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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 003606 
 
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 08/07/07 
 
TOKYO 00003606  001.2 OF 011 
 
 
Index: 
1)  Top headlines 
 
2)  Editorials 
 
3)  Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
4)  Yomiuri poll: Abe Cabinet support rate sinks to 27.2 percent, 
non support rate at 63.7 percent; DPJ support leaps 12.6 percent to 
26.9 percent, exceeding LDP's 25.8 percent 
 
5)  Moriya to resign as vice defense minister 
 
6)  Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ozawa remains opposed 
to anti-terror law extension: "I am against joining US's war in 
Afghanistan" 
 
7)  Three opposition parties to cooperate in opposing bill extending 
anti-terror special measures law allowing MSDF refueling service in 
Indian Ocean 
 
8)  LDP seeking compromise with DPJ on anti-terror bill, including 
possibly allowing prior Diet approval 
 
9)  Ozawa's DPJ pressuring Abe government by seeking a timetable for 
ASDF withdrawal from Iraq service 
 
10)  Prime Minister Abe, fearing post-election backlash, postpones 
Aug. 15 visit to Yasukuni Shrine 
 
11)  Abe finding junior lawmakers in the LDP increasingly critical 
of his staying on 
 
12)  Constitutional research committees in both Diet chambers may 
not restart deliberations due to opposition camp's resistance 
 
13)  DPJ's Satsuki Eda, respected lawmaker, selected as president of 
the House of Councillors 
 
14)  DPJ's Ozawa says he aims to have his party win 150 district 
seats in the next Lower House election 
 
15)  Justice Minister Nagase charging foreign trainees group 500,000 
yen "fee" for help in getting visas issued to incoming workers 
 
16) Second case found of former farm minister Akagi having two sets 
of accounting books for political funds 
 
Articles: 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
Asahi: 
Fewer than two-thirds of Upper House members favor constitutional 
revision 
 
Mainichi: 
Justice Minister Nagase receives 500,000 yen from foreign trainee 
organization as reward for visa inquiry 
 
Yomiuri: 
China's blue sky campaign for opening of 2008 Beijing Olympics (Part 
1) 
 
 
TOKYO 00003606  002 OF 011 
 
 
Nikkei: 
JAL, Nippon Express, Kintetsu World Express to set up service for 
shipping packages in Asia 
 
Sankei: 
Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization orders TBS to 
make improvements regarding Fujiya reports 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Abe not to visit Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15 
 
Akahata: 
World Conference against A&H Bombs in Hiroshima calls for 
nuclear-free world 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
Asahi: 
(1) Government must deliver on prime minister's promise to recognize 
people as suffering from A-bomb diseases 
(2) National High School Baseball Tournament begins on Aug. 8 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) People suffering from A-bomb diseases need speedy relief 
measures 
(2) Eda to become Upper House president 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) N-plant inspection to offer lessons for world 
(2) High schools pad number of successful college applicants 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Digital broadcasting needs improvements 
(2) Test for 40-year-old ASEAN 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Hiroshima peace declaration fails to refer to North Korean 
nuclear program 
(2) Guidelines on A-bomb diseases must be reviewed swiftly 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Speedy improvements essential for criteria on A-bomb diseases 
(2) How to utilize national academic aptitude test is summer 
assignment 
 
Akahata: 
(1) National High School Baseball Tournament as venue for true 
education 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, August 6 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
07:41: 
Left the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima. 
08:00: 
Attended a ceremony marking the 62nd anniversary of the US atomic 
bombing of Hiroshima at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. 
10:37: 
Left Hiroshima Airport by ANA 676. 
 
 
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* Missing Section 003 * 
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TOKYO 00003606  004 OF 011 
 
 
affiliation was 38.7 percent, down 5.7 points from June. 
 
Respondents were also asked if they thought Prime Minister Abe, who 
has now declared his intent to stay on as premier, will be able to 
obtain actual results. In response to this question, 54 percent 
answered "no," with 18 percent saying "yes" and 25 percent saying 
they "can't say which." Meanwhile, Abe is expected to shuffle his 
cabinet late this month. Respondents were further asked if they 
looked forward to seeing the Abe cabinet's new lineup. To this 
question, a total of 55 percent answered "no," with a total of 42 
percent saying "yes." 
 
5) Vice Defense Minister Moriya to exit 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
Defense Minister Yuriko Koike decided yesterday that Administrative 
Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya will retire. Moriya has been 
in his current post for over four years. He is to leave his post on 
Sept. 1, concurrent with the Defense Facilities Administration 
Agency's integration into the Defense Ministry. His post will be 
filled by Tetsuya Nishikawa, director general of the Defense 
Minister's Secretariat. 
 
In his career, Moriya has successively served as director general of 
the Defense Minister's Secretariat and director of the Defense 
Policy Bureau. In August 203, Moriya became administrative vice 
defense minister. He displayed his skill in negotiating with Okinawa 
Prefecture and the US Department of Defense over various issues, 
including the planned relocation of the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air 
Station in Okinawa. He was rumored to be retained with the Diet 
convening an extraordinary session this fall. However, he will now 
be replaced because he has been in his current post for an 
unprecedentedly long period of time. 
 
6) Ozawa stands against taking part in US war 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
Ichiro Ozawa, president of the leading opposition Democratic Party 
of Japan (Minshuto), met yesterday at party headquarters with his 
party's executives, Vice President Kan and Secretary General 
Hatoyama. During the meeting, the three discussed the idea of 
extending the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law. "US President Bush 
has declared that it is the United States' war on terror in 
Afghanistan," Ozawa said. "The DPJ is opposed to taking part in the 
United States' war." With this, Ozawa indicated that the DPJ cannot 
agree to extend the law from its stand against the United States' 
Afghan policy. 
 
7) Diet to convene extraordinary session today; Secretaries general 
of three opposition parties agree to oppose extending Antiterrorism 
Law 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
August 7, 2007 
 
In preparation for the start of an extraordinary Diet session today, 
the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) selected the lineup for the 
House of Councillors' presidency and executive posts yesterday. The 
 
TOKYO 00003606  005 OF 011 
 
 
main opposition party is now ready to engage in an all-out 
confrontation with the ruling coalition. DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa 
met with Acting President Naoto Kan and Secretary General Yukio 
Hatoyama yesterday. He later announced that the party would express 
its opposition to the government's plan to extend the Antiterrorism 
Special Measures Law. The secretaries general of the DPJ, the Social 
Democratic Party, and the People's New Party also met at a Tokyo 
hotel last night for the first time after the Upper House election 
and confirmed that they would not basically support the government's 
extension plan. 
 
In the meeting with Kan and Hatoyama, Ozawa said about the 
Antiterrorism Law allowing the Maritime Self-Defense Force to deploy 
its vessels in the Indian Ocean (to refuel naval vessels from 
various countries): "I am opposed to Japan's support for the US-led 
war. President Bush has defined his country's operations as a war on 
the terror against Afghanistan. Japan should not take action to 
support such operations. Let's discuss such a point." 
 
After the meeting, Hatoyama remarked: "(Ozawa) probably meant to say 
Japan should consider more voluntarily serviceable contributions, 
while taking other countries' ways of contribution as reference." 
 
In reaction to a reporter pointing out that a question mark might be 
put on the DPJ's ability to hold the reins of government if the 
party opposes the extension of the law, Hatoyama made this 
counterargument: "The fact is the reverse of what you said. The 
Liberal Democratic Party has no ability to stay in power. Do you 
mean that if a party blindly follows the US and acts as told by it, 
the party holds the ability to hold the reins of government? Don't 
talk nonsense." 
 
8) "Prior Diet approval" clause likely to be added to bill extending 
Antiterrorism Law 
 
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
August 7, 2007 
 
The ruling parties yesterday began discussions on the question of 
whether to add a prior Diet approval clause to a bill extending the 
Antiterrorism Special Measures Law, which is to expire on Nov. 1. 
This clause has been called for by the major opposition Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto). If the ruling bloc fails to obtain 
cooperation from the opposition bloc, which holds a majority in the 
Upper House, it may be difficult to get the bill adopted. If the 
bill is not adopted, that could affect Japan-US relations. The 
ruling bloc intends to show the bill to the DPJ during the 
extraordinary session of the Diet, which is to be convened on Aug. 
31, and ask for the DPJ's support for the bill. 
 
The ruling bloc regards the question of extending the law as a 
"major political agenda" in the upcoming extraordinary Diet session 
slated for the fall as the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) Diet 
Affairs Committee Chairman Toshihiro Nikai puts it. If the ruling 
bloc in this regard fails to convince the DPJ, it will face 
difficulties in managing the Diet thereafter. By adopting the 
opposition bloc's assertions over the question of extending the law, 
the governing parties want to help Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 
policy management even slightly. 
 
The current law obligates the government to obtain ex post facto 
Diet approval after the dispatch of troops. If the law is not 
 
TOKYO 00003606  006 OF 011 
 
 
extended, Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) troops must stop their 
refueling services now conducted in the Indian Ocean to vessels from 
the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. 
 
The junior coalition partner New Komeito's Diet Affairs Committee 
Chairman Yoshio Urushibara declared in an interview with the Nikkei 
yesterday: "We will agree to add a prior Diet approval clause as 
called for by the DPJ to the bill. We strongly hope to revise what 
should be revised upon obtaining approval from the opposition 
parties." 
 
Abe yesterday told reporters at the Prime Minister's Official 
Residence, "I'd like to explain to the DPJ with sincerity and ask 
for its cooperation," indicating he was positive about prior 
consultations. On the same day, Nikai, too, told the Nikkei: "A 
variety of views exist. I think it is a good thing to discuss the 
matter fully," adding, "If 60 or 100 days are spent for prior 
approval, we will be criticized as being too late." He thus implied 
that even if prior approval is approved, the term of consultations 
should be limited to a short period. 
 
9) Ozawa asks for Iraq withdrawal timetable to apply pressure on 
government 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) President Ichiro Ozawa 
has informally asked the government to disclose information, 
including a timetable for withdrawing the Air Self-Defense Force, 
which has been engaged in reconstruction support in Iraq, government 
and ruling party members said yesterday. The government intends to 
reject the request. 
 
Apparently, the DPJ's aim is to apply pressure on the Abe 
administration eager to strengthen the Japan-US alliance amid 
growing calls in the United States for withdrawal from Iraq and to 
use the request as a bargaining chip in debate over the question of 
extending the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law slated to expire on 
November 1. 
 
According to the government source, the Ozawa side asked the 
government after the House of Councillors election for an 
explanation about withdrawing the ASDF from Iraq and future plans. 
 
The government and ruling coalition are reluctant to offer any 
explanation about withdrawing from Iraq. The reason is that 
America's Iraq policy is wavering as seen from the fact that the US 
House in July adopted with a majority approval a bill to pull US 
troops out of Iraq by next April but the Senate scrapped the 
legislation. 
 
President Bush is scheduled to produce a final report on Iraq in 
September. "Japan must not mention the possibility of withdrawing 
from Iraq ahead of a US decision, for that would affect the 
foundation of the bilateral alliance," the government source said. 
 
Although Ozawa has indicated that he would oppose an extension of 
the law, some DPJ lawmakers are supporting an extension. Depending 
on how things turn out, the DPJ might fall into disarray. The 
government and ruling bloc are reacting strongly to Ozawa's request, 
thinking that the DPJ is trying to obtain public support by linking 
 
TOKYO 00003606  007 OF 011 
 
 
the Iraq issue to the antiterrorism law and that the party must not 
politicize diplomatic and security issues. 
 
The ASDF has been engaged in an airlift operation near Baghdad even 
after the Ground Self-Defense Force left the southern Iraqi city of 
Samawah in July 2006. The government and ruling coalition extended 
in June the Iraq Special Measures Law by two years until the end of 
July 2009. They have also decided to make changes to the basic plan 
to extend the Iraq mission by one year until the end of July 2008. 
 
10) Prime Minister Abe puts off visit Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15 to 
avoid political trouble 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday made up his mind not to pay 
homage at Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of 
World War II. Although former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi 
visited the shrine on that day last year for the first time since 
taking office as prime minister, Abe supposedly judged it is 
undesirable to bring about any further political trouble by visiting 
the shrine, given that there are strong objections from China and 
South Korea to the Japanese prime minister's visit to the shrine, 
and that the foundations of his government are not stable at present 
because of the ruling bloc's crushing defeat in the July Upper House 
election. 
 
In the past Abe has been in support of the prime minister's visit to 
Yasukuni Shrine, including Koizumi's. Abe himself visited the shrine 
on April 15 of last year, when he served as chief cabinet secretary, 
but since taking office as prime minister last September, he has 
refrained from visiting the shrine, out of consideration for 
relations with China and South Korea. 
 
Abe, however, has made it a policy not to declare whether he visited 
the shrine or not. So, he is expected not to reveal whether he did 
not visit the shrine on Aug. 15. 
 
Also, it is unclear whether Abe will or will not visit Yasukuni 
Shrine during its autumn festival. 
 
Koizumi pledged in the 2001 Liberal Democratic Party's presidential 
election to visit the shrine on Aug. 15. But except for the year 
2006, when he retired as prime minister, he had visited the shrine 
every year on the days other than Aug. 15. His continued shrine 
visits were seen as the major cause of the worsened relations like 
the suspension of summit diplomacy with China and South Korea, which 
are strongly opposing the prime minister's visit to the shrine, 
where the Class-A war criminals have been enshrined. 
 
Abe has stood firm in his position about Yasukuni Shrine. He has 
said, "I want to continue to offer my prayer for the souls of the 
dead and pay my respects to them." He paid 50,000 yen from his 
pocket as a masakaki tree to put on the altar for the shrine's 
spring festival this past April. In July, he paid 10,000 yen from 
his pocket for a votive lantern for the shrine's Bon festival. 
 
11) Criticism of prime minister growing even among junior members 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
August 7, 2007 
 
TOKYO 00003606  008 OF 011 
 
 
 
The chaos caused in the Liberal Democratic Party by its crushing 
defeat in the July House of Councillors election is unlikely to calm 
down for the time being. Criticism of the party leadership is 
growing stronger day by day. Junior members were the driving force 
behind the inauguration of the Abe government, but a number of them 
have also voiced criticism of and dissatisfaction with Prime 
Minister Shinzo Abe. 
 
In a meeting of both houses' parliamentary assembly of the Tohoku 
bloc held at party headquarters yesterday afternoon, assembly 
chairman Koichi Kato, a former secretary general, said: "Here, you 
should express what you really think." 
 
In response, former Health and Welfare Minister Yuji Tsushima, 
chairman of the Tsushima faction, denounced the prime minister, 
saying: "The cause of the party's defeat is not its bad performance. 
The leader is expected to understand public feelings, but the 
current politics lacks consideration and affection." The Tsushima 
faction is the second largest faction in the LDP, but it has no 
cabinet post now after former Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned. 
Given this, dissatisfaction with the Abe administration has built up 
in the faction. The faction is now the core of anti-Abe forces, 
including former Defense Ministry Agency Director General Shigeru 
Ishiba. 
 
Following Tsushima's remark, harsh criticism of the Abe 
administration cropped up from many other members, such as: "The 
government's structural reforms have aggravated the impoverishment 
of local communities;" "We have lost the farm vote;" "The 
construction industry, a main vote-gathering group, hardly worked 
for us;" "Our patience has worn out;" and "Many key figures in the 
central government came to support our candidates in local 
districts, so local members felt that they were being overlooked." 
Kato decided to deliver the book of minutes entering speakers' 
names, saying: "It is necessary to have the prime minister know what 
LDP members really think." 
 
12) Constitutional examination committees not set up due to 
objection from opposition camp 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
August 7, 2007 
 
The National Referendum Law stipulating procedures for amending the 
Constitution lays down the establishment of a constitutional 
examination committee both in the Lower and Upper Houses during the 
Diet session to be convened on Aug. 7. However, meting opposition 
from the opposition camp, the panel has not yet been established. 
There is concern that this abnormal situation could affect 
discussion on constitutional revision. 
 
The constitutional examination committee is a key standing panel to 
be established in the Diet for examination of bills related to 
constitutional revision. Though the panel's authority to examine 
constitutional revision bills will be put on hold until May 2010, 
when the main portion of the National Referendum Law is put into 
force, they are tasked with examining constitutional matters to be 
amended. 
 
The National Referendum Law stipulates the establishment of the 
constitutional examination committees during the first Diet session 
 
TOKYO 00003606  009.2 OF 011 
 
 
to be convened since its passage on May 18. Based on this provision, 
the Rules and Administration Committees of both chambers of the Diet 
on Aug. 6 at their own executive meeting conferred on regulations on 
the constitutional examination committee, including the fixed number 
of committee members and decision-making requirements, but both 
failed to reach an agreement. 
 
A DPJ participant during the Lower House executive meeting on Aug. 2 
noted: "The prime minister's statement on constitutional revision 
was too influential. The chief of the administration should govern 
national affairs, based on the existing Constitution." Another DPJ 
participant pointed out the forcible passage of the National 
Referendum Law in the Lower House and objected the adoption of panel 
regulations, saying, "It is too early to establish such 
regulations." The Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic 
Party are opposing the establishment of an examination panel 
itself. 
 
13) DPJ picks Eda for Upper House chief post 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) yesterday picked Satsuki Eda, 
66, a former House of Councillors' chairman and a former Science and 
Technology Agency chief, to be the party's first president of the 
Upper House. The selection will be formalized at an extraordinary 
session to be convened today. 
 
Speaking before the press corps, Eda said: "The role I will play in 
the Upper House at the current juncture is very significant. It is 
having a bracing effect on me." 
 
The DPJ has decided to keep the party's Upper House Caucus Chairman 
Azuma Koshiishi in his post. Eda served as Science and Technology 
Agency chief in the Hosokawa cabinet. The Minshuto candidate in the 
Okayama Constituency, his electoral district, defeated Liberal 
Democratic Party's Upper House Secretary General Toranosuke Katayama 
in the July Upper House election owing to his support. The main 
opposition party valued this contribution highly. His father is the 
late Saburo Eda, who served as Japan Socialist Party secretary 
general. 
 
The DPJ also named former Education Minister Takeo Nishioka as 
Steering Committee chairman, Kenji Hirata as secretary general of 
the caucus, and Susumu Yanase as the party's Diet Affairs Committee 
chairman. 
 
The extraordinary session will be convened for four days until the 
10th. In its plenary session today, the Upper House will unanimously 
nominate Eda as president and LDP member Akiko Santo as vice 
president. The DPJ intends to submit a bill banning the use of 
pension insurance premiums for other purposes than pension payments, 
as well as a bill to mandate all political groups to attach receipts 
for expenditures of more than 10,000 yen for political activities. 
 
14) DPJ head Ozawa says to Rengo chairman: "We plan to win 150 seats 
in single-seat constituencies for the Lower House" 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
August 7, 2007 
 
 
TOKYO 00003606  010 OF 011 
 
 
The major opposition Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ or Minshuto) 
President Ichiro Ozawa yesterday held face-to-face talks with the 
Japanese Trade Union Confederation's (Rengo) Chairman Tsuyoshi 
Takagi arranged by Rengo's magazine. In the meeting, when asked 
about the next Lower House election, Ozawa said, "We want to win 150 
seats out of the (300) single-seat constituencies. If that is 
realized, we can naturally bring about a change of government." He 
thus indicated that he would aim to win a majority of seats in the 
single-seat constituencies as the party's target. Takagi told Ozawa: 
"The DPJ needs to buttress its local organizations. The right to 
dissolve the Lower House lies with the other side. Your party should 
always stand ready for an election. Rengo will cooperate with you." 
 
When asked about the upcoming extraordinary Diet session slated for 
this fall, Ozawa said, "In the Upper House, we will exercise 
administrative investigation rights to answer the public's 
questions." The talk between the two is to be carried by the monthly 
magazine Rengo to be issued on Aug. 25. 
 
15) Justice Minister Nagase gets 500,000 yen from foreign trainee 
referral service organization, to which he serves as advisor, as 
gratuity for querying about visas 
 
MAINICHI (Top Play) (Excerpts) 
August 7, 2007 
 
It was found that Justice Minister Jinen Nagase's office in Lower 
House Toyama Constituency No. 1 around September last year received 
a donation worth 500,000 yen from the Tomishin International 
Business Cooperative in Toyama City, an organization that offers 
foreign trainee referral services, to which Nagase serves as an 
advisor, as gratitude for inquiring at the Justice Ministry about 
foreign trainee visas. Nagase returned the money after the Mainichi 
Shimbun started collected news materials to cover the case as a news 
event noting. "I as the top person in charge of the immigration 
administration must not invite misunderstanding." He also resigned 
as adviser. 
 
According to several cooperative officials, a dozen or more Chinese 
trainees had authorization for resident eligibility issued by the 
Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau, but unable to obtain visas from 
the Foreign Ministry's diplomatic mission in China. As such, the 
cooperative asked Nagase's secretary to find out the reason. 
Nagase's office inquired at the Immigration Bureau and the Foreign 
Ministry about the matter and found that it was a mistake made by 
the Chinese side. Though those trainees were unable to enter Japan, 
a cooperative executive visited Nagase's office around the fall and 
handed over 500,000 to the secretary, noting, "I would like to 
return a favor for your help." The secretary, however, sometime 
between June and early July this year, the time when the Mainichi 
started collecting news materials on the matter, asked the 
cooperative to pretend that there was no transfer of money and then 
returned the money. These sources said that the cooperative received 
a receipt proving the donation from Nagase's office, but returned 
it. 
 
Nagase took office as advisor to Shinyo in May, 1998, when it was 
established. However, since he failed to notify the prime minister 
of this as stipulated under the cabinet minister law, he offered his 
resignation. Shinyo accepted his resignation. 
 
Regarding the time when Nagase's office received the cash, the 
 
 
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