VZCZCXRO1232
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1421/01 0920357
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 020357Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2253
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 2959
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 0500
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 4015
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 9839
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 1444
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6417
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2493
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3791

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001421 
 
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 04/02/07-2 
 
 
11) South Korean foreign minister in meeting with Foreign Minister 
Aso expresses regret at reappearance of comfort-women issue 
12) Aso urges Iran to release captured British soldiers 
 
Defense and security issues: 
13) Minshuto Secretary General Hatoyama critical of extension of 
Iraq special measures law 
14) Released 1971 US document on Okinawa reversion shows Japan ready 
to pay for reversion of Naha military port 
 
15) Leakage of Aegis secrets may have involved a second MSDF seaman 
 
16) First deployments of MD-related PAC-3 missiles are not problem 
free 
17) Pentagon consultant analyzes China strategy as aimed at shooting 
down Japanese, Indian satellites 
 
Election campaigns: 
18) Tokyo Shimbun poll shows Ishihara keeping lead in Tokyo 
gubernatorial race 
19) Nikkei poll also gives Ishihara the lead in Tokyo 
20) Tokyo poll shows incumbent the favorites in Kanagawa 
gubernatorial race 
21) Hokkaido, Fukuoka incumbents lead in gubernatorial races, while 
Minshuto candidate has lead in Iwate: Kyodo poll 
22) 30% of respondents in Nikkei poll say they have read the 
manifestos of candidates 
 
23) Cabinet Office poll: 36% of Japanese worried education is going 
in the wrong direction, concern also about medical care, income 
disparity 
 
24) Minshuto to present own bill on national constitutional 
referendum 
 
Articles: 
 
11) Wartime comfort women issue: South Korean foreign minister 
expresses disappointment: Japan-China-ROK foreign ministerial to be 
held in June 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Full) 
April 1, 2007 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Mar. 31 met with his South Korean 
counterpart Song Min Soon on Jeju Island in South Korea. Son during 
the meeting criticized Japan over the wartime comfort women issue, 
noting: "It is regrettable that responsible Japanese leaders are 
acting in a mistaken manner. I hope they will make statements based 
on historical facts." Aso sought understanding from the Sough Korean 
side, conveying that the government will abide by the stance taken 
by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in his 1993 statement on 
the comfort women, which admitted the involvement of the former 
Imperial Japanese Army and apologized for it. 
 
Aso during an informal press conference on the same evening revealed 
that Japan, China, and South Korea would hold a foreign ministerial 
meeting on Jeju Island on June 3 prior to the Asian Cooperation 
Dialogue (ACD) to be held in Seoul. 
 
Concerning North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the two leaders shared 
the same perception that it is important for North Korea to steadily 
 
TOKYO 00001421  002 OF 008 
 
 
implement the preliminary measures, including the shutting down and 
sealing of its nuclear facilities, as agreed on at the six-party 
talks. They agreed on the stance of aiming at an early resumption of 
talks on a free trade agreement, which have been suspended since 
¶2004. 
 
Aso and Song confirmed that it is necessary to strengthen the stable 
basis of bilateral relations. They also decided to search for ways 
to resume a bureau-director-level bilateral security dialogue after 
a hiatus of four years and cooperate on policy by holding a meeting 
of the North American Affairs Bureau director generals of the two 
countries. 
 
They also agreed to launch a second joint research study committee 
and hold talks between the chairs of the two countries within April. 
Regarding negotiations to demarcate their exclusive economic zones 
(EEZ), they shared the perception that it is necessary to bring 
progress to bureau-director-level talks. 
 
Song revealed that South Korea during a bilateral ministerial 
meeting with North Korea worked Pyongyang to make efforts to settle 
the abduction issue, saying, "If the abduction issue remains 
unsettled, other issues at the six-party talks will be affected." 
Aso expressed gratitude and solicited continued assistance. 
 
Textbooks that noted that the Takeshima islets (know as Dokdo by 
South Korea) are Japanese territories passed the high school text 
screening by the Japanese Education Ministry. Song reacted sharply 
against the move, noting, "South Korea cannot accept any claim of 
Japan on the sovereignty of Dokdo." 
 
12) Foreign Minister Aso urge Iran to release British sailors 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 31, 2007 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso had a telephone conversation with his 
Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki on March 30. Referring to 
Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines, Aso urged Mottaki 
to free them, saying: "Prolonging the issue will not good for your 
country's interests. The issue should be resolved as quickly as 
possible." Mottaki, however, insisted that the British boat had 
repeatedly intruded into Iranian territorial waters. He then 
underscored Iran's position that if Britain admits to the intrusion, 
Iran will be able to move the issue forward. Aso telephoned Mottaki 
at the request of the British government. 
 
13) Minshuto Secretary General Hatoyama criticizes government's plan 
to extend Iraq measures law 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 31, 2007 
 
At a press conference on March 30, Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general 
of the main opposition party, Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), 
criticized a government-sponsored bill aimed to extend the Iraq 
Special Measures Law for two years. He stated: 
 
"We strongly oppose the bill because it is a mistaken measure. Like 
the Koizumi government, the Abe administration supports the wrong 
war and is now forced to cooperate with the US military." 
 
 
TOKYO 00001421  003 OF 008 
 
 
14) General Affairs Agency chief Yamanaka announced Japan's 
readiness to bear Naha Airport reversion costs in 1971 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
April 1, 2007 
 
Jiji, Washington 
 
It was revealed on March 30 that in 1971, when talks were underway 
between the cabinet of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and the US 
government on the reversion of Okinawa, Sadanori Yamanaka, then 
director general of the General Affairs Agency in the Prime 
Minister's Office, told US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger 
that Japan was ready to bear the cost of relocating the US military 
from Naha Airport. It has already came to light that Japan bore 
relocation costs in accordance with a secret pact with the United 
States on the revision of Okinawa. Although the Foreign Ministry has 
not acknowledged the existence of the secret pact, this concrete 
proposal on the US military relocation costs from an influential 
cabinet minister proves the pact's existence. 
 
The document in question, kept at the US National Archives, is a 
secret cable sent by the US Department of State to the American 
 
SIPDIS 
Embassy in Tokyo dated June 3, 1971. The cable outlined a meeting 
held in Washington in January 1971 between Nakayama and Kissinger. 
Masaaki Gabe, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus, and 
others confirmed the contents recently. 
 
15) MSDF petty officer obtained Aegis information from colleague 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
April 1, 2007 
 
A Maritime Self-Defense Force petty officer 2nd class, 33, of the 
destroyer Shirane of Escort Flotilla 1 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa 
Prefecture) who allegedly obtained a floppy disk containing 
top-secret information on Aegis destroyers copied the information 
from a colleague's computer, the Yomiuri Shimbun learned on March 
¶31. The information included numerical data that likely indicated 
the destroyers' capabilities. But neither the 33-year-old petty 
officer nor his colleague, also a petty officer, had official access 
to such information. The police suspect other officers might have 
been involved in the leak. The outflow of highly classified 
information to petty officers has exposed the MSDF's lax management 
system. 
 
The police believe that the data could include special defense 
secrets as stipulated in the Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement 
 
SIPDIS 
between the United States and Japan and are questioning the petty 
officer and others on suspicion of violating the law to protect 
secrecy in relations to the security breach. 
 
According to investigative sources, the hard disk seized by the 
Kanagawa prefectural police from the petty officer's home in 
Yokosuka in January contained more than 50 files containing 
classified SDF information, along with games. Some of the files 
contained information on destroyers. The petty officer copied the 
files onto his own hard disk from his colleague's computer. 
 
16) First deployment of PAC3: Point is how quickly unit will be 
deployed in urban areas 
 
 
TOKYO 00001421  004 OF 008 
 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
March 31, 2007 
 
The Self-Defense Force (SDF) yesterday deployed the first 
surface-to-air guided Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC3) system at 
the Iruma Base (Sayama, Saitama Prefecture). In anticipation of a 
missile attack from North Korea and other countries, the government 
aims at constructing a missile defense (MD) system at an early date 
with the "double shield" of PAC3 and an Aegis destroyer-based 
Standard Missile 3 (SM3). The government, though, needs to quickly 
work out measures to deal with a host of problems in terms of the 
system's operation, such as how swiftly the responsible unit canl be 
deployed in urban areas. 
 
Improvement in intercept capability 
 
PAC3 is a missile designed to intercept before it impacts a 
ballistic missile that the SM3 had failed to shoot down in space. 
 
The current PAC2 system possessed by the Air Self Defense Force 
(ASDF) is not fully capable of effectively destroying a ballistic 
missile warhead because the product is designed to destroy the 
target with broken pieces after it self-destructs. PAC3 is capable 
of hitting and destroying a missile warhead, equipped with a system 
to irradiate electric waves and pick up an enemy missile. 
 
In the United States military, the Army is in charge of operating 
the PAC 3 system, but in the SDF, the air defense missile group of 
the ASDF operates the system. A senior ASDF official commented: 
"Based on the view that the system is used to defend the air with 
fighters, the ASDF possesses the Patriot Air Defense System." 
 
How to deal with situation "within 10 minutes" 
 
Regarding the actual implementation of the PAC3 system, members of 
the air defense missile group will be flexibly mobilized to an area 
where a missile is expected to land by vehicles equipped with a 
missile launcher, radar installation, etc. One of the problems is 
how to secure areas for deployment. The defense area covered by a 
PAC3 has a radius of only 15 to 20 kilometers. If the PAC3 system is 
kept deployed at the Iruma Base, it will be impossible to defend 
urban areas. Given this, it is necessary to flexibly deploy the unit 
in cities. 
 
Conditions for deployment are: (1) no high-rise buildings can be 
around; (2) there must be a wide area; and (3) the unit must be able 
to engage in activities for a long period of time. In the case of 
private land or land owned by local governments, it is necessary to 
obtain permission. The ASDF Nerima Camp (Nerima Ward) and Ichigaya 
Camp (Shinjuku Ward) are being cited as potential candidate sites at 
present. 
 
17) Pentagon consultant: China's strategy is to destroy Japanese and 
Indian satellites 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
April 2, 2007 
 
Takashi Sadahiro, Washington 
 
China, which conducted a successful anti-satellite weapons test in 
January, is pursuing a strategy aimed at a system capable of 
 
TOKYO 00001421  005 OF 008 
 
 
destroying all satellites of foreign countries, including Japan, 
that are flying over China, Michael Pillsbury, an influential 
Pentagon consultant, reported to the US-China Economic and Security 
Review Commission on March 30. 
 
According to Pillsbury, the Chinese military is aiming to build by 
2010 - 2020 a system capable of destroying satellites not only those 
of the United States but also of Japan and India that are flying 
over China. As means to destroy satellites, China is considering 
electronic jamming, laser irradiation to disable satellites, and 
cyber attacks on ground base stations, in addition to missiles. 
 
Pillsbury's analysis is based on data compiled by three 
company-grade space affairs experts of the Chinese People's Army. 
 
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao explained that his country's 
anti-satellite test targeted no other country. However, if 
Pillsbury's analysis is true, China clearly intends to destroy 
communication systems of such countries as Japan and the United 
States. 
 
18) Poll: Ishihara maintains lead in Tokyo governor race 
 
TOKYO (Top play) (Abridged) 
April 2, 2007 
 
In the run-up to Tokyo's gubernatorial election set for April 8, 
Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, 74, an independent running for a third term, 
is ahead, followed by former Miyagi Gov. Shiro Asano, 59, also an 
independent, the Tokyo Shimbun found yesterday from its second poll 
of voters in Tokyo. Former Adachi Ward Mayor Manzo Yoshida, 59, 
recommended by the Japanese Communist Party, and Kisho Kurokawa, 73, 
an architect backed by minor groups, are trying to catch up. 
However, nearly 50% of those polled remain undecided. The situation 
is fluid as the campaign enters its final stage. 
 
The survey was conducted over a period of three days, March 30 
through April 1. 
 
In the survey, 77.3% answered "yes" when asked if they would go to 
the polls. Including those who will go to the polls if they can, the 
total proportion was 92.6%. 
 
Ishihara has stretched his lead over Asano from the last survey 
conducted March 16-18 before the election was announced. 
 
In the latest survey, Ishihara's lead over Asano was wider among 
female respondents. In addition, Ishihara was evenly supported among 
all generations, particularly gaining strong support from those in 
their 60s and 70s. Asano has garnered support to a certain extent 
from those in their 40s to 60s. However, he has yet to gain support 
from those in their 20s. Yoshida and Kurokawa remain stagnant among 
all generations. 
 
The survey was conducted over a period of three days, March 30 
through April 1, on a computer-aided random digit dialing (RDD) 
basis, with the aim of obtaining answers from a total of 1,000 
voters in Tokyo. 
 
19) Poll: Ishihara ahead in Tokyo race 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
 
TOKYO 00001421  006 OF 008 
 
 
April 2, 2007 
 
In the run-up to the nation's upcoming quadrennial local elections, 
the Nihon Keizai Shimbun conducted a public opinion survey in five 
prefectures, including Tokyo and Hokkaido, to look into election 
campaigns in their final stages. The five prefectures are where the 
ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the leading opposition 
Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) are in a de facto duel, with 
their affiliated candidates running. In Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, 
the incumbent governor, is ahead of former Miyagi Gov. Shiro Asano 
and all other candidates. In Hokkaido, Kanagawa Prefecture, and 
Fukuoka Prefecture, the incumbents are leading other candidates. In 
Iwate Prefecture, a DPJ-recommended new face is widening his lead 
over an-LDP recommended new face and all other candidates. 
 
20) Poll: Matsuzawa ahead in Kanagawa race 
 
TOKYO (Page 1) (Abridged) 
April 2, 2007 
 
In the run-up to Kanagawa Prefecture's upcoming gubernatorial 
election set for April 8, the Tokyo Shimbun conducted a public 
opinion survey of local voters from March 30 through April 1 to 
probe the situation. In the race, Shigefumi Matsuzawa, 49, the 
incumbent governor running for a second term, is ahead. Tadashi 
Sugino, 48, a new face and former president of Saitama Railway 
Corp., and Hiroko Kamoi, 62, also a new face representing a civic 
group, remain behind. However, nearly 50% of all those polled have 
yet to decide on whom to vote for. The situation appears fluid as 
the race enters the final stage. 
 
21) Poll: Incumbents have lead in Hokkaido, Fukuoka; DPJ candidate 
maintains lead in Iwate 
 
TOKYO (Page 1) (Abridged) 
April 2, 2007 
 
With the nation's 16th quadrennial local elections having kicked 
off, Kyodo News polled local electorates in 13 prefectures, 
including Tokyo and Hokkaido, and in four government-designated 
cities to probe situations in the run-up to the April 8 
gubernatorial and mayoral elections. 
 
In the five gubernatorial races, the incumbents affiliated with the 
Liberal Democratic Party or with the Democratic Party of Japan 
(Minshuto) are leading in the polls. In Hokkaido, Harumi Takahashi, 
the incumbent aiming for a second term, is leading Satoshi Arai and 
all other candidates. In Fukuoka Prefecture, Wataru Aso, who chairs 
the National Governors' Association, is gaining a steady advantage 
over Shuji Inatomi and other candidates. 
 
In the prefectures of Iwate and Kanagawa, DPJ-affiliated candidates 
are leading all other candidates. In Iwate, where all those running 
in the race are new faces, Takuya Tatsuso is ahead of Junichi 
Yanagimura, who is an LDP-affiliated candidate, and all others. 
 
22) Poll: 30% have read the manifestos in governor races 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
April 2, 2007 
 
Those who have read the now-legalized manifestos of candidates 
 
TOKYO 00001421  007 OF 008 
 
 
running in gubernatorial elections accounted for only 30%, the Nihon 
Keizai Shimbun found from its polls conducted in five prefectures, 
including Tokyo and Hokkaido, to probe the ongoing campaigns for 
governorship in their final stages. Iwate Prefecture marked the 
highest score at 37%, followed by Tokyo at 34%, Hokkaido at 32%, 
Fukuoka Prefecture at 24%, and Kanagawa Prefecture at 17%. As seen 
from these figures, manifestos were not well read in these five 
electoral districts where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and 
the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan are in facing off. 
 
23) Cabinet Office survey: 36% say, "Education is heading in wrong 
direction"; Medical services, income gaps fanning concerns 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
April 1, 2007 
 
The results of an opinion poll on the social consciousness of the 
population, compiled by the Cabinet Office as of Mar. 31, has 
revealed that an increasing number of Japanese are concerned about 
the state of education in the country. This outcome presumably 
reflects a severe public view of school education due to the issue 
of school bullying and declining academic performance of children. 
 
The survey was conducted on 10,000 male and female adults throughout 
the nation from January through February this year. The rate of 
effective response was 55.9%. 
 
The largest portion of the public, 36.1%, cited education as heading 
in the wrong direction (multiple replies were allowed), exceeding 
the 35.6% who cited public safety as an area of concern. Concern 
over education, up 12.3 points from the previous survey carried out 
in February 2006, was the highest ever recorded. 
 
Those who replied, "Medical and welfare services are becoming worse" 
reached 31.9% and those who noted, "The disparities among regions is 
become worse" were at 26.5%, both figures increasing more than 10 
points from the previous survey. 
 
24) Minshuto to present own plan to amend national referendum bill 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 31, 2007 
 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) President Ichiro Ozawa met with 
party Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo last night. They 
agreed to submit to the House of Representatives the party's own 
plan amending the government's national referendum bill governing 
the procedures for revising the Constitution. 
 
The revision plan is expected to be almost the same as the revision 
proposal already submitted by the ruling parties, excepting for the 
part calling for a "general national referendum" to take a vote also 
on important national administrative issues. Hatoyama said he told 
Ozawa: "Minshuto will prepare a plan to amend the bill and hold 
discussions in an effort to enact the bill," and Ozawa replied, "I 
will entrust the matter to you." 
 
Hatoyama is trying to find ways to enact the national referendum 
bill in the current Diet session by reaching an agreement with the 
ruling camp, but Ozawa has already indicated that he would oppose 
the revision proposal by the ruling parties. On the idea of a 
"general national referendum", the ruling parties' revision bill 
 
TOKYO 00001421  008 OF 008 
 
 
noted in an additional clause, "discussion will be conducted on 
issues related to constitutional revision." The focus of attention 
is to what extent Minshuto's plan will come closer to the amendment 
proposal of the ruling camp. Ozawa and Hatoyama have agreed to 
submit their own revision plan, but they reportedly have different 
views about how to proceed with negotiations with the ruling camp. 
Intra-party coordination is expected to be difficult. 
 
SCHIEFFER