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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001059 
 
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 03/12/07 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(13) LDP executive council chairman: Reinvestigation by party of 
comfort women issue is unnecessary 
 
(14) LDP group to submit to prime minister recommendations for 
reinvestigation of Nanjing Massacre 
 
(15) Why does "comfort women" resolution come into focus of 
attention now in US? The move is linked to Democrats-controlled 
Congress? 
 
(16) CNN poll on the web: 75% see no need for Japan to apologize 
again 
 
(17) Abe's remark accelerates debate on "comfort women" resolution 
in US House: House subcommittee chairman 
 
(18) JCP lawmaker takes issue with prime minister-led LDP branch 
office's receipt of 500,000 yen in contribution by 
government-subsidy recipient company 
 
(19) Opposition parties on offensive against prime minister for his 
protection of agriculture minister's misappropriate accounting of 
his utility costs; Criticism arises even in LDP 
 
(20) Editorial: Matsuoka suspected of falsifying political fund 
reports 
 
(21) Government plans to begin environmental assessment for new 
Okinawa base in early April 
 
(22) Japan-Australia EPA: First meeting to take place on Apr. 23, 24 
after unified local elections to avoid possible impact on votes from 
farmers 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(13) LDP executive council chairman: Reinvestigation by party of 
comfort women issue is unnecessary 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
March 30, 2007 
 
In reference to Prime Minister Abe's recent expression of a 
willingness to cooperate in the party's reinvestigation of the 
comfort women issue, Liberal Democratic Party Executive Council 
Chairman Yuya Niwa yesterday said, "This is not a matter that the 
party's leadership should conduct it (reinvestigation) right away." 
He thus indicated that there was no need for the party to conduct 
reinvestigation. 
 
China and South Korea have fiercely reacted to the prime minister's 
remark that "there was no evidence to back the government's coercion 
of wartime sex slavery in a narrow sense." On this issue, Niwa 
stressed the need for a prudent response, saying, "If the government 
touches on (the comfort women issue), it could cause 
misunderstanding. Developing it into a political issue is not 
diplomatically preferable." He was replying to questions by 
reporters at party headquarters. 
 
(14) LDP group to submit to prime minister recommendations for 
reinvestigation of Nanjing Massacre 
 
TOKYO 00001059  002 OF 008 
 
 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
March 10, 2007 
 
"The group of lawmakers considering Japan's future and history 
education," composed of likeminded members of the Liberal Democratic 
Party, decided in a meeting held at party headquarters yesterday to 
present to Prime Minister Abe in early April a package of 
recommendations calling on the government to reinvestigate the 
Nanjing Massacre Incident. 
 
Former Education and Science Minister Nariaki Nakayama, chairman of 
the group, said, "It is strange to find false statements." He 
indicated that the group would collect and analyze data 
independently and then work out a package. 
 
The group submitted recommendations to the prime minister on March 
8, seeking to reinvestigate the comfort women issue. 
 
(15) Why does "comfort women" resolution come into focus of 
attention now in US? The move is linked to Democrats-controlled 
Congress? 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 11, 2007 
 
Masaya Oikawa, Washington 
 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's remark about the wartime comfort women 
issue that "there was no evidence to prove coercion (by the Imperial 
Japanese Army)" is causing ripples in the United States. Liberal 
dailies, such as The New York Times, carried editorials critical of 
that remark. This seems to be giving a boost to a bipartisan House 
resolution calling on Japan to apologize to the former comfort 
women. The co-sponsors of the bill aim to get the resolution adopted 
by the end of the month. 
 
The past four similar resolutions scrapped 
 
The resolution calls on the Japanese government to "formally 
acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a 
clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion 
of young women into sexual slavery." Opposing it, Japanese 
Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato in a letter addressed to 
the Congress said, "The Japanese government officially acknowledged 
the responsibility and apologized," and he rebutted, "It is not 
based on objective facts," asking for not adopting the resolution. 
 
US Representative Michael Honda, referring to the apologies made by 
the past Japanese prime ministers, said, "They were not sincere and 
clear apologies by the Japanese government." He stressed: "Making an 
apology is an important step toward redemption of the past." In the 
past, four similar resolutions have been submitted to the House 
since 2000. Last September, one similar resolution was adopted for 
the first time in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, but failed 
to be approved in a plenary session and was eventually scrapped. 
 
The current resolution likely to be adopted in a plenary session 
 
One reason why the resolution is suddenly capturing the spotlight 
now is because it is likely to be adopted in a plenary session now 
that the Democratic Party has regained a majority both in the House 
and in the Senate as a result of the mid-term elections last 
 
TOKYO 00001059  003 OF 008 
 
 
November. 
 
In addition, US media has begun giving wide coverage to the 
resolution, as if to be stimulated by Abe's remark. Mark Peattie, a 
visiting professor at Stanford University, said to San Jose Mercury 
(in California) dated March 6: "This is the same as denying the 
Holocaust." San Jose is Representative Honda's electorate. 
 
May have some links to his electoral district 
 
Honda is a third-generation Japanese-American. In his childhood, he 
was in a camp for Japanese-Americans in Colorado. One reason why 
Honda is deeply involved in the comfort women issue is because he 
has been critical of Japan's act of war since he served as a member 
of the California assembly. Another reason apparently lies in the 
situation in his electoral district in San Jose. 
 
The percentage of Asian-Americans in the population of California's 
congressional district 15 was 29% (as of 2004). The population ratio 
of Asian-Americans is the highest in the US mainland. There are also 
a large number of Korean-Americans. A Washington-based group on the 
wartime comfort women issue and human rights organizations led by 
Koreans are actively carrying on campaigns. Honda is acting in 
concert with them. At a press conference on March 7, Ambassador Kato 
indicated that the situation in his electoral district is 
intertwined with the resolution, noting: "A domestic political map 
is linked to the submission of that kind of resolution." 
 
(16) CNN poll on the web: 75% see no need for Japan to apologize 
again 
 
SANKEI (Page 3) (Full) 
March 10, 2007 
 
CNN, a US cable television station, conducted an Internet-based 
questionnaire survey on whether Japan should apologize again over 
the so-called comfort women issue. In response, "no" tripled "yes." 
 
The survey was posted to the "Quick Vote" corner on March 4. There 
were about 3.2 million votes on March 9, with "yes" accounting for 
25% and "no" reaching 75%. However, CNN notes that the results only 
represent the opinions of Internet users. 
 
The JongAng Ilbo, a South Korean daily, reported in its electronic 
Japanese language version that the survey was developing to the 
advantage of Japan and causing a shock in South Korea. The daily 
surmises that Japanese conservatives could have urged intensive 
participation in voting. It also quotes one as saying South Korean 
society and South Korean Internet citizens should vote "yes" with 
interest. 
 
(17) Abe's remark accelerates debate on "comfort women" resolution 
in US House: House subcommittee chairman 
 
AKAHATA (Page 1) (Full) 
March 9, 2007 
 
Yumi Kamazuka, Washington 
 
In an interview with Akahata on March 7, Eni Faleomavaega 
(Democrat), chair of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the 
Global Environment of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said 
he hopes to hold debate on the "comfort women" resolution "by the 
 
TOKYO 00001059  004 OF 008 
 
 
end of March" so as to send it to the House Committee on Foreign 
Affairs. The resolution calls on the Japanese government to 
apologize on the issue of former "wartime comfort women" involving 
the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. 
 
With prime minister's planned visit to US in mind, US Congress gave 
consideration at one point to Japan but "the situation has now 
changed dramatically" 
 
Faleomavaega had told some media companies that taking a vote on the 
resolution might be carried over to sometime after Prime Minister 
Abe's planned visit to the United States at the end of April. But he 
said that "the situation has dramatically changed" with "Prime 
Minister Abe's grave remark" denying that the country's military 
forced "women" to work in comfort facilities or brothels. 
 
Faleomavaega described Abe's remark as "very contradictory and 
grave," and he insisted that "there was a good reason" to release 
the 1993 Japanese government statement in the name of then Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Kono, in which Kono acknowledged the Imperial 
Japanese Army's involvement in the comfort women issue and its 
coercion of women into sexual slavery. Referring to the Japanese 
government's past attitude, Faleomavaega said, "It was not at all 
seen as a genuine apology." Touching on the Kono statement, 
Faleomavaega said, "I respect it," but he added, "I don't think it 
was an official apology." 
 
Abe's remark changed the attitude of US legislators who until then 
had been protective of the Japanese government. At a hearing where 
former "comfort women" testified, Congressman Rohrabacher was the 
only opponent to the resolution, arguing, "The Japanese government 
has repeatedly apologized," but on March 7, Rohrabacher's 
spokeswoman Setmeyer said that the prime minister's remark 
"contradicts the 1993 Kono statement and is unacceptable." She 
announced that if the resolution is put to the vote, "Rohrabacher 
will vote for it." 
 
Abe's remark has boosted the resolution and increased the number of 
co-sponsors of the resolution by 10 to 36 immediately after his 
remark came out. Faleomavaega predicted: "The number of co-sponsors 
will increase even further." 
 
Abe mentions reconsideration of the Kono statement 
 
On March 8, Nariaki Nakayama, chair of the Parliamentary Council to 
Consider the Future of Japan and History Education, a group of 
lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and others 
met with Abe and asked him to reexamine the "wartime comfort women" 
issue with the aim of adding "revisions" to the Kono statement. Abe 
told them: "I will reexamine it if necessary and will disclose data 
as well." 
 
At the same time, Abe added: "The US House resolution is not based 
on objective facts nor is it based on the Japanese government's 
response to the comfort women issue." Abe then indicated his 
intention to step up diplomatic efforts to prevent the resolution 
from being adopted. 
 
(18) JCP lawmaker takes issue with prime minister-led LDP branch 
office's receipt of 500,000 yen in contribution by 
government-subsidy recipient company 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
 
TOKYO 00001059  005 OF 008 
 
 
March 10, 2007 
 
Ken Aoshima, Tsuyoshi Torichigae 
 
It was learned that the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) local 
chapter now headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had received 500,000 
yen in 2002 from a company subsidized by the central government. At 
an Upper House Budget Committee session on March 9, Satoshi Inoue, a 
member of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), brought up this issue 
and said, "Wasn't it a violation of the Political Funds Control 
Law?" In response, Abe said: "I have no idea how to see whether 
(contributors) are subsidized by the government." 
 
The Political Funds Control Law bars political party-related 
organizations from receiving donations from companies within one 
year after the central government decide to subsidize them. The 
LDP's local chapter in question received a contribution from a 
recycling equipment company in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi 
Prefecture, in January 2002. In July 2001, the Ministry of Economy, 
Trade and Industry (METI) decided to subsidize that firm. 
 
Based on an e-mail allegedly sent by the president of the company, 
Inoue further pursued Abe, asking whether when products were sold to 
a former Japan Highway Public Corp.-related foundation, Abe, who 
then served as deputy chief cabinet secretary, acted as a 
go-between. In response, Abe said: "I have no recollection of such a 
thing at all. I am quite upset about such a question." 
 
On the night of March 9, the president of the company said: "The 
address shown on the e-mail was not what I used at the time. That 
mail couldn't be true." 
 
(19) Opposition parties on offensive against prime minister for his 
protection of agriculture minister's misappropriate accounting of 
his utility costs; Criticism arises even in LDP 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 10, 2007 
 
Takashi Tanigawa 
 
At a session yesterday of the Upper House Budget Committee, 
Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka refused to give a detailed 
answer to a question about his fund management body's political fund 
report, in which utility costs, which are charge-free, were 
declared. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defended Matsuoka. The 
opposition parties are intensifying their offensive against the Abe 
cabinet, labeling it as having the "nature of concealing facts". 
 
"All fund reports have been made in an appropriate manner. I want to 
refrain from reporting other things than what has been already made 
open to the public because doing so is not required under the 
current law," Matsuoka said, when he was grilled by Keiichiro Asao 
(legislator of the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto or DPJ)) 
about the reason why his political fund report declared high utility 
costs totaling about 28.80 million yen for 2001-2005 for his office 
in Tokyo, which is his only Tokyo office located in the Diet 
Members' Building. Abe just reiterated that Matsuoka made fund 
reports in accordance with the Political Funds Control Law. 
 
The opposition bloc demanded that Matsuoka should give a clear 
account of the reported utility costs because he earlier said at an 
Upper House Budget Committee session on March 5 that "the costs 
 
TOKYO 00001059  006 OF 008 
 
 
included the costs for something like regenerated water or heating," 
adding, "After examining them, I will answer to the extent necessary 
for me to do so." Later, however, Matsuoka just insisted: "As a 
result of examining it, I found there was no inappropriateness." 
 
But there is criticism even in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP). Takashi Sasagawa, chair of the LDP's Party Ethics Committee, 
says: "Everyone wonders why utility costs added up to such a huge 
amount. I also drink regenerated water every day, but the cost for a 
device regenerating water is 200,000 yen per unit." This problem 
seems likely to become another source of problem to shake the Abe 
cabinet. 
 
(20) Editorial: Matsuoka suspected of falsifying political fund 
reports 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 10, 2007 
 
Who will believe Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister 
Toshikatsu Matsuoka's Diet replies on utilities? 
 
The office of Matsuoka's fund management organization exists only in 
the Dietmembers' Office Building, which does not charge rent or 
utilities. Despite that, his office declared 5.07 million yen as 
utilities in 2005. Including that amount, his political fund reports 
listed utilities totaling 28.8 million yen for a five-year period. 
 
Utilities are defined as fees for electricity, gas, water, and their 
instruments. They are straightforward unlike office expenses, which 
are unclear in definition. 
 
In the Diet, opposition parties raised questions about the Matsuoka 
office's massive utilities. The farm minister offered a pointless 
explanation, saying, "The utilities included some kind of 
regenerated water and fees for heating and the like." 
 
Matsuoka promised to offer a clear-cut explanation after checking 
with his office, but that, too, was thrown into the wastebasket. He 
also refused to give a detailed explanation before the Upper House 
Budget Committee on March 9, noting: "My office reported utilities 
appropriately. Under existing legislation, I am not required to 
offer a detailed explanation." 
 
The Dietmembers' Office Buildings are air-conditioned. It is 
inconceivable for an office in such a building to annually spend 
millions of yen on utilities. 
 
A reporter asked, "Are you drinking water that costs 5,000 yen (per 
bottle)?" In response, Matsuoka said, "Nowadays, nobody drinks tap 
water." What is regenerated water? If cooling and heating devices 
are installed in his office, he should at least produce pictures of 
those devices. 
 
Under the Political Funds Control Law, lawmakers are not required to 
attach receipts for operating expenses, such as office expenses and 
utilities. They are not required to offer detailed explanations to 
the public, either. 
 
But that does not mean they do not have to explain matters to the 
public. Needless to say, all political parties, except the Japanese 
Communist Party, have been receiving political subsidies funded by 
tax money. The transparency of political funds must be increased in 
 
TOKYO 00001059  007 OF 008 
 
 
order to restore public trust in politics. 
 
Matsuoka's Diet replies would prompt people to speculate that he 
used utilities to conceal shady spending which is a violation of the 
Political Funds Control Law. 
 
To our disappointment, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also defended 
Matsuoka, saying, "The expenses were reported properly under the 
law." Abe should have urged Matsuoka to offer a detailed 
explanation. 
 
Abe had also defended Health, Labor, and Welfare Minister Hakuo 
Yanagisawa, who described women as "baby-making machines." The prime 
minister is too lenient toward his ministers. 
 
Ichiro Ozawa, president of the major opposition party Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan), released details of how his political 
management body spent the large amounts of money listed as "office 
expenses." But the Liberal Democratic Party has not responded to 
Ozawa's explanation. This seems to suggest the LDP's desire to put 
an early end to the office expense and utilities issue. 
 
The Lower House debate on the "politics and money" issue was 
insufficient. The opposition camp must continue pursuing the issue 
severely. 
 
Questions also remain about Matsuoka's office expenses. A failure to 
address them would lose the public's trust of politics. 
 
(21) Government plans to begin environmental assessment for new 
Okinawa base in early April 
 
AKAHATA (Page 1) (Full) 
March 10, 2007 
 
The government is pushing ahead with a plan to begin a preliminary 
survey in early April before conducting an environmental assessment 
for building a new base on the coastline of Camp Schwab to replace 
the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station, it has been learned as of 
March 9. 
 
According to the Naha Defense Facilities Administration Bureau, the 
government publicly announced in its gazette dated Feb. 8 the 
bidding for the environmental assessment around Camp Schwab. The 
government plans to enter into a contract with a successful bidder 
in one week after closing the tender on March 28 to immediately 
begin surveying the marine habitat for dugongs and water quality 
near Camp Schwab, including Oura Bay and Henoko Bay. 
 
The government has insisted on the need to begin the environmental 
assessment by May by calculating backwards from its target of making 
the new base operational in 2014. However, the Okinawa prefectural 
and Nago municipal governments have been calling for the government 
to revise its new base plan and lay down an offshore facility in 
waters off the coast of Nago. The have not agreed to the 
environmental assessment based on the government plan. 
 
Meanwhile, Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on March 9 endorsed the prior 
survey, saying, "The central government is allowed to conduct the 
survey." 
 
In this connection, a Naha Defense Facilities Administration Bureau 
official explained: "The government will conduct the environmental 
 
TOKYO 00001059  008 OF 008 
 
 
assessment based on the results of the prior survey." According to 
the DFAA, the content of the prior survey is substantially the same 
as that of the environmental assessment. 
 
By collecting necessary data in the name of a preliminary survey, 
the government eyes shortening the environmental assessment, which 
is said to take three years. 
 
Gov. Nakaima, however, also indicated that he has yet to reach a 
conclusion in the event the central government asked for his 
authorization to use necessary sea areas (public waters). 
 
(22) Japan-Australia EPA: First meeting to take place on Apr. 23, 24 
after unified local elections to avoid possible impact on votes from 
farmers 
 
MAINICHI (Page 9) (Full) 
March 10, 2007 
 
It was decided on Mar. 9 that the first round of talks for 
Japan-Australia economic partnership agreement (EPA) will be held in 
Canberra on Apr. 23 and 24. The upcoming unified local elections 
will end April 22, so a government source takes the view that the 
decision reflects the Japanese government's wish to avoid the 
possible impact of the trade talks on farmers' votes. 
 
Both countries agreed to start talks following the finalization of a 
report last December on joint research between the two countries. 
However, the timing for starting talks has not been set until 
immediately before Australian Prime Minister Howard will visit Japan 
on Mar. 11. 
 
Agricultural organizations, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers 
with vested interests in agriculture and local governments are 
increasingly alarmed about EPA talks with Australia, a major 
farm-product exporting county, saying that an EPA with such a 
country will deal a major blow to Japanese agriculture. When the 
agreement to start talks was reached, the Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries Committee of the Upper and Lower Houses unanimously 
adopted a resolution that the government should approach the talks 
with preparedness to suspend the talks unless such treatments as 
that key farm productions, such as rice, beef, dairy products, wheat 
and sugar, are exempted from the list of products subject to tariff 
scrapping, are allowed. 
 
In particular, many LDP members are concerned that progress in the 
EAP talks with Australia will lead to their losing votes from 
farmers in the upcoming unified local elections and the Upper House 
election this summer. For this reason, the first meeting, which will 
have strong connotations for participants to meet, has now been set 
to take place after the unified local elections. Another view is 
that if the holding of the second round for substantive discussions 
is delayed, its impact on the Upper House election could also be 
prevented. 
 
However, Australia has rarely approved exceptions to the abolition 
of tariffs in EPAs with other countries. According to a joint 
research report, all items will be brought up for discussions with 
Japan. As such, the EPA talks with Australia are expected to be 
confrontational. 
 
SCHIEFFER