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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 002854 
 
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: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 05/24/06 
 
Index: 
 
1)   Top headlines 
2)   Editorials 
3)   Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
Defense and security issues: 
4)   Joint US-Japan security statement places alliance in a 
  "global scale" to respond to terrorism, natural disasters 
5)   Minshuto President Ozawa includes Taiwan in definition of 
"regional contingency" under Japanese law 
6)   New Komeito internally seems ready to accept bill creating a 
defense ministry that will be submitted to current Diet session 
7)   Full-scale coordination begins on withdrawing GSDF troops 
from Iraq 
8)   Cyberterror: Fake e-mails purported from JDA chief and 
Japan's top SDF brass came through China 
 
ROK relations: 
9)   Japan, South Korean foreign ministers agree in meeting to 
  restart negotiations on EEZ boundary demarcation on June 12 
10)  No meeting of minds of Japan, ROK foreign ministers on 
resolving North Korean abduction issue 
 
11)  China asks Japan to assume additional burden in cleaning up 
  poison chemicals left behind by Japan Imperial Army in WWII 
 
12)  Japan ready to pledge 40 billion yen in fresh aid for 
  environment, tsunami measures at upcoming Pacific islands summit 
 
Political agenda: 
13)  IBM chairman rebuts Prime Minister Koizumi on the Yasukuni 
  issue 
14)  Minister Takenaka criticizes government's economic and 
fiscal policy council 
15)  Gap in enthusiasm in government, ruling camp as Diet 
committee starts deliberating bill amending Basic Education Law 
16)  Farm lobby  Nokyo  upset with Koizumi reforms, pushing LDP 
to support Nokyo candidate in next summer's Upper House elections 
 
17)  Fast-food chains that had served beef bowls before ban on US 
  imports are split over returning to US beef after trade resumes 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Welfare Minister orders Social Insurance Agency to replace head 
of Osaka office for illegal pension payment wavers 
 
Mainichi, Yomiuri, Nihon Keizai & Tokyo Shimbun: 
Six major banking groups book record 3.12 trillion yen in 
combined profit 
 
Sankei: 
Bogus e-mails entering the e-mail address of ASDF Staff Office 
sent to unspecified majority through Chinese provider 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
 
TOKYO 00002854  002 OF 011 
 
 
(1)  Unauthorized pension payment waivers by Social Insurance 
Agency really stun us 
(2)  In final phase of Diet session, what should be tackled on 
priority basis? 
 
Mainichi: 
(1)  For safe withdrawal of SDF from Samawah, full preparations 
necessary 
(2)  We expect new Keidanren chairman to display leadership to 
create fair economic society 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1)  Major banks should thank public in words, deeds 
(2)  Palestinian Authority should take responsible stance as 
party concerned with Middle East peace process 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1)  User-friendly financial revitalization should be aimed at 
(2)  Monopolized mail-delivery service must be rectified 
 
Sankei: 
(1)  Parents are first teacher for children 
(2)  Hit-and-run incident involving 11-year-old boy: Police must 
reflect on improper investigation 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1)  There is no need to hurriedly enact referendum bill 
(2)  Detailed measures needed to prevent illegal parking 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, May 23 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2)  (Full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
09:01 
Attended a cabinet meeting in Diet. 
 
09:19 
Arrived at Kantei. 
 
10:58 
Met with Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. 
 
14:00 
Met with Cabinet Intelligence Director Mitani and JDA 
Intelligence Headquarters chief Mukunoki. Later, met Environment 
Minister Koike. 
 
16:03 
Education Minister Matsuda. 
 
16:50 
Met with Council of Experts on Administrative Reduction and 
Efficiency Chairman Iida, its Chief of Secretariat Matsuda, and 
others, joined by State Minister for Administrative Reform 
Minister Chuma. 
 
17:30 
Attended a meeting of Council for Science and Technology Policy. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002854  003 OF 011 
 
 
19:02 
Dined with US Ambassador to Japan Schieffer at Steak House 
Katsura at Takanawa Prince Hotel. 
 
21:22 
Returned to residence. 
 
4) Japan-US alliance to go global in scope 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
May 24, 2006 
 
Japan and the United States have entered into intergovernmental 
coordination to issue a joint statement on the Japan-US alliance 
and its significance when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits 
the United States in late June. The two countries have now agreed 
to realign US forces in Japan. In response to this agreement and 
other factors, the joint statement will announce that the 
bilateral alliance has now entered a new phase of global 
cooperation. In the joint statement, the two governments will 
clarify that Japan and the United States will act in concert to 
deal with changes in the international situations following the 
Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. 
 
Koizumi will arrive in the United States on June 28 after 
visiting Canada and will meet with President Bush on June 29. 
 
Koizumi and Bush last documented a joint statement at their first 
meeting in June 2001. The two leaders will set forth a stronger 
alliance in their joint statement for the first time. Defense 
Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga proposed documenting the 
joint statement in his meeting with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld 
following the final agreement reached between the Japanese and US 
governments on the realignment of US forces in Japan. 
 
The joint statement will sum up bilateral cooperation that has 
substantially expanded in the security area through Japan's 
antiterror backup measures, such as dispatching Self-Defense 
Forces troops to Iraq and refueling US and other foreign naval 
vessels in the Indian Ocean. The two leaders will underscore the 
Japan-US alliance and its significance over again for the Asia- 
Pacific region's peace and stability, thereby envisioning a new 
framework for bilateral cooperation. 
 
In their joint statement, Koizumi and Bush will specify a course 
of action to overhaul the current setup of cooperation between 
the SDF and US forces through "bilateral defense planning" in 
anticipation of emergencies in Japan and through "mutual 
cooperation planning" in anticipation of emergencies in areas 
surrounding Japan. Based on that new framework, the two leaders 
will proclaim that Japan and the United States will step up their 
cooperation in order to deal with international terrorism and 
respond to major disasters and diseases. 
 
The Japan-US Security Treaty restricts Japan's cooperation to the 
Far East. In addition, the Japan-US Security Joint Declaration of 
1996 also goes no further than to describe bilateral cooperation 
in the event of emergencies in Japan and contingencies in the 
periphery of Japan. However, Japan and the United States have 
already expanded the scope of their nonmilitary cooperation on a 
global scale, including antiterror backup measures and disaster 
relief activities. 
 
TOKYO 00002854  004 OF 011 
 
 
 
As it stands, Japan and the United States will confirm in the 
joint statement that the two countries will further their 
cooperation in various areas that are not covered in the security 
pact. 
 
5) Ozawa: Taiwan is included in contingencies in areas 
surrounding Japan 
 
SANKEI (Page 4) (Full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
In a press conference yesterday at party headquarters, Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan) President categorically said that 
Taiwan is included in "areas surrounding Japan," as stipulated in 
the regional contingency law: "It (Taiwan) is naturally 
included." Ozawa told a key Chinese government official when he 
was visiting China: "There would be trouble if China fires at 
Taiwan and the shells fly in the direction of Okinawa as a 
result. Such would be an attack (on Japan)." 
 
6) Growing endorsement seen in New Komeito of submission of bill 
to upgrade JDA during current Diet session 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Almost full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
By Hirohiko Sakaguchi 
 
A growing number of New Komeito members are moving to endorse the 
submission of a bill to upgrade the Defense Agency (JDA) to 
ministry status to the current Diet session. Behind this move is 
the party executives' desire to settle pending questions under 
the current lineup of party executives whose terms in office will 
expire in October in order to avoid any impact on the Upper House 
elections set for next summer, as the bureaucrat-initiated bid- 
rigging scandal involving the Defense Facilities Administration 
Agency (DFAA) is likely to be concluded shortly. But some in the 
party remain cautious about submission of the bill. The party 
executives intend to coordinate views internally to decide on 
their position before June 18, when the current Diet session is 
to close, as to whether to allow the submission of the bill. 
 
Consultations over what to do with the bill have continued 
between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which is 
positive about the bill, and its junior coalition partner New 
Komeito, which is cautious. But the New Komeito turned even more 
cautious with the revelation of the DFAA-led bid-rigging 
scandals. As a result, many in the ruling parties believed that 
it would be hopeless to submit the bill to the current Diet 
session. 
 
One reason why the New Komeito is moving to endorse the 
submission of the bill to the current Diet session is because its 
executives' terms of office expire in October. Representative 
Takenori Kanzaki has hinted he will retire from his post. One 
senior official explained: "We don't want to leave pending 
questions in the hands of a new party lineup, which will have to 
contest the Upper House election." Also, by allowing the 
submission of the bill to the current Diet session, the New 
Komeito intends to include its own pet measures, such as 
expansion of child allowances, in the Basic Policies for Economic 
 
TOKYO 00002854  005 OF 011 
 
 
and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform the government will 
shape in June and thereby to play up its identity ahead of the 
Upper House election. 
 
The gap between the LDP and the New Komeito over the JDA 
upgrading bill has already been almost bridged. The major point 
at issue was how to rename the JDA. The LDP insisted on renaming 
it as "Kokubosho" (National Defense Ministry), while the New 
Komeito asserted that the name of the JDA should be changed to 
"Boei Kokusai Heiwasho" (Defense and International Peace 
Ministry). But the new name of the JDA is likely to be "Boeisho" 
(Defense Ministry) with the LDP's concessions to the New Komeito. 
 
Some in the New Komeito are still opposed to the submission of 
the bill, arguing that the DFAA scandal has yet to be concluded. 
But if things go smoothly, the JDA is scheduled to announce a 
final report on the scandal, as well as punitive measures, 
possibly by the middle of next week. Taking this as an 
opportunity to put an end to the scandal, the New Komeito 
executives intend to speed up the process of coordinating views 
in the party. 
 
7) Government to make full-fledged coordination with US, Britain, 
and Australia for GSDF withdrawal 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
May 24, 2006 
 
Now that security authority in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah 
is likely to be transferred from the multinational forces to the 
Iraqi military and police in June, the government plans to make 
full-fledged coordination with the United States, Britain, and 
Australia to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force troops from the 
country. For starters, the government will send officials in 
charge from the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Agency to the US 
and Britain shortly and study a specific timeline and steps 
through talks of working-level officials of Japan, the US, 
Britain, and Australia. 
 
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki indicated at a press conference 
May 22 that security authority in Muthanna Province, including 
Samawah, would be transferred to Iraq in June. 
 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi welcomed al-Maliki's statement 
before reporters yesterday, saying: "The statement showed his 
government's enthusiasm for maintaining public order 
independently." 
 
The government has conditioned GSDF withdrawal on the 
establishment of a stable Iraqi government and the transfer of 
security and administrative authority to Iraq. If matters develop 
as al-Maliki predicted, the government's scenario of beginning 
withdrawal in June to complete it in July could become a reality. 
 
When New Komeito Representative Takenori Kanzaki held talks 
yesterday in Tokyo with Australian Ambassador to Japan Alistair 
McLean, he said: "(The security situation in Samawah) has 
improved, and Japan may decide to withdraw GSDF troops from Iraq 
sometime soon." 
 
But because the Iraqi government is still devoid of interior and 
defense ministers, there is some skepticism in the Japanese 
 
TOKYO 00002854  006 OF 011 
 
 
government about the possibility of transferring security 
authority to a full-fledged Iraqi government, as al-Maliki 
predicted. Japan's concern is being fueled by continued terrorism 
in Iraq. The government intends to carefully observe the security 
situation in Iraq. 
 
The government will also study specific ways to assist Iraq after 
GSDF withdrawal. A plan has surfaced to invite senior Iraqi 
government officials and cabinet minister to Japan while 
continuing providing economic assistance, such as yen loans, and 
humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq. 
 
8) Fake emails sent via China, disguised as "Air Staff Office" 
 
SANKEI (Top play) (Abridged) 
May 24, 2006 
 
A large number of fake emails were disseminated under Defense 
Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga's name or the Air Self- 
Defense Force Air Staff Office. Those fake emails were sent 
through a Chinese server, sources said yesterday. The Defense 
Agency suspects that the incident could be a cyberattack 
involving Chinese hackers. The agency will shortly send a damage 
report to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in order to 
identify the source of those emails. 
 
In the middle of this month, an email message was sent to Self- 
Defense Forces personnel and many other PC users. The email 
showed the address of the Air Staff Office's public relations 
section, and its subject was "Destroyer Fleet 16 and its 3 
weeks." The email was from the "Defense Agency Air Staff Office 
General Affairs Department." This section name, however, is not 
actually used. It is therefore suspected of being a spoofed. 
 
The email, in its text, was written in unnatural Japanese with an 
attached file. If PC users receiving that email had opened the 
attached file, their PC hardware could have been infected with 
viruses and might have automatically forwarded the fake email to 
their contacts listed in their PC address books. 
 
The ASO public relations section received more than 1,000 inquiry 
emails a day from those who received that fake email, so the 
section was troubled in its daily operations. The MPD will likely 
file a criminal case over this incident as an illegal act of 
interfering with the Defense Agency's operations. 
 
The Defense Agency tracked down the path of this fake email and 
discovered that the email came through a server in China. The 
attached file was a reproduction of information pages and photos 
from a Japanese civic group's website, saying a nuclear-powered 
submarine of the US Navy entered port at its Yokosuka base. 
 
9) Japanese, South Korean foreign ministers agree to resume talks 
on June 12 to negotiate on disputed EEZ demarcation between their 
two countries 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso arrived in Qatar to participate in the 
Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). He met with his South Korean 
counterpart Ban Ki Moon for about an hour and a half hours at a 
 
TOKYO 00002854  007 OF 011 
 
 
Doha hotel. They agreed to resume talks on June 12 and 13 to 
discuss the two countries' exclusive economic zones (EEZ) 
demarcation issue. 
 
Ban also stated that the results of DNA analysis on Kim Yong Nam, 
a South Korean abducted by North Korea, would be released by the 
end of this month. Kim is most likely the husband of Megumi 
Yokota, a Japanese national also abducted by that country. Ban 
and Aso agreed to closely work together in order to settle the 
abduction issue involving North Korea. 
 
They also discussed ways to mend the strained relations between 
the two countries due to Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to 
Yasukuni Shrine. Ban called for prudent treatment of the issue. 
Aso responded, "Japan's position is the same as it has repeatedly 
announced." He then noted, "I, on my part, will make a judgment 
properly taking into account my beliefs as a private citizen and 
position as a public official." 
 
They shared the view that it is important for the two countries 
to continue efforts to resume the six-nation talks to discuss the 
North's nuclear development issue. They also agreed to hold a 
government-level meeting in June regarding a survey on remains of 
former military personnel and drafted civilians who came from the 
Korean Peninsula and conduct a joint field survey in July. 
 
10) Tokyo-Seoul talks on EEZ demarcation bound to encounter 
difficulties; Gaps also in views on abduction issue 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
May 24, 2006 
 
By Tetsu Okazaki, Doha 
 
In an attempt to prevent strained bilateral relations from 
worsening further due to the issue of Japan's marine research 
around a group of the disputed Takeshima/Dokdo islets in the Sea 
of Japan, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea decided 
yesterday to resume in June talks on the exclusive economic zones 
of their countries. It will be difficult, however, for the two 
countries to repair the strained relations. 
 
Although the two ministers have confirmed cooperation in dealing 
with the abduction issue after a visit to Seoul by Shigeru 
Yokota, the father of abductee Megumi Yokota, there are major 
differences in the two countries' approaches. 
 
South Korea has pledged to extend economic assistance to North 
Korea in place of cooperation to resolve issues, while Japan has 
strengthened pressure. Therefore, one official said, "Since the 
two countries have completely different views, there is a limit 
for their cooperation at present." 
 
11) Facility to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned by former 
Japanese Army: Plan suspended after China demands more funding 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
It was learned yesterday that a plan to construct a facility with 
China to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned by the former 
Japanese Army was suspended after China called on Japan to share 
 
TOKYO 00002854  008 OF 011 
 
 
additional costs. Tokyo and Beijing last October agreed to aim 
for an early start-up of the disposal plant, by setting up a 
Japan-China Consortium Organization that would serve as a vehicle 
to construct the envisaged facility. However, no prospects have 
been obtained even for signing a memorandum of understanding on 
the establishment of such an organization, with China making a 
fresh demand. 
 
The disposal plant will be constructed in Jilin Province, China. 
According to a Japanese government source, China during a meeting 
in March called for additional outlays for cutting trees at the 
construction site. A Chinese negotiator explained that since the 
forest, where the plant is to be constructed, is a government- 
designated forest reserve, it needs to have Japan pay additional 
money for the removal of the designation. 
 
A senior Cabinet Office official revealed Tokyo's position that 
it is not possible to share such a cost with no clear legal 
grounds provided. Since the Chinese side has not even presented a 
specific amount of money, Tokyo remains unable to grasp its real 
intent. 
 
12) Government in Pacific Islands Summit plan to offer ODA worth 
40 billion yen for environment and tsunami countermeasures 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
May 24, 2006 
 
The government started coordination yesterday to provide 14 
island states in the Pacific region with 40 billion yen worth of 
official development assistance (ODA) over the next three years 
to allow them to finance measures to protect the environment and 
to prevent flooding from tsunami. Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi will announce this plan during the fourth Japan-Pacific 
Islands Forum Summit to be held in Nago City, Okinawa, on May 26- 
¶27. 
 
In the region, China has been trying to bring over to its side by 
offers of economic assistance six countries that have not 
established diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In response, the 
government aims to hold China's moves in check by increasing its 
ODA disbursements to these countries in an attempt to keep them 
in Japan's camp. 
 
The government provided the island states in the region with 30 
billion yen in grant aid and technical cooperation in the past 
three years. 
 
According to government sources, the government will come up with 
a plan in the summit to increase ODA funds for measures to 
introduce an early warning system as a tsunami countermeasure; to 
offer technical assistance to contain SARS; to construct 
infrastructure; and to protect the environment. 
 
13) Kitashiro rebuts Koizumi again, saying that business and 
politics are not separate matters 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
May 24, 2006 
 
The Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) and Keizai 
Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) have been 
 
TOKYO 00002854  009 OF 011 
 
 
increasingly at odds over the organization's urging Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi to halt his visits to Yasukuni Shrine. 
In reaction to Koizumi's rebuttal that business and politics were 
two separate matters, Doyukai Chairman and IBM Japan Chairman 
Kakutaro Kitashiro said in a press conference yesterday: "State 
policies, including the economy, must be determined properly." 
 
In reaction, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said 
disapprovingly in a press conference yesterday, "One must not 
take a narrow view of things." 
 
"I hope the prime minister will refrain from visiting Yasukuni 
Shrine for the sake of good Japan-China relations, not for 
corporate achievement or industrial gains, " Kitashiro said. He 
also indicated that the business leaders' association would 
announce its stance on the Liberal Democratic Party's 
presidential election in September, while taking into 
consideration the party's stance on diplomatic issues, including 
the Yasukuni issue. 
 
Doyukai and IBM Japan have been besieged with telephones calls 
and letters critical of the association's proposal. Despite that, 
Kitashiro said: "A society where people can exchange diverse 
views is healthy. We will sincerely lend our ears to other views, 
but we will not change our proposal." 
 
Abe told the press conference yesterday: "Doyukai should give 
serious thought to the prime minister's motive and other factors 
before making such a comment." Abe also said this regarding the 
observation that the Doyukai proposal would have an impact on 
Japan's policy toward Asia. 
 
"Such a view is not totally correct. Basically, diplomatic 
relations with China and South Korea are at stake. Relations with 
India and ASEAN have deepened. One must not take a narrow-minded 
view." 
 
Meanwhile, Koizumi told reporters last night: "There are all 
sorts of opinions. Some agree with me; others don't. Mr. 
Kitashiro understands my position very well. 
 
Koizumi had a dinner with business leaders on the night of May 17 
in which Kitashiro said, "I'm sorry for all the fuss." In 
response, Koizumi said, "It doesn't bother me." 
 
14) Minister of Internal Affairs Takenaka declares that Council 
on Economic and Fiscal Policy has "completed its role" 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
By Daihaku Kasai 
 
At a news conference yesterday, Minister of Internal Affairs 
Heizo Takenaka remarked that the government's Council on Economic 
and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) has turned from driving force to a 
spectator, saying: "It has changed from an engine for reform to 
an arena for it." Takenaka, who has been recently rumored to no 
longer be a significant player in policy debates, issued a de 
facto "declaration of the end of the CEFP," which he has led 
until now and has been given the status of control tower for 
reforms. 
 
TOKYO 00002854  010 OF 011 
 
 
 
Takenaka stated, "(The CEFP) already underwent a great change 
about six months ago." He indicated that the nature of the panel 
changed since Kaoru Yosano assumed the post of minister in charge 
of the panel after the cabinet reshuffle last October. "I think 
the role of reform engine has now been played by the (Liberal 
Democratic Party), specifically, by its Policy Research Council 
Chairman (Hidenao Nakagawa)," Takenaka added. 
 
By emphasizing a shift in policymaking from the CEFP to the LDP, 
Tanakena apparently is trying to criticize the way Yosano manages 
the CEFP. 
 
15) Lower House committee today begins deliberations on education 
reform bill; Gap in "enthusiasm" between the government and 
ruling camp 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
May 24, 2006 
 
The Lower House Special Committee on the Basic Education Law 
decided yesterday in a directors meeting to hold today a question- 
and-answer session on the government's bill to revised the Basic 
Education Law. About one week has passed since the bill was 
submitted to a Lower House plenary session on May 16. The ruling 
coalition managed to start deliberations at the committee. Since 
the question of whether to extend the ongoing Diet session, which 
is absolutely necessary to pass the bill through the Diet, has 
yet to be resolved, discord is growing stronger in the government 
and ruling camp. 
 
Yesterday morning one committee director came down on Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe, saying, 
"Are you trying to kill the bill?" The director took this action 
because Takebe indicated in a speech on May 20 the possibility of 
carrying the bill over to the next session for deliberations, not 
extending the session. 
 
The education policy clique in the Diet, including former Prime 
Minister Yoshiro Mori, has discounted Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi, who has said "no extension," thinking that he has no 
eagerness to pass the bill. 
 
Therefore they were counting on LDP members seeking the passage 
of the bill during the current session. If the LDP leadership, 
including Takebe, follows Koizumi, the whole ruling coalition 
could go along with the prime minister. Mori and his followers 
then became nervous about Takebe's remarks. 
 
Takebe then told reporters: "The government and ruling parties 
will make utmost efforts to see the bill clear the Diet." But the 
committee director said, "I don't understand why he has to 
flatter the prime minister." 
 
The main opposition party Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) 
sees the discord in the government and ruling camp. 
 
16) Nokyo political group to recommend cooperative member as LDP 
candidate for next summer's Upper House election in defiance of 
Koizumi reform drive 
 
SANKEI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
 
TOKYO 00002854  011 OF 011 
 
 
May 24, 2006 
 
A backlash against Prime Minister Koizumi's reform program has 
begun to appear in the selection of candidates for the next House 
of Councillors. The political arm of the Japan Agricultural 
Cooperatives (Nokyo) has decided for the first time to recommend 
a member as a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for 
the next Upper House election, expressing displeasure with the 
Koizumi reform drive. Upper House member Hiroko Goto, 58, also 
announced her withdrawal from the LDP Oita prefectural chapter, 
after opposing the government's postal-privatization legislation. 
 
The Federation of National Farmers Agricultural Policy Campaign 
Organizations (Noseiren) picked yesterday in a primary election 
Toshio Yamada of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives 
(Zenchu) to recommend as a candidate on the LDP ticket. Yamada, 
59, won yesterday's election, securing 239 votes of the 313 
Nouseiren executives and representatives of the nationwide 
agricultural cooperatives. He told reporters yesterday at a Tokyo 
hotel, "Since the majority of organization (Noseiren) supported 
me, I will do my best." 
 
Noseiren had recommended career officials of the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Incumbent Upper House member 
Keishiro Fukushima, 60, who was defeated by Yamada in yesterday's 
election, obtaining just 57 votes, was a former bureau director 
general of the Agriculture Ministry. 
 
17) Responses to US beef: Sukiya "will not use;" Yoshinoya "will 
use," while Matsuya "will carefully watch the situation" 
 
ASAHI (Page 13) (Full) 
May 24, 2006 
 
The government is now likely to decide in June to resume US beef 
imports. In response, President Kentaro Ogawa of Zensho Co., the 
operator of the Sukiya chain, said yesterday that his company 
would not use US beef for the time being, saying: "Its safety 
will not be guaranteed." 
 
When the government lifted its ban on US beef imports last 
December, Zensho did not use the product. President Ogawa 
stressed that improved safeguard measures, such as an 
introduction of blanket testing, should be made a precondition 
for Japan to resume imports. He said: "The condition of just 
asking (the US not to include specified risk materials in beef 
shipments to Japan) is far below safety standards laid in the 
late 20th century. The system should be changed." 
 
Yoshinoya D&C plans to put a beef bowl recipe using US beef on 
its menu 12 to 18 months after the government decides to resume 
imports, on the grounds that "there will then be no problem with 
its safety." Matsuya Foods Co. is carefully watching the 
situation, its spokesman saying: "Although we do not mean to say 
that the company will never use US beef, we are carefully 
watching the situation." As it stands, the leading beef-bowl 
providers are taking different responses to US beef. 
 
SCHIEFFER