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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 002312 
 
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 05/23/07 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Poll on Abe cabinet, political parties 
 
(2) Poll on National Referendum Law 
 
(3) Government, ruling coalition to reduce important bills at last 
stage of current Diet session 
 
(4) Ogata raps government's approach to facilitate US force 
realignment with subsidies; Ruling bloc forcibly takes vote on 
legislation 
 
(5) Opinions on collective self-defense (Part 2): New Komeito's 
policy chief Tetsuya Saito concerned that the party would be put in 
jeopardy should it allow Japan to take action 
 
(6) Battle between government, Minshuto heating up over pension 
records again 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Poll on Abe cabinet, political parties 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 22, 2007 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage. Parentheses denote the results of a 
survey conducted in March.) 
 
Q: Do you support the Abe cabinet? 
 
Yes                      49.6       (43.8) 
No                       36.8       (43.9) 
Other answers (O/A)       3.5        (4.4) 
No answer (N/A)          10.1        (7.9) 
 
Q: (Only for those who answered "yes" to the foregoing question) 
Give up to two reasons for your approval of the Abe cabinet. 
 
I can appreciate its political stance          33.4       (27.4) 
It's stable                                    14.9        (9.2) 
The prime minister is trustworthy              23.2       (27.6) 
There's a fresh image of the prime minister    40.2       (43.4) 
I can appreciate its economic policy            6.2        (4.3) 
I can appreciate its foreign policy            15.2       (15.1) 
Because it's a coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New 
Komeito                                    10.7       (10.2) 
It's better than its predecessors              10.1       (10.4) 
O/A+N/A                                         4.8        (3.9) 
 
Q: (Only for those who answered "no" to the foregoing question) Give 
up to two reasons for your disapproval of the Abe cabinet. 
 
I can't appreciate its political stance       43.1       (44.4) 
It's unstable                                 24.9       (32.0) 
The prime minister is untrustworthy           25.2       (27.3) 
The prime minister lacks political experience 
                                              16.7       (16.6) 
I can't appreciate its economic policy        21.9       (19.3) 
I can't appreciate its foreign policy         13.9       (10.7) 
Because it's a coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New 
 
TOKYO 00002312  002 OF 009 
 
 
Komeito                                   14.2        (8.6) 
It's worse than its predecessors               7.5       (10.7) 
O/A+N/A                                        3.8        (3.9) 
 
Q: What issues do you want the Abe cabinet to pursue on a priority 
basis? Pick as many as you like from among those listed below, if 
any. 
 
Economic, employment measures                 51.1       (50.0) 
Fiscal reconstruction                         19.2       (20.7) 
Tax reform, consumption tax                   27.4       (30.0) 
Social security reform, including pension and healthcare systems 
                                              59.5       (61.0) 
Low birthrate countermeasures, including childcare support 
                                              29.0       (30.6) 
Educational reform                            24.8       (24.1) 
Administrative reform, including public service personnel cuts 
                                              17.6       (17.8) 
Social divide, including income gaps          27.2       (26.9) 
Yasukuni Shrine                                8.4        (6.0) 
Asia diplomacy, including China and South Korea 
                                              15.0       (17.6) 
North Korea                                   29.4       (33.3) 
Defense, security                             13.9       (12.7) 
Constitutional revision                       11.5        (7.2) 
Crisis management, including disaster prevention 
                                              11.0        (9.0) 
Public security, crime prevention             26.6       (18.4) 
Environmental protection                      21.9       (18.4) 
Food safety                                   15.0       (13.2) 
O/A + nothing in particular + N/A              2.8        (2.8) 
 
Q: Which political party do you support now? Pick only one. 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)                 38.5       (36.4) 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto)    11.1       (11.3) 
New Komeito (NK)                                3.3        (2.1) 
Japanese Communist Party (JCP)                  1.8        (1.8) 
Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto)       0.9        (0.7) 
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto)      0.3        (0.1) 
New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon)         0.1        (0.1) 
Other political parties                         ---        (---) 
None                                           42.4       (46.0) 
N/A                                             1.6        (1.5) 
 
Q: What's your impression of Prime Minister Abe's ability to get 
things done? 
 
He's done what he said                30.1       (19.5) 
He's failed to do what he said        59.1       (71.9) 
N/A                                   10.8        (8.7) 
 
Q: What's your impression of Prime Minister Abe's leadership 
ability? 
 
He's displayed leadership                26.3       (16.1) 
He's failed to display leadership        64.8       (77.5) 
N/A                                       8.8        (6.3) 
 
Polling methodology 
Date of survey: May 19-20. 
Subjects of survey: 3,000 persons chosen from among all eligible 
voters throughout the country (at 250 locations on a stratified 
 
TOKYO 00002312  003 OF 009 
 
 
two-stage random sampling basis). 
Method of implementation: Door-to-door visits for face-to-face 
interviews. 
Number of valid respondents: 1,803 persons (60.1% ). 
 
(2) Poll on National Referendum Law 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 23, 2007 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage) 
 
Q: The National Referendum Law, which stipulates procedures to 
revise the Constitution, has now been enacted in the current Diet 
session. Do you appreciate this? 
 
Appreciate very much             20.1 
Appreciate somewhat              36.6 
Don't appreciate very much       22.3 
Don't appreciate at all          11.5 
No answer (N/A)                   9.5 
 
Q: The National Referendum Law will come into effect after three 
years, so a national referendum for constitutional revision will be 
held in or after 2010. Do you think political parties should further 
activate debates on the Constitution? 
 
Yes                           56.2 
Yes to a certain degree       22.8 
No to a certain degree         8.0 
No                             6.4 
N/A                            6.0 
 
Q: The National Referendum Law makes those aged 18 and over eligible 
to vote in a national referendum. However, unless the age for the 
right to vote in elections and the adult age are changed to 18 and 
over, the age of those eligible to vote in a national referendum 
will be 20 and over. Do you think the age of those eligible to vote 
in a national referendum should be 18 and over or should be 20 and 
over? 
 
18 and over           30.4 
20 and over           52.7 
Can't say which       14.6 
N/A                    2.0 
 
Polling methodology 
Date of survey: May 19-20. 
Subjects of survey: 3,000 persons chosen from among all eligible 
voters throughout the country (at 250 locations on a stratified 
two-stage random sampling basis). 
Method of implementation: Door-to-door visits for face-to-face 
interviews. 
Number of valid respondents: 1,803 persons (60.1% ). 
 
(3) Government, ruling coalition to reduce important bills at last 
stage of current Diet session 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 22, 2007 
 
With only one month left before the end of the current Diet session, 
 
TOKYO 00002312  004 OF 009 
 
 
the government and ruling parties are in hurry to prioritize 
important bills. Placing top priority on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 
wishes, it is now certain that the Diet will pass a bill aimed at 
implementing the realignment of US forces in Japan and that the 
House of Representatives will approve a bill reforming the Social 
Insurance Agency in May. The outlook is that with an eye on the 
House of Councillors election in July the government and ruling 
coalition will make a final decision on the handling of a bill 
revising employment rules and a bill to revise the Political Funds 
Control Law. 
 
"I want to enact the bills as soon as possible after conducting 
sufficient deliberations," LDP Upper House Caucus Secretary General 
Toranosuke Katayama said in a general meeting, which was held before 
deliberations on a set of three bills on educational reform at the 
plenary session. 
 
The Upper House Education, Culture and Science Committee will began 
today deliberations on the bills, aiming at enacting them in 
mid-June. Although Abe has cited them as top priority of his 
cabinet, there is a sense of crisis in the LDP, with one senior 
Upper House member saying, "We must speed up the pace of 
deliberations as if we were a special committee." 
 
The Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will approve 
the USJF realignment bill today and the Upper House plenary session 
will pass it tomorrow. The committee is also expected to debate a 
bill to revise the Iraq Special Measures Law. The ruling camp 
expects that the Lower House Committee on Health, Labor and Welfare 
will take a vote on the bill reforming the Social Insurance Agency 
on May 25 and the Lower House will approve it before the end of May. 
The ruling parties hope to see the enactment of the bill in 
mid-June. 
 
"The chief cabinet secretary won't be able to attend both sessions 
on education and Iraq. His schedule for the final stage of the 
ongoing Diet session is full," LDP Upper House Diet Affairs 
Committee Chairman Tetsuro Yano said nervously. New Komeito Upper 
House Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Hisashi Kazama underscored: "I 
want the Lower House to send the bill to the Upper House by June 
7." 
 
It would be difficult to hold deliberations on a bill calling for 
reviewing the minimum wage system, as well as for increasing the 
employment system. A view is strong in the ruling coalition that the 
bill should be passed even if the largest opposition party Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan) opposes in consideration of the Upper 
House election. However, the Lower House Committee on Health, Labor 
and Welfare will start a full-scale debate on the bill after the 
Social Insurance Agency reform bill clears the Lower House. Some in 
the Upper House say, "The Lower House should keep the bill." 
 
The LDP and New Komeito will submit to the Diet a bill to revise the 
Political Funds Control Law as early as next week after finalizing 
it at their taskforce on the 25th. The dominant view in the ruling 
camp is that they should play up their efforts to the public by 
enacting it as early as possible after deliberating it for two days 
in each Diet chamber. 
 
In the ruling bloc, there is also a smoldering view calling for a 
cautious debate with an eye on a discussion with Minshuto to modify 
the bill. The expectation is that the main opposition party will 
carefully make a decision based on intensive deliberations on the 
 
TOKYO 00002312  005 OF 009 
 
 
issue of "politics and money" at a Lower House Budget Committee 
session on May 23. 
 
Schedule for deliberations on important bills 
 
USFJ realignment bill: 
 
Diet approval on May 23. 
Bill to revise the Juvenile Law 
 
Diet approval on May 25. 
Bill revising the Iraq Special Measures Law: 
 
Lower House approval on May15.Diet approval in mid-June. 
Three education reform bills: 
 
Lower House approval on May 15Diet approval in mid-June 
Bill to reform the Social Insurance Agency: 
 
Lower House approval on May 8Lower House approval on May 29Diet 
approval in mid-June 
Bill to change the employment rules: 
 
Start of Lower House deliberations on May 8Lower House approval in 
early June?Diet approval in late June? 
Bill to revise the Political Funds Control Law: 
 
Start of Lower House deliberations in late May?Lower House approval 
in mid-June?Diet approval in late June? 
Bill to reform the civil service system: 
 
Start of Lower House deliberations on May 15. 
Bill unifying the pension programs: 
 
No prospect for deliberations. 
 
(4) Ogata raps government's approach to facilitate US force 
realignment with subsidies; Ruling bloc forcibly takes vote on 
legislation 
 
AKAHATA (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
May 23, 2007 
 
A bill facilitating the realignment of US forces in Japan cleared 
the House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee 
yesterday with a majority approval by the Liberal Democratic Party 
and the New Komeito. The ruling bloc forcibly took a vote on the 
legislation only after 17 hours of deliberations in three days at 
the committee. The Japanese Communist Party, the Democratic Party of 
Japan (Minshuto or DPJ), and the Social Democratic Party opposed 
it. 
 
The US force realignment is designed to integrate US forces in Japan 
and the Self-Defense Forces with the aim of creating new bases and a 
system enabling them to deploy globally. The legislation centers on 
plans to force Japan to bear the cost of relocating US Marine Corps 
from Okinawa to Guam - an internationally unprecedented case - and 
provide subsidies to base-hosting municipalities in reward for 
bearing greater burdens. 
 
In yesterday's session, JCP lawmaker Yasuo Ogata criticized the 
legislation, saying: "The government's explanation that the burden 
on Okinawa will decrease is a lie. It is clear that the US force 
 
TOKYO 00002312  006 OF 009 
 
 
realignment will cause damage throughout the country, forcing 
Okinawa to bear a new burden." Ogata also insisted that the United 
States must naturally bear the cost of relocating US troops to Guam, 
its own territory, and that subsidies would cause rifts between 
base-hosting municipalities and their residents, forcing them to 
give in. 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated in the session that 
the US force realignment was necessary for the security of Japan, 
describing the subsidy plan as "natural." Ogata also grilled the 
government over the project to build US military housing in Guam for 
the troops from Okinawa at the expense of Japan, adding that a 
housing unit would cost as much as 85 million yen. In response, Abe 
simply said, "The figure is still being studied." 
 
Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma in yesterday's session also indicated 
that the government would implement the agreed-upon US force 
realignment plans. At the same time, he said: "In the event local 
governments oppose them, we will try to convince them as much as 
possible. I wouldn't say categorically that we will not review 
them." He was replying to a question by Yasuo Ogata. 
 
Citing a plan to relocate US aircraft drills from such bases as 
Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to mainland Japan, Kyuma said: "If 
candidate municipalities refuse to accept them, we could either 
force them or not force them." 
 
Iwakuni City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, home to Marine Corps Air 
Station Iwakuni, held a referendum in March 2006 in which 90% of the 
residents said "no" to a plan to accept the carrier-borne aircraft 
from Yokosuka. Mayor Katsusuke Ihara also said: "The referendum 
exposed overwhelming public opinion. It must be taken seriously 
politically." Citing those events, Ogata pressed the government to 
halt the relocation plan. 
 
But Kyuma indicated that the government would push ahead with the 
plan, saying: "Although we are aware that the mayor is in a 
difficult position, we have asked (Iwakuni) to accept the relocation 
plan." 
 
Ogata also explained that a US aircraft relocation plan was called 
off following a November 2006 Jacksonville, Florida, referendum in 
which 60% of the residents expressed opposition. "The Japanese 
government is forcing the relocation plan on a municipality despite 
the fact that 90% of its residents are opposed to it. Such an 
attitude has prompted even those who have accepted bases to harbor a 
sense of distrust of the government," Ogata said. 
 
(5) Opinions on collective self-defense (Part 2): New Komeito's 
policy chief Tetsuya Saito concerned that the party would be put in 
jeopardy should it allow Japan to take action 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 22, 2007 
 
-- What is your view about the government's panel of experts to 
discuss the question of the exercise of the right to collective 
self-defense? 
 
Saito: "I didn't want the government to establish the panel at this 
point. Studying various cases is fine, but establishing it now gives 
an impression that the government is rushing to constitutional 
revision, given that debate on the Constitution is about to start 
 
TOKYO 00002312  007 OF 009 
 
 
with the national referendum bill specifying the procedures for 
constitutional revision enacted recently. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 
has said he wants to make constitutional revision a campaign issue 
in the upcoming Upper House election. I consider the expert panel as 
merely an advisory panel, as well as a tool for the prime minister 
to sort out his ideas. 
 
"As a coalition partner, our party continues to emphasize the need 
for firmly upholding paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 9. Pacifism is 
the foundation for Japanese economic growth. The Japanese Communist 
Party and the Social Democratic Party assert, 'We won't allow any 
changes in any word of a text,' but I don't think their assertion 
will be of great help in terms of opposing constitutional revision. 
Our party's position is that while maintaining the basic principles 
of the current Constitution, we will contribute 'additions to the 
Constitution' that would include new types of human rights." 
 
-- Most panel members are in favor of exercising the right to 
collective defense. 
 
Saito: "I know such a viewpoint exists among them, but they are 
sincere about conducting their research and studies, so I don't 
think their discussion has a foregone conclusion. They (panel 
members) have understood well our assertion that 'the government's 
interpretation should not be changed so easily.' They will debate 
precisely the four cases shown by the government (such as whether 
the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) can intercept missiles targeting the 
US or can protect US vessels if they come under attacks on high 
seas)." 
 
-- Don't you think the New Komeito is being slighted? 
 
Saito: "I can't go as far as to say our party is being slighted 
because it remains to be seen what conclusion (the panel) will come 
up with. But misunderstanding could easily occur, so we are not 
necessarily happy with its establishment. If we assume an attitude 
that 'this case comes under the use of the right to collective 
defense, but we tolerate it because it is like the case of using the 
individual self-defense right,' our party's existence will be at 
stake. That is indeed a life-or-death matter for the party." 
 
-- When it comes to the four cases, which case do you think falls 
under the use of the right to collective defense? 
 
Saito: "If the government reinterprets the Constitution, it will 
lose international confidence. There is no chance that over the same 
case, the panel asserts that "Japan is allowed to take action even 
though the case comes under the use of the right to collective 
defense, while our party asserts that Japan is allowed to take 
action because doing so is 'the exercise of the individual defense 
right and allows Japan to do so.' 
 
"A number of arguments are conceivable when it comes to intercepting 
ballistic missiles aiming at the US. The remaining three cases could 
be dealt with under the scope of the individual self-defense 
right." 
 
(6) Battle between government, Minshuto heating up over pension 
records again 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
May 23, 2007 
 
 
TOKYO 00002312  008 OF 009 
 
 
In the current Diet session, the problem of unidentified records of 
pension premium payments is coming into focus in its final phase. 
There are about 50 million unidentified records among those kept by 
the Social Insurance Agency (SIA). With an eye on the upcoming House 
of Councillors election, the battle between the ruling and 
opposition parties over the pension issue now appears to be 
intensifying. 
 
Benefits in 50 million cases left unpaid 
 
In a meeting of the House of Representatives' Health, Labor and 
Welfare Committee yesterday, Tadahiko Tanizawa, a lawyer who was 
called by the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) to give unsworn 
testimony, said: "I want you to understand how 350 pension 
subscribers to whom I provided legal consultation have been upset." 
He cited this specific case. 
 
A 78-year-old man who lives in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, 
applied with the SIA for pension benefits in 1994, when he turned 
¶65. He had changed his place of work many times. He was told that 
there was no record of his working at a trucking company for one 
year and several months starting in 1949. 
 
As a result of 10-year-long search efforts, this man finally found 
in 2004 a pension record bearing his name but a different company 
name from what he actually worked. He filed an application again 
that year, and the record was proved to be his. 
 
Based on accounting regulations, however, this man received only 
five years' pay starting from the year when the record was 
corrected, that is, from 1994 to 1999. He thus could not receive 
full benefits, despite his being eligible. 
 
Pursued by such examples in Diet deliberations, Ministry of Health, 
Labor and Welfare (MHLW) Yanagisawa repeatedly said, "It is very 
regrettable." But since he has just said: "In order to prevent such 
cases, the SIA will conduct a survey when it receives an inquiry," 
triggering fierce reactions from the opposition camp. 
 
As for eligible policyholders who have several pension records due 
to repeated marriages and changes in job, a SIA official said: 
"Before they begin to receive a pension, we will collect every 
record in a thorough way so that they will be provided full 
benefits." However, there are such cases as the man cited above. In 
the case of those who received several policy numbers before the 
agency introduced a system in 1997 to issue a single policy number 
to each person enrolled in the basic pension scheme, unless they 
file an application with the SIA, they will not be given a policy 
number. 
 
There are about 50 million cases of such pension records that have 
been up in the air as of June 2006. In 28 million cases of them, 
policyholders are at the pension eligible age or beyond. 
 
Based on the view that "there should be more pension eligible 
persons," Minshuto there has been calling on the government to 
promptly conduct investigations. But the SIA remains unresponsive. A 
senior member said, "It is conceivable that most of them are the 
records of those who have already died before receiving pension 
benefits." But the official added: "A few records of person 
receiving a pension might be included in them. It is impossible to 
find out everything, we cannot give clear-cut replies." 
 
 
TOKYO 00002312  009 OF 009 
 
 
Speculations, with eye on Upper House election 
 
Minshuto regard the problem of pension records up in the air at the 
Social Insurance Agency (SIA) as a "major weapon to shake up the Abe 
administration," as a senior member said. 
 
In the current Diet session, in the run-up to the Upper House 
election, the main opposition party remains unable to score points 
based on its appeal to the public by addressing the issue of 
expanding income disparities. Its presence tends to be overshadowed 
by the ruling camp, which holds two-thirds of all the Lower House 
seats. 
 
At such a time, the pension record problem has emerged. Secretary 
General Yukio Hatoyama said: "This will be the top campaign issue in 
the Upper House election. We will shed light on this," keeping in 
mind the outcome of the 2004 Upper House election, in which Minshuto 
defeated the Liberal Democratic Party as a result of underlining the 
need to address the pension issue. 
 
Even so, momentum is not fully gathering, compared with the 
situation three years ago. As a member of the Diet Affairs Committee 
said, "Since people knows little about the SIA issue, they are not 
angry. Informing them of the fact should be the most effective 
strategy," the opposition is ready to pursue the ruling coalition at 
every opportunity. 
 
Minshuto has decided that if the ruling parties try to steamroll a 
vote on a bill to reform the SIA, it will put up an all-out 
resistance, with a submission of a non-confidence motion against 
MHLW Minister Yanagisawa. 
 
Meanwhile, the ruling camp is hoping to put an end to the pension 
record issue, one member saying: "SIA reform and the pension issue 
are two different matters." Although cautious views are deep-seated 
in the LDP Upper House Executive, as one saying, "If we forcibly 
take a vote, the result might be a repetition of the outcome in the 
2004 Upper House election." But a senior MHLW official expressed 
expectation for forcible vote on the bill. 
 
SCHIEFFER