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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 14 TOKYO 005493 
 
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 12/07/07 
 
Index: 
 
(1) Poll on Fukuda cabinet, political parties, Defense Ministry 
scandals, MSDF Indian Ocean refueling legislation, gas tax for road 
construction (Asahi) 
 
(2) Ruling parties paving way for enacting new antiterrorism bill 
(Sankei) 
 
(3) Editorial: North Korean nuclear programs a real threat 
(Mainichi) 
 
(4) Political horse-trading over DPRK's declaration of its nuclear 
programs likely to continue into next year, reflecting US 
President's wishes (Sankei) 
 
(5) One step forward toward transparency of political funds with 
agreement reached between ruling and opposition parties on revising 
political funds law (Nikkei) 
 
(6) Administrative Reform Minister Watanabe fighting single-handedly 
in face of strong resistance from government agencies (Nikkei) 
 
(7) Government panel recommends easing requirements for daycare 
center admission as part of child-rearing support measures (Nikkei) 
 
(8) Okinawa pressured, sweetened for base relocation (Asahi) 
 
(9) Detachment base commander yesterday evening attends wining and 
dining session with company executive: "It was a shared-costs 
party," says attendant (Asahi) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Poll on Fukuda cabinet, political parties, Defense Ministry 
scandals, MSDF Indian Ocean refueling legislation, gas tax for road 
construction 
 
ASAHI (Page 10) (Full) 
December 4, 2007 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage, rounded off. Figures in parentheses 
denote the results of the last survey conducted Nov. 3-4 unless 
otherwise specified.) 
 
Q: Do you support the Fukuda cabinet? 
 
Yes 44 (45) 
No 36 (34) 
 
Q: Which political party do you support now? 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 31 (31) 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 23 (24) 
New Komeito (NK) 4 (3) 
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) 2 (2) 
Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 2 (1) 
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 0 (0) 
New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0 (0) 
Other political parties 0 (1) 
None 31 (32) 
 
TOKYO 00005493  002 OF 014 
 
 
No answer (N/A) + don't know (D/K) 7 (6) 
 
Q: What do you think about Prime Minister Fukuda's job performance 
so far? (One choice only) 
 
Beyond expectations 4 
Up to expectations 30 
Short of expectations 13 
No expectations from the start 48 
 
Q: Former Administrative Vice Defense Minister Moriya has now been 
arrested on bribery charges, and a Defense Ministry contractor is 
now alleged to have padded its bills for equipment delivered to the 
Self-Defense Forces. There are now such suspicions over the Defense 
Ministry. Do you think the government and ruling parties are 
responding to these issues in an appropriate way? 
 
Yes 22 
No 65 
 
Q: The House of Councillors once decided to summon Finance Minister 
Nukaga over the Defense Ministry's issues. However, the House of 
Councillors later decided not to do so. Do you think it was good? 
 
Yes 19 
No 65 
 
Q: Do you support the idea of forming an LDP-DPJ coalition 
government? 
 
Yes 30 
No 55 
 
Q: On Nov. 22, Prime Minister Fukuda met DPJ President Ozawa and 
proposed policy talks over national and social security issues. DPJ 
President Ozawa did not respond, taking the position that 
discussions should be held in the Diet. Which one do you support? 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda 33 
DPJ President Ozawa 48 
 
Q: The U.S. and other countries have sent naval vessels to the 
Indian Ocean for antiterror operations in Afghanistan. The 
Antiterrorism Special Measures Law, which was for the Self-Defense 
Forces to back up their naval operations in the Indian Ocean, 
expired on Nov. 1, and the SDF discontinued its activities there. Do 
you think Japan should resume SDF activities there? 
 
Yes 44 (43) 
No 44 (41) 
 
Q: The government has presented a bill to create a new law replacing 
the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law, and the bill is now being 
discussed in the Diet. This legislation limits SDF activities in the 
Indian Ocean to fuel and water supply for a period of one year, and 
it does not require the government to ask the Diet for its approval 
of SDF activities there. Do you support this legislation? 
 
Yes 36 (35) 
No 43 (43) 
 
Q: If this legislation is voted down in the House of Councillors, 
 
TOKYO 00005493  003 OF 014 
 
 
the ruling coalition is thinking of revoting on it in the House of 
Representatives to enact it into law with a concurring majority of 
two-thirds or more. Do you think it is appropriate to do so? 
 
Yes 46 
No 37 
 
Q: Do you think the House of Representatives should be dissolved as 
soon as possible for a general election, or do you otherwise think 
there is no need to do so? 
 
Dissolve as soon as possible 34 (35) 
No need to do so 55 (57) 
 
Q: If you were to vote now in a general election, which political 
party would you like to vote for in your proportional representation 
bloc? 
 
LDP 32 
DPJ 32 
NK 4 
JCP 3 
SDP 2 
PNP 1 
NPN 0 
Other political parties 1 
N/A+D/K 25 
 
Q: Would you like the current LDP-led coalition government to 
continue, or would you otherwise like it to be replaced with a 
DPJ-led coalition government? (Figures in parentheses denote the 
results of a survey taken Oct. 10-13.) 
 
LDP-led coalition government 37 (33) 
DPJ-led coalition government 36 (32) 
 
Q: The gasoline tax is originally 29 yen per liter. However, this 
gas tax is set at 54 yen per liter with an additional rate of 25 yen 
for road maintenance, improvement, and construction. This additional 
portion's duration is legally up until March next year. After that, 
the gas price will go down. Meanwhile, the road-related budget will 
decrease to almost a half. Do you think the additional rate of 25 
yen for roads should be continued? 
 
Yes 21 
No 68 
 
Q: The government is thinking of incorporating gasoline taxes and 
other road revenues into the general account budget so that the road 
revenues can be used for other purposes. Do you support this way of 
thinking? 
 
Yes 46 
No 41 
 
Polling methodology: The survey was conducted Dec. 1-2 over the 
telephone on a computer-aided random digit dialing (RDD) basis. 
Respondents were chosen from among the nation's voting population on 
a three-stage random-sampling basis. Valid answers were obtained 
from 1,969 persons (57 PERCENT ). 
 
(2) Ruling parties paving way for enacting new antiterrorism bill 
 
TOKYO 00005493  004 OF 014 
 
 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
December 7, 2007 
 
With the Dec. 15 closing of the current Diet session just around the 
corner, the government and ruling parties yesterday continued 
coordination to extend again the ongoing Diet session by mid-January 
and to enact a new antiterrorism special measures bill into law by 
taking a second vote on the bill in the House of Representatives 
based on the so-called "two-thirds" article (of the Constitution). 
Also the heads of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's factions 
have begun paving the way for re-adopting the bill in the Lower 
House by taking advantage of such occasions as their faction 
meetings. Since the opposition camp has remained in its position to 
thoroughly oppose the bill, the ruling and opposition camps will 
likely engage in a fierce battle in the middle of next week. 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura and LDP Diet Affairs 
Committee Chairman Tadamori Oshima discussed yesterday afternoon a 
plan to re-extend the Diet session. Oshima met intermittently also 
with Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki and New Komeito Diet Affairs 
Committee Chairman Yoshio Urushibara. 
 
The Upper House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense yesterday 
carried out deliberations on the new antiterrorism bill. The 
committee has spent only 11 hours and 30 minutes. There have left 
only two days -- Dec. 11 and 13 -- for deliberations in the 
committee. It is, therefore, difficult for the Upper House to secure 
deliberation time (about 40 hours) on a par with the Lower House. 
 
Since the Lower House can extend the Diet session only one more 
time, the government and ruling coalition have determined that if 
the session is extended about one week, it will be difficult to 
enact the bill during such a short period. Assuming that the Upper 
House would not take a vote on the bill within 60 days after 
receiving it from the Lower House, which means that the upper 
chamber voted down the bill, the government and ruling bloc are 
pressing forward with coordination to substantially extend the 
session until mid-January. 
 
In consideration of Prime Minister Fukuda's strong enthusiasm for 
enacting the bill, there is a growing mood in the ruling camp that a 
lengthy extension of the session and taking a second vote in the 
Lower House will be unavoidable. 
 
Hidenao Nakagawa, former LDP secretary general, stated in a meeting 
yesterday of the Machimura faction: "We will use all necessary 
measures which the Constitution allows. If they say the number of 
days for deliberations is insufficient, we will do our best to 
re-extend the session." 
 
Taku Yamasaki, former LDP vice president, who was reluctant to the 
lower chamber overriding the upper chamber's vote, said yesterday: 
 
"We have no choice but to extensively extend the session. We will 
pass the new antiterrorism bill thorough the Diet during the current 
session at any cost. I want the Prime Minister and the party 
executives to have courage and determination." 
 
Former Secretary General Taro Aso stated: 
 
"For the sake of national interests, we must take a second vote on 
 
TOKYO 00005493  005 OF 014 
 
 
the bill in the Lower House. If 60 days are passed without the Upper 
House taking final action, the existence of the chamber will be 
called into question." 
 
The New Komeito, which was cautious about re-adopting the bill in 
the Lower House, has assumed since late November a stance of 
allowing the idea. One senior New Komeito member said: "We no long 
have any choice but to allow the Lower House to take a vote on the 
bill." 
 
Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) Upper House 
Caucus Chairman Azuma Koshiishi said yesterday in a press 
conference: 
 
"There is no change in our policy of scrapping the bill. Although 
the Constitution allows the Lower House to override the upper 
chamber's votes, it is nothing to be taken casually. (If the upper 
chamber's vote is overridden), we will submit a censure motion 
against Prime Minister Fukuda and force him to dissolve the Lower 
House." 
 
Fukuda told reporters last night: "I'm considering all 
possibilities." When asked at noon yesterday by reporters whether he 
decided to take a second vote in the Lower House, Fukuda responded 
with a smile: "Who took a peek of my mind?" He also said: "I 
strongly believe that the Diet will enact the bill into law in the 
end." 
 
(3) Editorial: North Korean nuclear programs a real threat 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
December 7, 2007 
 
To our surprise, this year's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), a 
report representing the consensus view of U.S. intelligence 
agencies, concluded that Iran had frozen its nuclear program in the 
fall of 2003 and has not resumed it since. This must be a blow to 
the Bush administration which has brandished the possibility of 
using force against Iran, labeling it a threat. A big question mark 
has now been put on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program by the 
best brains of the intelligence agencies, reversing their 
traditional view. 
 
This brings to mind the Iraq war which was launched by the Bush 
administration in 2003 under the pretext of dealing with the threat 
of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). No WMD were ever found, and an 
independent investigative body in the United States submitted a 
report to the President concluding that almost all the decisions 
were completely wrong. 
 
The intelligence agencies reportedly tried to collect and analyze 
information based on that bitter lesson. In view of the past 
mistakes, the NIE report cannot be concluded to be totally correct. 
If President Bush and Vice President Cheney have kept making 
hard-nosed statements in the knowledge of the view of the 
intelligence agencies, they would be suspected to have tried to 
manipulate public opinion. At least, the chicken game of U.S. 
provoking Iran and Iran reacting sharply must come to an end. 
 
The report has also created a stir in the UN Security Council which 
has been discussing additional sanctions against Iran. The 
international trend is changing. Nevertheless, there are some 
 
TOKYO 00005493  006 OF 014 
 
 
grounds for sanctions. It is wrong for President Ahmadinejad, who 
has turned a deaf ear to UN calls for ending its uranium enrichment 
program and other matters, to declare a victory. The people would 
become happier if the nuclear issue were brought to an end by Iran's 
extending cooperation to shed light on the suspicions. 
 
As for North Korea, it has now found it difficult to disable its 
nuclear-related facilities and declare all nuclear programs before 
the end of the year. According to Assistant Secretary of State and 
chief U.S. delegate to the six-party talks Christopher Hill, who 
recently visited Pyongyang, there is a gap in views between the 
United States and North Korea over the contents of declaration of 
nuclear programs. There is a possibility that because the United 
States is unlikely to delist North Korea as a state sponsor of 
terrorism before year's end, the North having hardened its stance. 
 
There have been reports that President Bush sent letters to the 
other nations involved in the six-party talks. The process of 
dismantling nuclear programs has been deadlocked. The United States 
looked rushing toward delisting North Korea. Suspicions over North 
Korea must be examined closely. The allegation that North Korea 
helped Syria develop a nuclear program also needs a clear 
explanation. 
 
In his State of the Union Address in early 2002, President Bush 
described North Korea, along with Iran and Iraq, as an "axis of 
evil." Iraq has not developed nuclear weapons and Iran's nuclear 
program remains unclear. Five years later, the North Korean threat 
must be clear to the American people. The United States was on alert 
against the Saddam's Iraqi regime and Iran's trends. But in reality, 
a "real threat" to the international community is North Korea, which 
has actually conducted a nuclear detonation. 
 
The Bush administration, which is scheduled to leave office in just 
over one year, should take such facts to heart and concentrate on 
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 
 
(4) Political horse-trading over DPRK's declaration of its nuclear 
programs likely to continue into next year, reflecting US 
President's wishes 
 
SANKEI (Page 7) (Full) 
December 7, 2007 
 
Morimichi Imabori, Makiko Takita; Takashi Arimoto, Beijing 
 
The six-party talks to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue sees 
political horse-trading continuing between the United States and 
North Korea since the November summit talks between Japan and the 
U.S. The U.S., which reaffirmed cooperation with Japan during the 
summit, has prodded North Korea to make a complete and accurate 
declaration of its nuclear programs. President Bush sent a personal 
letter to North Korean Secretary General Kim Jong Il. Chinese Vice 
Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who presides over the six-party talks, 
yesterday indicated that a meeting of the chief delegates to the 
six-party talks would not occur until next year. Before the 
end-of-the-year deadline for the submission by North Korea of a 
declaration of its nuclear programs, a tug of war between the U.S. 
and North Korea is likely to intensify even further. The Sankei 
Shimbun probes into the movements of Japan, the U.S., and North 
Korea after the Japan-U.S. summit in November. 
 
 
TOKYO 00005493  007 OF 014 
 
 
"I'm not satisfied," President George W. Bush told Prime Minister 
Yasuo Fukuda during the Japan-U.S. summit held in the White House on 
Nov. 16. This remark came out from Bush when Fukuda referred to the 
start of the process of disabling nuclear facilities (in North 
Korea). 
 
That remark surprised the Japanese side. At that time Japan thought 
that the disablement process was going smoothly in order to 
implement the six-party agreement reached in October as a group of 
experts arrived in Yongbyon. 
 
With regard to the declaration of nuclear programs, U.S. Assistant 
Secretary of State Hill, the U.S chief negotiator in the six-party 
 
SIPDIS 
talks, thought that the North Koreans were unlikely to make a full 
declaration from the start. So Hill planned to have the North 
declare its nuclear programs several times, even though they would 
likely be insufficient. In this way, the declaration would gradually 
become full and accurate. 
 
Meanwhile, the White House was cautious about the North Korea's 
"salami tactics," under which the North calls for aid in return for 
providing information bit by bit. Bush's remark above in this sense 
could be taken as "expressing discontent toward the current state of 
negotiations," a source involved in the negotiations noted. 
 
Reflecting Bush's wishes, Hill told his North Korean counterpart 
when he visited that country in early this month: "It's important 
for you to make a full and accurate declaration even though it is 
your first draft of a declaration." 
 
In response, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan told 
Hill: "Haste makes waste." Kim did not explain the reason why he 
could not attend the planned session of the chief delegates to the 
six-party talks slated for Dec. 6. 
 
On the night of Dec. 5, Hill, who tended to give an optimistic 
expectation about the negotiations, admitted, "Some differences 
exist." 
 
Although the tug of war has been continuing between Washington and 
Pyongyang over the declaration of nuclear programs, one Japanese 
government official said with a sigh of relief after the Japan-U.S. 
summit: "The President has clearly realized controversial points, 
including the importance of the abduction issue." 
 
Before and after the Japan-U.S. summit there was the speculation 
that the U.S. might decide to remove North Korea from the list of 
state sponsors of terrorism, so some in Japan suspected whether 
matters related to the North Korean issue were correctly reported to 
the President. If the North were to be delisted, that would deal a 
big blow to the Fukuda administration, given its unstable situation 
in the Diet, where the ruling bloc fails to hold a majority in the 
Upper House. 
 
Fukuda and Bush reportedly exchanged in-depth views on the abduction 
issue. 
 
Bush questioned Fukuda in rapid succession. "Do you know the 
identities of the victims of abductions?" "Can you affirm who the 
kidnappers were?" Fukuda handed a set of files written in English 
regarding the abduction issue to Bush and told him: "Resolving the 
abduction issue together with the nuclear and missile issues is 
 
TOKYO 00005493  008 OF 014 
 
 
vitally important for Japan." In response, Bush said: "I will never 
(sic) forget the abduction issue." 
 
Fukuda did not bring up the question of delisting North Korea. An 
aide to the prime minister said: "Even though the prime minister did 
not raise an objection to delisting the North, the President surely 
understands the prime minister's feelings. The prime minister got 
the feeling that delisting was unlikely to occur for the present." 
 
Fukuda since taking office as prime minister has made a clear 
departure from the Abe administration's "pressure-oriented" line 
toward the North and has indicated that he would attach importance 
to dialogue. In a CNN interview given during his U.S. visit, Fukuda 
said, "If North Korea continues to possess nuclear weapons, it would 
cease to exist." 
 
On Dec. 5, the Korean Central News Agency issued a rebuttal to that 
remark by Fukuda. It was the North's first criticism of Fukuda. This 
criticism is taken as forestalling the move by Japan and the U.S. 
after the bilateral summit meeting to jointly assume a tough stance 
toward North Korea. 
 
(5) One step forward toward transparency of political funds with 
agreement reached between ruling and opposition parties on revising 
political funds law 
 
NIKKEI (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
December 6, 2007 
 
The Diet affairs chiefs from the six parties that make up the ruling 
and opposition camps yesterday reached a basic agreement to a bill 
revising the Political Funds Control Law. The bill is aimed at 
widening the coverage of receipts subject to disclosure. The bill is 
expected to be enacted during the current session of the Diet. 
Ambiguity was left as to whether receipts for payments of 10,000 yen 
or below would be required. However, the ruling and opposition blocs 
came to terms with each other in their efforts to somehow produce 
results in the current session of the Diet, where the ruling bloc 
holds a majority in the Lower House, but the Upper House is under 
the opposition parties' control. 
 
The new political fund control system requires political 
organizations represented by Diet members and candidates for 
national elections to obtain and keep receipts for all payments 
(excluding the personnel expenses). In the case of receipts for the 
payment of 10,000 yen or above, those receipts should be attached to 
a report on political funds and be made open to the public. In the 
past receipts for the payment of 50,000 yen or above have been 
disclosed, but under the new system, the scope of disclosure will be 
broadened. 
 
As for receipts for the payment of one yen to 10,000 yen, those 
receipts will be disclosed conditionally. The conditions for 
disclosure will be discussed at a third body (which is tentatively 
called a committee on appropriate political funds), which is to be 
established in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It will be the 
ministry of internal affairs or each prefectural administration 
commissions who will actually decide whether to disclose receipts. 
 
The compromise reached this time between the ruling and opposition 
parties reflects their stance of working together in areas where 
they can cooperate. 
 
TOKYO 00005493  009 OF 014 
 
 
 
Main points in agreement between the ruling and opposition parties 
on political funds 
 
Organizations affected 
¶1. Fund management organizations of Diet members and candidates for 
the Diet 
¶2. Political organizations represented by Diet members and others 
and their branches in electoral districts 
¶3. Political organizations recommending Diet members and others 
Political funds auditors (tentative name) registered at a third 
agency examine every receipt for every expenditure (excluding the 
personnel costs). 
Receipts for the payment of10,000 yen or above should be attached to 
reports on political funds and be disclosed. 
Requests for disclosure of receipts for the payment of below 10,000 
yen made by means of abuse of authority or going against public 
order and morality will be restricted. 
Making a copy of reports on political funds when reading them should 
be allowed. 
The new political funds control system is expected to be applied to 
reports on political funds for 2008 and beyond. 
 
(6) Administrative Reform Minister Watanabe fighting single-handedly 
in face of strong resistance from government agencies 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 6, 2007 
 
A tug-of-war over administrative reform between the Prime Minister's 
Office (Kantei) and government agencies is intensifying. In the 
final stage, bureaucrats, in fear they might lose their vested 
interests, are putting up strong resistance to the government's 
plans to streamline independent administrative corporations and to 
restrict the amakudari practice (the practice of former government 
officials finding employment in the private sector). Work to compile 
a package of reform plans is rough-going. Some lawmakers expect 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda or Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka 
Machimura to display leadership, but coordination work has been left 
in the hands of State Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform 
Yoshimi Watanabe, throwing the situation deeper into confusion. 
 
Watanabe: "Since the soccer lottery (called toto) project by the 
National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health has been 
dogged by net losses carried forward, the project should be 
immediately abolished." 
 
Education, culture, Sports and S&T Minister Kisaburo Tokai: "I would 
like to reach a conclusion by FY2010. The project is expected to 
accrue profits this year, so if the project is stopped now, the 
public burden will become heavier." 
 
Watanabe met separately with Tokai and Economy, Trade and Industry 
Minister Akira Amari yesterday to discuss the issue of streamlining 
independent administrative corporations. Tokai agreed only to a plan 
to abolish the National Institute of Multimedia Education. Amari 
opposed a plan to transfer the Nippon Export and Investment 
Insurance into a special corporation wholly owned by the government, 
claiming: "Under this plan, another special corporation would be 
established. I cannot understand." 
Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Yoichi Masuzoe, who held 
negotiations with Watanabe on Dec. 3, made an inspection of the 
 
TOKYO 00005493  010 OF 014 
 
 
Kanagawa Center, in which the Employment and Human Resources 
Development Organization of Japan has provided vocational training. 
On the planned reorganization plan, Masuzoe expressed his view that 
it would be difficult to reach a conclusion in a short period of 
time, remarking: "We need to consider it as part of the entire 
government." 
 
An aide to Watanabe murmured: "The Prime Minister's Office (Kantei) 
should offer a helping hand now." But a senior government official 
said: "We expect the administrative reform minister will make one 
more effort," indicating that he would take a wait-and-see attitude 
for a while. Some have begun to think it might be difficult to 
finalize a package of reform plans by the end of the year. 
 
Chief cabinet secretary also remains silent 
 
Discussion on a plan to establish a government-private sector 
resource exchange center to offer outplacement service for all 
public servants under the unified system is also going nowhere. 
Watanabe said in a meeting of experts yesterday that he would 
include in a final report measures to: (1) immediately ban a 
repeated outplacement service for the same person; and (2) award the 
post of vice minister at the center to a civilian. Watanabe 
grumbled: "Although I conveyed my idea to the chief cabinet 
secretary on the previous day, I have yet to receive his answer." 
 
SIPDIS 
 
The chief cabinet secretary indicated in a press briefing yesterday 
that there is no need to specify the issue of repeated outplacement 
service in the final report, saying: "This issue is nothing to do 
with the function of the center." 
 
Concern about image of negative stance about administrative reform 
 
The government's Council on Regulatory Reform also held an open 
debate with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on 
deregulating the double-billing system and reforming the nursing 
system, but no agreement was reached. Chairman Takao Kusakari met 
Machimura, his junior in Hibiya High School, on Dec. 1 and asked him 
to offer cooperation in finalizing the second report with 
recommendations. But Machimura only said: "We need to consider it, 
but ..." 
 
The ruling camp is not so eager for administrative reform now. In 
the aftermath of its crushing defeat in the July House of 
Councillors election, the ruling parties tend to give priority to 
measures to stimulate local economies over administrative reform. 
Even so, with an eye to the next Lower House election, they want to 
avoid giving the image that the ruling camp is negative about 
administrative reform. 
 
New Komeito Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa said in a press 
conference yesterday: "I cannot understand why the Ministry of Land, 
Infrastructure, & Transport has presented a zero reply" about the 
review of independent administrative corporations, posing questions 
about the posture of Transport Minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba of the New 
Komeito. 
 
(7) Government panel recommends easing requirements for daycare 
center admission as part of child-rearing support measures 
 
NIKKEI (Top Play) (Full) 
December 7, 2007 
 
TOKYO 00005493  011 OF 014 
 
 
 
The government's Council for the Promotion of Regulatory Reform, 
chaired by Nippon Yusen K.K. Chairman Takao Kusakari, released its 
second package of recommendations yesterday. The report calls for 
drastically reforming the daycare system to increase child-rearing 
support. Specifically, it proposes introducing a system to enable 
parents to sign up directly with government-certified daycare 
centers and easing child-care enrollment requirements. The report 
also recommends the creation of a national registration system for 
foreign residents in Japan, whose number is now over 2 million, with 
the aim of protecting their rights. Against the backdrop of the 
birthrate declining and the population aging, the panel gives 
priority to measures to secure workforce and to strengthen Japanese 
firms' international competitiveness. 
 
The panel plans to submit its second package to Prime Minister Yasuo 
Fukuda in mid-December. Based on these proposals, government 
agencies will compile three-year regulatory reform plans by March 
¶2008. 
 
In the medical and welfare sectors, the report calls for changing 
day nursery regulations in response to the increasing variety of 
working patterns, as represented by the rising number of working 
parents. As a specific measure, the council proposes relaxing the 
qualifications for parents to register their children in daycare. 
Under the current system, only parental guardians working full-time 
are eligible to register their children in government-certified 
facilities in principle, but under the proposed regulation, parents 
working part-time would also become eligible. If part-timers, whose 
number is about 9.5 million or one-quarter of the work force, are 
allowed to place their children in certified daycare centers, which 
charge lower than other private facilities, this deregulation may 
work effectively as a countermeasure to the falling birthrate. 
 
Reportedly, 18,000 children are on the waiting list. To alleviate 
the shortage in child-care facilities, the council calls for easing 
standards for establishing a child-care center and increase 
facilities. It is now regulated that a space of 3.3 square meters is 
needed for one child. But the report defines this standard as 
groundless. The council will request the standards be eased starting 
in FY2009. 
 
To give parents more freedom of choice, the council proposes 
revising the current system under which local governments assign 
children to specific centers into a new system to enable parents to 
sign up directly with daycare facilities. 
 
The proposal in the report for the creation of a national 
registration system for foreign residents in Japan is aimed at keep 
track of them. Currently, relevant local governments keep 
registration data for foreign residents, but foreigners are not 
required to submit moving-out or moving-in notifications, as well as 
to update their records on births, deaths and divorces. Further, 
marriages between Japanese and foreign citizens are not recognized 
as households, so there are cases in which procedures for taxation, 
health insurance admission, and local school enrollment are not 
properly carried out. 
 
The alien registration system was introduced in 1952. At that time, 
the measure was aimed at immigration control, and there was no 
assumption of an increase in international marriages or changes of 
address. The report proposes the establishment of a basic resident 
 
TOKYO 00005493  012 OF 014 
 
 
register for foreigners, similar to the system for Japanese 
citizens. At the request of the regulatory reform panel, the Justice 
Ministry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have already agreed to 
examine introducing a registration system for foreigners and aim to 
submit related bills in FY2008. 
 
In the trade area, the report calls for reviewing the 
customs-clearance system to activate physical distribution, 
including a measure to abolish the prior notification system in the 
case of goods-clearance procedure taken outside business hours. 
 
In a press conference yesterday, Kusakari said that the panel has 
already agreed on easing the qualifications to attain a childcare 
certificate and other deregulatory measures. But on such bold reform 
plans as allowing a hospital to have two different systems for 
medical bills - one with medical insurance and the other without it 
- and as changing the daycare system, relevant government agencies, 
such as the Health, Labor and Trade Ministry, have put up strong 
resistance, so stormy negotiations are expected. 
 
Key points in the second package of recommendations 
 
? Relax child-care enrollment requirements at government-certified 
facilities, and introduce a system of direct contract between 
parents and child-care facilities 
? Create a national registration system for foreign residents. 
? Improve the current notification system for customs clearance 
outside business hours. Review the bonded transportation system. 
? Establish a school evaluation system and a teacher evaluation 
system. 
? Make the management of agricultural cooperatives more transparent 
and sound. 
? Ease the qualifications to attain a childcare certificate. 
? Total lift of the on introducing a double-billing system. 
 
(8) Okinawa pressured, sweetened for base relocation 
 
ASAHI (Page 39) (Full) 
December 3, 2007 
 
"What's this all about!" 
 
On Jan. 19, Takemasa Moriya, 63, who was administrative vice defense 
minister, was at the prime minister's office. Moriya there blazed 
away at senior officials from the city of Nago in Okinawa 
Prefecture. 
 
It was right after a consultative meeting of officials from the 
government and Okinawa's prefectural and municipal governments on a 
plan to relocate the U.S. military's Futenma airfield in the middle 
part of Okinawa's main island to Henoko Point in the island 
prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago. 
 
In May last year, Japan and the United States agreed on a plan to 
build a V-shaped pair of airstrips as an alternative for Futenma 
airfield to be relocated to Nago. In the consultative meeting, the 
government explained the new airfield plan and then showed 
environmental assessment procedures and other steps to Futenma 
relocation. 
 
The consultative meeting was followed by an off-the-record informal 
meeting. Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro said there, "We want the 
 
TOKYO 00005493  013 OF 014 
 
 
construction site moved to a southwestern offshore area." 
 
The Nago mayor's proposal irritated Moriya. "I felt the pressure of 
holding down localities that do not follow the government," one 
senior official of Nago City recalled. 
 
"If the runway is largely out to the sea, local people against the 
Futenma relocation will stand against that to block the construction 
work," Moriya said. Local communities want the new facility moved 
out to the sea to abate noise. Their face-off came to the surface in 
that meeting. 
 
Okinawa is said to be one of the most important themes for Moriya as 
a defense bureaucrat. In 1995, a local schoolgirl was raped by U.S. 
servicemen in Okinawa. Since that incident, Moriya has tackled base 
realignment and reduction. 
 
Masanori Yoshimoto, who was a lieutenant governor of Okinawa 
Prefecture, appreciates Moriya. "Mr. Moriya and others were the 
first to discuss Okinawa's base issues from the perspective of 
defense policy." Moriya himself said, "I will never back down from 
Okinawa." 
 
However, the Futenma relocation plan hit snags. Moriya's relations 
with local officials gradually worsened. At the Defense Ministry, he 
excluded disagreeing senior officials. 
 
In the summer of 2005, Moriya, the then administrative vice defense 
minister, was looking for a new relocation site for Futenma. One 
day, Moriya called in the Defense Facilities Administration Agency 
director general to his room. "I'd like you to retire," Moriya told 
the DFAA director general. It was a de facto dismissal. The DFAA 
chief was pushing for an offshore reclamation plan that respected an 
agreement with the base-hosting local communities. 
 
When the realignment talks were going on, there was a rumor going 
around in Nago City's Henoko district, where Futenma airfield was 
initially planned to be relocated for its heliport functions. The 
rumor was: "Compensation for the Futenma relocation is 100 million 
yen per household." It was a plan to move all local residents of 
Henoko to somewhere else along with the construction of a new base 
there. This idea sometimes came up and went out in the past years. 
 
The government has not formally discussed the idea of moving all 
those Henoko residents. Several years ago, however, one senior 
official of the Defense Agency at that time heard from Moriya about 
the idea. "It's institutionally difficult to move all the people 
there," the official said to Moriya. "Moreover," the official went 
on, "they would get angry." With this, the official expostulated 
Moriya. However, Moriya had no ear. 
 
Meanwhile, a local constructor close to Moriya persuaded local 
residents and often called at the Defense Agency. This constructor 
brought a bundle of signatures from local residents approving of 
their move. At the Defense Agency, senior officials met the 
constructor. One of them declined to accept the signatures, saying, 
"It's impossible." Moriya later told one of those senior officials, 
"Don't be so hard (on the constructor)." 
 
Henoko is a coastal community populated by more than 400 households. 
"Compensation with 100 million yen per household is not high, 
considering the enormous cost of base construction." This was 
 
TOKYO 00005493  014 OF 014 
 
 
Moriya's way of thinking. 
 
"If the (Okinawa-based) Marines are relocated to Guam, Okinawa's 
business communities will also have access to construction projects 
there." In the spring of last year, Moriya's words were transmitted 
through an official to local constructors opposing the government's 
relocation plan. The planned Marine relocation from Okinawa to Guam 
is said to cost 1 trillion yen, including housing construction. If 
Okinawa agrees to Moriya's relocation idea, there will be progress 
in the Marine relocation to Guam, and local business communities 
will profit. Moriya thought to sweeten Okinawa. 
 
Moriya got into the complicated interests over defense procurement, 
and he tried to force his way through to move the bases. "I wanted 
to help Okinawa stand on its own feet even without bases," Moriya 
said right before his arrest. There are now various expectations 
among local business communities over the huge amount of money for 
base relocation. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is 
also investigating the defense interests over base relocation. 
 
(9) Detachment base commander yesterday evening attends wining and 
dining session with company executive: "It was a shared-costs 
party," says attendant 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
Eve., December 6, 2007 
 
It was found that eight senior officers assigned to the Air 
Self-Defense Force's Shariki Detachment Base in Tsugaru City, Aomori 
Prefecture, attended a wining and dining session at a hot-springs 
inn in the city, along with executives of a company that receives 
orders for base-related services. Attendants include base Commander 
Masaru Ota (lieutenant colonel) and the president of the company. 
Ota said that his attendance at the party does not infringe on the 
code of ethics for SDF personnel, claiming, "We all paid 5,000 yen 
each as our participation fee." In view of the facts that lavish 
entertainment of former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya by a 
trading company has become a problem only recently and party 
hostesses were also at the session, the wining and dining session 
joined by ASDF officers and company executives will likely cause a 
controversy. 
 
The wining and dining session in question was held to celebrate the 
opening of a branch office of Daikyo Seibi (head office in Tokyo), a 
defense-related company, near the detachment base. 
 
The commander responded to an interview by Asahi Shimbun in Tsugaru 
City. He explained that eight ASDF personnel, including officers 
assigned to the base, including himself, and young ASDF members, 
attended the session. Ten persons, including President Numamoto, 
attended from Daikyo Seibi. Attendants from the ASDF were quoted as 
having received invitation for the celebration party in advance. 
 
The wining and dining session started at 6:30 p.m. Several party 
hostesses were also there. The session ended in about two hours. The 
ASDF participants returned to their barracks by a bus provided by 
the inn. 
 
SCHIEFFER