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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 005758 
 
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 10/03/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Editorial: Prime Minister Abe's policy speech - why do you 
intend to drive so slowly? 
 
(2) Editorial: Keep turning on heat of reform as pledged in policy 
speech 
 
(3) Trend away from bid-rigging part 1: Co-existence and 
co-prosperity mechanism beginning to collapse 
 
(4) Series on by-election for House of Representatives (part 2): 
Relocation of Army Command to Camp Zama without explanation or 
choice 
 
(5) Ibaraki Prefecture, assuming nuclear terrorism, conducts 
training to protect citizens 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Editorial: Prime Minister Abe's policy speech - why do you 
intend to drive so slowly? 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) 
September 30, 2006 
 
"I will put all my body and soul in dealing the challenge to create 
'a beautiful country, Japan,'" said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a 
policy speech. 
 
The Abe government was launched with more than 60% public support, 
and the prime minister talked about his government's goals in his 
Diet policy speech. 
 
Advocating the slogan of breaking away from the postwar framework, 
Abe has expressed his desire to amend the Constitution, but in his 
speech, he mostly focused on ways to realize economic growth, as 
well as on reform of the social security system. 
 
After five years of the Koizumi government, which took harsh 
measures, Abe must have though that his administration should now 
show the prospects for the future, easing the people's anxiety. 
 
Prime Minister Koizumi declared in his first policy speech in 2001 
that he would promote structural reforms with no sacred domains. He 
urged the public to endure strict structural reforms, citing the 
spirit of 100 straw rice bags - a reference to an event in the late 
1860s when the Nagaoka clan in northern Japan was experiencing a 
famine and received 100 sacks of rice from another clan. The Nagaoka 
clan leader decided not to use the rice to feed his starving people, 
but instead sold it to gain money to build a school to educate the 
people, thus ensuring their future prosperity. Abe talked, however, 
about a bright future and peace of mind. 
 
After removing Abe's tendency to use romanized English words, one is 
left only with the "2006 set of policy guidelines for structural 
reforms," as set by the Koizumi government. The policy guidelines 
only set out a general direction, leaving the specifics to the next 
government. Therefore, people were listening closely to hear Abe's 
concrete policy measures, but they were disappointed. 
 
Regarding the public pension program, Abe said, "The central 
government is responsible and will not let it collapse, and people 
 
TOKYO 00005758  002 OF 007 
 
 
will not lose by paying premiums." That's all he had to say? The 
public wants to hear details of where pension funding resources will 
come from, and how premiums and benefit payments will be 
maintained. 
 
Many people expect that the consumption tax will be eventually be 
increased. Abe, however, only said, "I will not avoid debate on the 
consumption tax issue." 
 
Another surprise was that Abe provided only a rather simplistic 
statement on his pet subject, education reform. Abe's book "Toward a 
Beautiful Country" outlines his vision of introducing nationwide 
unified tests and school assessments by national inspectors. The 
idea implies a strengthening of national oversight and control over 
education. We are concerned about this. Yet, Abe spoke little of 
education issues. 
 
He will likely to leave the specifics to a cabinet panel on 
revitalizing education, which will be set up in the cabinet. What 
will the panel discuss and what will it suggest? Who will be chosen 
as the panel members? If Abe is able to influence them, we must keep 
a close eye on its deliberations. 
 
Abe might have thought that it would be wise to tone down his 
rhetoric in his policy speech, thus embarking on safe sailing. 
Touchy phrases such as "breaking away from the postwar framework" 
and "open conservatism," which Abe stressed during the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) presidential campaign, appeared nowhere in 
his policy speech. He did not mention his determination to amend the 
Constitution within five years or so. 
 
In that sense, we can't help feeling disappointed. The opposition 
parties must firmly question Abe in the upcoming Diet session on why 
he avoided stating his long-held ambitions. 
 
(2) Editorial: Keep turning on heat of reform as pledged in policy 
speech 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
September 30, 2006 
 
In his first Diet policy speech, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke to 
the people in plain words of what politics and policies his 
administration will pursue. The prime minister's policy goal has 
been revealed, but he has yet to come up with any specific measures 
to meet this goal. It is of importance for the prime minister to 
swiftly implement necessary specific measures and keep turning on 
the heat of reform as he pledged in the policy speech. 
 
The Abe cabinet has made a smooth start, receiving an over 70% 
popularity rating in a poll conducted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. 
The prime minister said that the vision he is aiming for is that of 
"a beautiful country, Japan." He visualized this beautiful country 
as a country that: (1) values culture, tradition, nature, and 
history; (2) is underpinned by free society, respects discipline, 
and has dignity; (3) continues to possess the vitality to grow 
toward the future; and (4) has leadership, and is trusted, 
respected, and loved in the world. 
 
In the policy speech, the prime minister implied eagerness to carve 
out a future for Japan, setting forth the ideals of conservatism and 
the policy of prioritizing economic growth as the two main pillars 
in managing his government. He also expressed his determination to 
 
TOKYO 00005758  003 OF 007 
 
 
address educational reform on a priority basis and make efforts to 
enact a bill amending the Fundamental Law of Education at an early 
date. Further, he unveiled a plan to quickly establish an education 
revitalization conference tasked with working out specific 
measures. 
 
In reference to constitutional revision, Abe expressed high hopes 
for probing debate to be conducted in the Diet in order to set a 
direction for the revision. On a change in the government's 
interpretation of the Constitution to allow Japan's use of the right 
to collective self-defense, Abe noted: "In order to have the 
Japan-US alliance function more effectively, we will study specific 
cases." On the ideals of conservatism, the prime minister's 
arguments are very clear. 
 
When it comes to pro-growth policy, however, Abe failed to present 
specific measures. The prime minister stressed the need for 
innovation, but he did not refer to regulatory reform, though such 
reform should be imperative for creating innovation. Abe is urged to 
flesh out modulated measures that will contribute to drawing out 
power from the private sector, instead of tricky measures worked out 
under the lead of government agencies. 
 
The prime minister stressed the need to drastically cut spending and 
then made the following remark on special revenues for road 
construction: "The government, while keeping the current tax rate, 
will review road funds on the premise of reallocating them for 
general expenditures and will compile a set of specific measures by 
the end of the year." If this challenge fizzles out, the prime 
minister's posture toward reform itself will be questioned. The 
prime minister must get down to brass tacks on this challenge. 
 
It is hard to understand why the prime minister stopped short of 
proposing cuts in state subsidies. In the previous Koizumi 
administration's trinity reforms to reshape regional finances, 
progress was hardly made in administrative reform and 
decentralization, with only the grant rate brought down. The prime 
minister must address the task even with a determination to scrap 
the subsidy system; otherwise, expenditures will not be 
satisfactorily reduced. 
 
(3) Trend away from bid-rigging part 1: Co-existence and 
co-prosperity mechanism beginning to collapse 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 11) (Almost Full) 
September 26, 2006 
 
It has been eight months since the enforcement of the amended 
Anti-Monopoly Law designed to toughen penalties against bid-rigging 
activities. As price competition in bidding for public projects 
intensifies, the number of companies that pull out of or curtail 
participation in public works in anticipation of price collapsing or 
a potential risk of being arrested is increasing. The Nihon Keizai 
Shimbun has investigated into the business situation in the 
construction industry that is drastically changing due to a trend 
away from bid-rigging. 
 
Up to whether one is lucky in lotteries 
 
President Iwata of Iwata Construction Co., a leading general 
contractor in Sapporo City, Hokkaido, noted wryly: "For constructing 
companies good salespersons used to be those who can accurately 
calculate tender prices, but now those who are lucky in lotteries 
 
TOKYO 00005758  004 OF 007 
 
 
are good salespersons for us." With the bid-rigging system of 
construction companies receiving orders for public projects in turn 
adopted by the construction industry for the sake of their 
co-existence and co-prosperity becoming shaky, the practic of 
placing low-price tenders is increasingly spreading in Hokkaido, 
where the number of companies is disproportionately large, compared 
with the number of public projects. 
 
Since Sapporo City releases in advance estimated prices of projects 
it sponsors, lots of small and medium-size companies place tenders 
at the lowest prices as they desperately want jobs. Since all 
bidders offer their tenders at rock-bottom prices, successful 
bidders are decided by lot. The ratio of the adoption of lotteries 
for civil engineering works sponsored by the mayoral bureau with the 
exception of the industrial bureau, such as the Traffic Bureau, 
reached approximately 30% in fiscal 2005. President Iwata's remark 
that employees who are lucky in lotteries come in handy is what many 
people in the business feel. 
 
Tendering bids at low prices has now become a national trend. The 
ratio of a project cost to an estimated price usually topped 95% in 
most projects. However, such a ratio in projects sponsored by the 
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and awarded to 
leading general construction contractors plunged to the 70% level in 
July and August. 
 
Behind the bid-rigging system is the construction industry's order 
based on lateral ties, under which companies similar in size share 
works, and vertical co-existence between leading companies operating 
nationwide and medium and small-size local companies that 
subcontract with them. In Hokkaido, such a coexistence system is 
beginning to disappear. 
 
Construction companies continue to go under 
 
The number of companies suffering from poor business performance has 
increased. President Iwata said that he had recently received a 
number of offers for purchasing such companies. An increasing number 
of small and medium-size construction companies are now going under, 
following the trend away from bid-rigging activities. 
 
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) last June ordered 91 local companies 
to end unfair trade practices over bid-rigging activities for 
construction works sponsored by Iwate Prefecture. As a result, four 
companies went bankrupt. In Okinawa, the FTC 152 companies were 
urged to stop unfair trade practices over bid-rigging practices for 
projects sponsored by the prefecture. The Okinawa Construction 
Industry Association has estimated that about 40 companies would go 
under. 
 
An executive of a leading general construction contractor noted, "We 
can sense from the moves of the FTC and public prosecutors that they 
are aiming at destroying the order of the construction industry, 
such as the coexistence system. A number of related sources view 
that there will be no change in this trend under the Abe 
administration as well. 
 
The former deputy manager of the Nagoya branch of Obayashi Corp. was 
indicted over a bid-rigging incident involving a project sponsored 
by Seto City, Aichi Prefecture. He admitted to all the facts 
presented in the first trial in August, saying, "I have been 
involved in bid-rigging from the early stage in various senses." 
This person has allegedly served as a coordinator of bid-rigging 
 
TOKYO 00005758  005 OF 007 
 
 
activities over construction projects in the Tokai region for more 
than 10 years along with executives of leading local companies, 
including Meiko Construction Co. 
 
The Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation 
Department is now investigating into alleged bid-rigging practices 
for sewerage works. It questioned the same former deputy branch 
manager on a voluntary basis. In this connection, it searched the 
Nagoya branch of Konoike Construction Co. Public prosecutors are 
gearing up to pursue construction companies from leading general 
contractors to small and medium-size local companies. 
 
The co-existence and co-prosperity system of the construction 
industry is beginning to be destroyed from within and from outside. 
 
(4) Series on by-election for House of Representatives (part 2): 
Relocation of Army Command to Camp Zama without explanation or 
choice 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Kanagawa edition) (Excerpts) (Page 27) 
September 30, 2006 
 
From behind a hilly area, helicopters could be heard repeatedly 
taking and off and landing, their propellers making an unpleasant 
chopping noise. On top of the hill is situated a heliport belonging 
to the US Army at Camp Zama straddling the communities of Sagamihara 
City and Zama City. "For the last year or two, it became even more 
annoying over there. We could not even hear the sound of our TV, and 
inside the house, it was as if the ground itself were vibrating, and 
glass in the windows would rattle."  The complaint came from a 
housewife (60) living in the Isobe area of Sagamihara City that is 
right under the flight path of the choppers. She gazed up at the sky 
with malice in her eyes. 
 
She has been married for approximately 40 years. She has lived the 
whole time in Isobe, but recently the noise from the choppers became 
unpardonable. The helicopters fly low overhead only a dozen or more 
meters off the ground. They repeatedly practice touch-and-go 
landings. The continuous noise from the helicopters has even damaged 
her health. 
 
According to the public relations section of Sagami City, there were 
281 complaints about helicopter noise during the last fiscal year. 
This fiscal year, as well, complaints are coming in at around the 
same pace. It has been confirmed that US Navy helicopters from 
Atsugi base are frequently carrying out training, and the city 
decided to collect noise data starting last October. 
 
Camp Zama is different from Atsugi base, where there is high-pitched 
noise from aircraft carrier-based jet planes flying in. Camp Zama 
until now has built a good relationship with the local residents. 
However, the emotions of the local residents have risen due to the 
helicopter noise, and in May with the agreement between Japan and 
the US on the realignment of US forces in Japan, strains have begun 
to appear in the relationship with local residents over the plan to 
relocate the US Army's First Corps to Camp Zama. 
 
The relocation of the Army Command to Camp Zama has a symbolic 
identity of the strengthening of the Japan-US alliance, as promoted 
by the Koizumi administration. The Ground Self-Defense Corps' 
Central Readiness Command would be co-located in the same base, 
which would strengthen the trend of unifying Japan's SDF and the US 
forces. However, until the decision was made to strengthen the role 
 
TOKYO 00005758  006 OF 007 
 
 
of the base, no explanation was ever given to the local communities. 
 
 
Said a local male resident from Isobe: "The decision was made 
arbitrarily without our knowledge. There was not even request for 
cooperation. I think they played us for fools." He said he had lost 
his faith in the government. 
 
The man last summer signed a petition against the relocation of the 
Army Command. Over 200,000 in Sagamihara City overall signed the 
petition. He said, "I sense that the mood of the local residents who 
used to be resigned to the existence of the base until now has 
changed." However, in the general election that occurred last 
September, the only matter paid attention to was postal 
privatization, and even in the 16th district of Sagamihara City 
where Camp Zama is located, the propriety of the Army Command's 
relocation was never disputed. The local residents have never been 
given a choice in this matter. 
 
(5) Ibaraki Prefecture, assuming nuclear terrorism, conducts 
training to protect citizens 
 
Asahi (Ibaraki Internet edition) 
Sept. 30, 2006 
 
Assuming a large-scale terrorist or military attack, the Ibaraki 
Prefectural Government conducted training on Sept. 29 with the 
central government, the Self-Defense Force (SDF) and other relevant 
organizations to rescue citizens in cooperation under the Public 
Protection Law. Participating in the drill were 2,400 persons from 
about 100 organizations across the nation, but some participants and 
involved parties pointed out problems in the drill. 
 
The Public Protection Law is one of the emergency laws governing the 
obligation and role of the central and local governments, as well as 
relevant organs in evacuating or rescuing citizens in times of 
emergency. The main purpose of the latest drill was to examine the 
effectiveness of the prefecture's plan to protect the citizens laid 
out this January based on the law. This was the third training held 
between a prefectural government and the central government, 
following the ones by Fukui and Hokkaido. 
 
The training started around 7:00 a.m. of Sept. 29 on the supposition 
of a terrorist attack on the Tokai Second Power Plant (Shirakata, 
Tokaimura) of the Japan Atomic Power Co., in which the high-voltage 
cable is destroyed, the reactor automatically stop, and radioactive 
materials leak to the outside of the reactor building due to 
multiple incidents. 
 
In the training, an emergency headquarters was set up in the 
prefectural government office. The headquarters contacted the 
central government, the Ibaraki Prefecture Nuclear Off-site Center 
(Hitachinaka City), and other relevant institutes to exchange 
information through TV conference. 
 
About 700 residents from Tokaimura and other areas joined the 
evacuation training, in which social workers and firefighters helped 
those who are unable to easily evacuate independently, such as 
elderly persons. In order to facilitate evacuation by car or 
evacuation on foot, a one-way restriction was imposed on some 
streets. 
 
In a press conference after the drill, Cabinet Secretariat 
 
TOKYO 00005758  007 OF 007 
 
 
councillor Genzo Inoue said, "The training was initially aimed to 
confirm each institute's role and to cooperate with each other, but 
this purpose was not attained." He added, "There should be training 
procedures under which no decision is made beforehand on actions to 
be taken." In response, Governor Masaru Hashimoto commented: 
"Although he criticizes the training as having been carried out in 
accordance with a scenario, I think it is important for people to 
participate in training upon fully understanding the scenario." 
 
Since the disastrous nuclear accident, the prefecture has held 
nuclear disaster drills. Unlike such training, the training on the 
assumption of a terrorist attack puzzled some persons. 
 
Governor Hashimoto said, "Since there are the heads of the central 
government and the local headquarters, (decision-making) might be 
delayed in some cases." Tokaimura Head Tatsuya Murakami stated: "The 
release of radioactive materials is a more realistic threat to local 
people than terrorism. Where should priority be given to? It was a 
difficult drill." 
 
DONOVAN