment to Guam. Do 
you support this final accord? 
 
Yes           27 
No            55 
O/A+N/A       18 
 
TOKYO 00002715  003 OF 014 
 
 
 
Q: To what extent do you think this US military realignment will 
reduce Okinawa's base-hosting burden? Pick only from among those 
listed below. 
 
Very much            6 
Somewhat            24 
Not very much       47 
Not at all          19 
O/A+N/A              4 
 
Q: To what extent do you think Okinawa Prefecture's public 
opinion has been reflected in the Japan-US agreement? Pick only 
one from among those listed below. 
 
Very much            3 
Somewhat            20 
Not very much       49 
Not at all          24 
O/A+N/A              4 
 
Q: Do you think this US military realignment will help develop 
Okinawa? 
 
Yes           27 
No            56 
O/A+N/A       17 
 
Q: The final agreement incorporates a plan to relocate Futenma 
airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab, a US military base 
located in the northern Okinawa prefectural coastal city of Nago. 
The government plans to lay down a V-shaped pair of 1,800-meter 
shore-based airstrips stretching out to the sea. Do you support 
this coastal plan? 
 
Yes           19 
No            69 
O/A+N/A       12 
 
Q: (Only for those who answered "yes") Why? Pick only one from 
among those listed below. 
 
Because it will lead to base realignment and reduction in Okinawa 
3 
Because it will lessen danger                                  8 
Because base-hosting localities can expect the government to help 
their economic development                                4 
Because the Japanese and US governments have agreed to do so   2 
O/A+N/A                                                        2 
Not on the list                                               81 
 
Q: (Only for those who answered "no") Why? Pick only one from 
among those listed below. 
 
Because it won't lead to base reduction in Okinawa          14 
Because it will be another source of harm to local communities 
                                                            16 
Because local public opinion is not well reflected          13 
Because it will disrupt the natural environment             25 
O/A+N/A                                                      1 
Not on the list                                             31 
 
Q: Do you appreciate Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro for his 
 
TOKYO 00002715  004 OF 014 
 
 
agreement with the government to build two V-shaped runways over 
the issue of Futenma airfield's relocation? 
 
Yes           22 
No            60 
O/A+N/A       18 
 
Q: Gov. Inamine has asked the government to set up a temporary 
helipad at Camp Schwab for Futenma-based helicopters. However, he 
has now basically agreed with the Defense Agency director general 
on the government's plan. Do you appreciate his agreement this 
time with the defense chief? 
 
Yes           36 
No            46 
O/A+N/A       18 
 
Q: Do you think this US military realignment will be a plus to 
Japan's national security, or do you otherwise think it will be a 
minus? 
 
Plus          31 
Minus         43 
O/A+N/A       26 
 
Polling methodology: The survey was conducted May 13-14 in 
Okinawa Prefecture by the Okinawa Times and the Asahi Shimbun 
over the telephone on a computer-aided random digit dialing (RDD) 
basis. For the survey, respondents were chosen from among Okinawa 
Prefecture's voting population on a three-stage random-sampling 
basis. Valid answers were obtained from 919 persons (66%). 
 
(3) Poll on USFJ realignment 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
May 17, 2006 
 
Questions & Answers 
(T = total; P = previous; M = male; F = female) 
 
Q: The Japanese and US governments have now reached a final 
agreement on the realignment of US forces in Japan. Japan and the 
United States will consolidate their military cooperation through 
realignment steps such as locating their commands at US military 
bases in Japan. Do you support this consolidation? 
 
           T       P       M        F 
Yes       45              52       39 
No        43              44       42 
 
Q: The final agreement includes redeploying 8,000 Okinawa-based 
troops of the US Marine Corps to Guam and moving some US military 
base functions from Okinawa to mainland prefectures. Do you 
appreciate such steps for the purpose of alleviating Okinawa's 
base-hosting burden? 
 
                               T       P       M        F 
Yes                           13              18        9 
Yes to a certain extent       51              52       51 
Not very much                 17              17       17 
No                             9               9        9 
 
Q: The US government says Japan's share of costs for US military 
 
TOKYO 00002715  005 OF 014 
 
 
realignment in Japan would be about 3 trillion yen. What do you 
think about this? 
 
       T       P       M       F 
Japan should share the realignment cost for its national security 
       8              11       6 
Japan should share the realignment cost but the amount is too 
high 
      72              70       74 
There's no need to share the cost 
      12              15       10 
 
 
Polling methodology: The survey was conducted May 13-14 over the 
telephone with the aim of calling a total of 1,000 voters across 
the nation on a computer-aided random digit sampling (RDS) basis. 
Answers were obtained from 1,061 persons. 
 
(4) Minshuto bill amending Fundamental Law of Education includes 
rightist expressions for patriotism, religion, perplexing LDP 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
May 16, 2006 
 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) finalized a set of 
counterproposals to the government's bill amending the 
Fundamental Law of Education during a meeting yesterday of its 
Council on Basic Education Problems. According to a veteran 
lawmaker, the opposition party's bill contains "many expressions" 
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wanted to use but didn't as a 
result of its concessions to the New Komeito. 
 
The Minshuto's bill represents "patriotism" as "fostering a mind 
that loves Japan" in the preamble. 
 
But the government's bill specified it as "fostering an attitude 
that loves the nation and homeland," though the LDP wanted to use 
the word "mind." LDP conservatives have the impression that the 
government's bill includes just cut-and-paste expressions, 
compared with the Minshuto bill that is filled with simple 
expressions. 
 
The Minshuto bill incorporated this expression: "fostering 
religious sensitivity," although the LDP wanted to include a 
similar expression to that in the government bill but couldn't. 
 
The LDP has been perplexed at Minshuto's presentation of such a 
bill that is "more rightist than the government's bill," as said 
by a junior member. LDP members had not anticipated that Minshuto 
lawmakers linked to labor unions would easily give the nod. 
 
A lawmaker responsible for education policy said: "The Minshuto 
bill is better than ours." There are even some LDP members who 
expressed expectations for negotiations with Minshuto on revising 
the government's bill during the Diet deliberations to start 
tomorrow. 
 
Even if the Minshuto bill is greatly tinged with the LDP color, 
the LDP finds it difficult to respond to revision negotiations 
due to the presence of the New Komeito, its ruling partner. 
 
The LDP intended to underline in deliberations on the bill that 
the Minshuto is a hodge-podge group, based on the judgment that 
 
TOKYO 00002715  006 OF 014 
 
 
the main opposition party would be unable to compile a 
counterproposal. This expectation was dashed, and the tables now 
seem to be turned. 
 
In a press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo 
Abe criticized the Minshuto bill and tried to check its moves, 
saying: "The bill apparently reflects some political motives. I 
wonder if the bill is based on a consensus in the party." 
 
LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe also stressed no intention 
of revising the bill, saying: "(The government bill) includes 
best measures." The LDP intends to try to shake up lawmakers 
coming from labor unions and the former Socialist Party by 
pointing out how rightist the Minshuto draft is. 
 
(5) Poll on education law amendment 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 17, 2006 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage. Parentheses denote the results of a 
survey conducted in April.) 
 
Q: The government has introduced a bill to the Diet at its 
current session to amend the Fundamentals of Education Law, 
stipulating educational ideals and objectives. What do you think 
is important in particular? If any, pick as many as you like from 
among those listed below. 
 
Add the wording "respect public spirit"                    36.0 
Add the wording "inherit traditions"                       20.6 
Add the wording "cultivate affluent sentiments and moral fiber" 
                                                           48.4 
Add the wording "make much of relation between occupations and 
lives, nurture work-oriented attitudes"                    26.0 
Add the wording "love our country and its land"            25.9 
Add the wording "nurture attitudes contributing to the 
international community's peace and development"           28.5 
Add the wording "parents have the primary responsibility to 
educate their children"                                    24.0 
Cross out the current stipulation of 9-year compulsory education 
for a flexible period of compulsory education               6.0 
Other answers (O/A)                                         0.1 
Nothing in particular + no answer (N/A)                    17.2 
 
Q: Do you support the government's draft bill to revise the law? 
 
Yes                           28.1 
Yes to a certain degree       37.6 
No to a certain degree         8.6 
No                             5.6 
N/A                           20.1 
 
Polling methodology 
Date of survey: May 13-14. 
Subjects of survey: 3,000 persons chosen from among all eligible 
voters throughout the country (at 250 locations on a stratified 
two-stage random sampling basis). 
Method of implementation: Door-to-door visits for face-to-face 
interviews. 
Number of valid respondents: 1,788 persons (59.6%). 
Breakdown of respondents: Male-49%, female-51%. 
 
TOKYO 00002715  007 OF 014 
 
 
 
(6) Leaders of Mindan, Chongryon to hold first meeting today to 
resolve conflict, issue joint statement 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 3) (Slightly abridged) 
May 17, 2006 
 
The pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan, known as Mindan, 
and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or 
Chongryon, have been at loggerheads for all of the 60-year 
postwar period. Mindan leader Ha Byong Ok and Chongryon leader So 
Man Sul will meet this morning with the aim of reconciling their 
policy differences and forming a coalition. This will be their 
first top-level meeting. 
 
Mindan issued a statement yesterday noting: "The two groups in 
Japan will hold a meeting to resolve their conflicts and issue a 
joint statement." Seven Mindan representatives will visit 
Chongryon's head office in Tokyo today. 
 
Mindan and Chongryon have locked horns due to a difference in 
ideology since they were inaugurated. In the wake of the South- 
North summit in June 2000, however, momentum has been gathering 
for reconciliation among Korean residents in Japan. The two 
groups have already started exchanges and action to unify them at 
the regional level. 
 
On the national level, the Chongryon Central Committee adopted in 
September 2005 the policy of "abandoning the distrust and 
antagonism in the past and sharing the determination to bring 
about unification." Mindan also installed as president Ha, who 
calls for uniting based on broad common interests. 
 
According to informed sources, an idea floated in late April 
suggesting that both groups should jointly form a preparatory 
panel in commemoration of the 6th anniversary of the South-North 
joint declaration on June 15. The two leaders are expected to 
decide in their meeting today to (1) confirm reconciliation in 
the joint statement; and (2) hold a summit meeting regularly. 
They will participate in the event held in Guangzhou, South 
Korea, in commemoration of the 6th anniversary of the South-North 
joint declaration in June. 
 
One person well informed of circumstances on the Korean Peninsula 
sees "the declining influence of Chongryon" behind the 
unprecedented unification move. Mindan has more than 400,000 
members, while Chongryon has officially announced that the number 
is about 200,000, but it has been reported that a number of 
members seceded from it recently over the exposure of the 
abduction issue. 
 
The Japanese government has been ratcheting up pressure on 
Chongryon, seriously affecting the flow of funds from that group 
to Pyongyang by imposing a fixed asset tax on Chongryon-related 
facilities, as well as taking other measures. Some observers 
analyze that Chongryon wants to demonstrate its flexible stance 
by holding talks with Mindan. 
 
South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun has been promoting an 
appeasement policy toward North Korea. Shigeru Yokota, the father 
of a Japanese abduction victim, is now visiting South Korea, but 
the South Korean government has declined to meet him, apparently 
out of consideration to North Korea. 
 
TOKYO 00002715  008 OF 014 
 
 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said in a press conference 
yesterday: "The government will continue to take the stance of 
holding talks and applying pressure." He added: "The Public 
Security Investigation Agency has an interest in Chongryon from 
the viewpoint of maintaining national security. We will carefully 
watch its moves." 
 
(7) Reconciliation between Mindan, Chongryon as top leaders meet 
and issue a joint statement of cooperation toward uniting 
resident Koreans in Japan 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpt) 
Evening, May 17, 2006 
 
Ha Byonk Ok, leader of Mindan, the pro-Seoul Korean Residents 
Union in Japan, and So Man Sui, head of the Chosen Soren 
(Chongryon in Korean), the pro-Pyongyang Association of Korean 
Residents in Japan, held their first top-level meeting ever this 
morning at Chongryon Headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. In a 
joint statement issued after their meeting, they used the 
expression "historical meeting" to describe their session. In 
accordance with the South-North Korean joint declaration issued 
in June, 2000, they proclaimed "a change from antagonism and 
rivalry to conciliation and unity (or harmony)." They came out 
with a clear stance of putting an end to their history of 
conflict that spanned over a half-century. 
 
(8) Post-Koizumi contenders - A study of Taro Aso (Part 2): Under 
pressure from his background, he makes himself out to be a bad 
guy 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Almost full) 
May 17, 2006 
 
"Don't worry. Jiro can do it even though I can't," Taro Aso would 
often say to his mother, Kazuko, when he was a child. Jiro was 
two years junior to Taro, but Jiro did everything better than 
Taro whether it was his studies or sports. A prevailing notion in 
the Aso family was that the future of the family would be in the 
hands of Jiro. 
 
Aso, however, stopped saying such words when he was 23. The 
reason was because Jiro died in an accident at sea. Those who 
knew Taro and Jiro said equally: "The two brothers always got 
along well." It can easily be imagined how shocked Aso was by the 
death of his brother. But Aso's biological sister, Yukiko Soma, 
looking back on those days, said: "The death of Jiro might have 
helped my elder brother to develop his own faculties." 
 
On his mother's side was Aso's grandfather, former Prime Minister 
Shigeru Yoshida, and Toshimitsu Okubo, a Japanese statesman in 
the Meiji era (1968-1912). Aso was also a great-grandson of 
Takichi Aso, a former member of the House of Lords who was dubbed 
the coal baron in Fukuoka Prefecture. 
 
The little ruffian of the coal mines 
 
Aso was brought up with severe discipline. Kazuko cautioned her 
children against extravagant lifestyles and fed her family rice 
cooked with barley (a staple food for the poor). Aso became a 
kind of little ruffian among the kids in that coal-mining town 
rather than be seen as a child of a wealthy family. Around then, 
 
TOKYO 00002715  009 OF 014 
 
 
he was already making himself out to be a bad guy. His cousin, 
Koichiro Noda, a science-fiction writer, explained: "The 
privileged position of his family may have been a burden on him." 
 
When he was a third-grade elementary school student, Aso moved to 
Tokyo where he was enrolled in the Gakushuin Elementary School. 
He was then no longer a standout among his peers. He perhaps 
finally was able to relax. Former Administrative Vice Foreign 
Minister Masahiro Akiyama, a classmate, said: "When I think of 
Aso, all I recall about him was his laughing face. A barbed 
tongue, did he have such? I can't recall it." 
 
Aso says half-jokingly: "Having Shigeru Yoshida as my grandfather 
was more trouble than it was worth." But his sense of values was 
developed under the influence of Yoshida, who doted on Aso too 
much, and would even bring him along to news conferences. 
 
Yoshida's friends like Hayato Ikeda (later a prime minister) 
called on Yoshida at his residence. They became something like a 
catalyst that led Aso to politics. Reporters assigned to cover 
Yoshida sat at the same breakfast table. Aso cultivated his views 
of history and of the state from what he learned by listening to 
political discussions among those adults and their talk about the 
past. 
 
"You shouldn't judge people by how they look. But people will 
judge you by how you look," Yoshida said. This advice has become 
the basis for Aso to become meticulous about his belongings and 
clothes. Even now he buys a suit of clothes at a tailor shop at 
Aoyama, Tokyo, where he bought his suit for the first time when 
his mother brought him there. 
 
"He tends to look cool" 
 
The trigger that led Aso to become a politician was his 
assumption of chairmanship of the Japan Junior Chamber of 
Commerce in 1978, when he was serving as president of Aso Cement. 
In 1979, when he decided to run in a Lower House election for the 
first time, his mother strongly opposed his candidacy. But he ran 
anyway, following his grandfather's words: "Once you decide to do 
something, never waver but just do it." 
 
When Aso likes to read books; he underlines what he thinks i is 
important to understand. He secretly learned calligraphy and now 
he can write a letter by using a brush. His old friend portrays 
Aso as "a hardworking person who pretends not to work hard." His 
sister said: "He tries to make himself look cool." 
 
When asked about differences with other post-Koizumi contenders, 
for instance, Shinzo Abe, Aso says: "Unlike the others, I am a 
cheerful person." But at one point he was told by his friend 
lawmaker, "You have tended to have a frown on your face since you 
became cabinet minister." So, Aso is now trying to smile. 
 
(9) Poll: 92.5% read newspapers 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full) 
May 17, 2006 
 
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (Nihon 
Shinbun Kyokai or NSK for short) conducted an opinion survey of 
public access to and ratings for the five major segments of the 
media: newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and the 
 
TOKYO 00002715  010 OF 014 
 
 
Internet. In the survey, respondents were asked if they read 
newspapers, and 92.5% of them answered "yes." This shows that the 
newspapers are highly esteemed even in the multimedia age. 
 
NSK has conducted three surveys in 2001, 2003, and this time in 
October last year. A total of 6,000 persons were chosen from 
among those aged 15-69 for the latest survey, and answers were 
obtained from 57.4%. 
 
In the survey, asked how many days of the week they spend their 
time reading newspapers (morning editions), respondents said the 
average number was 5.6 days, showing that they read newspapers 
almost every day. In addition, 93.0% supported door-to-door paper 
delivery services. Newspapers were reconfirmed as the key source 
of information in the media. 
 
The survey also probed into the public image and evaluation of 
various other types of media. In this rating, the newspapers 
topped all other media as "indispensable information sources" 
(53.6%), "socially influential entities" (53.4%), and "good 
sources to know about local communities" (52.1%). In addition, 
respondents also gave high marks to television, citing commercial 
broadcasters for "friendliness" (67.0%) and the official 
broadcaster NHK for "accurate information" (43.8%). 
 
In the survey, respondents were further asked if they access the 
Internet. In response, more than 60% answered "yes," showing an 
increase of about 3%age points over the last survey. "Newspapers 
and television are still the key players in the mass media," NSK 
concluded. 
 
(10) Self-protection of bureaucrats a universal practice 
 
BUNGEISHUNJU (Pp. 234-235) (Abridged slightly) 
June 2006 
 
Mock six-party talks held in Tokyo in mid-April to discuss the 
North Korean nuclear issue demonstrated that bureaucrats of any 
country are skilled in protecting themselves and avoiding taking 
responsibility. 
 
It all started with the Foreign Ministry's frustration with the 
Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei), especially with 
prime minister's secretary, Isao Iijima, over deadlocked Japan- 
North Korea relations. "Things have not been quite right since 
Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka (who entered the ministry 
in 1969) was removed from responsibility." Criticism was directed 
at Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Kenichiro 
Sasae. Iijima has a poor impression of Sasae, who was close to 
former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, Iijima's "enemy." In 
an apparent attempt to solidify his position for the next five 
months before Prime Minister Koizumi steps down, Sasae lobbied 
the United States and South Korea for trilateral talks. 
 
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill also jumped into 
the spotlight at that point. Although Hill compiled a joint 
statement following the six-party talks last September, there has 
been no progress in the talks since then. Hill, regarded as an 
attention seeker in the US government, readily jumped at Sasae's 
proposal for the trilateral talks. 
 
South Korean chief negotiator, Chun Young Woo, also become 
director of the Office of the Diplomatic Policy just last year. 
 
TOKYO 00002715  011 OF 014 
 
 
Sasae, Hill, and, Chun were all too eager to meet in Tokyo to 
play up their profiles. 
 
North Korea, which had been suffering under America's financial 
sanctions, also dispatched Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan to 
Tokyo in the faint hope of talks with the United States. 
Representing China, which proudly regarded itself as an 
intermediary, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei also arrived in 
Japan. The lineup of such members raised the stakes. 
 
Government officials had low expectations for the talks, however. 
Sasae whispered into the ears of Foreign Minister Taro Aso and 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, "Chances are slim for US-DPRK 
talks to occur on the sidelines of the six party talks." 
Washington also sent Director for Asian Affairs at the National 
Security Council Victor Cha to Japan to keep an eye on Hill so 
that he would not behave audaciously, driven by ambition. 
 
The Tokyo conference ended without producing any tangible 
results. Despite that, Sasae proudly took the credit for the 
Tokyo session, over which the involvement of former Deputy 
Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka (who entered the ministry in 
1969) was mentioned. Sasae simply demonstrated a standard 
bureaucratic style. 
 
(11) Yachi faction on the rise 
 
BUNGEISHUNJU (Page 234) (Abridged slightly) 
June 2006 
 
The full text of a suicide note left behind by a diplomat at the 
Consulate General in Shanghai found its way into a newspaper, and 
a sensitive document on South Korea policy also was leaked. These 
incidents exposed the sloppiness of the Foreign Ministry's 
information control. The view is rife that insiders discontented 
with recent personnel appointments leaked them. 
 
Word is out in the open that the post of administrative vice 
foreign minister, now occupied by Shotaro Yachi (who entered the 
ministry in 1969), will be handed over in succession first to 
Ambassador to Indonesia Shin Ebihara (who joined the ministry in 
1971) then to Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau chief Keiichiro 
Sasae (1974), next to North American Affairs Bureau chief Chikao 
Kawai (1975) and then to Minister to the United States Akitaka 
Saiki (1976). They are all referred to as members of the "Yachi 
faction." It is widely rumored in the ministry that officials not 
belonging to the Yachi faction can never climb up to the vice 
minister's post. 
 
In fact, such members as Deputy Foreign Minister Tsuneo Nishida 
(1970), Deputy Vice Minister for Foreign Policy Masaharu Kono 
(1973), European Affairs Bureau Director General Chikahito Harada 
(1974), Prime Ministerial Secretary Koro Bessho (1975), and 
Foreign Policy Bureau Deputy Director General Koji Tsuruoka 
(1976) -- are known as capable officials -- have been falling 
behind in the vice minister's race. 
 
The same trend is also evident at the division director level. 
International Legal Affairs Division Director Takeo Akiba (1982), 
who is expected to become the first "non-China School" official 
to head the China and Mongolian Division, is a promising Yachi 
faction member. First North American Division Director Takeo Mori 
(1983), an ace among the junior to mid-level officials, regards 
 
TOKYO 00002715  012 OF 014 
 
 
himself as a "direct descendant" of Akiba. Akiba, who has served 
in the now-defunct Treaties Bureau, belongs to the American 
School, like Yachi. Although Mori belongs to a different language 
school, he, too, has served in the Treaties Bureau. 
 
Rivalries between language school-denominated factions, 
especially between the China School and the Russia School, used 
to create tensions in the Foreign Ministry. But the decline of 
those two large language schools has pushed Yachi faction members 
belonging to the American School to center stage. 
 
(12) Market opening efforts stalled; Patriotic economy; Rising 
protectionism; Japan rushing to defend itself against inflow of 
foreign funds 
 
ASAHI (Page 9) (Excerpts) 
May 17, 2006 
 
Akio Mimura, president of Nippon Steel Corporation, on March 29 
categorically told reporters, "It is only natural for us to 
protect our company." Just before he made this comment, Nippon 
Steel had come up with a policy of countering takeover bids 
jointly with Sumitomo Metal Industries and Kobe Steel, with which 
it cross-holds stocks, though they are rivals. 
 
In January, Mittal Steel Company of the Netherlands, which has 
become the world's largest steel company after taking over a 
number of competitors, announced that it had taken over Arcelor 
of Luxemburg, the world's second-largest steel manufacturer. The 
three Japanese steel makers' joint move appears to be an effort 
to defend themselves from Mittal's possible advance into the 
Japanese market. An executive of Japan Steel Corporation 
stressed, "It will be a threat to the domestic industry as a 
whole, if any of steel companies, which prop up the industry's 
competitiveness, is taken over by a foreign company." 
 
Atsushi Yokoyama, deputy manager of the System Research 
Department of the Daiwa Institute of Research, said, "Following 
the recent series of takeover bids, an increasing number of 
companies are now trying to take measures against takeover bids." 
They are trying to defend themselves from foreign companies and 
investment funds that are actively engaging in border-crossing 
mergers and acquisitions of companies (M&As), using affluent 
funds. 
 
The government is assisting companies in their effort to solidify 
their defensive posture. For instance, the government had planned 
to lift a ban on triangular mergers in the process of compiling a 
new corporate law. However, in mid-March last year, it postponed 
the enactment of the envisaged law. Business circles complained 
about the contents of the planned law, which was intended to make 
M&As easier. They claimed, "If the ban is lifted, foreign 
companies will launch major takeover bids." 
 
According to M&A consulting company Recof Corp., the number of 
M&As in Japan has sharply increased since 2000, but cases in 
which foreign companies take over domestic companies have leveled 
off. 
 
The Daiwa Institute of Research pointed out that the cross- 
holding of stocks among business players that appear to be 
intended to defend themselves against takeovers is reviving. The 
ratio of cross-held stocks dropped to 1.45% in 1999 on a monetary 
 
TOKYO 00002715  013 OF 014 
 
 
basis, but it rose to 2.025% in 2004. 
 
Irresolute toward international negotiations 
 
Seiichi Ota, a Lower House member, during a meeting of the 
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Trade Research Council held 
in late April at the LDP headquarters welcomed the stalled trade 
liberalization talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
saying, "To tell the truth, it would be better if the talks 
fail." He also said, "In order to have rice treated as an 
exception, it is necessary for Japan to maintain that belief in 
the sprit of rice cultivation peculiar to Japan is culture." He 
thus emphasized that Japan should not succumb to a call for 
lowering tariffs on rice. 
 
The multilateral trade talks (Doha Round), which started in 2001 
with the aim of expanding global trade, were postponed, failing 
to meet the April 30 deadline for an agreement on new trade 
rules. 
 
In view of the bogged-down WTO trade talks, the government and 
business circles are now focusing on signing free trade 
agreements. However, Japan has so far succeeded in concluding 
such a trade pact with only three countries. 
 
Japan and the Philippines reached a consensus on an FTA, 
including the acceptance of nurses and nursing-care workers, but 
they have not yet signed the accord. 
 
That is because Japan wants to limit the number of workers it 
accepts each year to several hundred on the grounds that the 
wages of Philippine workers are low; it is concerned that an 
influx of foreign workers all at once could worsen working 
conditions for Japanese workers. The Philippines denies the 
possibility. 
 
Other Asian countries, such as South Korea and Thailand, are also 
calling on Japan to open its labor market for nurses and other 
types of workers in short supply in Japan. However, the Ministry 
of Health, Labor, and Welfare stands firm on its position that 
the objective of accepting nurses from abroad is to promote 
technical exchange and has nothing to do with adjusting supply 
and demand. 
 
WTO member nations will aim to map out liberalization rules by 
the end of July at the Doha Round. Liberalization of trade in 
services, which would make progress in the financial and 
communications sectors easier, would be advantageous to Japan, 
but there is no sign of the government making a political 
decision. Business circles hope for the success of the Doha 
Round, but they are shunning the advance of foreign firms into 
the Japanese market as a result of liberalization. 
 
Inward-looking industrialized countries 
 
A senior official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry 
expressed concern: "In trade, weak countries should be given a 
handicap like in golf so that all countries can play. If 
industrialized countries refuse to give in, weak countries will 
turn their backs and withdraw into seclusion." As a matter of 
fact, industrialized countries, such as Japan, the US and 
European countries, are increasingly becoming inward-looking. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002715  014 OF 014 
 
 
DONOVAN