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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 004629 
 
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 08/15/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Gist of prime minister's statement on his visit to Yasukuni 
Shrine: "It makes no difference which day I go;" "I did not go to 
Yasukuni to pray for Class-A war criminals" 
 
(2) Yasukuni Shrine - where next? (Part 6): Official visits by the 
prime minister may wane; Emperor's absence not missed 
 
(3) Yasukuni Shrine - Where to go now (Part 7): Japan-China economic 
relations and summit meetings; Gulf between political and business 
circles over Shinkansen project 
 
(4) Abe to place junior and midlevel lawmakers in key posts in 
positive way if he becomes prime minister, while eliminating 
factional influence 
 
(5) This summer marks 61st year of post-war politics part 1: Japan, 
China jolted between friendship and confrontation over view of 
history 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Gist of prime minister's statement on his visit to Yasukuni 
Shrine: "It makes no difference which day I go;" "I did not go to 
Yasukuni to pray for Class-A war criminals" 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
Evening, August 15, 2006 
 
The following are the main parts of Prime Minister Koizumi's 
statement on his visit to Yasukuni Shrine 
 
(Motives for his Yasukuni visits) 
 
Japan has reflected on the past war. We should never wage war again. 
The peace and prosperity of the Japan of today are not wholly 
ascribable to those people who are alive today. The Japan of today 
is also built on those who sacrificed their precious lives during 
the war. I visit Yasukuni Shrine with heartfelt respects for and 
gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives during the war for the 
sake of their fatherland and families. There is no change in my 
feelings this year either. 
 
Shortly after I became prime minister, many people told me not to 
visit Yasukuni Shrine on August 15. I therefore have avoided August 
15, because I thought I must listen to such advice, but still I was 
always criticized. So if it makes no difference which day I go, I 
thought it was appropriate to visit the shrine today. I will visit 
the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery and a national memorial service 
for the war dead at the Budokan Hall, as well. 
 
(Form of visit) 
 
"I will go to both the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery and a 
national memorial service for the war dead dressed in this attire 
(formal tailcoat). It is better if pay my respects at the main hall 
of the shrine. Otherwise, security would be put to much trouble 
because there are many visitors. 
 
I visited Yasukuni Shrine as Junichiro Koizumi, a person who happens 
to be prime minister. I did not go there in my official capacity. 
 
 
TOKYO 00004629  002 OF 008 
 
 
(Counterargument) 
 
Arguments critical of my Yasukuni visits can be boiled down to 
three. One is that I should not visit the shrine, because China and 
South Korea are opposing it. I am an advocate of a view calling for 
maintaining friendly relations with China and with South Korea. I 
have been friendly toward both countries since coming into office as 
prime minister. It is not good not to hold a summit just because 
there is a difference in views only over one issue or to hold a 
summit if I do not visit Yasukuni Shrine. I do not necessarily agree 
with the view that if I listen to China and South Korea, Asia 
diplomacy will go smoothly. Even if US President Bush told me not to 
visit Yasukuni, I would still go. However, President Bush would 
never say such a childish thing. 
 
The other argument is on the issue of the enshrinement of Class-A 
war criminals. I do not go Yasukuni to pay my respects to specific 
people. There are soldiers who suffered during the war and there are 
those who did not go to war but still died. We should offer sincere 
condolences to those victims. This is our country's culture. I do 
not go to Yasukuni Shrine to pay my respects to Class-A war 
criminals. 
 
Class-A war criminals were punished, taking responsibility for the 
war. There are two different issues here. 
 
Third, some say that I should not visit Yasukuni, because it 
infringes on the Constitution. I would like those people to read 
Article 19 and 20 of the Constitution. I do not pay my visit to 
Yasukuni in order to encourage Shinto religion, glorify or justify 
past wars. It is a matter of the heart. 
 
(2) Yasukuni Shrine - where next? (Part 6): Official visits by the 
prime minister may wane; Emperor's absence not missed 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
August 11, 2006 
 
On July 29, 2001, when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi won a huge 
win in the House of Councillors election, then Foreign Minister 
Makiko Tanaka called on him at the Prime Minister's Official 
Residence. 
 
Tanaka briefed Koizumi on her meeting five days before with Chinese 
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. She told Koizumi: "Do you visit 
Yasukuni Shrine because you promised the Japan War-Bereaved Families 
Association you would do so? I want you to reconsider it so as not 
to damage Japan's national interests." Koizumi, who was sitting on 
the couch in a relaxed manner, made an unexpected reply: "I am not 
going because I had pledged to go. I am going because I'm a public 
figure. I don't take orders from anyone." 
 
Koizumi then went to Yasukuni on Aug. 13 two weeks later. Asked by 
reporters about whether he visited the shrine as prime minister or 
as a private citizen, he responded, "I am not particular about it. 
Junichiro Koizumi, who is prime minister, visited the shrine." He 
copied the way the late Takeo Fukuda used to reply when he was prime 
minister. Koizumi looks up to Fukuda as his mentor. 
 
Former Prime Minister Takeo Miki, the first postwar prime minister 
to have paid homage at Yasukuni, said that he had visited there as a 
private citizen. Since then, the controversy has been over whether 
the prime minister is visiting the shrine as an official figure or 
 
TOKYO 00004629  003 OF 008 
 
 
as a private citizen. Fukuda, Miki's successor, said, "I don't pay 
it any mind. I am going as the prime minister." Breaking three of 
the "four principles" for private visits to Yasukuni that Miki had 
proposed, Fukuda made the constraints of the Constitution ambiguous 
by taking an official government view. Fukuda's Yasukuni visit was 
an official one in effect, even though he called it an unofficial 
visit. Koizumi took on Fukuda's style. 
 
Those groups promoting official visits to Yasukuni by the prime 
minister greatly praised Koizumi's Yasukuni visit in 2001 as being 
the first one in 16 years. Since then, Koizumi went to the shrine 
wearing in a morning suit in 2001, 2002, and 2003. In 2004, he 
visited the shrine in formal Japanese attire (haori and hakama). In 
2005, though, he went to the shrine in a gray suit, offering his own 
pocket money. 
 
Over his five years in office, Koizumi changed the way he paid 
homage at the shrine. Surprisingly, however, no criticism against 
Koizumi ever came from the groups advocating the prime minister's 
visits to Yasukuni. The term "official visit" was erased from the 
2006 leaflet issued by one group that had sought the prime 
minister's Yasukuni visits to be done on Aug. 15. The groups shifted 
their stance. 
 
The group in question had a bitter experience. In the first half of 
the 1980s, it made a direct appeal to the Imperial court calling on 
the Emperor to visit Yasukuni because the Showa Emperor had 
discontinued his Yasukuni trip after 1975. Commemorative ceremonies 
were still being conducted until the fall of 1979, the 110th 
anniversary of the shrine, when no memorial was carried out. There 
were growing anxiety and displeasure among those who had pressed for 
visits by the emperor. Three senior group members called at the 
Imperial Household Agency, but they were turned aside. An agency 
official said, "The Emperor cannot visit the shrine, where even the 
prime minister is unable to go peacefully." 
 
The Yasukuni supporters positioned prime ministerial visits as the 
way for bringing about visits by the Emperor, but prime ministerial 
visits have now become their only significant objective. One of the 
significant turning points was when then Prime Minister Yasuhiro 
Nakasone gave up on future visits to the shrine after making an 
official visit in 1985. The sole objective of the group responding 
to the souls of the war dead has become visits by the prime minister 
and cabinet ministers. The view now heard is that the prime minister 
has supreme command in the postwar period and his visit will suffice 
in consoling the souls of the war dead. 
 
Yasukuni Shrine seems to be getting used to the 31-year vacuum of 
visits by the Emperor. The Emperor is special for the Shinto shrine, 
which enshrines those who died for the Showa Emperor. 
 
The links between the Emperor and Yasukuni occur when an imperial 
envoy is sent to attend the spring and fall festivals. After the 
revelation of a former Imperial Household Agency chief memo 
expressing the Emperor Showa's displeasure with the enshrinement of 
Class-A war criminals in Yasukuni, the Shinto shrine has underscored 
more than ever the existence of such an Imperial envoy. An Imperial 
court source said, "What are they going to do if the agency can't 
even send the envoy to the shrine due to the fuss?" 
 
Koizumi made a comment on the memo: "People have different views. 
Whether (the Emperor) visits or not visits the shrine is up to him, 
because that's his choice." The Emperor's absence from Yasukuni 
 
TOKYO 00004629  004 OF 008 
 
 
Shrine, which has been forgotten due to the controversial visits to 
the shrine by the prime minister, is now lying heavily upon those 
who promote official visits to Yasukuni. 
 
(3) Yasukuni Shrine - Where to go now (Part 7): Japan-China economic 
relations and summit meetings; Gulf between political and business 
circles over Shinkansen project 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
August 12, 2006 
 
Influential business leaders held a round-table meeting with Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Hotel Okura on the night of Aug. 
31, 2004, the day after the media reported that the Japanese 
consortium had won a bid for constructing high-speed railway cars. 
Prime Minister Koizumi told the group: "It was good that Japan was 
able to win the contract." 
 
Mitsubishi Corporation advisor Minoru Makihara promptly replied: 
"But if the situation is left unchanged, Japan will fail to take 
part in the Shinkansen or bullet train project." 
 
(Then) Fuji Xerox Chairman Yotaro Kobayashi chimed it: "China hopes 
that the prime minister would refrain from visiting Yasukuni 
Shrine." Kobayashi headed the Japanese representatives for the New 
Japan-China Friendship Committee for the 21st Century, an advisory 
panel set up by the governments of Japan and China a year earlier. 
 
Other participants echoed Kobayashi's sentiments, with one 
remarking: "I want you to create an atmosphere to enable the leaders 
of Japan and China to hold a summit meeting." China has cut off 
summit meetings with Japan since Prime Minister Koizumi paid homage 
at Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day of 2004. 
 
Encircled by business leaders, Prime Minister Koizumi said in a 
somewhat excited voicet: "Since I visit the shrine based on my own 
political conviction, I will never change my mind. Visiting Yasukuni 
is a matter quite separate from economic relations." 
 
The Shinkansen project referred to by Makihara is a plan to 
construct high-speed railways between Beijing and Shanghai. China 
has made preparations for the plan in a full-scale way since 1994. 
Japan, Germany, and France are vying to receive the contract, their 
national prestige at stake. 
 
In January 2004, when Jiang Zemin left office and was replaced by Hu 
Jintao as president, the railway project was upgraded to a mid-term 
railway network project. The railway net will stretch across China, 
covering an area of 12,000 kilometers, including the distance 
between Beijing and Shanghai (1,318 kilometers). This giant project 
is estimated to be worth over 10 trillion yen. China plans to 
complete by 2020 the project to build railways exclusively for 
passenger trains with a maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour, 
the same as that of Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains. But the 
project pointed to by Prime Minister Koizumi in the meeting was 
another project to upgrade the existing trains operated in an area 
of 20,000 kilometers across China to those capable of speeding up to 
200 kilometers per hour. 
 
The Japanese government had initially regarded receiving the 
contract as "the symbol of friendly relations between Japan and 
China." Seeing the scale of the project expanding further, however, 
the prime minister, concerned cabinet ministers, and business 
 
TOKYO 00004629  005 OF 008 
 
 
circles began to cooperate in an effort to turn Japan into the 
successful bidder. Many business leaders were worried about the 
impact of Koizumi's Yasukuni visits. 
 
On Sept. 13, 2004, just after the round-table meeting around Prime 
Minister Koizumi, (then) Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) 
Chairman Hiroshi Okuda met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 
Beijing as the head of the Japan-China Economic Association. That 
was the 30th visit to China by the association. 
 
Premier Wen broached in the meeting: "We must bring the bilateral 
relationship to a mature phase." Apparently keeping in mind Prime 
Minister Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, the premier added: 
 
"On the political front, there are several problems pending between 
the two countries. China did not cause such problems. A few Japanese 
politicians remain unable to deal with historical issues on their 
own responsibility, without seeing matters from a broad standpoint. 
In an attempt to dispose of serious problems pending between Japan 
and China, an undesirable situation has frequently been caused." 
 
In the Japan-China summit in Bangkok in October 2003, President Hu 
expressed concerns about the Japanese prime minister's Yasukuni 
visits for the first time. Prime Minister Koizumi replied: "Learning 
the lessons from history, I will offer cooperation, thinking ahead 
to the future." But only two months later, he paid homage at the 
shrine on New Year's Day in 2004. China directed its anger at 
Japan's business leaders. 
 
The Japan Business Federation has sent a delegation to China every 
year since 1994. In meetings with Chinese senior officials, the 
delegation expressed Japan's willingness to extend cooperation for 
the Shinkansen project. Since 2004, however, the Shinkansen issue 
has not been taken up. The Japanese business community set up in 
Keidanren a "council on cooperation in the project to construct a 
Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway" in April 2003, but the panel 
has suspended activities since May 2004. 
 
In the Japan-China summit meeting in Santiago, Chile, in November 
2004, as well, President Hu asked Prime Minister Koizumi to stop 
visiting the shrine, but Koizumi, while stressing that his visits 
were "a matter of the heart," has continued to pay homage at 
Yasukuni Shrine. 
 
(4) Abe to place junior and midlevel lawmakers in key posts in 
positive way if he becomes prime minister, while eliminating 
factional influence 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
August 15, 2006 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe decided not to accept in 
principle recommendations from factions in the Liberal Democratic 
Party (LDP) in selecting the three top LDP executives and cabinet 
ministers, should he win the LDP presidential election and then 
assume the prime minister's post, according to several sources. When 
he runs for the presidency, he will leave the faction headed by 
former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. By making the appointments 
without giving consideration to factional balance, Abe intends to 
follow the method adopted by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. 
Koizumi carried out surprise personnel changes. Abe, too, intends to 
be proactive and appoint junior and mid-level lawmakers. 
 
 
TOKYO 00004629  006 OF 008 
 
 
Abe is concerned that if he gives consideration to factional balance 
in choosing persons to key posts, his popularity will decline. Amid 
the prediction that the LDP would face an uphill battle in the House 
of Councillors election next summer, Abe also apparently aims to 
stress the differences with the main opposition party Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan), which has formulated a tripartite 
system of party management by President Ichiro Ozawa, Acting 
President Naoto Kan, and Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama. 
 
Since former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Defense Agency 
Director General Fukushiro Nukaga gave up on running in the race, 
various LDP factions have announced their support for Abe. With an 
eye on the next Upper House election, many party members have called 
on him to take into account an all-party arrangement. Abe's aide 
said, "Mr. Abe did not ask each faction for support. He will decide 
on the lineups of LDP executives and cabinet members on his own 
judgment. 
 
Regarding cabinet posts for Upper House members and posts to the New 
Komeito, the expectation is that he will respect the wishes of both. 
The idea is being considered that cabinet ministers will pick their 
own senior vice ministers and state secretaries. 
 
(5) This summer marks 61st year of post-war politics part 1: Japan, 
China jolted between friendship and confrontation over view of 
history 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
August 12, 2006 
 
This summer marks the 61st anniversary of Japan's defeat in the war. 
What are disputes over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Yasukuni 
Shrine visits questioning Japan's post-war politics? The Nihon 
Keizai Shimbun probed into this question, based on accounts given by 
eye witnesses. 
 
Former Ambassador to China Sakutaro Tanino (70) was ordered to learn 
Chinese in Taiwan when he was 24 years old, though the area of his 
interest was the USSR. As a diplomat, he continued to watch 
Japan-China relations, but he started his diplomatic career in a 
manner against his will. 
 
In 1973, shortly after the normalization of diplomatic ties between 
Japan and China, he was assigned to the newly-opened Japanese 
Embassy in Beijing. At that time, the town was flooded with 
friendship slogans, such as "China-Japan friendship forever." His 
eldest son went to a local school. He grades were all A's. His 
teacher seriously said, "This is a proof of China-Japan 
friendship." 
 
 
Leadership of top personnel 
 
China launched efforts to normalize its ties with Japan in 1972, 
when the Great Cultural Revolution was at the peak and anti-Japanese 
sentiment was deep-rooted. At work behind China's move was 
confrontation with the USSR, which escalated into an armed conflict 
in 1968. Improving relations with the US and building friendship 
with Japan became China's national policy. The Chinese government 
contained anti-Japanese sentiment with the influence of Chairman Mao 
Tsetung and Premier Zhou Enlai. In Japan, then Prime Minister Kakuei 
 
SIPDIS 
Tanaka persuaded pro-Taiwan forces, saying, "I will prevail on the 
party on my own responsibility." 
 
TOKYO 00004629  007 OF 008 
 
 
 
Before China started talks with Japan, the President Nixon made a 
surprise visit to China in 1972. Tanino still remembers Zhou Enlai 
at that time. Zhou had Chinese government officials in charge of 
Japan affairs attend his talks with the US without fail, encouraging 
them: "Listen very carefully to our talks with the US. What you 
heard in talks now is bound to be of help in talks with Japan in 
future." 
 
In China, Deng Xiaoping steered his policy from Mao's principle of 
self-reliance to a reform and liberation policy shortly after the 
late 1970s - early 1980s period. In 1978, Yasukuni Shrine enshrined 
Class-A war criminals there. Tanino served as secretary to prime 
minister in the timeframe between the revelation of the enshrinement 
of Class-A war criminals and the spring of 1985. During this 
timeframe, a total of 10 prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni, 
including that by Zenko Suzuki, took place. 
 
China never fully protested about prime ministerial visits to 
Yasukuni until Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone visited the shrine 
on the August 15 anniversary of the end of World War II. At that 
time, China's priority was to sort out the confusion brought about 
by the Great Cultural Revolution. Economic development was essential 
in stabilizing the domestic situation. It had high hopes for Japan's 
economic assistance. Such circumstances were observable in China's 
stance. 
 
However, dark clouds began to hang over Japan-China relations. Then 
General Secretary Hu Yaobang, who had a personal relationship of 
trust with Nakasone, fell from power. One reason for his downfall is 
said to be that his pro-Japanese stance incurred opposition from 
conservative forces. The end of the Cold War also affected China's 
policy toward Japan. Its patriotic education, started in the mid 
1990's, spread anti-Japanese sentiment. 
 
China-being-a-threat argument gaining ground 
 
Japan's view of China also changed in a delicate way. Commenting on 
the Tiananmen Square Incident in 1989, Tanino, who was then director 
general of the Asian Affairs Bureau, said, "It was shocking." Though 
all European countries imposed stern sanctions on China, Japan 
insisted on its position, "Japan should not isolate China." However, 
an argument regarding a fast-growing China as a threat has gained 
ground in Japan. 
 
In 1995, which marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, 
Tanino, then chief Cabinet Councilor for External Affairs, worked 
hard to draft the Prime Minister Murayama statement, which expressed 
severe self-criticism and a heartfelt apology. It was then Minister 
of International Trade and Industry Ryutaro Hashimoto, who decided 
to include in the statement the word "the defeat in the war" instead 
of "the end of the war." 
 
China highly praised Japan's stance. However, Hashimoto visited the 
shrine in 1996 (on his birthday, July 29). China heightened its 
criticism of visits to Yasukuni Shrine by the Japanese prime 
minister. China was supposed to have sorted out its stance toward 
(its view of history) as: "Some militarists in Japan caused the war. 
The Japanese people were the victims of the war as were the Chinese 
people." However, allowing Yasukuni visits by key Japanese 
politicians conflicts with the account China has hitherto given to 
the people. Due to the dissemination of the Internet, the Chinese 
government is now unable to control anti-Japanese sentiment as in 
 
TOKYO 00004629  008 OF 008 
 
 
the past. 
 
Tanino stepped down as ambassador to China in 2001, when Junichiro 
Koizumi became prime minister. Looking back on his career, he noted, 
"I am glad I have been involved in China affairs." But he also 
noted, "Both Japan and China tend to wrap themselves up in 
suspicion. It is most important for top leaders to exchange views. 
China's way of doing things is childish." When the ties of bilateral 
relations were normalized, Japan contained its anti-Chinese 
sentiment and China contained its anti-Japanese sentiment. Tanino 
hopes that two countries will return to that starting point." 
 
SCHIEFFER