VZCZCXRO5999
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #3879/01 1930250
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120250Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4229
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 9763
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 7164
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 0464
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 7044
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 8306
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3238
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 9385
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1126

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TOKYO 003879 
 
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 07/12/06 
Part-2 
Index: 
11) US media focusing on Japan possibly seeking preemptive strike 
capability 
 
 
12) Minshuto President Ozawa: Japan cannot opt for preemptive strike 
capability 
 
 
13) SDF extended on Golan Heights to next March for PKO 
 
14) Government next year to introduce nationwide warning system 
using satellites to respond to missile attacks, earthquakes 
 
15) Chitose, Komatsu cities accept US military training in Hokkaido 
 
 
16) Third lawsuit over aircraft noise at Atsugi seeks government 
compensation of 13.1 billion yen 
 
17) Japanese cabinet members will visit 20 countries altogether as 
part of diplomatic strategy effort 
 
18) Taiwanese opposition party leader Ma meets former Prime Minister 
Mori 
 
19) Government observers to monitor Congo election 
 
20) New post-Koizumi administration to launch on Sept. 29, with 
extra Diet session running through December 
 
21) Election-hungry Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) has lined 
up 240,000 party supporters thanks to Ozawa factor 
 
Contents: 
11) US media introduces preemptive-strike argument 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
July 12, 2006 
 
By Hiroshi Maruya in Washington, DC 
 
There is growing interest in the United States regarding the remark 
by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, as the Japanese government's 
spokesperson, on the argument for Japan possessing a capability to 
strike enemy bases. The US media has taken the remark as calling for 
a "preemptive strike" capability and so introduced the argument. 
Senior government officials have been besieged with questions from 
reporters. 
 
White House spokesperson Snow pointed out: "Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Abe, I believe, made a statement that (in the case of a preemptive 
strike,) constitutional amendment would have to be sought, and that 
Japan was not thinking of going outside the framework of the 
Constitution." The State Department spokesperson also stressed 
regarding Abe's statement: "We are taking it as an expression of his 
thinking that no option is being ruled out." 
 
In the US, since the Taepodong-2 missile launched by North Korea has 
the capability of striking the US mainland, the media has constantly 
reported the moves of the United Nations and Japan. In the news 
programs, some experts even referred to the possibility of Japan 
arming itself with nuclear weapons. 
 
TOKYO 00003879  002 OF 006 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 07/12/06 
Part-2 
Index: 
11) US media focusing on Japan possibly seeking preemptive strike 
capability 
 
 
12) "It is not possible to launch preemptive attacks," says Minshuto 
chief Ozawa; JCP, SDP also critical of the idea 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
July 12, 2006 
 
Commenting on the possibility of Japan launching preemptive strikes 
on enemy bases, an idea that cropped up among government officials 
following the recent launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea, 
Ichiro Ozawa, chief of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ = 
Minshuto) during yesterday's news conference indicated a negative, 
noting: "Japan can exercise the right of self-defense if it comes 
under military attack, but it is not possible to strike the enemy 
first when it has not yet launched attacks on Japan." 
 
He also blasted Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and Defense 
Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga, who floated the preemptive 
attack argument, saying: "It is not good to voice an incoherent 
view. How can the enemy be determined? According to such an 
argument, once the enemy is identified, the fight must begin. Those 
who are in key positions must fully take the entire nation into 
consideration before making statements." 
 
Mizuho Fukushima, chief of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), also 
told reporters in the Diet Building, "The launch of preemptive 
attacks could lead to war." Japanese Communist Party (JCP) General 
Secretary Tadayoshi Ichita told a news conference on the 10th, "Such 
 
SIPDIS 
an idea will spark an endless arms race." 
 
13) SDF mission in Golan Heights to be extended through next March 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
July 12, 2006 
 
The government decided yesterday in a cabinet meeting to extend by 
six months through next March the term of the mission of 
Self-Defense Forces participating in the United Nations 
Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights. The SDF 
mission has been deployed to the Golan Heights based on Japan's UN 
Peacekeeping (PKO) Cooperation Law. The term of the SDF mission 
expires on Sept. 30. 
 
14) Nationwide warning system to be introduced next year against 
missiles 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
July 12, 2006 
 
The government decided yesterday to introduce a nationwide warning 
system (J-ALERT) next year. J-ALERT will use a communication 
satellite and will automatically announce emergency information to 
all local communities in Japan over the disaster radio about 
earthquakes, missile launches, and other eventualities. When North 
Korea fired missiles on July 5, the government took time for 
communication, so some local governments were dissatisfied. The Fire 
Defense Agency (FDA) plans to earmark approximately 200 million yen 
in its budgetary estimate for next fiscal year. 
 
TOKYO 00003879  003 OF 006 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 07/12/06 
Part-2 
Index: 
11) US media focusing on Japan possibly seeking preemptive strike 
capability 
 
 
Each municipality currently receives government information faxed or 
by other means, and its employees air an alarm using the community 
wireless system. On July 5, North Korea fired the first missile at 
3:30 a.m. The Cabinet Secretariat faxed this information to 
prefectural governments at 6:30 a.m. and confirmed the faxed 
information with them at around 7:30 a.m. 
 
The new system, which will use satellites, will make it possible to 
automate communication immediately. FDA tested the new system with 
31 local governments from January through March this year. The test 
took 6-25 seconds from FDA's information dispatch through local 
radio announcements. 
 
In March this year, an expert panel released a report recommending a 
new community wireless system. The new system will be used for 
disaster prevention and national security limited to 13 emergency 
cases, such as major tsunamis, emergency volcanic information, 
emergency earthquake information, ballistic missiles, and major 
terrorist attacks. In the case of a ballistic missile attack, each 
local community's loud speakers will warn of possible missile 
landing and will then tell its residents to evacuate or turn on the 
television and radio. 
 
15) 2 cities accept US military aircraft training 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
July 12, 2006 
 
Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga yesterday met with 
Mayor Tohru Nishimura from the city of Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, 
and Mayor Kotaro Yamaguchi from the city of Chitose, Hokkaido, at 
the agency. In their meetings with the defense chief, the two mayors 
clarified that they would accept fighter jet training from the US 
Air Force's Kadena base in Okinawa Prefecture to the Air 
Self-Defense Force's Komatsu and Chitose bases. In response, Nukaga 
expressed his gratitude to the mayors while noting the importance of 
local understanding and vowing to make all-out efforts for safety, 
noise, and local development. 
 
16) Court ruling tomorrow on US base noise; Future damage 
recognition in focus 
 
ASAHI (Page 37) (Abridged) 
July 12, 2006 
 
The Tokyo High Court will hand down its ruling tomorrow on a third 
lawsuit over noise damage caused by the US Navy's Atsugi base, which 
is located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, 
and which is used also by the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The 
lawsuit has been instituted by 4,865 local residents in a class 
action against the government that seeks compensation totaling 
approximately 13.1 billion yen. 
 
Yamato City's Nishitsuruma Elementary School is situated about two 
kilometers north of the Atsugi base, and the school is right under 
the flight path of US military and MSDF aircraft to and from the 
base. Children playing soccer or dodgeball on the schoolyard freeze 
 
TOKYO 00003879  004 OF 006 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 07/12/06 
Part-2 
Index: 
11) US media focusing on Japan possibly seeking preemptive strike 
capability 
 
every time a US military fighter jet roars across right over the 
school grounds, thundering through the air. 
 
The school's classroom windows, double-paned for soundproofing with 
government subsidies, are left open in summer. Classes stop when 
jets roar overhead. "I sometimes cannot finish everything I plan to 
teach in a class," a 46-year-old teacher said. This teacher was 
worried about children's concentration. 
 
Teachers transferred to the school from other cities are surprised 
at Yamato's children speaking so loudly. They are in the habit of 
speaking aloud above the roars of fighter jets. 
 
In May, Japan and the United States finalized a report on the 
realignment of US forces in Japan, incorporating an agreement to 
redeploy 59 carrier-borne fighter jets from Atsugi to Iwakuni base 
in Yamaguchi Prefecture. However, the teacher said, "People over 
there will also feel the same, so I don't know what to say." 
 
The USS Midway, a US Navy aircraft carrier, was based at Yokosuka 
for over 30 years. Since then, more than one million local residents 
living in the vicinity of the Atsugi base have suffered from noise. 
 
Capt. Justin Cooper, 45, who commands the US Atsugi Naval Air 
Station, is a veteran pilot with a flying time of over 3,000 hours, 
responded to an interview yesterday prior to the court ruling. "It's 
true that the base is located in a very densely populated area," the 
commanding officer said. "We probably have the most difficult flight 
hours and altitude restrictions not only in Japan but also in the 
States," the commander added. He noted the importance of a balance 
between the US military's core missions for the Japan-US alliance 
and friendship with local communities. "We must address the noise 
problem in a sincere manner," he said. 
 
On the third class action's plaintiff are 4,865 persons in various 
generations and occupations, aged from 8 to 101. 
 
17) Strategic diplomacy to seek permanent seat on UNSC; Cabinet 
ministers to branch out to visit 20 nations for canvassing 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
July 12, 2006 
 
The government yesterday started strategic diplomacy, under which it 
will selectively dispatch ministers to countries that are unfamiliar 
to Japan during the summer when the Diet is in recess. For a start, 
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Kenji 
Kosaka will leave for Uganda. State Minister for Administrative 
Reform Koki Chuma will visit Estonia and Latvia. 
 
The strategic diplomacy is an idea proposed by Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi. Japan aimed to secure a permanent seat on the 
United Nation's Security Council (UNSC) during last year's USN 
Assembly. However, its effort did not come to fruition, because it 
had trouble with coordinating the views of African nations, with 
which Japan has few ties. Soul-searching that experience, Koizumi 
visited Ethiopia and Ghana this April and May for the first time as 
prime minister. After returning home, he ordered cabinet ministers 
 
TOKYO 00003879  005 OF 006 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 07/12/06 
Part-2 
Index: 
11) US media focusing on Japan possibly seeking preemptive strike 
capability 
 
to divide up and each visit assigned countries. 
 
In the past, each government agency decided on countries its 
minister visits in the summer. As a result, ministerial visits had 
been concentrated on popular European countries, the US and major 
Asian nations, indicating a strong nature of their foreign visits 
being just "trips." 
 
18) Taiwan's Nationalist Party Chairman Ma meets with former Prime 
Minister Mori 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
July 12, 2006 
 
Taiwan's main opposition Nationalist Party Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, 
who is also the mayor of Taipei, met yesterday in Tokyo with former 
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, and they exchanged views on the North 
Korean missile issue, China-Taiwan relations, and exchanges of young 
lawmakers from Mori's Liberal Democratic Party and Ma's Nationalist 
Party. 
 
19) Government to send election monitoring team to Congo 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
July 12, 2006 
 
The government decided in a cabinet meeting yesterday to send an 
election monitoring team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
based on its UN Peacekeeping Cooperation Law in order to support 
Congo's presidential and parliamentary elections, which will be 
conducted on July 30. The eight-member team comprising Foreign 
Ministry personnel and private-sector persons will go to polling 
stations. 
 
20) Government, LDP under coordination to launch next government on 
Sept. 29; Extra Diet session to run until December 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
July 12, 006 
 
The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) began 
yesterday to consider convening on Sept. 29 an extraordinary Diet 
session, in which the new prime minister, a successor to Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is elected, and there launch a new 
government. They will coordinate a plan to run the extra session for 
73 days until Dec. 10. 
 
The LDP will hold its presidential election on Sept. 20. The 
presidential election of the main opposition party Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan) will take place on Sept. 25. The New 
Komeito will open its convention on Sept. 30. Given that the three 
parties will form new leadership lineups. The government and LDP 
have been determined that the new prime minister will be able to 
select the three top LDP executives and cabinet members after 
ascertaining Minshuto's new leadership lineup, and that New Komeito 
will be able to pick its new executives after its member is selected 
as a cabinet minister. 
 
 
TOKYO 00003879  006 OF 006 
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 07/12/06 
Part-2 
Index: 
11) US media focusing on Japan possibly seeking preemptive strike 
capability 
 
The government and the LDP plan: The Diet's vote for the prime 
minister would be take place at the plenary sessions of both Diet 
houses after the Koizumi Cabinet resigns en masse on the morning of 
Sept. 29; and the new prime minister would conclude the selection of 
the three LDP officers and cabinet members on that day. They, 
however, are considering moving up the selection of the three LDP 
executives. The idea also is surfacing in the government and the LDP 
that the new prime minister would deliver a policy speech on Oct. 2 
and carry out question-and-answer session at the two chambers of the 
Diet on Oct. 4-6. 
 
The government and ruling LDP aim to pass a set of bills to revise 
the Basic Education Law and a bill to amend the organized crime law 
that would make "conspiracy" a crime through the Diet during the 
next extraordinary session. Those bills will be carried over to the 
next session. 
 
21) More than 240,000 voters registered as Minshuto's rank-and-file 
members and supporters 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
July 12, 2006 
 
The main opposition party Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) 
announced yesterday that the number of registered rank-and-file 
members and supporters reached a record 244,482, surpassing by about 
90,000 the number of last year. The party closed registration at the 
end of May. 
 
A total of 19,812 voters - 10 times last year's figure and the 
largest number across the nation's prefectures - registered in Iwate 
Prefecture, where party head Ichiro Ozawa comes from. An "Ozawa 
effect" was seen in Minshuto's collecting rank-and-file members and 
supporters. 
 
The registered rank-and-file members and supporters have the right 
to vote in the Sept. 25 presidential election. The number of 
rank-and-file members, who are allowed to participate in party 
management for an annual fee of 6,000 yen, increased to 39,705, up 
2.6 PERCENT  from last year. The number of supporters, who are 
required to pay 2,000 yen annually, substantially increased by 74.5 
PERCENT  to 202,683. 
 
SCHIEFFER