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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 001216 
 
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 03/19/07 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Tokyo takes unfreezing bank accounts as having "certain level of 
significance" in order to achieve progress on talks, but some in 
Tokyo concerned about America's now softened position 
 
(2) Editorial: US must remain committed to its North Korea policy's 
basic principle 
 
(3) CIA Director Hayden to visit Japan on March 21; Might meet here 
with Iraqi vice president 
 
(4) Thomas Kreutzer to arrive at consular post in July 
 
(5) Column reporter's eye: My message to Japan on wartime comfort 
women issue; Japan must be modest toward victims and seek 
reconciliation with former comfort women from a broader perspective 
 
(6) Chinese president tells LDP secretary general Prime Minister Abe 
should make efforts to improve relations with China, resolving 
Yasukuni issue 
 
(7) Rate of successful tenders in ODA projects tops 99% : JCP 
lawmaker Kobayashi pursues suspected bid-rigging over ODA projects 
 
(8) Air in the Abe administration: Lawmakers elected for first time 
in 1993 share zeal for reform and urge to steer helm of government 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Tokyo takes unfreezing bank accounts as having "certain level of 
significance" in order to achieve progress on talks, but some in 
Tokyo concerned about America's now softened position 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
Eve., March 19, 2007 
 
The Japanese government is calmly taking the move to unfreeze (North 
Korea's) bank accounts as a necessary action in order to achieve 
progress in the six-party talks. But some officials in the 
government, seeing America's attitude toward North Korea as easing 
more than expected, voiced concern that a future discord could arise 
between Japan, which still has the abduction issue to resolve, and 
the United States. 
 
At a press briefing this morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki 
noted: "It's a good thing to put an end to the (frozen bank-accounts 
issue). There is a certain degree of significance in terms of 
preparing an environment for the six-party talks to move forward. We 
hope to see overall talks move in a good direction." 
 
While North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan had insisted 
on a full unfreezing of his country's bank accounts, it had been 
unclear how many bank accounts would be unfrozen. In part because of 
this, at one point concern grew in Tokyo that "the six-party talks 
could be in danger." But with the US and North Korea reaching 
agreement now, the next round of six-party talks is expected to take 
place as scheduled. Tokyo has now taken this situation as "having 
turned the corner on the issue." 
 
An aide to Prime Minister Abe, however, said that when it came to 
how many bank accounts would be unfrozen, "accurate information from 
the US was not easily available to us." One government official also 
 
TOKYO 00001216  002 OF 009 
 
 
noted: "It's strange to unfreeze such bank accounts that were 
recognized as being used by North Korea for money laundering." 
 
(2) Editorial: US must remain committed to its North Korea policy's 
basic principle 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 16, 2007 
 
The US Department of the Treasury announced its decision on March 14 
to end some of its financial sanctions on North Korea. Ahead of the 
six-party talks resuming March 19, the United States has given a 
carrot to North Korea in order to accelerate nuclear talks with 
North Korea. However, Pyongyang seems unwilling to dole out its 
"first steps" to abandon its nuclear development programs unless the 
United States lifts all of its sanctions. We do not want the United 
States to play into the hands of North Korea with further 
compromises, and we strongly hope that the United States' policy of 
"dialogue and pressure" will not be watered down. 
 
The Bush administration was in a position to call for "a complete, 
verifiable and irreversible dismantling of North Korea's nuclear 
weapons programs (CVID)." It has strongly supported Japan's stance 
of seeking to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to 
North Korea. However, the Bush administration-currently fettered 
with Iraq's postwar settlement and Iran's nuclear program-is being 
criticized at home and abroad for wavering in the basic principles 
of its policy toward North Korea. If the Bush administration pursues 
superficial results with immediate makeshift measures, it could 
result in marring the relationship of mutual trust between Japan and 
the United States and spoiling the United States' international 
prestige. 
 
In September of the year before last, the US Treasury Department 
said North Korea had been committing international economic crimes, 
such as counterfeiting US dollar bills and trafficking in drugs. The 
US Treasury Department therefore designated one of North Korea's 
outposts for such crimes, Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macao-based 
bank, as a major moneylaundering center. In response, Macanese 
authorities took action to freeze about 25 million dollars in North 
Korean bank accounts. 
 
The US Treasury Department, in its action taken this time, 
prohibited US banking institutions from doing business with BDA, 
acknowledging that BDA has done nothing about North Korea's illegal 
acts. Meanwhile, the United States entrusted Macanese authorities 
with the frozen money and accepted a de facto decision to unfreeze 
North Korean bank accounts. Macanese authorities are expected to 
release about 10 million dollars as crime-free money. 
 
At first, the Bush administration was in a position to crack down on 
economic crimes apart from the six-party talks. North Korea demanded 
that the United States should call off its financial sanctions to 
resume the six-party talks. The United States rejected the North 
Korean demand. However, the United States changed course after 
holding talks with North Korea in Berlin in January. This time, the 
United States went ahead with unfreezing some North Korean bank 
accounts in return for the resumption of the six-party talks in 
February. 
 
Last month, the six-party talks reached an agreement. That 
agreement, however, was suspected to be a product of the Bush 
administration's "treachery." The agreement would provide North 
 
TOKYO 00001216  003 OF 009 
 
 
Korea with fuel oil amounting to one million tons in exchange for 
the shutdown of North Korea's nuclear facilities in Yonbyong. The 
agreement did not specify anything about North Korea's existing 
nuclear weapons and plutonium stock. It also fails to make clear 
what should be done about North Korea's secret development of 
nuclear weapons from enriched uranium. 
 
Though a key player, the Bush administration is now wavering in its 
actions, so North Korea's abandonment of its nuclear ambitions may 
end up pie in the sky. Tokyo should remind Washington that Japan is 
neither likely to aid nor normalize relations with North Korea 
unless it first dismantles all its nuclear facilities and the 
abduction issue is resolved. Japan should call on the Bush 
administration to uphold its basic principles. 
 
(3) CIA Director Hayden to visit Japan on March 21; Might meet here 
with Iraqi vice president 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 17, 2007 
 
US Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden will visit 
Japan for several days from March 21 to exchange views with Foreign 
Minister Taro Aso on the North Korean and Iraqi situations, Sankei 
learned on March 16. 
 
Aso is expected to exchange views with Hayden on the situation in 
Iraq, keeping in mind the submission to the Diet before the end of 
March of a bill revising the Iraq Special Measures Law. The 
government intends to make a final decision on the submission of the 
revised bill to the Diet based on intelligence provided by Hayden. 
 
Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi (Sunnis) also will arrive in 
Tokyo on March 21. In April, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a 
member of the Shiite sect, which has increased its confrontation 
with the Sunnis, will visit Japan. The government hopes to receive 
high praise from major Islamic religious groups in Iraq for Japan's 
Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) troops' transport operations. 
 
The government is watching to see if there will possibly be contact 
between Hayden and al-Hashimi during the visits. 
 
(4) Thomas Kreutzer to arrive at consular post in July 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 26) (Full) 
March 17, 2007 
 
Thomas M. Kreutzer, who is scheduled to become a consul at the US 
Consulate General in Naha in July, recently visited the prefecture 
to make preparations for taking on his position. After having served 
at the US Consulate General in Osaka and other posts, he is 
currently studying Japanese at the US Department of State Japanese 
Language and Area Training Center. 
 
His area of responsibility in Okinawa will include public relations, 
cultural affairs, economics, and trade. He has studied Japanese on 
his own, as well. "I have long wanted to work in Okinawa. Okinawa is 
an important place with which we have long had a valuable 
relationship." He is looking forward to assuming his duties this 
summer. 
 
(5) Column reporter's eye: My message to Japan on wartime comfort 
women issue; Japan must be modest toward victims and seek 
 
TOKYO 00001216  004 OF 009 
 
 
reconciliation with former comfort women from a broader perspective 
 
MAINICHI (Page 6) (Full) 
March 16, 2007 
 
By Toshimitsu Kishi, reporter with the Arts and Cultural News 
Department 
 
In the wake of the rekindling of the issue of Japan's wartime 
comfort women, many may wonder why historical issues have yet to be 
resolved. Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, president of the 
Asian Women's Fund (AWF), which will be dissolved at the end of 
March, stressed at his last press conference as AWF president that 
the government should continue to warmly watch over the wartime 
comfort women. I have had to face up to this difficult issue, as if 
boarding the last bus, since three years ago I took part in a 
seminar as a lecturer under University of Tokyo Prof. Yasuaki Onuma, 
one of the organizers of the AWF. What kind of message should Japan 
send? I want to look for ways for an amicable settlement of the 
issue without losing sight of the overall picture. 
 
In this column on Feb. 9, 2005, I introduced readers to the seminar, 
which was held for one year, inviting various guest speakers. The 
seminar was able to tap a wide spectrum, including President 
Murayama, scholars, and those involved in the AWF. The seminar also 
invited persons from both the right and the left wings, who are 
critical of the AWF. Last November I covered the final symposium of 
the fund. As American panelists predicted following the victory of 
the Democratic Party in the mid-term (congressional) elections, the 
comfort women issue has now been brought before the US Congress. 
 
Views of the three historians invited to the seminar were split over 
the question of whether there was coercion toward women. 
 
Their views as summarized were: (1) it clear from existing 
documentary material that the Japanese Imperial Army was deeply 
involved in the recruitment, transfer and management of the comfort 
women, and so it is advisable to consider the testimonies of 
individuals; (2) the women were not forcibly taken like slaves being 
rounded up, but were recruited through normal ways; and many of 
individual crimes, including rapes, were punished; and (3) the 
comfort-women system was created mainly by the military on its own, 
but conditions for sexual violence and the brokers who came with the 
system should be seen as problems. 
 
When I asked if they had any documents, one of them responded: 
"Nobody writes about coercion in official documents." Chances are 
slim that documents that show conclusive evidence will ever be 
discovered. What is more difficult is there will remain gaps in 
translations even through accurate historical study. 
 
The government interviewed 16 former comfort women. In 1993, then 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono released a statement 
acknowledging that the women were forced to work as such during 
wartime. Nobuo Ishihara, former deputy chief cabinet secretary, who 
was involved in drafting the Kono Statement, made the same comment 
in the seminar and in a recent interview: 
 
"We were unable to find documents that proved coercion. Based on the 
testimonies, we arrived at that conclusion as a consensus in the 
cabinet. I do not think they (the 16 former comfort women) told us 
fictitious stories." 
 
 
TOKYO 00001216  005 OF 009 
 
 
According to the government, the interviews were conducted with the 
cooperation of the South Korean government in an environment under 
which the former comfort women would not feel any pressure, based on 
the condition that the interviews would not be released to the 
public. It is regrettable that the documents that were key to the 
government's decision were not disclosed. However, Japan cannot risk 
endangering the identities of the victims, who have lived by hiding 
their painful pasts in a society still under strong Confucian 
influence. 
 
Are there any ways to fill the gaps? When I heard the word "senbu," 
which means to have people in an occupied territory understand the 
purpose of the mainland's policy and thus put them at ease, I 
thought I was convinced. There were some reasons for the necessity 
of comfort women. But the main reason was to contain anti-Japanese 
sentiments intensified by the soldiers' assaults on the Korean 
Peninsula. Today, sexual crime committed by troops stationed in a 
country would evoke the wrath of the citizens. 
 
When the controversy recently erupted in the United States and not 
in the countries concerned, what came to my mind was a speech 
delivered at the seminar by Yuzo Yokota, a member of the United 
Nations sub-commission on human rights. He said that it is the 
interpretation of classic international law that the peace treaty 
between nations and the bilateral treaty rule out the right of claim 
as sought by the former comfort women, but he added that there still 
remains room to debate the right to claim by individuals. Yokota's 
idea was that since the universality of human rights transcends 
place, country and the times, Japan's explanation that problems 
during World War II have been resolved is not enough. 
 
When I asked Yokota about the background for the US Congress' 
current move, he responded that there were activities by 
non-governmental organizations in the background. He pointed out: 
 
"The US Congress' move shows that the time has come for those 
interested in human rights to act in global terms. Unless Japan 
comes up with policy measures that meet such solidarity, the issue 
will probably continue to remain unresolved." 
 
It is true that US media reports on the comfort woman issue raise 
questions. Following the Kono statement, the Asian Women's Fund was 
set up. The fund is a new system under which the government and 
private citizens shared war responsibility for the comfort women. I 
think appreciation should be given to successive prime ministers 
Ryutaro Hashimoto, Keizo Obuchi, Yoshiro Mori, and Junichiro Koizumi 
for sending letters of apology to the former "comfort women." The 
letters stated: 
 
"The government of Japan sincerely apologizes and expresses remorse 
from the bottom of its heart for all those who experienced as 
comfort women many hardships and suffered wounds that will never be 
healed. " 
 
I think what is important for Japan as the aggressor to be careful 
about what it says. Looking at the many elderly persons who 
participated in a meeting held after former Prime Minister 
Murayama's press conference, I felt the passage of time. Taking 
those efforts and limits into consideration, I will start doing what 
I can do to help. 
 
(6) Chinese president tells LDP secretary general Prime Minister Abe 
should make efforts to improve relations with China, resolving 
 
TOKYO 00001216  006 OF 009 
 
 
Yasukuni issue 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 17, 2007 
 
Yasushi Sugimoto, Beijing 
 
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary General Hidenao 
Nakagawa and New Komeito Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa met with 
Chinese President Hu Jintao on March 16 at the Great Hall of the 
People in Beijing. During the meeting, President Hu told the two 
party officials, "Good relations are continuing" between Japan and 
China. However, he indirectly sought to constrain a possible visit 
to Yasukuni Shrine by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and to check Abe's 
recent remarks on the comfort-women issue. Hu told the two 
secretaries general of the ruling parties: "(The prime minister) 
 
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should deal appropriately with important and delicate issues and 
make efforts to improve our healthy bilateral relationship." 
 
Nakagawa, in turn, asked Hu to cooperate with Japan in resolving 
North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals, as well as the issue 
of China's gas exploration in the East China Sea. Hu expressed hopes 
for an early settlement of the gas exploration issue. Regarding the 
abduction issue, he only went so far as to say, "I hope that Japan 
and North Korea will resolve it appropriately through dialogue." 
 
Nakagawa handed to Hu a letter from Abe inviting the president to 
Japan. Hu tried to play up friendly ties between Japan and China, 
refraining from remarks criticizing Japan. 
 
(7) Rate of successful tenders in ODA projects tops 99% : JCP 
lawmaker Kobayashi pursues suspected bid-rigging over ODA projects 
 
AKAHATA (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2007 
 
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) lawmaker Mieko Kobayashi during an 
Upper House Budget committee meeting on Mar. 16 raised questions 
about suspected bid-rigging activities in Foreign Ministry 
(MOFA)-sponsored official development assistance (ODA) projects. 
 
She turned up the heat on the actual situation of bidding for 
grant-aid projects in general related to the basic-human-needs area, 
which accounts for 40% of grant aid cooperation. Japanese companies 
are eligible to bid for grant aid projects. She pointed out that the 
successful tenders, as indicated by the ratio of contracted prices 
to estimated prices, came to more than 99% in 179 out of 203 
projects for the construction of facilities during the period from 
fiscal 2003 to the middle of the fiscal 2006. 
 
If such a ratio tops 95%, there is the possibility of bid-rigging 
activities. Kobayashi fired up her offensive, saying, "Fiscal 
resources are taxpayers' money. What is your view on that the rate 
of successful tenders being so extremely close to the estimated 
prices?" Foreign Minister Aso dodged the question, saying, 
"Construction sites are such where one-third of construction 
materials brought from Japan disappear over night. Companies taking 
part in such projects will go into the red, unless they set the 
estimate higher." Kobayashi pointed out the need to check whether 
there were bid-rigging practices or not. 
 
She also pursued the abnormally high ratio of discretionary 
contracts, pointing out that 29 contracts or 38% of contracts in 
 
TOKYO 00001216  007 OF 009 
 
 
fiscal 2004 and 26 cases or 44% in fiscal 2005 were discretionary 
contracts. Quoting an article on a remark made by an executive of a 
general construction company that in order to make contracts at the 
highest possible prices, construction companies offer tenders with 
prices higher than estimated prices so that discretionary contracts 
are adopted." Koro Bessho, director general of the International 
Cooperation Bureau of MOFA, said, "We are dealing with bidding in a 
strict manner." 
 
Kobayashi called for a drastic improvement in transparency about the 
bidding situation, saying, "Japan's general construction contractors 
may find opportunities to make profits overseas with taxpayers' 
money as funding resources." 
 
(8) Air in the Abe administration: Lawmakers elected for first time 
in 1993 share zeal for reform and urge to steer helm of government 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Abridged slightly) 
Evening, March 15, 2007 
 
Epoch-making events took place in the political community in 1993. 
 
Following the loss of a no-confidence vote by the cabinet of Prime 
Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, now 87, a general election took place. 
Such new parties as the Japan Renewal Party, the Japan New Party, 
and the New Party Sakigake (Harbinger) made big leaps in the 
election at the height of the "new party boom." Eight non-LDP 
parties also launched an administration of Prime Minister Morihiro 
Hosokawa, now 69, opening the door to an age of reform following the 
collapse of the so-called "1995 structure." 1955 was the year in 
which the Liberal Democratic Party was established and began its 
long period of single party rule, with the Japan Socialist Party 
(JSP) becoming the permanent opposition party. 
 
The political career of Shinzo Abe, 52, also started that year in 
which the Liberal Democratic Party became an opposition party. 
 
In the following year, the Diet passed political reform legislation 
to introduce a single-seat constituency system. In view of the fact 
that the Meiji Restoration came 15 years after the arrival of the 
"black ships," Masaharu Gotoda, a man of wisdom, predicted that it 
would take15 years for reform to bear fruit and usher in a new age. 
 
It has been 13 years since then. And Abe is now prime minister. 
Under the single-seat system in which political parties clash head 
on with each other, having high national popularity is essential for 
party heads, who serve as faces of elections. Abe would not have 
been prime minister if it were not for the changes in 1993. 
 
The lineup of LDP members who won Diet seats for the first time in 
1993 include Yasuhisa Shiozaki, 56, who is currently chief cabinet 
secretary. Such individuals as Seiji Maehara, 44, Kiyoshi Ueda, 58, 
 
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and Yukio Edano, 42, were also elected to the Diet for the first 
time as ruling party members. Makiko Tanaka, 63, and Akihiro Ota, 
61, currently representative of the New Komeito, also emerged on the 
political scene. 
 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) lawmaker Maehara, who became 
party head in the fall of 2005 ahead of Abe, joined the Matsushita 
Institute of Government and Management (MIGM) after graduating from 
Kyoto University. From the thinking of Konosuke Matsushita, the 
MIGM's founder, Maehara has learned of a sense of mission to change 
the Kasumigaseki bureaucratic district devoid of a sense of business 
 
TOKYO 00001216  008 OF 009 
 
 
management. Maehara won the party's presidency owing to his 
youthfulness. At the same time, he was forced last year to take 
responsibility for a fake e-mail fiasco due to his lack of 
experience. 
 
Maehara's office was right next to Abe's in the Dietmembers' Office 
Building. They dined together often when they were rookies. Taking 
strong interests in diplomatic and security affairs, both Abe and 
Maehara also joined the parliamentary group to consider the security 
of the new century. 
 
Although Maehara thinks Abe's view on the right to collective 
self-defense is idealistic, his position is similar to those of 
junior LDP lawmakers. Maehara takes this view: "In the event an 
emergency situation occurred under a Minshuto-led administration, we 
cannot wait for constitutional revision. We must deal with such a 
situation flexibly." 
 
Maehara also actively addressed the issue of public works projects. 
Earlier, Prof. Masataka Kosaka, Maehara's teacher at Kyoto 
University, had advised the lawmaker on a Shinkanken bullet train to 
address the issue actively. 
 
Maehara consequently drafted a bill to totally freeze dam projects, 
but it was scrapped in the end. Maehara explained the difference 
between Abe and himself this way: "The question is whether Abe has 
the will to break with the bureaucracy. The LDP would never be able 
to do that." 
 
Ueda has emerged as a Minshuto debater good at grilling government 
 
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offices with accurate data. Ueda became governor of Saitama in 
¶2003. 
 
The following conversation took place in an elevator of a 
Dietmembers' Office Building: 
 
Abe: "You are working for the worthy cause." 
 
Ueda: "What's that?" 
 
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Ueda was opposing the idea of granting local suffrage to foreign 
 
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residents. Abe was alluding to it. Ueda, who used to be a member of 
the parliamentary group on the abduction issue, took this view: 
"Anti-war peace education seem to partially overlap with 
anti-Japanese education." There seem some similarities between Abe 
and Ueda. But Ueda added: "We differ from there. Mr. Abe eyes 
restoring the old ways, but I think Japan should come up with new 
national objectives." 
 
Ueda's office is filled with graphs and charts showing numerical 
 
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progress on prefectural reforms from a perspective of business 
management. Ueda had prefectural officials stealthily hand 
municipality-specific tax payment rates to local heads, and this 
helped increase the rates out of local rivalry. 
 
Edano is the ace of the Minshuto lawmakers of the post-ideology 
generation. Edano successfully ran in the 1993 race on the ticket of 
the now-defunct Japan New Party in his second year as a lawyer, and 
he also supported former Health and Welfare Minister Naoto Kan, 60, 
during the HIV-tainted blood scandal. 
 
"Today, people are looking for ways to fix social problems, such as 
education, Japan's defense capabilities, and the Constitution." 
 
TOKYO 00001216  009 OF 009 
 
 
 
Edano, known as a member of the new policy breed, has taken part in 
small meetings along with Abe, but the two have not closely 
discussed anything specific. Abe boasts the Defense Agency's upgrade 
to ministry status and talks about the need to revise the 
Fundamental Law of Education, but those topics are over in the eyes 
of Edano. Edano thinks Abe has sent out ideological messages only 
because he does not have any specific policies. 
 
Those members, who were born from the excitement of the changes in 
1993 and have experienced in both the ruling and opposition camps, 
seem to share the urge to steer the helm of government. 
 
SCHIEFFER