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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 006897 
 
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 12/08/06 
 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
Iraq report fallout: 
4) JDA chief Kyuma denies there was "official" support from Japan at 
start of Iraq war; Prime Minister Koizumi was making a "private" 
comment to press 
5) Kyuma in Diet reply downplays Japan's support for Iraq war 
6) Kyuma's statement seems to challenge legitimacy of Japan's 
decision to support Iraq war 
7) Government carefully watching US policy response to panel's 
report on Iraq war for may have an impact on ASDF withdrawal 
timetable from Iraq 
8) Government mulling leaving ASDF in place in Iraq duties until 
2009, timed to US withdrawal timetable 
 
US base issues: 
9) Okinawa governor-elect Nakaima takes flexible stance on 
government's Futenma relocation plan, conditioned on removing danger 
of present base 
10) US F-16 jet drops dummy bomb on runway of shared Misawa 
military-civilian base 
11) US Navy places all-Japan curfew on drinking alcoholic beverages 
late at night 
12) Yokosuka sailor's wife arrested for child abuse 
 
13) Japan-ROK separate meeting scheduled for sidelines of ASEAN 
confab has been put off, a sign that bilateral ties remain cool 
 
14) Foreign Minister Aso in Singapore meeting with Chinese 
counterpart lauds improvement in bilateral ties 
 
15) Japan likely to support US' pact with India backing civilian 
nuclear development 
 
16) LDP's Taku Yamasaki corrects earlier statement by saying former 
Prime Minister Koizumi did not directly express desire to make 3rd 
visit to Pyongyang 
 
Diet agenda: 
17) Diet extension now seen as inevitable 
18) Cabinet to approve controversial decision made on road 
construction funding 
 
19) Lawless: "It would be crazy for Japan not to intercept" missile 
headed for US (Corrected copy; missing text) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
DoCoMo to recall Sanyo-Mitsubishi made cell-phone battery packs 
 
Mainichi: 
Special-purpose road construction revenues: Government, ruling 
parties agree to amend law in 2008; Gasoline tax not included in 
agreement 
 
 
TOKYO 00006897  002 OF 011 
 
 
Yomiuri: 
Mitsubishi-Tokyo-UFJ Bank to enter final coordination for resuming 
political donations worth 30 million yen for first time in nine 
years 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
AHA to sell off all hotels nationwide; Bidding formula to be adopted 
to sell land, buildings; Total amount likely to reach 100 billion 
yen 
 
Sankei: 
Welfare Ministry ok's lump sum childbirth payment of 700,000 yen at 
expanded discretion of health insurance unions; Subsidies may be 
paid for fertility treatment 
 
Tokyo Shimbun 
Final plan includes reallocating special-purpose road construction 
revenues, including gasoline tax, for general use; Stipulates 
amendment of related laws in 2008 
 
Akahata: 
Amendment to Basic Education Law for worse: Law should be scrapped 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Special-purpose road construction revenues: Road system will 
expand, and the state will wither 
(2) Iraq report: US president should respond immediately 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Proposals on Iraq policy: US diplomatic power will be put to 
test 
(2) Measures to deal with crime victims: It could happen to anybody 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) US Iraq report: Can it serve as prescription for US to emerge 
from chaos? 
(2) Phone rate to be raised by 7 yen; NTT's management efforts to be 
put to test 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1) Multiple policy changes needed for US to pull out of Iraq 
(2) Issuance of government bonds should be drastically curtailed 
under Kantei leadership 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Iraq report: Open up horizons, eliminating sectarian conflict 
(2) 65 years since Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor: Pacific War 
changing from experience to be described to history to be learned 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) US forces in Iraq: US should make diplomatic efforts to 
compensate for withdrawal 
(2) Road revenues: Make fresh start for reallocating funds for wider 
usage 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Make best use of reflection on war 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
 
TOKYO 00006897  003 OF 011 
 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, Dec. 7 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2)  (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
07:59 
Met with Nippon Keidanren Chairman Mitarai, Tokyo University 
Professor Motoshige Ito and others at a restaurant in the Akasaka 
Prince Hotel. 
 
09:55 
Video taped message for the Visit Japan Campaign at Kantei. 
 
11:46 
Met Special Advisor Nemoto. 
 
12:29 
Had lunch and enjoyed talks with sixth-grade students at an 
elementary school in Ichigaya. 
 
14:04 
Met Hideyuki Shinohara, first-prize winner in the national truck 
drivers contest, and others at Kantei. Met Finance Minister Omi, 
Finance Vice Minister Fujii and others. Joined by Assistant Deputy 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Saka. 
 
15:33 
Held dialogue with Mitarai for a New Year special feature in Nippon 
Keidanren's organ magazine. 
 
16:05 
Met National Policy Agency Director General Uruma. 
 
17:02 
Attended a Security Council meeting. Later attended a meeting of the 
Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. 
 
19:42 
Dined at a Japanese restaurant in the Hotel Okura with "Yamazato 
kai" members, including Yomiuri Shimbun Group President Tsuneo 
Watanabe and Asahi Shimbun columnist Toru Hayano. 
 
21:49 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
4) Defense chief denies gov't supported Iraq war 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Abridged) 
December 8, 2006 
 
Defense Agency Director General Kyuma, sitting in on the House of 
Councillors Foreign and Defense Affairs Committee in its meeting 
yesterday, was asked about the United States' use of armed force 
against Iraq and indicated that support for the Iraq war did not 
represent the government's official view but was Prime Minister 
Koizumi's personal view at that time. "The government did not 
officially say Japan would support it, and I heard the prime 
minister (Koizumi) told the media that he would," Kyuma stated 
before the committee. He was replying to a question asked by Yasuo 
Ogata representing the Japanese Communist Party. 
 
Kyuma used to maintain that it was inappropriate to say "support" 
 
TOKYO 00006897  004 OF 011 
 
 
the Iraq war when it started and that it was enough to say 
"understand" it. This can be taken as raising a question about the 
justification for the Iraq war. However, the government has 
supported the use of force against Iraq in its official view. 
Kyuma's statement will likely create a stir. 
 
5) JDA chief contradictory to the government's statement on the 
opening of the Iraq war, saying the government did not state it 
"supports" striking Iraq 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN 
December 8, 2006 
 
At a meeting yesterday of the Upper House Committee on Foreign 
Affairs and Defense, Defense Agency (JDA) Director-General Fumio 
Kyuma, referring to the response to the opening of the Iraq war by 
the government of the time: "The government of Japan did not 
officially state it endorsed (the war)." He thus indicated that it 
was incorrect to say that the government had endorsed the war from 
the very beginning. 
 
At the time of the opening of the war in Iraq in March 2003, then 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stated positively, "We understand 
America's launching military action and endorse it." Kyuma's remarks 
are likely to cause a controversy. 
 
In the session, Kyuma, asked about the prime minister's statement, 
stated, "I knew Prime Minister (Koizumi) made such a comment to the 
media." 
 
In addition, referring to the Special Measures Law on Iraq 
Reconstruction, Kyuma emphasized that the objective of the law is 
wholly to provide reconstruction assistance, noting: "It's incorrect 
to say that the government created a law in a way to somewhat 
support the war, nor is it correct to think that in accordance with 
that line, the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) were dispatched to 
(Iraq)." 
 
In April 2004, when he served as acting secretary general of the 
ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kyuma stated in a speech: 
"The government endorsed America's military action, but frankly 
speaking, I find it difficult to go as far as to say it was an 
endorsement." 
 
When asked about (Kyuma's remarks) by reporters at the Prime 
Minister's Official Residence yesterday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 
stated: "I've not yet received a report about what remarks (JDA 
Director-General Kyuma) made. I expect the report to come to me 
shortly." 
 
6) Doubt cast about Japan's support for US initiation of Iraq war; 
Kyuma distancing himself from previous government? 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
Shohei Yoshida 
 
Defense Agency Director-General Fumio Kyuma's remarks yesterday on 
Japan's support for the Iraq war signify the emergence of a move in 
Japan, inspired by America's ongoing move to review its Iraq policy, 
to question whether it was justifiable for Japan to endorse the 
 
TOKYO 00006897  005 OF 011 
 
 
opening of the war. 
 
On March 20, 2003, immediately after the United States and its 
allies struck Iraq, then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met the 
press and stated he endorsed the opening of the war. As the reasons 
for the endorsement, he cited the removal of Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction (WMD). Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who served as chief 
cabinet secretary at the time, yesterday firmly stated to reporters: 
"There were rational reasons for us to believe, when the war was 
started, that Iraq possessed WMD." Abe thus reiterated there was no 
mistake in the government's judgment. 
 
US President Bush is now forced to review his Iraq policy, following 
his defeat in the midterm elections. But the Japanese government 
finds it difficult to say it will back America's move to review the 
president's Iraq policy because Tokyo has supported it to date. 
 
On the recommendations in a report just released by the US Iraq 
Study Group, as well, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki 
simply stated: "We will pay close attention to the moves in the days 
ahead." Yesterday, Kyuma stated, "It's troublesome for us to be 
described as being committed to the Iraq war and mobilizing 
Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops to Iraq." This remark leaves us 
with the impression that Kyuma is desperate to avoid being called to 
account for the endorsement of the opening of the war. 
 
7) Government carefully watching how US will change Iraq policy in 
determining future course of ASDF activities 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The government intends to carefully watch how the United States 
government will switch its policy course toward Iraq in response to 
a report of recommendations on Iraq policy worked out by the Iraq 
Study Group, a bipartisan advisory panel to the US Congress. 
 
In a press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki 
said: "Although the recommendations are very sincere and 
constructive, we need to closely watch to see if the US government 
reflects the recommendations in its policy." One Foreign Ministry 
official also said, "It is doubtful whether US troops will be pulled 
out of combat in Iraq, given the deteriorating security situation 
there." 
 
The Japanese government has dispatched about 200 Air Self-Defense 
Force (ASDF) troops and 3 C-130 transport planes to Kuwait on a 
mission of transporting United Nations' members and goods to Baghdad 
and other areas in Iran from Kuwait. If all US combat troops 
withdraw from Iraq by early 2008, as recommended in the report, 
there naturally will be some effect on ASDF activities, but the 
government intends to carefully watch for the time being how the 
situation will change. 
 
In a meeting of the House of Councillors Foreign and Defense Policy 
Committee yesterday, Defense Agency Director General Kyuma referred 
to an extension of the Iraq Humanitarian Reconstruction Support 
Special Measures Law, which is to expire in late July of next year: 
 
"Whether the US will be able to maintain security in Iraq 
constitutes a very essential element. While paying close attention 
to the policies of the US and the UN, we will have to make a 
 
TOKYO 00006897  006 OF 011 
 
 
judgment (on what to do about future SDF activities) by next July." 
 
8) Gov't mulls extending Iraq law until 2009, with eye to US 
military pullout 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Abridged) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan group established in the United 
States, has now presented the Bush administration with a report 
calling for Iraq-based US military combat troops to be withdrawn by 
March 2008. Meanwhile, the Japanese government began yesterday 
studying withdrawing Air Self-Defense Force troops currently engaged 
in airlift activities in Iraq. The government presumes that the 
complete pullout of US troops would take more time beyond that time 
limit. With an eye to the next US presidential election, the 
government will study extending a time-limited law for special 
measures to assist Iraq's reconstruction or the so-called Iraq 
Special Measures Law, which is to expire at the end of July next 
year, for two years. In addition, the government will also consider 
terminating the ASDF's Iraq mission within that extended timeframe. 
 
The government yesterday held a meeting of the Security Council of 
Japan (SCJ), in which the government decided to extend the ASDF's 
airlift mission in Iraq until the end of July next year. The 
government will confirm the decision in a cabinet meeting today. 
 
The report's specification of a withdrawal date is a sudden surprise 
to Japan. "If they set a timetable, terrorists will step up their 
activities," says a government official. 
 
"Japan has made its own decision to help Iraq with its 
reconstruction and has been extending cooperation," Prime Minister 
Shinzo Abe told reporters at his office yesterday when asked about 
the report's possible repercussions on extending the ASDF's Iraq 
mission. "We will see various situations, and Japan will make its 
own decision," Abe added. However, one government official voiced 
concern, saying, "The report, which sets a timetable, has a big 
impact." 
 
If the US military phases out its presence in Iraq, there will be 
more need for the ASDF's airlift support. There will be a US 
presidential election in the fall of 2008. If the ASDF's Iraq 
mission is extended for one year, the government will have to reach 
a conclusion amid the presidential election campaign. "In our 
country's relations with the United States, we should not be 
involved in debates for the presidential election," a government 
official said, adding, "We will seek to pull out with two years' 
extension." 
 
9) Okinawa governor-elect shows flexible stance on government's plan 
for Futenma, premised on "removing the danger" of current airfield 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
Responding to an interview request from the Yomiuri Shimbun on Dec. 
7 in Naha City, Hirokazu Nakaima, who will be sworn in as the new 
governor of Okinawa on Dec. 10, in commenting on the issue of 
relocating MCAS Futenma (Ginowan City), revealed a policy course he 
will take once he is governor of considering flexibly the plan to 
build an alternate facility on the shores of Camp Schwab (Nago City) 
 
TOKYO 00006897  007 OF 011 
 
 
that the government has proposed. He said: An important factor is 
the general agreement by (Yoshikazu Shimabukuro) the mayor of Nago 
City to accept the site. There has been a major change in the 
prefectural population's feelings about this issue." However, he 
stressed that in considering the proposed plan, he was laying down 
the following premises: 1) On the "removal of the dangerousness" of 
Futenma Air Station to the neighboring area until the relocation 
occurs, the government must come up with specific measures and carry 
them out within three years; and 2) the government must proceed 
respectfully with talks with the prefecture and related cities and 
towns, and also carefully carry out an environmental impact 
assessment. 
 
On the removal of the danger of Futenma, he noted: "Technical 
studies should be able to be carried out within the government on 
such solutions as relocating some of the training, shortening the 
time (the base is used), or and reducing noise." 
 
During the campaign, Nakaima, who was running for the first time for 
governor in the election in November, took a stance of being opposed 
in principle to the V-shaped double runway plan that the government 
had drafted. However, Major of Nago Shimabukuro this April gave his 
approval to the plan. It appears that Nakaima's thinking comes from 
the need for environmental preparations for relocating Futenma, and 
his flexible stance thus is premised on such factors as progress in 
removing the dangerous aspects of the current base. 
 
10) US fighter jet drops dummy bomb at Misawa Airport 
 
ASAHI (Page 38) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
A US Air Force F-16 fighter jet on a training mission from the US 
Misawa Air Base in Misawa City, Aomori Prefecture, dropped a dummy 
bomb on a runway of Misawa Airport, sources revealed yesterday. The 
US military has recovered the dummy bomb. Misawa Airport is a 
dual-use airport for the US Air Force, the Air Self-Defense Force, 
and commercial airlines. However, the airport was not affected, the 
sources said. 
 
According to the Defense Facilities Administration Agency's Misawa 
office and other sources, the drop took place on Dec. 6 at around 
7:25 p.m. The dummy bomb is made of concrete. It weighs about 11 
kilograms and is about 60 centimeters long. There was no explosion. 
 
11) US Navy restricts off-base drinking hours in Japan 
 
ASAHI (Page 38) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The headquarters of US Naval Forces Japan took action yesterday to 
ban all US Navy personnel in Japan from drinking alcoholic beverages 
at off-base restaurants and in other public places from 2 a.m. 
through 6 a.m. In the wake of an aircraft carrier crewmen's 
robbery-murder case that occurred in January this year in the city 
of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, the US Navy has restricted 
off-base drinking hours for its Yokosuka- and Atsugi-based 
personnel. The US Navy has expanded this restriction to all US naval 
bases in Japan. 
 
12) American mother arrested for child abuse in Yokosuka 
 
 
TOKYO 00006897  008 OF 011 
 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 27) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police's Uraga Police Station late 
yesterday arrested Natasha Yvette Anderson, an unemployed 
20-year-old American national without occupation who lives in 
Yokosuka City, on the charge of physical abuse of her two-month-old 
son. 
 
According to the police investigation, she is suspected of causing 
fracturing her son's ribs and causing cranial bleedings by throwing 
him against the bed in her apartment over a period from Nov. 1-10 
out of frustration when he did not stop crying. 
 
The suspect reportedly stated: "I did it after losing control when 
he wouldn't stop crying." 
 
The suspect lives with her husband, 20, assigned to the US Navy, and 
her son. Her husband was away from home for a long period of time 
because of military training. Last night, she visited a hospital in 
the US Navy's Yokosuka Base and said, "My son looks sick." A 
hospital official deemed the injuries highly likely to be the result 
of child abuse and reported it to the police station via US forces. 
 
13) No bilateral summit set between Japan, South Korea on sidelines 
of ASEAN conference 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
It is now likely that a bilateral summit will not be held between 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun on 
the sidelines of a series of conferences related to the ASEAN 
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in the Philippines starting 
on Dec. 11. A Foreign Ministry source said, "Priority has been given 
to first bilateral meetings," but a government source remarked, "The 
two countries now need to take joint steps on the North Korea issue, 
so it is regrettable that a bilateral summit has not been arranged. 
This might be proving that bilateral ties are still strained." 
 
Prime Minister Abe will be arriving in Manila on Dec. 8. After 
meeting with President Arroyo, he will attend the ASEAN+3 (Japan, 
China and South Korea) summit, the East Asia summit, and other 
sessions to be held on Cebu Island. Coordination is now underway for 
the prime minister to also meet during this period with Australian 
and Indian prime ministers separately, besides the leaders of ASEAN 
countries. He is also scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. 
 
Regarding a separate meeting with the South Korean prime minister, a 
negotiator said, "Neither Japan nor South Korea has made a 
proposal." A Foreign Ministry source said, "The Japanese and South 
Korean leaders held a bilateral meeting on the occasion of the 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November." 
 
Prime Minister Abe visited China and South Korea in October in an 
effort to break the impasse in Japan's strained relations with these 
countries. To improve ties with China, he met with President Hu 
Jintao and Premier Wen, but when it comes to South Korea, bilateral 
relations are still delicate. In the first Abe-Roh meeting, though 
the meeting took place just after North Korea's nuclear test, the 
president spoke of Japan's historical views on and one. As a result, 
no joint statement was issued. According to an aide to the prime 
 
TOKYO 00006897  009 OF 011 
 
 
minister, "The prime minister looked considerably displeased." 
 
The difference in ardor between Japan and South Korea also persists 
on the North Korea issue. If both countries hold a summit under such 
a situation and if a difference in both sides' stances is exposed, 
North Korea might take advantage of it. A government source 
speculates, "The Kantei might not be eager about a bilateral 
summit." 
 
14) Singaporean foreign minister in meeting with Abe lauds 
improvement in Japan-China relations 
 
Hayami Ichikawa, Singapore 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso, now visiting Singapore on the first leg 
of his tour of Southeast Asian countries, met yesterday with his 
Singaporean counterpart George Yeo. He explained to Yeo about the 
visit to China by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his meetings with 
Chinese leaders in Beijing in October. Aso stated: "Japan worried 
ASEAN member countries with its interruption of high-level exchanges 
with China. Japan-China relations have now got better." Yeo then 
told Aso: "It is a very good move. All the 'children' (ASEAN 
members) are very happy with the fact that the 'mother and father' 
(China and Japan) get along well now." 
 
15) Government starts coordinating view in order to approve India's 
civilian-use nuclear reactor in support of US-India accord 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The government yesterday started coordinating views on civilian-use 
nuclear development by India with the possibility of supporting the 
agreement reached in March between the US and India. The accord 
approves the US providing nuclear-related technology to India on the 
condition of India accepting inspections by the International Atomic 
Energy Agency (IAEA). Though Japan has been suspending judgment 
about the issue in view of the fact that it is the only country on 
which atomic bombs were used, it has decided to approve the pact 
considering the strategic importance of India. The government's 
switch in its nonnuclear proliferation policy toward giving its 
approval to India, a nuclear power that is not a member of the 
Nonnuclear Proliferation Treaty, will likely draw criticism. 
 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a meeting with Indian Prime 
Minister Singh, who is to visit Japan on Dec. 13, is expected to 
convey Japan's support for the US-India agreement, saying, "Japan 
will look into the issue in a positive manner." 
 
The US and India in March agreed that the US provides 
nuclear-related technology to India with the condition attached that 
India makes its civilian-use nuclear reactor subject to IAEA 
inspections. The implementation of the pact requires approval of the 
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), for which Japan is serving as the 
secretariat. Singh sought Japan's support and understanding when he 
 
SIPDIS 
met with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in July, but 
Koizumi refrained from making a clear-cut reply. 
 
16) Taku Yamasaki corrects his remarks that Koizumi expressed 
 
TOKYO 00006897  010 OF 011 
 
 
willingness for a third visit to North Korea, saying "I said that" 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
In a meeting yesterday of his faction, Taku Yamasaki, former vice 
president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), corrected his 
remarks that former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had expressed a 
willingness to make a third trip to North Korea. He stated in the 
meeting: "(In our meeting on Dec. 6) I suggested that Mr. Koizumi 
make a third visit to North Korea. He was just listening to me." 
 
When reporters asked Koizumi yesterday, "Were you just listening to 
(Mr. Yamasaki talking)?" He nodded his head. He admitted that 
Yamasaki had made up the story. 
 
While Yamasaki was serving as LDP secretary general, Koizumi often 
corrected Yamasaki's remarks. 
 
17) Extension of Diet session seen as unavoidable 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The House of Councillors Education Special Committee decided in its 
directors' meeting yesterday to give up taking a vote on bills 
amending the Fundamental Law of Education today, as desired by the 
ruling camp. The vote will be taken after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 
returns from an overseas trip to attend the East Asia Summit on Dec. 
¶14. The current Diet session is due to adjourn on the 15th, so it 
will be unavoidable to extend the session for about one week. 
 
The Upper and Lower House Diet Affairs Committee chairmen of the 
Liberal Democratic Party and Minshuto met in the Diet building 
yesterday, in which they agreed to hold a question-and-answer 
session at the special committee on Dec. 11 and a central public 
hearing on the 12th. Minshuto refused to attend talks regarding the 
future schedule. 
 
The ruling coalition aims to take a vote on the 14th and enact the 
bills at an Upper House plenary session on the 15th. A senior Diet 
Affairs Committee member in the ruling camp conveyed to the 
government a plan to decide whether to extend the session or not on 
the 14th. But the ruling camp is likely to decide on the extension 
"on the assumption that an unexpected situation might occur," as 
said by a senior Diet Affairs Committee member. 
 
18) Cabinet to endorse today plan to revise road-related tax 
revenues system; Reforms, including gasoline tax system, to be put 
off 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
December 8, 2006 
 
The government and ruling parties agreed yesterday to carry out 
legal amendments during the regular session of the Diet in 2008 that 
would be necessary to pave the way for tax revenues for road 
projects to be used for general purposes. The agreement reflects the 
ruling coalition's demand that a mid-term plan for road construction 
be formulated, among other requests. The government has decided put 
off incorporating gasoline tax revenues, which account for about 80% 
 of the tax revenues for road construction, into general revenues. 
 
TOKYO 00006897  011 OF 011 
 
 
 
The government and ruling camp will reach a final agreement in their 
meeting today and the Cabinet will approve it also today. They aim 
to revise the special law on road construction revenues. However 
since the agreement does not include the plan to use gasoline tax 
revenues for general purposes that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed 
at the Economic and Fiscal Policy Council, the government will face 
difficulties at the stage of amending the law. 
 
19) Lawless: "It would be crazy for Japan not to intercept" missile 
headed for US (Corrected copy; missing text) 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
December 7, 2006 
 
It was confirmed yesterday that during his visit to Japan for senior 
bilateral consultations, US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense 
Lawless, in connection with missile defense (MD) and collective 
self-defense, stated, "It would be crazy if it was clear that a 
missile was headed for the United States, and Japan had the 
capability of shooting it down but did not do so. That would not be 
an alliance." The remark was made to former Defense Agency Shigeru 
Ishiba by Lawrence during their meeting last week, and introduced to 
the Liberal Democratic Party subcommittee on defense policy studies, 
which Ishiba chairs. 
 
SCHIEFFER