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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 TOKYO 003319 
 
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 06/15/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Defense Agency plans to cut 7,000 personnel 
 
(2) Gov't to tighten trade controls for antiterrorist 
international cooperation 
 
(3) LDP panel decides on annual 4% cut in ODA budget 
 
(4) Opinion column -- Need for explanation about low estimated 
number of BSE-infected cattle in US 
 
(5) Reading the data on finances: Deregulation helps improve 
potential growth rate 
 
(6) Period of residency for foreign workers to be extended to 
five years, according to package of LDP proposals; Foreign 
students to be granted one year to find job 
 
(7) Abe supporters (Part 1): Huge "second chance" league launched 
to counterattack Fukuda 
 
(8) Abe supporters (Part 2): A highly energetic group of "rogue 
samurai" launches 94-member second chance parliamentary league 
 
(9) Japan embassy in US rebuts whaling critics: US newspaper 
 
(10) Editorial: Japan should stress need for continued whaling on 
scientific basis 
 
(11) Editorial: BOJ governor must quickly resign 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Defense Agency plans to cut 7,000 personnel 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 15, 2006 
 
The Defense Agency has presented a government administrative 
reform task force's secretariat with a plan to reduce a total of 
7,000 personnel, officials said yesterday. According to the plan, 
the agency will reduce about 6,000 in the Self-Defense Forces. In 
addition, the agency will also reduce about 1,000 in the National 
Defense Medical College (NDMC), located in the city of 
Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, and in NDMC hospitals along with 
their status change to independent administrative corporations. 
As a result of incorporating the NDMC as a standalone entity, the 
National Defense Academy, located in the city of Yokosuka, 
Kanagawa Prefecture, is also likely to be on the agenda over the 
advisability of changing its administrative status to a 
standalone. 
 
With the enactment of a law for the promotion of administrative 
reform, the government plans to reduce more than 5% over fiscal 
2005 in the employment of national public service personnel at 
the end of fiscal 2010, thereby reducing its personnel costs. The 
government will shortly made a cabinet decision on its overall 
personnel reduction plan. 
 
The task force secretariat makes no exception of the Defense 
Agency and has requested the agency to reduce 5% or about 12,000 
personnel. The agency, however, insisted that the Self-Defense 
 
TOKYO 00003319  002 OF 012 
 
 
Forces should not be in the same category with other government 
employees. The agency has now hammered out a plan to carry out a 
personnel reduction of about 6,000 mainly in the Ground, 
Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces' logistics divisions, 
including administrative and welfare sections. 
 
But the planned reduction is half the level requested. So the 
Defense Agency chose to incorporate the NDMC and its hospitals 
with independent administrative status. This choice was aimed in 
part to underscore the agency's belt-tightening of its 
organization, according to a senior official of the agency. 
 
The NDMC and its hospitals currently have a total of about 1,000 
personnel on their payroll. They include a teaching staff of 
about 250, a clerical staff of about 220, and a nursing staff of 
about 400. However, all of them will be nongovernmental employees 
with the NDMC and its hospitals becoming incorporated with 
independent administrative status. However, NDMC students, 
monthly provided with about 100,000 yen, will retain their 
current status of special government employees. 
 
Deregulation is under way with other national universities 
incorporating their medical departments as independent 
administrative entities. Meanwhile, the NDMC has been left behind 
the cutting edge of medical treatment against the backdrop of its 
stagnated research with private- and government-sector 
institutions, according to a senior official of the agency. The 
agency is also aiming to improve the profitability of NDMC 
hospitals with better services, including medical examinations 
for local communities. 
 
In the Defense Agency community, however, some people are 
cautious about the idea of incorporating the NDMC as an 
independent administrative body since the NDMC is a training 
institute of SDF medical officers. "The government may also 
consider incorporating the National Defense Academy, which is the 
gateway for the SDF leadership," one SDF staff officer said. 
 
(2) Gov't to tighten trade controls for antiterrorist 
international cooperation 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
June 15, 2006 
 
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) decided 
yesterday to strengthen trade controls in order to prevent 
Japanese products from being used for weapons of mass destruction 
(WMD) or terrorism. METI is also preparing legislative measures 
not only to embargo materials related to nuclear and biochemical 
weapons but also to halt their transshipments and transits 
through Japan. The government fears that terrorists may take 
advantage of trade as a loophole to get through the dragnet of 
economic sanctions including asset freezing. METI will therefore 
consider a system that can prohibit all export-import trade 
transactions for terrorist-related groups and individuals. The 
government will also aim at even more effective trade control 
under the international regime of counterterrorism. 
 
The Industrial Structure Council, an advisory panel for the METI 
minister, will hold a subcommittee meeting today. In this 
meeting, METI will show its plan. METI will then set about its 
review of cabinet orders and ministry ordinances. METI is 
thinking of revising the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade 
 
TOKYO 00003319  003 OF 012 
 
 
Control Law and other relevant laws. 
 
The government will step up its surveillance of port calls and 
transits in Japan for WMD-convertible materials. In addition, the 
government will also strictly oversee Japanese companies' trade 
transactions via third countries. In order to heighten the 
effectiveness of economic sanctions against terrorists, Japan 
will freeze the assets of 511 individuals or groups designated as 
terrorists by the United Nations or Group of Eight (G-8) member 
nations and will also freeze their trade in its entirety, whereby 
the government will contain the incomings and outgoings of money. 
The government will invoke de facto economic sanctions in the 
expanded scope of trade controls. 
 
In addition, the government has also discovered more indirect 
exports to countries that have military potential. METI will 
therefore announce the names of foreign companies that were used 
for indirect exports. METI will call on Japanese companies not to 
export their products to these foreign companies. The government 
has not restricted trade up to 1 million yen or up to 50,000 yen 
for North Korea and other countries with military potential. The 
government will abolish this small-sum exception. 
 
(3) LDP panel decides on annual 4% cut in ODA budget 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
Evening, June 15, 2006 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party's Project Team on Spending Cuts 
decided yesterday to slash the official development assistance 
(ODA) budget by 4% annually for the five years starting in 
FY2007. In FY2006, 760 billion yen has been set aside for the ODA 
budget, but according to the team's calculation, the ODA budget 
will be reduced to 620 billion yen in FY 2011. 
 
The government has set up the goal as an international pledge of 
increasing the nation's ODA spending by 10 billion dollars over 
the total amount of ODA disbursements (8.9 billion dollars) in 
FY2004. The actual record for FY2005 was 13.1 billion dollars, 
about 4.2 billion dollars more than the previous fiscal year. The 
Finance Ministry has viewed it possible to augment ODA 
disbursements by relinquishing claims on bad loans to other 
countries even if the ODA budget is trimmed. 
 
The Foreign Ministry has reacted to the project team's decision 
to slash ODA funds, one official remarking: "In order to form pro- 
Japanese international opinion, an increase in ODA disbursements 
is necessary as an essential diplomatic means." But a Finance 
Ministry official commented: "Now that efforts are being made to 
cut spending in a strict manner within the nation, a tough review 
of financial assistance to other countries is also unavoidable." 
 
(4) Opinion column -- Need for explanation about low estimated 
number of BSE-infected cattle in US 
 
YOMIURI (Page 13) (Full) 
June 14, 2006 
 
By Yoji Totsuka, special professor emeritus at Tokyo University 
 
Japan is likely to reopen its market to US beef shortly. These 
days, the subject of bovine spongiform encephalopahty or BSE 
frequently crops up in daily conversations even around me. This 
 
TOKYO 00003319  004 OF 012 
 
 
is perhaps because BSE and the variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease 
(vCJD) -- a disease that causes spongy degeneration of the brain 
and madness -- are allegedly closely linked to each other since 
the same agents are involved. 
 
The BSE issue draws strong public concern and is given large 
coverage by the news media. It is a serious problem, but there is 
something unclear about the issue. For example, is it true to say 
that Japan is less dangerous than the United States and the 
European Union (EU) in terms of the vCJD infection risk and the 
discovery frequency of BSE-infected cattle? 
 
Some of scientific statistics are incomprehensible to 
nonprofessionals. So most people may think it is better to leave 
data analysis to specialists, such as scientists. But I can say, 
it is possible to shed light on the issue from various angles in 
an easy, simple way by using only the statistics released. 
 
I have worked as a researcher in experimental physics and have 
analyzed data from various angles for many years. Based on this 
experience, I will show you a simple verification method that can 
be of help to nonprofessionals, as well. 
 
The first thing to do to reach this end is to obtain from 
international organizations, for instance the World Organization 
for Animal Health (OIE), such statistics as the numbers of vCJD 
patients, the numbers of discovered BSE-infected cows, and the 
amounts of beef consumption, and the numbers of heads of cattle 
raised. There is no sign of the diseases vCJD and BSE being 
eradicated, for even Japan and the US have one vCJD patient each. 
 
When it comes to the numbers of BSE-infected cattle, although the 
United States does not conduct blanket testing, the number of BSE- 
infected cattle in that country is estimated as of this March to 
be 10 or less if blanket testing were to be carried out there. 
This estimate, however, was done, based on several assumptions. 
The figure, I think, is credible enough, so I will use it. 
 
Based on the figures obtained from OIE, I will calculate the vCJD 
infection risk and the discovery frequency of BSE-infected 
cattle. Indices that will be used in this regard are two figures 
that can be obtained by: 1) dividing the number of the vCJD 
patients by the amount of beef consumption; and 2) dividing the 
number of BSE-infected cattle by the number of cattle raised. 
 
The chart here shows the results of this calculation. 
 
       US       Japan       EU 
Number of vCJD patients (as of August 2005) 
       1       1       177 
Number of head of BSE-infected cattle (for 2005) 
       Estimated to be 10 or less       7       438 
Number of vCJD patients per area where 10 million tons of beef 
consumed (as of August 2005) 
       0.1       1.2       24 
Number of head of BSE-infected cattle discovered per group of 10 
million head of cattle raised (2005) 
       1 or less        15       55 
 
In terms of the number of vCJD patients occurring in each area 
where 10 million tons of beef are consumed, the EU has 24 such 
patients, followed by Japan's 1.2 and America's 0.1. As for the 
number of BSE-infected cattle discovered in each group of 10 
 
TOKYO 00003319  005 OF 012 
 
 
million head of cattle, the EU has 55, but Japan has 15 and the 
US has one or less. 
 
In both cases, Japan is in between the EU and the US, but it is 
not correct to say that Japan is safe from BSE. Since the cause 
of vCJD has yet to be made crystal clear, what Japan needs to do 
is to further raise its safety levels and make efforts to nip in 
the bud any possibilities of causing an epidemic of that disease. 
 
Assuming that the estimated number of BSE-infected cattle in the 
US is reliably correct, US beef, which Japan is likely to import 
again shortly, can be viewed as being safe. 
 
I think many Japanese like me would like the US to give a proper 
account of the correctness of the estimated figure in order to 
further ensure the safety of US beef. 
 
(5) Reading the data on finances: Deregulation helps improve 
potential growth rate 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Full) 
June 15, 2006 
 
Is Japan more strongly regulated than other countries? The 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 
conducts a survey of this kind. In the survey, regulations on 
some 800 items are assessed on a scale of six. The OECD made a 
comparison between countries with Japan's levels of regulations 
in 1998 as 100. 
 
According to this comparison, Japan's levels in 2003 dropped to 
¶68. This was the result of regulations centering on 
transportation and telecommunications having been eased 30% or 
more. 
 
Compared to the United States and European nations, Japan's 
levels of regulations are lower than those of France and Germany. 
But the US and Britain, which addressed deregulation earlier than 
Japan, are far less regulated than Japan. Japan has just caught 
up with the US' levels in 1998. The US eased its regulations to 
53 in 2003. 
 
According to the OECD, the potential economic growth of the US 
for 2003-2007 is predicted to be 3% on average; and that of 
Britain is estimated at 2.7%. These two advanced nations in terms 
of deregulation are predicted to have strong potential for 
economic growth. Meanwhile, Japan's potential economic growth is 
estimated to be 1.5%, the figure that is the same level as that 
of Germany, which resembles Japan in view of the pace of 
deregulation. 
 
The OECD points out that Japan still allows the government 
sector's strong involvement. Japan needs to push for deregulation 
by taking advantage of special zones for deregulation and thereby 
to enhance potential economic growth, which through a natural 
increase in tax revenues will lead to rebuilding its finances. 
 
(6) Period of residency for foreign workers to be extended to 
five years, according to package of LDP proposals; Foreign 
students to be granted one year to find job 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Top Play) (Slightly abridged) 
June 13, 2006 
 
TOKYO 00003319  006 OF 012 
 
 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is now looking into 
comprehensive measures on foreign workers. The draft of the 
package was unveiled yesterday. According to the package, the 
period for which foreign workers are permitted to stay in Japan 
will be extended from three years to five years, in principle. 
The length of residency for foreign college graduates who want to 
find jobs in Japan will be extended from the current six months 
to one year. The aim is to secure a stable labor force with the 
arrival of an age of depopulation, but coordination of views on 
such extensions will likely encounter complications. 
 
Unified control of residency information 
 
The Special LDP Commission on the Foreign Workers Issue, chaired 
by Yoshio Kimura, will finalize the package of proposals before 
the end of the month. The LDP intends to call on the government 
to revise the Immigration Control Law during next year's regular 
Diet session at the earliest. 
 
The period of residency allowed to foreigners is, in principle, 
three years under the current system. The entertainment visa is 
one year, and the student visa is two years. Advanced technical 
workers in such areas as information technology, can stay for 
five years. When the termination of their visas draws near, 
foreign workers need to go to their nearest immigration control 
offices and submit applications for an extension. 
 
Extension of the period for which foreign workers are permitted 
to stay is expected to reduce troublesome procedures they have to 
undergo. It will also become unnecessary for them to pay fees for 
such procedures. As such, calls from foreigners to improve the 
current system have grown stronger. Out of concern over a future 
labor shortage, business circles are also strengthening their 
call that restrictions on their accepting foreign workers should 
be eased. 
 
The LDP is seeking to extend the period of residency allowed to 
foreign workers to five years, but it now plans to single out 
types of jobs eligible for such an extension out of consideration 
for the domestic employment situation. A plan to introduce a 
green card system like that of the US, under which foreigners 
with expertise and technology, such as attorneys, are awarded 
permanent residency, has also been floated. 
 
In assisting foreign students, the government in March permitted 
foreign graduates of Japanese universities to stay for up to 180 
days. However, foreign students are dissatisfied with the 
measure, because they think that six months is not sufficient to 
find a job. The LDP is calling for a further extension of the 
period of residency. 
 
The package also included measures to avoid any impact of the 
extended residency of foreigners on security and trouble with 
entities that accept foreign workers. To this end, consideration 
will be given to a system under which the Justice Ministry 
manages foreign workers' registration information, which local 
governments are now in charge of, in an integrated fashion, so 
that their residency status after entering Japan can be correctly 
grasped. 
 
In order to avoid such trouble as nonpayment of wages, a system 
for a regular inspection of companies' foreign worker acceptance 
 
TOKYO 00003319  007 OF 012 
 
 
system will be introduced. Training to nurture quality laborers 
and a practical technical trading system will also be proposed. 
 
(7) Abe supporters (Part 1): Huge "second chance" league launched 
to counterattack Fukuda 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged) 
June 13, 2006 
 
Yuji Yamamoto, 54, and Yoshihide Suga 57 -- both Lower House 
members -- began preparing to support Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Shinzo Abe, 51, in late May with an eye on the Liberal Democratic 
Party presidential election in September. Yamamoto is a member of 
the Komura faction, Suga belongs to the Niwa-Koga faction, and 
Abe the Mori faction. 
 
A variety of opinion polls conducted in late May showed growing 
support for former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, 69. The 
view was also prevalent that Fukuda might achieve a come-from- 
behind victory. 
 
Yamamoto and others had not expected Fukuda to follow Abe so 
closely. An innovative idea was necessary to turn the trend 
around. 
 
Being a cabinet minister, Abe was tied up, and former Prime 
Minister Yoshiro Mori, 68, who headed the faction, had also 
strictly ordered the members not to rally around any specific 
individuals. Given all those restrictions, it was extremely 
difficult to devise ways to divert public attention from Fukuda 
to Abe. 
 
They finally came up with the idea of establishing a 
parliamentary group to support Abe's policies -- the prototype of 
the Parliamentary League to Support a Second Chance. At the time, 
the Government's Second Chance Promotion Council, chaired by Abe, 
was endeavoring to map out a policy to create jobs for elderly 
people and job-hopping part-time workers. 
 
Yamamoto, Suga, and others speedily decided to hold an 
organizers' meeting on May 25 and the league's inaugural meeting 
on June 2. 
 
The government's promotion council was scheduled to produce an 
interim report on May 30. Yamamoto and others picked June 2 to 
learn of the contents of the interim report from Abe in person. 
 
They figured that a parliamentarian group to support Abe himself 
would elicit a red card, but nobody would complain about a league 
to support his policies. In fact, Mori and others did not openly 
oppose the idea of launching a new league. 
 
Yamamoto, Suga, and others persistently lobbied mid-level 
lawmakers to join the league, while second-term members, such as 
Yasutoshi Nishimura, 43, and Isshu Sugawara, 44, sold the group 
to junior lawmakers. 
 
Although they told the recruits that the new group had nothing to 
do with the presidential race, nobody bought it. 
 
Mid-level and junior members eager to back Abe readily jumped at 
the borderline ball, thrown by Yamamoto and others. Their 
willingness seemed to reflect the motive to win key posts in an 
 
TOKYO 00003319  008 OF 012 
 
 
Abe administration by making clear where they stand at an early 
stage. 
 
Although LDP executives initially speculated that no more than 50 
members would join the league, its aggressive campaign eventually 
put the LDP leadership on high alert. Coinciding with the group's 
inaugural meeting, the party leadership decided to conduct an 
Indonesia earthquake fund-raising drive in Tokyo and solicited 
the participation of junior members. "The drive is intended to 
squash the league," one complained. 
 
Against all odds, 94 LDP lawmakers showed up at the inaugural 
meeting. One member optimistically predicted that the new league 
would discourage Fukuda and Foreign Minister Taro Aso from 
running in the presidential race. 
 
Representing less than a one-fourth of the LDP membership, a 
group of 94 seems too small to determine the trend of the 
presidential race. Nevertheless, Yamamoto and other Abe 
supporters were overjoyed with the good start of the league, 
believing that it successfully held back the rise of Fukuda. 
 
(8) Abe supporters (Part 2): A highly energetic group of "rogue 
samurai" launches 94-member second chance parliamentary league 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged) 
June 14, 2006 
 
The Parliamentary League to Support a Second Chance was launched 
on June 2 as a de facto support group for Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Shinzo Abe. But the lineup of its key members made many lawmakers 
somewhat uncomfortable. 
 
Shinzo Abe has a number of loyal supporters, such as Senior Vice 
Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, 55, Ichita Yamamoto, 48, and 
Hiroshige Seko, 43. They are second-generation lawmakers and 
policy experts, as is Abe. 
 
The parliamentary league has informally picked Yuji Yamamoto, 54, 
as its chairman, Yoshihide Suga, 57, as secretary general, and 
Hiroshi Kajiyama, 50, as chief of the secretariat. Totally 
distinct from Abe, they are a "group of rogue samurai," so to 
speak. 
 
They are a mismatch. They are so different and yet they are 
attracted to each other, as are the north and the south poles of 
a magnet. 
 
In the 2003 LDP presidential race, Yuji Yamamoto of the Komura 
faction backed former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, 64. 
Komura, who heads a small faction, fought well, garnering 54 
votes. Abe, a native of Yamaguchi along with Komura, knows that 
Yamamoto orchestrated Komura's good fight. 
 
In the race three years ago, Suga scurried around trying to field 
a junior lawmaker. Although his efforts fell short of securing 
the necessary support from 20 Diet members, Suga's leadership was 
fully recognized among junior members. 
 
Inheriting the political views and determination from his father, 
the late Chief Cabinet Minister Seiroku Kajiyama, Hiroshi 
Kajiyama is often called the best supporting actor of the 
political world. 
 
TOKYO 00003319  009 OF 012 
 
 
 
They are far more energetic than Abe's original supporters, such 
as Shiozaki. The group of "rogue samurai" is extremely appealing 
to Abe in seeking the party's top job. 
 
Yamamoto and other latecomers are also undoubtedly driven by the 
ambition to boost their presence in the party by playing a 
significant role in launching an Abe administration. 
 
The second chance league is a product of a meeting of the motives 
of Abe and the junior supports. Bringing together 94 LDP 
lawmakers, Yamamoto and others held an inaugural meeting of the 
league by fully utilizing their extensive personal ties. 
 
Abe is taking a hands-off attitude toward the league because, as 
a league executive puts it, he has confidence in Yamamoto, Suga, 
and other members. They have been in close contact with each 
other. 
 
Abe has not left everything to Yamamoto's group, and the group is 
not trying to take control of Abe's campaign team. 
 
Yamamoto envisages sharing the role with original Abe supporters 
by leaving a policy format, including a campaign manifesto, to 
Shiozaki, Seko, and other members. 
 
A combination of the policy-savvy original supporters and the 
highly energetic "rogue samurai" would be able to push Abe toward 
the summit. But it is extremely difficult for two completely 
different groups to resonate with each other in Nagatacho, the 
nation's capitol district replete with jealously and 
misunderstandings. 
 
(9) Japan embassy in US rebuts whaling critics: US newspaper 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 15, 2006 
 
WASHINGTON-The Japanese embassy in the United States rebutted US 
newspaper articles that hit Japan's research whaling. The 
Washington Post carried the articles in its June 2 and June 5 
editions. The rebuttal was also carried in the same newspaper 
dated June 13. In this rebuttal, the embassy recounts that Japan 
plans research whaling in the South Pacific Ocean for 0.1% -0.3% 
of all whales there. This research whaling will not affect the 
schools of whales there, the embassy stresses. 
 
(10) Editorial: Japan should stress need for continued whaling on 
scientific basis 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 5) (Full) 
June 15, 2006 
 
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) will hold its annual 
meeting in St. Christopher and Nevis, an island country in the 
Caribbean Sea, starting on June 16. Japan is ready to insist in 
the meeting on the need for continued whaling on a scientific 
basis. 
 
One Japanese government official said with a stern look: "Japan 
will announced a plan to hold a meeting among countries 
supportive of or understanding the need of whaling. We would like 
to aim at normalizing the IWC through this meeting." 
 
TOKYO 00003319  010 OF 012 
 
 
 
Holding a meeting under a different framework from the IWO might 
serve as a trigger to break it up. But it is understandable why 
Japan made the decision. The establishment of the committee was 
initially intended to promote commercial whaling. The US, 
Britain, Australia, and other 12 countries set up the 
organization in 1948 with the purpose of protecting whales and 
developing the whaling industry in an orderly way. Japan joined 
it in 1951. 
 
In the 1960s, the US and Britain withdrew from commercial 
whaling. Given growing criticism of reckless catches and 
movements for humane treatment of animals, antiwhaling activities 
intensified. In 1982, a decision was made to introduce a 
moratorium on whaling for the next decade. Later Japan and other 
countries continued research whaling. The research found that 
more than 760,000 minke whales live in the Antarctic Ocean. The 
IWC Science Committee accepted the estimated figure. 
 
This number might be changed in the upcoming meeting, but it is 
true, as shown by information from eyewitnesses and collisions 
between ships and whales, that the number of whales is steadily 
increasing. Talks have been held since 1994 in a drive to 
complete the so-called Revised Management Scheme (RMS), which 
will be the premise for resuming commercial whaling. 
 
The RMS is a new whale stock management and monitoring system. In 
connection with this system, however, antiwhaling countries have 
brought up difficult issues related to monitoring methods, 
expenses, and ways of catching and killing whales. The working- 
level meeting this spring faltered as antiwhaling countries 
rejected any compromises, claiming that the introduction of the 
RMS would lead to resuming commercial whaling. 
 
As of now, 70 countries belong to the IWC. Excluding one country 
that has no voting rights, 36 countries support whaling, while 
the remaining 33 are against it. In order to resume whaling, 
though, it is necessary to obtaining support from more than three- 
fourths of all the member countries. Globally, antiwhaling 
countries still have a stronger voice. A number of developing 
countries are also included among the supporters, in addition to 
Japan, Norway, Denmark, Russia, China, and South Korea. 
 
Under the current situation, it seems difficult to reach an 
agreement between antiwhaling countries and supporter countries. 
Given that antiwhaling countries have rejected any compromise 
while avoiding a discussion based on scientific grounds, there is 
no other choice but for Japan to reveal a plan to hold a new 
session. 
 
Even so, a cool-headed judgment is necessary now. The IWC annual 
meeting is an important arena to stress the need for scientific, 
sustainable whaling. In a bid to secure safe and plentiful meat 
resources for the future, it is imperative for Japan to make 
persistent efforts to persuade other countries. Because the 
meeting will provide a good opportunity to turn around 
international opinion on whaling, details about the new session, 
including its timing, must be carefully discussed. 
 
(11) Editorial: BOJ governor must quickly resign 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 5) (Full) 
June 15, 2006 
 
TOKYO 00003319  011 OF 012 
 
 
 
It has been revealed that Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Toshihiko 
Fukui invested 10 million yen in the Murakami Fund in the fall 
1999 when he was serving as Fujitsu Research Institute president. 
The news has caused a stir, posing a question about the central 
bank's independence from the financial market. Now that he has 
lost public confidence, Fukui should quickly step down. 
 
This is an unprecedentedly abnormal case. Governor Fukui invested 
10 million yen in the Murakami Fund established by Yoshiaki 
Murakami, who has been arrested on suspicion of insider trading 
in violation of the Securities and Exchange Law. Fukui admitted 
in a Diet session that he had earned profits from the investment 
until he cancelled the contract in February this year. 
 
Fukui said that he invested the money to back up the Murakami 
Fund in response to Murakami's remarks that "I have no confidence 
in collecting money." 
 
Confidence was indispensable for a new type of business. Fully 
aware of becoming a poster figure, Fukui might have volunteered 
to invest. 
 
The Murakami Fund is a special fund in which only limited persons 
or organizations can invest. When Fukui assumed the top post of 
the BOJ, he should have emerged from such a fund, because the 
central bank is required to be neutral and transparent. His 
failure cannot be dismissed only with the words that he was 
careless. 
 
The fact of his cancellation of the contract in February also 
makes us skeptical of Fukui's deeds. In February, the Securities 
and Exchange Commission and the Tokyo District Court Special 
Investigation Squad were conducting secret investigations into 
the Murakami Fund. There were even rumors saying that a criminal 
investigation of Murakami would be started. In March, the BOJ 
decided to end its monetary-easing policy. 
 
Every information on economic affairs goes to Fukui. If he 
cancelled the contract upon learning the circumstance, his action 
might come under the category of "ultimate insider trading." 
 
Ordinary people can earn little interest income with low-interest 
money. How much did Fukui earn profits? 
 
Some market players have begun to take the view that "since the 
BOJ governor owes a lot the government because of its protection 
of him, the BOJ may not be able to end the money-easing policy 
over the opposition of the government." This observation will 
haunt Governor Fukui forever as long as he stays on. This is 
detrimental to Fukui as BOJ governor. 
 
Fukui has no longer been regarded as "the governor who can 
implement monetary policy measures while seeing the economic 
situation and commodity prices in a pure and objective manner." 
In relations with the government, the central bank has suffered a 
serious injury in terms of independence. 
 
The BOJ has held talks on monetary policymaking since June 14. A 
removal of the policy of zero-interest rates is one of the key 
issues in the meeting. It can hardly be expected, though, that 
the governor will be able to make judgment on important issues. 
Fukui should resign as BOJ governor. 
 
TOKYO 00003319  012 OF 012 
 
 
 
SCHIEFFER