VZCZCXRO3353
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1090/01 0720812
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130812Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1571
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 2663
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 0188
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 3692
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 9585
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 1154
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6120
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2209
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3535

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001090 
 
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 03/13/07-2 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(10) Defense minister, US consul general agree to expedite Futenma 
relocation 
 
(11) Aso hits Nakagawa's head for nuke argument; Public opinion 
skeptic like grandfather 
 
(12) Six-party talks on North Korea a tough test for Abe's 
diplomacy 
 
(13) Editorial: Anti-amakudari measures; Questiong prime minister's 
enthusiasm 
 
(14) Big-rigging practices - Plunge scalpel into collusive ties 
(Part 2): FTC, prosecutors launch offensive in response to 
taxpayers' desire 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(10) Defense minister, US consul general agree to expedite Futenma 
relocation 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Top play) (Full) 
March 12, 2007 
 
Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, who arrived in Okinawa Prefecture on 
March 10, met with US Consul General Kevin Maher in the town of 
Haebaru yesterday afternoon to exchange views, and the two agreed to 
relocate Futenma airfield as early as possible. After meeting with 
Maher, Kyuma stressed to reporters that he did not discuss any 
revisions to the Futenma relocation plan. Maher avoided referring 
directly to his meeting with Kyuma. "I don't want to say anything 
specific," he said. 
 
Kyuma told reporters: "I heard the consul general's frank views and 
impressions of Okinawa. He told me: 'In my view, the base issue is a 
matter of the third interest or so to the residents of Okinawa 
Prefecture. I think they are more interested in the economy and 
employment.'" Kyuma also explained why he had visited Okinawa: "I 
wanted to hear a third person's view other than those of government 
and prefectural officials. I can meet the governor and the (Nago) 
mayor in Tokyo. But the consul general is posted here to cover this 
area, so I can't meet him unless I come down here." 
 
Asked about revising the relocation plan, Kyuma said: "I know he 
will answer the current plan is the best one, even if I ask about 
it. I am not that much of a dunce as to ask about what I know 
already." 
 
Maher said: "Basically, both governments with the same purpose in 
mind have agreed to carry out the (Futenma relocation) plan as soon 
as possible, while lightening the burden of Okinawa and maintaining 
our (US military) capabilities. I think more than half of Okinawa 
Prefecture's people will support this plan if they understand how 
much it will benefit Okinawa." 
 
(11) Aso hits Nakagawa's head for nuke argument; Public opinion 
skeptic like grandfather 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) 
Eve., March 8, 2007 
 
 
TOKYO 00001090  002 OF 008 
 
 
Less than a month after the Abe cabinet came into office, a row 
broke out over whether the propriety of Japan debating the pros and 
cons of arming itself with nuclear weapons. 
Last Oct. 9, North Korea conducted a nuclear weapon test. Shortly 
thereafter, Shoichi Nakagawa, 53, chairman of the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party's policy board, appeared on a TV talk show that was 
aired Oct. 15. Nakagawa there advocated discussing the nuclear 
option for Japan to deter an armed attack. "We must discuss the 
matter," Nakagawa said. 
 
Nakagawa has worked together with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 52, on 
the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea and the 
issue of history textbooks for school use. Did this sworn friend of 
Abe mean to say Japan also should have nuclear weapons-practicing an 
eye-for-an-eye principle? 
 
About a month before that, a PHP INTERFACE-published book hit store 
shelves. The book, Nihon Kakubuso no Ronten (Point at issue: Japan 
arming itself with nuclear weapons), was co-authored by Terumasa 
Nakanishi, 59, a professor at Kyoto University. In the book, 
Nakanishi openly developed an argument advocating Japan going 
nuclear. Nakanishi is one of the scholars on Abe's brain trust. 
Japan has avowed its three principles of not producing, possessing, 
or introducing nuclear weapons. How far does Abe listen to the 
arguments of Nakanishi and other brain trusters? 
 
The foreign minister in a public gathering gave someone a clout on 
the head. Such a singular incident took place on the evening of Oct. 
16, the day after Nakagawa made the remarks. It was at a reception 
for exchanges between Japan and China. Among those at the reception 
were Wang Jiarui, chief of the Chinese Communist Party's 
International Liaison Department, and Wang Yi, Chinese ambassador to 
Japan. In their presence, Foreign Minister Taro Aso, 66, suddenly 
gave Nakagawa a clout on the head. 
 
"This man said what's unnecessary without thinking over TPO (time, 
place, occasion), so I'm very troubled." 
 
Aso is a grandson of Shigeru Yoshida, who was known as a one-man 
premier. Aso studied abroad and later became president of Aso Cement 
Co., Ltd. He entered politics at the age of 39. In July last year, 
North Korea launched missiles. Then, Aso, as then Prime Minister 
Koizumi's foreign minister, moved quickly to work on the United 
Nations Security Council for a resolution imposing sanctions on 
North Korea, and he built a relationship of mutual trust with Abe, 
who was Koizumi's chief cabinet secretary. 
 
America is wary of arguments in Japan about a nuclear option. Aso 
called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later in the day after 
North Korea's nuclear test. "I would like the United States to 
declare that it will take every possible measure to defend Japan," 
Aso asked Rice. "Otherwise," he added, "it may give rise to 
arguments calling for Japan to go nuclear." Rice later visited 
Japan, and she stressed that the United States would defend Japan 
under its nuclear umbrella. 
 
Aso forestalled the moves of nuclear advocates. On Oct. 18, however, 
Aso, who was guarded against the rise of arguments for the nuclear 
option, stated in the Diet: "When a neighboring country came to have 
(nuclear weapons), it's also important to discuss (the advisability 
of Japan's nuclear possession)." 
 
What did Aso really mean? 
 
TOKYO 00001090  003 OF 008 
 
 
 
After several drinks, Aso often talks about former Foreign Minister 
Jutaro Komura, who concluded peace in the Russo-Japanese War, and 
Yosuke Matsuoka, who headed the Japanese delegation when Japan 
walked out of the League of Nations (in 1933). 
 
"Komura, who saved Japan from collapse, was treated as a traitor 
among those who insisted on going to war. Matsuoka, who made the 
decision leading Japan to ruin, was greeted with a big applause. The 
Japanese people are easily swayed by the mood at the time." 
 
Aso's cynical way of speaking-inherited from his grandfather-shows 
his skepticism of public opinion. 
 
"It would be better not have nuclear weapons. Why? If we only cry 
out against nuclear weapons emotionally without discussion, we will 
work up a strong mood for pitting  nuclear weapons against nuclear 
weapons when the threat from North Korea becomes even more 
realistic." With this, Aso thinks it would be better for Japan not 
to have nuclear weapons. What he fears is a "mood" that cannot be 
stopped. 
 
Shigeru Ishiba, 50, an LDP lawmaker, was suddenly asked by Aso to 
take over his nuclear argument. "I've done it to this extent, so 
I'll leave the rest to you," Aso said to Ishiba. "Why me?" Ishiba 
was at a loss. Later on, however, Ishiba argued in Shukan Asahi that 
the nuclear debate must not be suppressed. He said, "It's not in the 
interests of Japan to possess nuclear weapons because there are many 
more negative aspects than positive aspects. 
 
Ishiba listed the downside by saying: "Japan depends on atomic power 
generation for 40% of its electric power. Fuel imports, 
reprocessing, and technology transfer will stop. In time, Japan's 
atomic power plants will shut down." Another downside he cited was 
that "Japan's neighbors would also go nuclear." 
 
At one time, it was taboo for cabinet ministers to talk about a 
nuclear option. Breaking a taboo used to result in their apologies 
or even resignations. This time, Aso has not revised his nuclear 
remarks. He half broke the taboo on a nuclear discourse. However, by 
sounding as if he is insisting only on freedom of discussion, the 
effect could be to incite Japan to go nuclear. 
 
In a parliamentary one-on-one debate held in November last year 
Ichiro Ozawa, 64, president of the leading opposition Democratic 
Party of Japan (Minshuto), criticized Abe for the nuclear arguments 
coming from his cabinet and the ruling party. Abe, in his rebuttal 
to Ozawa, argued: "It's also part of the nuclear debate to say we 
should not have nuclear weapons." With this, Abe said he condoned a 
nuclear debate. Abe later said: "Mr. Ozawa once said, 'Japan can 
make nuclear weapons at any time.' He has said a lot of things. I 
thought to say, 'I'm not so radical like you.' But I left it 
unsaid." 
 
(12) Six-party talks on North Korea a tough test for Abe's 
diplomacy 
 
ASAHI (Page 15) (Abridged slightly) 
March 13, 2007 
 
By Hiroshi Hoshi, senior writer 
 
Fierce international maneuvering is underway over North Korea's 
 
TOKYO 00001090  004 OF 008 
 
 
nuclear programs. The United States and Japan separately held talks 
with North Korea, but the North is clinging to its "nuclear card." 
The North is also trying to isolate Japan, which wants to resolve 
the abduction issue. Mr. Principle and Mr. Reality discussed the 
significance of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear 
issue. 
 
Mr. Principle: "Throughout the talks with his US counterpart in New 
York, the North Korean negotiator was wearing a smile. Washington 
has decided to partially lift its financial sanctions on Pyongyang, 
and the North apparently wanted to play up its friendliness. 
Meanwhile, in the talks with Japan in Hanoi, the North repeatedly 
insisted that the abduction issue had been settled. It clearly 
reflected Pyongyang's intention to exclude Japan from the 
multilateral framework." 
 
Mr. Reality: "The six-party negotiations have proceeded as a five 
against one game for North Korea and Japan. The North is trying to 
isolate Japan from the rest of the members. Japan, on the hand, is 
trying to tighten the noose around the North with the four other 
countries. The alliance with the United States is a great advantage 
for Japan. China, South Korea, and Russia would not even try to 
compete with the strong Japan-US alliance. Shortly after taking 
office, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited China and South Korea, and 
that helped greatly to improve relations with those countries. North 
Korea has futilely tried time and again to drive a wedge between 
Japan and the United States." 
 
Principle: "Will the Foreign Ministry be able to handle the matter 
deftly?" 
 
Reality: "Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, who is the top 
working-level official, is Prime Minister Abe's brain trust. A 
quarter of a century ago, Shintaro Abe was a secretary to his 
father, Shintaro Abe, who was then foreign minister. Yachi at the 
time was a secretary to a vice foreign minister. Working in the 
rooms adjacent to each other, the two cultivated a friendship that 
remains vibrant today. 
 
Ambassador for Japan-DPRK diplomatic normalization talks Koichi 
Haraguchi is a seasoned diplomat who served in such posts as 
ambassador to the United Nations. Asian and Oceanian Bureau Director 
General Kenichiro Sasae, chief negotiator in the six-party talks, is 
fully aware of Pyongyang's intention, having served as chief of the 
division responsible for North Korean affairs. Deputy Director 
General Junichi Ihara, who is serving as an assistant to Haraguchi 
and Sasae, is a cool-headed mid-level official, who served in such 
posts as minister to the United States after pursuing studies at 
Harvard University. The Foreign Ministry's lineup is powerful." 
 
Principle: "The North is expected to apply pressure on Japan and the 
United States in the next round of the six-party talks slated to 
open on March 19." 
 
Reality: "University of Tokyo Prof. Akihiko Tanaka, an expert on 
international politics, wrote that the objective of the six-party 
talks was to 'make deals' rather than to force the North into 
submission. I agree with him. In the talks in February, the members 
decided on a set of minimum steps designed to prevent North Korea 
from pursuing nuclear development. Japan must join efforts with 
other countries to ensure that North Korea will deliver on its 
promise. After all, the North Korean nuclear threat is most serious 
for Japan. The public in the US has become increasingly aware of the 
 
TOKYO 00001090  005 OF 008 
 
 
abduction issue, as well. The abduction issue has taken on an aspect 
of families of abductees working upon public opinion of other 
countries through the media and prompting their governments to make 
moves." 
 
Principle: "Japan harbors many concerns, as well. First, the Bush 
administration might go ahead and improve relations with North Korea 
behind Japan's back. The Bush administration wants to achieve 
visible results on this issue, but it has less than two years to do 
so. China and South Korea's strong reactions to Prime Minister Abe's 
remarks on the comfort women issue might rekindle the row over 
historical views. 
 
According to a certain cabinet minister, Abe has not given up the 
option of visiting Yasukuni Shrine. The minister predicted that Abe 
would visit the controversial shrine by this fall marking the first 
anniversary of his assumption of office. His visit to the shrine is 
certain to strain relations with Beijing and Seoul and eventually 
take a toll on the six-party talks." 
 
Reality: "The focus is now on the extent to which Abe can discuss 
matters with President Bush during his visit to the United States in 
late April. The comfort women issue and a visit to Yasukuni Shrine 
depend on Abe's own decisions. According to a senior government 
official knowledgeable about the North Korean situation, Pyongyang 
is attentively watching how this summer's Upper House election will 
turn out. Pyongyang apparently intends to determine its response to 
Japan after observing the results of the election, which can dictate 
the fate of the Abe administration." 
 
Principle: "The six-party talks are Japan's first full-fledged 
diplomatic game over security in East Asia. They are a tough test 
for Abe, who has made his name by taking a hard-line stance toward 
the abduction issue." 
 
(13) Editorial: Anti-amakudari measures; Questiong prime minister's 
enthusiasm 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 13, 2007 
 
State Minister for Administrative Reform Yoshimi Watanabe last week 
presented a set of proposals for totally prohibiting government 
agencies from providing placement services for retiring bureaucrats. 
However, this proposal came under a barrage of criticism. This 
reaction of the LDP to Watanabe's proposal for reforming the public 
servant system is obvious proof of the actual situation of the Abe 
administration. Their reaction gave us the impression that the scene 
of government agencies and concerned lawmakers resisting a reform 
drive in unison as seen in the past has come back. 
 
Proposals Mr. Watanabe offered included: (1) ending the current 
practice of individual government agencies providing placement 
services to bureaucrats who want to land jobs at private companies 
they previously regulated and instead establishing a human resources 
bank to be solely responsible for that job; (2) prohibiting 
government agencies from engaging in activities to find jobs for 
retiring bureaucrats at companies and organizations that have 
connections with their budgets and authority and retired bureaucrats 
from illegally working on the agencies to which they belonged; and 
(3) establishing penalties against unlawful activities, while 
monitoring wrongdoings through the introduction of an external 
monitoring system involving experts. 
 
TOKYO 00001090  006 OF 008 
 
 
 
The practice of amakudari means the chief of each minister's 
secretariat and other senior officials try to secure 
 
SIPDIS 
after-retirement jobs for their bureaucrats, thereby encouraging 
them to retire before they reach mandatory retirement age. It goes 
without saying that in the bureaucrat-led bid-rigging that involved 
a floodgate construction project, the Ministry of Land, 
Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) took into consideration how many 
retired MLIT officials bidding companies accepted in placing 
construction orders. It has been repeatedly pointed out that 
amakudari is the hotbed for collusive ties between bureaucrats and 
companies. However, the government has never dug into the very 
proclivity of the bureaucracy for a long time. 
 
There are a number of hurdles for Watanabe's proposals, including to 
what extent the proposed human resources bank can function. However, 
it is certain that most people have taken the proposals as only 
natural. However, government agencies unanimously opposed the 
proposals. As if to speak for them, a number of lawmakers opposed 
the proposals with one saying, "It is too strict to totally ban job 
placement activities" or another noting, "The proposals are based on 
the notion that everything done by the bureaucracy is bad." Cabinet 
ministers followed suit voicing a cautious argument. 
 
It is said that though the state minister for administrative reform 
wants to totally scrap job placement activities by government 
agencies by April 2009, the LDP is preparing a proposal for delaying 
the time-line for a shift to a human resources bank to April 2018 or 
later. Does it mean that government agencies have already planned 
amakudari schedules several years down the pike? Setting the 
time-line at more than 10 years ahead is tantamount to that they 
have no intention of reforming amakudari. 
 
Private-sector members of the government's Council on Economic and 
Fiscal Policy first proposed the idea of prohibiting government 
agencies from providing placement activities for retiring 
bureaucrats. LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa also began 
proposing a similar idea around the same time. Mr. Nakagawa appears 
to be motivated by the desire to fight the Upper House election on a 
platform of reform of the public servant system, making a public 
appeal that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto), which 
receives support from government and municipal trade union bodies, 
is not eager to carry out reform. 
 
Apart from such a politically motivated calculation, we do not feel 
enthusiasm for reform of the public servant system from Prime 
Minister Abe, compared with his eagerness to pass a national 
referendum bill stipulating procedures for constitutional revision. 
Mr. Nakagawa said, "Prime Minister is determined. This issue will 
reveal the prime minister's mettle." Is that really so? 
 
Some LDP members are reportedly criticizing the proposals saying, 
"(The state minister for administrative reform) thinks the 
government can receive support from people if he offers extreme 
proposals." This comment probably bears out that the LDP has 
backslid to its the old-guard nature of defending its vested 
interests. Reform means pressing ahead with even drastic proposals, 
if necessary. The prime minister is being put to the test regarding 
how seriously he is reform-oriented. 
 
(14) Big-rigging practices - Plunge scalpel into collusive ties 
(Part 2): FTC, prosecutors launch offensive in response to 
taxpayers' desire 
 
TOKYO 00001090  007 OF 008 
 
 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
March 9, 2007 
 
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) secretly launched an investigation 
last December into a bid-rigging case in a municipal subway 
construction project commissioned by the city of Nagoya. 
Investigators from the office responsible for examining criminal 
cases - newly set up in the FTC under the revised Antimonopoly Law - 
started questioning employees of the general contractors allegedly 
involved in the bid-rigging case, in cooperation with the Nagoya 
District Public Prosecutors Office. 
 
The FTC prosecuted five general contractors, including Kashima 
Kensetsu Co., and arrested five responsible officials of the five 
companies in late February, including Masahiro Shibata, 70, a former 
advisor to the Nagoya branch of Obayashi Corp. Shibata is said to 
have been the coordinator for collusive arrangements to rig bids for 
projects in the Chubu district. 
 
The culture of collusion has long taken deep root in the 
construction industry. There were many chances for the FTC to bring 
criminal charges against leading general contractors, but according 
to a senior FTC official, "It was a deep desire that it cannot 
easily fulfill." 
 
In a bid-rigging case in Saitama in 1991, it was found afterward 
that the construction minister at that time had applied pressure to 
the FTC so as not to bring charges against the companies involved. 
 
However, the Antimonopoly Law was amended In January last year to 
give the FTC enforcement power to carry out investigations and to 
empower the district public prosecutors offices across the nation to 
indict companies on charges of collusion. 
 
The FTC applied to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and 
Transport the law to prevent collusive bidding initiated by 
public-sector officials on March 8, the first application of the law 
to a government agency. Prosecutors and the police have recently 
exposed a series of bid-rigging scandals involving governors. A 
senior prosecutor commented: "Now that importance has been placed on 
post-sanction measures, instead of ex-ante regulations, we will 
never overlook bid-rigging practices that affect fair competition. 
We will prosecute all violations." 
 
According to estimates by the liaison conference of citizens' 
ombudsmen, if prefectural governments had introduced an open bidding 
system to prevent collusive arrangements to rig bids, more than 350 
billion yen in tax money would have been saved in FY 2005. Toin 
University of Hokohama Postgraduate Law Faculty Professor Mitsuru 
Suzuki, a former FTC examiner, said, "The people are now aware that 
bid-rigging is a crime that wastes tax money and is not a 'necessary 
evil'." As it stands, ending bid-rigging practices by exposing such 
illegalities among general contractors is the strong desire of the 
taxpaying public. 
 
Investigated general contractors will inevitably have to face harsh 
sanctions, such as a punishment, a surcharge, and demand for 
compensation for default by the local governments that placed the 
orders. In addition, managers might become embroiled in 
shareholders' suits and also could come under the application of the 
so-called "three-punishment rule" in Section 2, Article 95 of the 
Antimonopoly Law. 
 
TOKYO 00001090  008 OF 008 
 
 
 
Under this rule, in a bid-rigging case, offenders, the company, as 
well as executives, even if they were not directly involved in the 
case can be punished with a fine if they are found to have known 
about such illegal acts but took no corrective measures. This rule, 
though, has not been previously applied. 
 
With scandals involving companies exposed one after the other, such 
as the Fujiya foods scandal that involved use of expired ingredients 
to produce cakes, such companies' social responsibility is being 
pursued more severely than in any past cases. The Nagoya District 
Public Prosecutors Office already questioned the vice presidents of 
several leading general contractors about the alleged collusive 
arrangements for the municipal subway construction project. 
 
Under "the three-punishment rule," the management assumes an 
important role in preventing companies' crimes. The increased 
efforts by the FTC and prosecutors to expose bid-rigging practices 
are to reflect the people's desire. If general contractors remain 
unaware of this, they will never be able to seize a chance to regain 
public trust. 
 
SCHIEFFER