VZCZCXRO9227
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2967/01 1800805
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290805Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5055
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/CTF 72
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 4236
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 1821
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 5400
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 0931
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 2630
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7667
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3725
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 4819

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 002967 
 
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 06/29/07 
 
Index: 
 
(1) Former US President Bush on Miyazawa's death: Mr. Miyazawa made 
utmost efforts to develop Japan-US relations 
 
(2) Blue-ribbon panel agrees on need to intercept US-bound ballistic 
missiles 
 
(3) Interview with Energy Department Assistant Secretary Spurgeon on 
Japan-US nuclear power cooperation: Fusion of advanced technology 
expected 
 
(4) Yonaguni port call: US military creates fait accompli; Locals 
let down, give up 
 
(5) Interview with Takushoku University Prof. Satoshi Morimoto on 
the right to collective self-defense 
 
(6) Interview with Takakazu Kuriyama, former ambassador to US, on 
collective self-defense; Government's interpretation unrealistic 
 
(7) Editorial: Get facts straight on comfort women 
 
(8) Proposal by singer Agnes Chan, UNICEF goodwill ambassador: 
Possession of child pornography must be banned 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Former US President Bush on Miyazawa's death: Mr. Miyazawa made 
utmost efforts to develop Japan-US relations 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 29, 2007 
 
Former United States President Bush on June 28 issued a comment on 
the demise of former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, saying: "I feel 
very sad to receive the news that my friend, Mr. Miyazawa, passed 
away. He made utmost efforts, as prime minister and finance 
minister, to significantly develop relations between Japan and the 
US." 
 
Senior Bush collapsed from overwork during a state banquet hosted by 
then Prime Minister Miyazawa at his official residence in Tokyo in 
January 1992. Since video footage of Miyazawa and Barbara, Bush's 
wife, cradling Bush was aired, Miyazawa was made widely known to 
most Americans. Bush concluded his statement with these words: "Mr. 
Miyazawa was a dear friend of Barbara and me." 
 
(2) Blue-ribbon panel agrees on need to intercept US-bound ballistic 
missiles 
 
Asahi Online 
13:17 June 29, 2007 
 
The blue-ribbon panel to study the right to collective self-defense 
met today at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). The 
members agreed on the need to intercept ballistic missiles that 
might be headed for the United States. The dominant view was that 
the country should be allowed to use the right to collective 
self-defense, which is prohibited under the government's 
interpretation of the Constitution. At the outset of the meeting, 
the prime minister highlighted the need to improve the law to pave 
 
TOKYO 00002967  002 OF 008 
 
 
the way for missile interception, saying: "There is no doubt that if 
Japan's ally suffered major damage, it would have a serious impact 
on the defense of Japan." 
 
The prime minister, with use of the missile defense (MD) system in 
mind, also ordered the panel to study a response to a fired 
ballistic missile being identified by radar. The prime minister also 
said: "Not only military personnel but also US citizens would suffer 
serious damage. This is an extremely crucial theme for the 
alliance." 
 
According to the panel's chair Shunji Yanai, a former ambassador to 
the United States, members said: "Not being able to shoot down a 
missile headed for the United States, on which Japan's security 
heavily relies on, cannot be an option," and, "Japan's inability to 
deal with such a situation will rock the foundation of the alliance 
with the United States." 
 
The government's standard interpretation is that intercepting a 
ballistic missile headed for a foreign country constitutes the use 
of the right to collective self-defense, which is prohibited under 
the Constitution. 
 
(3) Interview with Energy Department Assistant Secretary Spurgeon on 
Japan-US nuclear power cooperation: Fusion of advanced technology 
expected 
 
NIKKEI (Page 15) (Full) 
June 29, 2007 
 
Japan and the United States are boosting cooperation in developing a 
next-generation nuclear reactor and constructing new nuclear power 
plants in the US under a global nuclear energy partnership (GNEP) 
initiative advocated by the US government in 2006. The Nikkei 
interviewed Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Dennis Spurgeon 
on future prospects for nuclear power propulsion under cooperation 
between Japan and the US and on a global scale. 
 
-- What is the US expecting from Japan? 
 
Japan has an advanced fast-reactor technology to effectively burn 
plutonium. In addition, Japan has promoted the development of an 
advanced technology to reprocess used nuclear fuel in cooperation 
with France. The US has an excellent simulation technique. If Japan 
and the US bring together their respected technologies, the two 
countries will be able to come up with an advanced reactor and 
reprocessing technology. 
 
-- What contributions do you think Japanese companies will be able 
to make in the project of constructing new nuclear power plants in 
the US? 
 
The US plans to construct about 30 nuclear reactors. I expect 
Japanese manufacturers will be engaged in more than half of them. 
Cooperation between Japanese and American companies is essential, 
like one between Westinghouse Electric Co. and Toshiba Co. and 
another between GE and Hitachi Ltd. 
 
-- Although no construction project was carried out over the past 
nearly 30 years, do you think the planned project will be 
implemented smoothly? 
 
 
TOKYO 00002967  003 OF 008 
 
 
With the necessary infrastructure declining, there are no companies 
and persons with sufficient experience of designing or construction. 
The government will help the industry take a step forward. The 
Energy Policy Act enacted in 2005 provides for debt guarantee. The 
government intends to determine detailed rules on a mechanism for 
debt guarantee by this fall and obtain approval from the Congress 
next year. 
 
-- The management and disposal of nuclear waste may obstruct the 
promotion of nuclear-power policy. 
 
It is safer for nuclear waste to be managed and disposed of by the 
international community, rather than by waste-producing countries 
alone. In order to collect waste in several locations across the 
world and then dispose it, it is necessary to obtain agreement from 
the international community. So it is not an easy task. 
 
(4) Yonaguni port call: US military creates fait accompli; Locals 
let down, give up 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full) 
June 27, 2007 
 
On the morning of June 26, two US Navy minesweepers, the USS 
Guardian and USS Patriot, left the port of Sono in the Okinawa 
prefectural town of Yonaguni on the island of Yonagunijima. The US 
military made a port call at a civilian seaport in Okinawa 
Prefecture for the first time since the reversion of Okinawa to 
Japan. The US military has now actually left its footprint on the 
island with the port call of its warships. However, the townsfolk 
was divided into "yes" to the port call in expectation of local 
development incentives and "no" in anticipation of trouble and war 
involvement. The town is apparently in a mood to give up, with one 
saying: "Whatever we may say, the US military will come." The small 
frontier island, which is suffering from depopulation, is now 
downhearted. 
 
On June 25, two days after the US warships' arrival at the port of 
Sono, their crewmen were on shore. They were seen everywhere in the 
town of Yonaguni, with some of them shopping at a grocery and others 
entering a restaurant. "Where can we play billiard?" asked one of 
them. "I'd like to buy something like glasswork for my souvenir," 
another said. A group of soldiers sat down on the steps to a 
supermarket. "I've never seen so many soldiers." With this, a 
supermarket clerk looked embarrassed. 
 
After the two US warships left the island, US Consul General Okinawa 
Maher underscored the significance of their visit to the island, 
saying: "US warships visit everywhere in Japan. They contribute to 
security in the region." Maher expressed his gratitude to local 
residents who responded to exchanges. 
 
Sonkichi Sakihara, a Yonaguni Town assemblyman, is a local 
transporter and helped to lower landing steps from the minesweepers. 
"The grocery store's beverage sales were more than twice," Sakihara 
said. "It's just for once, though," he added. 
 
Meanwhile, there are also local residents who welcomed the two US 
warships in expectation of government incentives to local 
development that will lead to the town's revitalization over the 
long term. For that purpose, they want the port of Sono to be 
improved and opened. However, they see nothing in store. Their 
 
TOKYO 00002967  004 OF 008 
 
 
expectations were in vain. 
 
In the past, military maneuvers overshadowed the daily lives of 
Yonaguni's townsfolk. For instance, China once launched missiles, 
which landed in waters near the island of Yonagunijima. In addition, 
Taiwan also conducted military training exercises. The island's 
fishermen therefore could not go out fishing. 
 
As an example, one Yonagunijima islander cited the case of 
Takeshima, which is a group of disputed islets in the Sea of Japan 
and is currently under the control of South Korea. Japan has been 
claiming territorial rights to Takeshima. "If there is no one on 
this island," the local resident said, "this island would be 
occupied by a foreign country." He added, "We guard the border." 
 
Meanwhile, Yonaguni Town has no high school. The island's children 
need to live outside the island when going to high school. Their 
parents have to send them a monthly allowance of about 100,000 yen. 
On the island, they all go out to work, as a matter of course. Most 
of them are raising livestock as a sideline to make a living 
somehow. 
 
"We must revitalize the island, or we can't live on. We wanted to 
exchange with Taiwan. But the government turned down our request. 
The government says the port of Sono is not an open port. We wanted 
to pave the way to an open port. We thought the island's port could 
be an open port if US warships come. That's why we accepted their 
port call." With this, Yono Sakihara, 59, who heads a local 
community center, came out of himself. 
 
Yonaguni Town fears further depopulation. The town has now given up 
on its consolidation with other municipalities. Instead, the town is 
exploring ways to its self-sustainability with expanded exchanges 
with Taiwan. The island's people were divided and rocked with 
expectations and anxieties over the suddenly proposed visit of US 
warships. Sakihara voiced his dissatisfaction: "I wonder what the 
government thinks about frontier people." 
 
(5) Interview with Takushoku University Prof. Satoshi Morimoto on 
the right to collective self-defense 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
June 26, 2007 
 
-- Why did the prime minister have to set up the blue-ribbon panel 
to discuss the right to collective self-defense at this time? 
 
Morimoto: Breaking away from the postwar regime is the Abe 
administration's basic vision. The administration's ultimate goal is 
to amend the Constitution. But because it cannot propose 
constitutional revision until 2010 or later, it wants to produce an 
outline of constitutional amendments first. But before that, the 
administration has to rebuild its national strategy. That's why the 
National Security Council will be established next spring. The 
question of the right to collective self-defense has to be settled 
at the same time. 
 
One Aegis-equipped vessel (capable of intercepting ballistic 
missiles) will become operational around December as part of missile 
defense (MD). The question of collective defense is expected to 
arise when Japan and the United States decide on joint operational 
procedures. I think the administration wants to sort out contentious 
 
TOKYO 00002967  005 OF 008 
 
 
points by then. 
 
-- Is sorting out contentious points the panel's main goal? 
 
Morimoto: Effectiveness does not come from simply sorting out 
problems associated with the right to collective self-defense. 
Constitutional interpretation will not hold unless the right is 
legally ensured in some fashion. The matter must be settled by means 
of the law rather than changing the interpretation. If the matter 
cannot be resolved with the law, the government should seek the 
people's judgment on constitutional revision. 
 
-- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has presented four scenarios, such as 
intercepting a missile headed for the United States. 
 
Morimoto: They are all intended for resolving questions. What Japan 
can and cannot do in dealing with pressing issues, such as MD and 
assisting in Iraq's reconstruction efforts? Should the government 
change its constitutional interpretation, establish a law, or go all 
the way to constitutional revision? I think the prime minister wants 
a set of proposals encompassing general rules that are drawn from 
the panel's study of the four scenarios. 
 
-- The government's explanation to the public seems insufficient. 
 
Morimoto: The government must explain correctly to the people about 
what Japan would lose and gain. Will Japan's diplomacy become 
broader and its international contributions and cooperation expand? 
The sacrifice of Self-Defense Force personnel and shedding the blood 
of foreign people would entail some diplomatic risk, at well. 
Writing reports on what Japan can do without mentioning risks is 
irresponsible. 
 
(6) Interview with Takakazu Kuriyama, former ambassador to US, on 
collective self-defense; Government's interpretation unrealistic 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 27, 2007 
 
-- What do you think is important viewpoints in thinking about the 
right to collective self-defense? 
 
Kuriyama: I think it is important to understand the concept of 
collective self-defense based on international law. According to the 
present government's interpretation, the right of individual defense 
is applied to our country's defense and the right of collective 
self-defense is applied to defending other countries. The concept of 
international law is that the right to collective defense is a means 
to protect "us" and not other countries. Defending other countries 
means no more than joint response to defend one's own country. 
 
-- What do you think about the government's interpretation of the 
Constitution? 
 
Kuriyama: The government's interpretation disavowing the use of the 
right of collective self-defense based on the Constitutional has 
imposed unrealistic constraints on Japan's security policy. As a 
member of the international community, the interpretation that 
prevents Japan from fulfilling its due responsibility should be 
rejected. However, Article 9 of the Constitution is Japan's vow to 
the international community that its people will live by 
international cooperation, unlike the prewar situation. The article 
 
TOKYO 00002967  006 OF 008 
 
 
is worth keeping for it shows that the principle of pacifism is 
being realized. 
 
-- Japan should be allowed to exercise the right of collective 
defense by reinterpreting the Constitution, not by amending it. Is 
that your opinion? 
 
Kuriyama: I am not an advocate of constitutional revision. I believe 
that Article 9 does not obstruct Japan from fulfilling the roles the 
international community expects of it. The first task that Japan 
should accomplish is to discuss what it can or cannot do without 
amending the Constitution. After such debate, the Constitution 
should be amended if necessary. 
 
Since Japan's security policy is now at a turning point, the 
government should fulfill its accountability in the form of a prime 
ministerial statement. Unless the government clarifies when and how 
Japan will exercise the right of collective defense, countries 
concerned and neighboring countries would be concerned and we would 
invite repercussions. 
 
-- Some in Japan are concerned that if the exercise of the 
collective defense right is allowed, there would be no end to the 
use of force. 
 
Kuriyama: The exercise of the collective defense does not always 
involve the use of force. International law includes provision of 
bases to the armies of allies in the exercise of the right of 
collective defense. This is action to protect "us" in the concept of 
common interest. The government of the time would make a decision on 
what are common interests and how far the collective defense right 
should be exercised. These matters are not stipulated in the 
Constitution. 
 
(7) Editorial: Get facts straight on comfort women 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 28, 2007 
 
To our regret, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee has adopted a 
resolution condemning Japan and demanding the Japanese prime 
minister's official apology over the so-called wartime comfort women 
issue. 
 
The adopted resolution that includes some changes in wording to note 
the importance of the US-Japan alliance in the Asia-Pacific region 
is somewhat softer than the initial resolution presented by Mike 
Honda (D-CA). But as seen in its assertion that the comfort women 
system was established by the Japanese government for sexual 
services for military personnel, the resolution still includes many 
factual mistakes. 
 
Rumor circulated sometime ago that Japanese constituted authorities 
had coercively recruited young women, like slaves, to make them 
serve as comfort women. But there was no evidence in the some 2,300 
materials collected by the Japanese government over two years. 
Comfort women were recruited mostly by private-sector operators, and 
the military had a hand in it only for venereal disease prevention. 
 
The resolution is likely to be put to a vote on the full floor of 
the House in July. Although the resolution is nonbinding, not 
rebutting factual mistakes might mean accepting them in the 
 
TOKYO 00002967  007 OF 008 
 
 
international community. The Foreign Ministry must make every to get 
the facts straight by making effective use of the collected official 
documents. 
 
In the House committee, some reportedly even condemned Japan by 
equating the comfort women issue with Nazi Germany's Holocaust. This 
is a fallacious argument repeatedly appearing n state legislatures 
regarding the Nanjing Incident and other events. 
 
The influence of Iris Chang's bestseller, The Rape of Nanking: The 
Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, is still being felt. 
 
In his summit meeting with President George W. Bush in late April, 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: "As prime minister and as a human 
being, I have to express sympathy from the bottom of my heart to the 
former comfort women who suffered hardships." President Bush lauded 
the remark. The Foreign Ministry recently conducted an opinion 
survey about Japan in which a record 74 %  of Americans answered 
that Japan was trustworthy. 
 
In order to make the Japan-US alliance firmer, Japan needs to show 
the correct historical facts and make persistent diplomatic efforts 
to correct the errors. 
 
(8) Proposal by singer Agnes Chan, UNICEF goodwill ambassador: 
Possession of child pornography must be banned 
 
MAINICHI (Page 28) (Full) 
June 28, 2007/06/29 
 
"I need an eraser. I want to make a fresh start in my life with a 
clean slate." These words of a 16-year-old girl I met in June 2001 
in the Philippines are still fresh in my memory. The girl ran away 
from home at 13 and sold her body to live, and had an abortion twice 
until then. Rapping her hand on the belly at the time, she said, 
"I'll undergo an abortion." I told her, "No need for an eraser. 
That's not the result of what you did on your own decision. Your 
life is not stained with anything." I cried together with her. I do 
not want to see this sort of language come from a child. 
 
In June 1998, when I assumed the post of UNICEF ambassador for the 
Japan National Committee, I visited Thailand to see firsthand the 
state of child prostitution and child pornography. I met with three 
girls picked up by a Japanese man at a hotel lobby. Two of the three 
were from Myanmar (Burma) and one from Thailand. They looked merely 
nine years old, but they all told me, "14 years old." They were 
forced to say that age so as to not violate the law. 
 
One of them told me, "The man who always comes to me is a young 
Japanese." Another said, "My first customer was an old Japanese 
man." I was shocked and blamed by members of local non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs), with one of them arguing, "The Japanese have 
money, so they can buy anything." 
 
Filipino and Thai girls were photographed by Japanese customers. 
Those girls said they hate being photographed and that they were 
ashamed of those photos. Their photos are freely posted on the 
Internet, and that makes them feel like being raped twice and three 
times over. They will suffer psychological damage indefinitely. 
 
Because of this experience, at the time of the establishment of the 
Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child 
 
TOKYO 00002967  008 OF 008 
 
 
Pornography, I wanted simple possession (personal collection of 
pictures) as well to be banned. Allowing possession means it is all 
right to use it for entertainment. Sacrificing children for adult 
desires does not make any sense. 
 
Although international child pornography is available on the 
Internet, if Japan banned simple possession of images, it would be 
prohibited to access those particular websites. If that happened, 
Japan could dispel the image of a being a child pornography consumer 
and the market for that kind of pornography in Japan would vanish. 
Animated pornography, too, exists and stirs up adult sexual interest 
in children. But even now that is justified as "a personal hobby." 
 
This year is set for a review of the Law for Punishing Acts Related 
to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. 
 
It is the responsibility of adults to protect children. Diet members 
represent the adults. Most Japanese people cherish children. Only a 
handful of the Japanese create a bad image of Japan by buying sex 
from children abroad and circulating child pornography on the 
Internet. I think it is high time to say these acts are 
impermissible. 
 
SCHIEFFER