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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 14 TOKYO 005572 
 
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 12/14/07 
 
 
Index: 
 
(1) Political world likely to become unstable after general election 
(Asahi) 
 
(2) Ruling parties adopt tax code revision outlines: Tax system is 
next target of battle between ruling and opposition camps: All 
policies are intended to win election, says LDP; Postponement of tax 
hike only temporary measure (Asahi) 
 
(3) Shaken Japan Business Federation (Part 2-conclusion): JBF's 
policy requests have been rejected (Asahi) 
 
(4) MSDF lieutenant commander arrested over Aegis info leak; Secret 
explosively spread; U.S. mistrust amplified due to sloppy data 
management (Sankei) 
 
(5) Echoes to Okamoto's essay: Get the supply ship back in the 
Indian Ocean (Sankei) 
 
(6) Sympathy budget: Are Japanese employees working at U.S. bases 
sacrificial stones? (Asahi) 
 
(7) Five Japanese companies, including Nippon Oil Corp., to 
construct refinery in Libya: Joint project negotiations underway; 
Project cost estimated to come to 500 billion yen (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Political world likely to become unstable after general 
election 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged) 
December 14, 2007 
 
Politicians have begun to take maneuvers in anticipation of changes 
in the political scene after the next general election. If the 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) wins the next election under the 
current situation in which the opposition camp controls the House of 
Councillors, the LDP will be thrown into chaos. Such politicians 
think that the political world will surely become unstable. In the 
Liberal Democratic Party, moves are emerging to form new groups. 
Such efforts might develop into a move to form a suprapartisan 
group. 
 
New alliance in LDP 
 
In a political funds-raising party held by Yamazaki faction chairman 
Taku Yamasaki at a Tokyo hotel on Dec. 11, Nobuteru Ishihara was 
introduced as its new member. Ishihara said in the meeting: "I 
remained unaffiliated with any party, but in order to translate 
policies on national affairs and security into practice, it is 
necessary to raise our voices in chorus." 
 
After belonging to the former Mitsuzuka faction, Ishihara became 
independent without faction affiliation, as his father, Shintaro 
Ishihara, did. Later, he joined the former Kato faction, but he left 
the faction later, set off by a series of political acts (by Koichi 
Kato and Yamasaki to topple the Mori administration in November 
2000). Under the Koizumi administration, which encouraged 
politicians to be free from factional maneuvering, Ishihara served 
as administrative reform minister and land, infrastructure & 
 
TOKYO 00005572  002 OF 014 
 
 
transport minister. Under the Abe administration, he was also 
appointed to head the Policy Research Council. 
 
Some observers see his new membership in the Yamasaki faction as a 
move taken in anticipation that the political world is likely to 
become unstable. The chairman of another faction coolly said: "A 
person who was on the side of destroying factions has now joined 
one. This must mean that doing so will be to both side's mutual 
advantage." 
 
If the ruling bloc loses its current two-thirds majority in the next 
general election, moves will certainly be afoot to reorganize the 
political world. The above-mentioned chairman made this analysis: 
"Both sides' speculations coincided, that is, Yamasaki wants to 
strengthen his political ground by drawing in a promising 
mid-ranking lawmaker, while Ishihara want to solidify his footing 
before facing hardships. 
 
Deputy Policy Research Council Chairman Hiroyuki Sonoda, who joined 
the former New Party Sakigake (Pioneer) after leaving the former 
Mitsuzuka faction but now belongs to the Tanigaki, also said on Dec. 
8 in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture - his electoral district: "We 
must make efforts to stabilize the political system, including the 
Upper House. Many in the LDP and the DPJ are thinking about the 
need. The political community will inevitably be reorganized after 
the next general election. 
 
The inauguration of the Fukuda administration has accelerated such 
moves. On Dec. 5, Koga faction deputy chairman Seiichi Ota told 
Tanigaki faction members at a Japanese restaurant in Akasaka: "Some 
suggest merging the two factions early next year, before a storm 
blows up." 
 
The former Miyazawa faction was disbanded and split into the Koga, 
Tanigaki, and Aso factions. Ota proposed a plan to bring together 
the Koga and Tanigaki factions - two of the three factions - again. 
Both factions remained unable to draw up a roadmap for the merger 
plan, but the establishment of the Fukuda administration prompted 
them to decide to put this idea on the table again. 
 
"I hope (the two factions) will join hands and set forth the policy 
of placing importance on Asia diplomacy. Under this slogan, I want 
to put liberal forces together," a Koga faction member with cabinet 
experience said. This lawmaker has frequently met DPJ lawmakers 
recently. 
 
The former Miyazawa faction?together with the former Takeshita 
faction, had once been called "conservative mainstream," but it 
gradually moved away from the post of mainstream and was finally 
marginalized by the Abe administration, which advocated the slogan 
of freeing Japan from the postwar Japan. 
 
Discussion on human-rights legislation was resumed on Dec. 3 for the 
first time in two years and six months. This theme was scotched by 
the Abe administration. But since Makoto Koga and Toshihiro Nikai, 
supportive of the legislation, assumed two of the four party 
officers' posts under the Fukuda government, the yoke was thrown 
off. Some New Komeito members also have begun to express hopes that 
a bill to provide foreign residents with local suffrage will be 
submitted to the Diet. 
 
A senior LDP member indicated that changes are occurring in the 
 
TOKYO 00005572  003 OF 014 
 
 
course of things, saying: "I think the human-rights legislation will 
be forced through the Diet. Mr. Abe, who expressed opposition, is no 
longer in power." 
 
On Dec. 4, Shoichi Nakagawa, who had stepped down the center stage 
when former Prime Minister Abe stepped down, also started up a study 
group calling itself "new conservatism," bringing together 30 
lawmakers who supported Taro Aso in the LDP presidential election in 
September. 
 
The main player was Takeo Hiranuma, who assumed the post of supreme 
advisor in the group. He has not been affiliated with any party 
since leaving the LDP after opposing the postal privatization bill. 
He has openly declared that he would establish a "new party 
Hiranuma." In the meeting on Dec. 4, he stated: "It is desirable to 
establish a sound conservative camp. I am determined to do my best 
in cooperation with all of you to that end." 
 
In the DPJ, as well, Okayama prefectural branch head Keisuke Tsumura 
indicated in a press conference on Dec. 12 that the party would gave 
up fielding its candidate in the Okayama No. 3 constituency, the 
electoral district of Hiranuma, in the next Lower House election. 
Tsumura said: "Mr. Hiranuma has set forth a plan to establish a new 
 
SIPDIS 
party. We had better give consideration to his intention to topple 
the LDP." 
 
Unless the DPJ runs its candidate, an LDP-endorse candidate and 
Hiranuma will square off in the Okayama 3rd constituency. 
 
(2) Ruling parties adopt tax code revision outlines: Tax system is 
next target of battle between ruling and opposition camps: All 
policies are intended to win election, says LDP; Postponement of tax 
hike only temporary measure 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Almost full) 
December 14, 2007 
 
The ruling parties yesterday compiled guidelines for tax code 
revisions for fiscal 2008. The package has a strong nature of being 
tentative with the next general election taken into consideration, 
following their crushing defeat in the July Upper House election. 
This is because though the ruling parties want to hold talks with 
the opposition camp to discuss the pending issue of hiking the 
consumption tax, they are not certain whether the DPJ will accept 
the proposal or not. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or 
Minshuto), which controls the Upper House, has adopted a strategy of 
pressing for a dissolution of the Lower House in exchange for 
responding to a call for deliberations on budget-related bills, 
including a bill on tax code revisions. The battle between the two 
camps in the Diet, where the opposition camp holds a majority in the 
Upper House, will continue into the regular Diet session, where 
deliberations will focus on tax-related public finance. 
 
Commenting on the guidelines not mentioning a hike in the 
consumption tax, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Tax System Research 
Committee Chairman Yuji Tsushima explained at a press conference 
yesterday, "Given the present political situation, it is necessary 
for the ruling and opposition parties to have a heart-to-heart talk 
with focus on gaining public understanding on the issue." He thus 
indicated his view that it would be meaningless unless discussions 
on a tax hike are held, joined both by the ruling and opposition 
camps, because the opposition camp has a majority in the Upper 
 
TOKYO 00005572  004 OF 014 
 
 
House. 
 
The ruling parties in the guidelines issued at the end of last year 
pledged to address drastic reform of the tax system, including the 
consumption tax. The Fukuda administration wanted to proceed with 
discussions on a tax hike with the pledged hike in the government 
share in the basic part of the public pension system close at hand 
in fiscal 2009. It also wanted to make the issue one of contention 
with the DPJ, which has not yet revealed fiscal resources to finance 
their policies. 
 
However, Tsushima halted the move. During a meeting of senior 
officials of the LDP tax panel on Oct. 25, he made this comment: "I 
would like to do my best with the courage to firmly constrain what 
we should not do."  The party leadership, including Secretary 
General Bunmei Ibuki, who hates to see a tax hike affect the next 
election, checked a rising trend for tax hike discussions, noting, 
"All policies must be for the sake of our victory in the next 
election." 
 
With tax hike discussions put on the back burner, the tax code 
revision guidelines this time have inevitably become temporary. LDP 
tax panel chairman Kaoru Yosano asked Tokyo governor Shintaro 
Ishihara to transfer about 300 billion yen from its revenues from 
two local corporate taxes. Ishihara on Dec. 7 at the Tokyo 
Metropolitan City Hall pressed Yosano, asking, "I would like the 
prime minister to pledge that this is a temporary measure." 
 
Meeting with Ishihara, Prime Minister Fukuda pledged to set up a 
consultative organ for the government to assist the Tokyo 
metropolitan government's projects, such as the consolidation of 
social infrastructure. He also pledged that the tax code revision 
this time would be tentative. Ishihara then agreed to comply with 
Fukuda's request. 
 
New Komeito Policy Research Council Chairman Tetsuo Saito and LDP 
Policy Research Chairman Sadakazu Tanigaki exchanged views on fiscal 
resources to finance the basic part of the public pension system on 
the evening of Dec. 12. 
 
Saito: "There is buried treasure around, isn't there? We can use 
that." 
 
Tanigaki: "Pension financing will not become stringent so soon. We 
want to use the money to reduce the issuance of government bonds." 
 
The New Komeito pledged during the Upper House election campaign to 
allocate revenues squeezed by abolishing fixed-rate tax cuts. It 
secured 117 billion yen last year this way. It was unable to do so 
this time. However, it secured additional funds close to 20 billion 
yen, based on a temporary budget with 135.6 billion yen transferred 
from the special account, or so-called buried money. 
 
A certain senior New Komeito official noted in relief, "We would not 
be able to fight the next election if we had gained nothing in the 
tax revision guidelines." However, one senior LDP official said 
sarcastically, "It is like expenditures having been padded just to 
live up to the pledge New Komeito made to its supporters." 
 
DPJ aims at Diet resolution with double tactics combining budget and 
pension: Confrontation on provisional tax rate, to begin with 
 
 
TOKYO 00005572  005 OF 014 
 
 
A meeting to discuss special road-construction revenues took place 
at the DPJ head office at noon on Dec. 13. President Ozawa clarified 
his stance of totally confronting the ruling parties in the budget 
battle centered on taxes in front of Tax System Research Committee 
Chairman Hirohisa Fujii, Deputy President Naoto Kan and Secretary 
General Yukio Hatoyama. He said, "The government is controlling 
local governments using projects under its direct jurisdiction. Such 
projects should be done away with." Participants confirmed their 
view that special road funds should be used for other purposes. 
 
Focus is the temporary national auto tax rate. The gasoline tax 
expires on March 31. The ruling parties have included in the 
guidelines an extension of the tax by another 10 year. The DPJ will 
come up with a counterproposal for scrapping it. 
 
There are no regulations on automatic passage of budget-related 
bills. The DPJ is planning a strategy of introducing a tax code 
revision bill that is diametrically opposed to the government plan 
to the regular Diet session and pressing for a Lower House election, 
by voting down the government-sponsored budget-related bills in the 
Upper House. 
 
The ruling camp is bullish in its determination to accept the 
opposition camp's challenge. If the provisional rate of the gasoline 
tax becomes zero as a result of its budget-related bills failing to 
secure Diet approval by the end of March, revenue shortfalls topping 
1 trillion yen would occur. As such, it sees that it would be able 
to obtain public support even if it passes those bills by putting 
them to a vote again in the Lower House, because those bills are 
directly related to people's livelihood. A certain senior official 
of the LDP's Diet Policy Committee emphatically said, "We will do it 
straight and urge the DPJ to make a decision." 
 
However, there is no promising development in sight. 
 
The government has thus far unified various special exemption 
measures, including the provisional tax rate, into one and submitted 
it as a bill amending the special tax measures law in February. 
However, it would be impossible to obtain Diet approval for such an 
amendment bill by the end of March, even if the 60-day rule were 
applied. The 60-day rule allows approval of the bill again in the 
Lower House, based on the assumption that the Upper House has voted 
down the bill, if it does not put it to a vote. For this reason, the 
LDP has considered the possibility of frontloading the introduction 
of the bill at the outset of the regular Diet session, by removing 
confrontational part from it. 
 
However, such an idea has become unrealistic, as the current 
extraordinary Diet session has been extended into the next year. In 
addition, there is the possibility of the DPJ taking control with 
Diet deliberations continuing into the next year. If the extended 
extraordinary Diet session ends while the Defense Ministry issue and 
the pension record fiasco still being pursued, the regular Diet 
session would open in a stormy atmosphere. How the public will 
respond to the ruling parties putting budget-related bills to a vote 
again in the Lower House, following the refueling operation bill, is 
unclear. 
 
A certain senior DPJ member explained their strategy: "The pension 
issue is an immediate problem for people. We will drag it on until 
next March at least. If the ruling parties put budget-related bills 
to a vote again in the Lower House, we would adopt a censure motion 
 
TOKYO 00005572  006 OF 014 
 
 
against the prime minister with double tactics combining the budget 
issue and the pension premium payment record errors and force him to 
dissolve the Diet." 
 
For this reason, voices calling for exploring ways to reach a 
compromise, accepting the DPJ proposal, are beginning to be heard in 
the party. LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Tanigaki told 
reporters yesterday: "The DPJ is as powerful as to control one 
House. This situation does not permit us to oppose its proposal at 
ease. I think the DPJ feel responsibility for people's livelihood. 
We must have talks with it on various issues." 
 
LDP Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki during a meeting of secretaries 
general of the ruling and opposition parties proposed setting up a 
national council to discuss the pension issue. This could be a 
strategic move for exploring ways to make a compromise. However, DPJ 
Secretary General Hatoyama brushed aside the proposal, noting, "We 
 
SIPDIS 
should thoroughly discuss such an issue in the Diet. It is not 
necessary to set up such a council outside the Diet." 
 
(3) Shaken Japan Business Federation (Part 2-conclusion): JBF's 
policy requests have been rejected 
 
ASAHI (Page 12) (Full) 
December 12, 2007 
 
Japan Business Federation (JBF or Nippon Keidanren) officials in 
charge of tax affairs have recently visited lawmakers of the main 
opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) to ask them 
for cooperation on an extension of special taxation measures. One 
Keidanren official told a DPJ legislator: "You don't have to 
approve, but we would like you to cooperate with us by the end of 
March." 
 
The special taxation measures were set up in order for the 
government to support specific policies.  Under the special 
measures, corporate taxes are reduced. However since they are 
applied to certain companies that meet certain conditions, they are 
criticized as "hidden subsidies." The DPJ, therefore, has launched 
an investigation of the special measures. 
 
The DPJ's Tax Research Council has been examining carefully 137 
measures, including an extension of the existing measures and 
establishment of new measures, which are drafted by various 
ministries and agencies. The DPJ, however, has not yet approved of 
40 PERCENT  of them because the agencies have not presented to the 
party the contents of them for it to make its judgment. One senior 
Keidanren official said: "The tax system has now become a political 
issue, going beyond our control." 
 
The tax system is a major matter of concern for Keidanren. In 
September the organization announced a set of proposals for a 
revision of the tax system for fiscal 2008. It presented a broad 
array of requests, centering on increasing the consumption tax rate 
and reducing the effective corporate-tax rate. 
 
However, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which had 
decided to start in the fall discussion of drastic reform of the tax 
system, suddenly bowed out. Since the gap in views on the handling 
of the consumption tax and the tax revenues for road projects was 
clear between the DPJ and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the 
mood of pushing ahead with drastic tax system reform is gradually 
 
TOKYO 00005572  007 OF 014 
 
 
weakening. 
 
Following the change in mood, Keidanren has narrowed down its 
requests for a reform of the tax system for FY2008 to such measures 
as the reforming of the tax to promote research and development, 
which could be accepted by the DPJ, according to a senior Keidanren 
official. Although Keidanren, as the lobbying body for the business 
world, considers an extension of the special taxation measures as 
its minimal request, the feasibility of an extension remains 
unclear. 
 
Keidanren officials calling for political realignment 
 
A request for a tax system reform is not the only matter that 
Keidanren has reached a roadblock, without getting political 
cooperation. 
 
Keidanren aimed to introduce a white-collar worker exemption, which 
would exclude company employees who meet certain qualifications, 
including annual income, from labor time regulations. It planned to 
do so last fiscal year, when it had close ties with the Abe 
government. However, the idea came under fire from labor unions and 
opposition parties. Since it was prior to the unified local 
elections when Keidanren introduced the idea, a negative view about 
the idea spread in the ruling parties. As a result, the ruling 
coalition gave up on the submission of a bill amending the law. 
 
The Government Tax Commission's set of recommendations last year 
included Keidanren's request to cut by 10 PERCENT  the corporate tax 
effective rate, but it was not incorporated in the LDP's tax system 
reform outline. 
 
A former business leader, who was concerned about growing criticism 
of Keidanren, suggested Chairman Fujio Mitarai: "It is difficult to 
get public understanding. You should give more consideration to the 
procedure." 
 
Mitsuo Ohashi, who is in charge of tax affairs and politics in 
Keidanren and chairman of Showa Denko, said: "It is important to 
build public consensus." Buoyed by public support, Keidanren would 
like to realize its policy requests. 
 
But the organization has withdrawn for the time being the 
introduction of the white-collar exemption, which has come under 
strong fire. It excluded also the requests to raise the consumption 
tax and reduce the corporate tax from its items that it wants to 
realize in a revision of the tax system for FY2008. 
 
This fall, Keidanren distributed 2,000 copies of a six-page brochure 
at symposiums and other occasions. In the brochure, the business 
organization explained Japan's severe fiscal condition and called 
for the need for changing the tax system to a consumption 
tax-centered tax system, as well as for reforming the corporate tax 
system. 
 
However, the effect of its strategy of finding a means of surviving 
by public support is unclear. Keidanren has become more frustrated 
day by day due to the stalled political situation. 
 
Asked about Keidanren's request for Diet management at a press 
conference on Dec. 11, Miterai indicated a sense of crisis: "Due to 
the divided Diet, deliberations on policy bills are delayed and more 
 
TOKYO 00005572  008 OF 014 
 
 
time has been lost than expected." In its priority policy items for 
2008 released the same day, Keidanren reinserted a request that the 
political parties should proceed with constructive discussions in 
order to carry out reform quickly. 
 
However, the LDP and DPJ have assumed a stance of facing down each 
other. The divided Diet, in which the LDP is the largest party in 
the House of Representative and the DPJ is the largest force in the 
House of Councillors, will likely continue six to nine years from 
now. There is a view among senior and executive Keidanren members 
that there is no other choice but political realignment. 
 
(4) MSDF lieutenant commander arrested over Aegis info leak; Secret 
explosively spread; U.S. mistrust amplified due to sloppy data 
management 
 
SANKEI (Page 21) (Abridged slightly) 
December 14, 2007 
 
The pivotal Aegis data leak incident has exposed the Maritime 
Self-Defense Force's sloppy secret information management. Special 
defense secrets provided by the U.S. military, such as data on the 
Aegis system, were supposed to be managed strictly, allowing only 
authorized and necessary individuals to have access to them, 
according to a senior investigative officer. The incident in which 
the top secret under the Japan-U.S. security system was easily 
passed on from one MSDF member to another has amplified the sense of 
distrust of U.S. authorities. 
 
A senior police officer took this view about the MSDF's nature: "The 
fact that a file containing the top defense secret, music, and 
obscene pictures were all kept in the same compact disc astonished 
us. What was more surprising was that many did not remember when and 
where they obtained such data and how they kept them." 
 
It was also unexpected for the Kanagawa prefectural police that 
searched the home of an MSDF petty officer second class, the origin 
of the incident, to discover such secrets in the confiscated items. 
 
The operation of the missile defense system being deployed in Japan 
and the United States against missiles from North Korea and other 
countries requires high-level intelligence sharing. As seen in their 
plan to conclude a General Security of Information Agreement 
(GSOMIA) in August, the governments of Japan and the United States 
have been expediting efforts to increase preparedness for making the 
ground-based missile defense system fully operational in the near 
future. The data leak incident that occurred under such 
circumstances has tremendously increased the United States' sense of 
mistrust of Japan. 
 
The Defense Ministry was forced to offer an explanation. In April, 
then Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma visited the United States for the 
Japan-U.S. defense summit. During the session, Kyuma offered an 
apology to his U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates, for worrying the 
United States, promising to uncover the whole picture. The incident 
that has escalated into the arrest of a senior MSDF officer points 
to investigative authorities' intention to dispel U.S. authorities' 
mistrust by urging the MSDF to increase its awareness as a force 
responsible for national dense. 
 
Investigators quizzed several hundred MSDF personnel and searched a 
total of four times the MSDF's First Service School in Etajima, 
 
TOKYO 00005572  009 OF 014 
 
 
Hiroshima Prefecture, from which the data spread, destroyers, and 
the homes of MSDF officers. As a result, investigative authorities 
found that the data had been copied countless times and spread 
explosively. 
 
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba before the House of Councillors 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday admitted that risk 
management was lax, saying, "Awareness for computer disc management 
was low, and follow-up measures were too late." 
 
Having generally found out an overall picture of the incident, 
police authorities decided earlier this month to arrest and indict 
the MSDF officer in question. Shortly before a decision was made on 
the arrest, the U.S. side notified Japan that it would not allow 
investigative authorities to produce the pivotal Aegis data at an 
open court. 
 
In the end, the U.S. side reportedly agreed to allow the 
presentation of the data after blacking out some parts for 
information security reasons. This illustrates how much the U.S. 
side cares about Aegis data, exposing once again the graveness of 
the information leak incident. 
 
(5) Echoes to Okamoto's essay: Get the supply ship back in the 
Indian Ocean 
 
SANKEI (Page 13) (Abridged) 
December 11, 2007 
 
The Sankei Shimbun's Nov. 28 edition carried an essay from Yukio 
Okamoto, who was a special advisor to Prime Minister Ryutaro 
Hashimoto and who is now an international affairs consultant. 
Okamoto's essay received a big response. There were letters from 
many readers to the editor, so the Sankei Shimbun introduces one of 
those letters. Furthermore, there were reverberations from readers, 
with one of them desiring many people to read the essay. 
 
Essay shows a way for Japan to live in the world 
 
Junichi Ozawa, 70, self-employed, Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture 
 
I also read Mr. Yukio Okamoto's essay. I thought many readers would 
send letters to the editor to express their impressions of his 
essay, so I was looking forward to seeing the letters-to-the editor 
column. However, there were not so many opinions in the column. I 
don't know if it was out of the publisher's consideration. But I 
wonder if it's really all right to leave Japan as is. As a reader, I 
am very worried. 
 
Mr. Okamoto has close insight into the international situation. In a 
sense, he pulled off a coup with his writing of this essay. I have 
no deep insight into the international situation. However, when I 
think of how Japan will live in the world, I really think Mr. 
Okamoto is right. 
 
There are probably many tasks for Prime Minister Fukuda and his 
cabinet. However, I think the prime minister should now go on a kind 
of pilgrimage throughout the country with this Okamoto essay to 
earnestly implore the nation for how to resolve the current 
situation. If the prime minister cannot go on such a tour, he can 
use television. Otherwise, he can use the newspapers. 
 
 
TOKYO 00005572  010 OF 014 
 
 
Japan is at a crossroads. We should thoroughly discuss what Japan 
should do. Will Japan remain a friend of the international 
community? Will Japan drop out? Will Japan otherwise become a 
country smiling meaninglessly only when asking for help? This is a 
matter of concern about Japan's way of life. 
 
Gist of Okamoto's essay: Japan disappears from the showdown with 
terrorism 
 
Afghanistan is for civilizations to struggle for self-defense 
against terrorism: The Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) defines 
the international community's efforts to stabilize Afghanistan at 
its current government's request as a "U.S. war for its own 
defense." No countries are saying such a thing. Al Qaeda, which 
brought about the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is trying to 
destroy the entire civilizations of advanced countries. I feel 
something is wrong with those who call the United States' battle in 
Iraq a "showdown with terrorism." However, what the international 
community is doing in Afghanistan is a showdown with terrorism. This 
is the international community's understanding. That is why all 
advanced countries are working together to stabilize Afghanistan. 
There are about 40 countries at work. 
 
Pullout not understandable: The naval forces of more than 10 
countries have been standing in the way of terrorists in the Indian 
Ocean. The Maritime Self-Defense Force continued refueling their 
vessels there for six years, and the MSDF's refueling mission was 
highly appreciated. The opposition parties asserted that the MSDF's 
refueling mission there is linked to the use of armed force, and 
they dragged Japan away from the international team. However, each 
country's naval vessels are on patrol there. What they are doing 
there is not a battle. Furthermore, the opposition parties insisted 
that the MSDF should pull out because there is no United Nations 
Security Council resolution. The UNSC adopts resolutions only when 
its two veto-holding UNSC members, China and Russia, agree. Are they 
saying Japan should not do anything without China's approval? 
 
China 40 times Japan: Japan has given up its joint responsibility 
for the defense of freedom. Meanwhile, Japan called for a permanent 
seat on the UNSC. This is also comic. In the House of 
Representatives, the ruling coalition holds a majority of the seats. 
In the House of Councillors, however, the opposition bench 
outnumbers the ruling coalition to vote down legislative measures. 
This situation will continue over the next six years. Meanwhile, the 
world will undergo a sea change. For example, China will have new 
leaders with sensitivity and voice to the world. Japan currently 
assigns 47 persons to U.N. peacekeeping operations. China has 40 
times more on PKO assignments. China's navy may deploy in the Indian 
Ocean for the international community. 
 
Refueling is 'ultra-safe': Overseas operations can be typed into 
four categories according to the degree of danger. Operation 
Enduring Freedom (OEF), which is intended to mop up Al Qaeda and 
Taliban, falls under the most dangerous category. Japan should not 
participate in OEF. The International Security Assistance Force 
(ISAF), a ground-based team for the purpose of maintaining public 
security, is under the second most dangerous category. ISAF is a 
target of terrorists. The third category includes participating in a 
risky provincial reconstruction team (PRT). PRT is made up of 
government employees and civilians for economic reconstruction and 
humanitarian assistance, with troops escorting and guarding them. 
The safest category includes cracking down on suspicious ships at 
 
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sea. Japan has created an 'ultra-safe' framework outside these four 
categories. Japan's role is not small. However, this is safer than 
any other missions. The MSDF can engage in this operation with its 
equipment, technical know-how, and enthusiasm. The DPJ forced Japan 
to give up this mission. What does the DPJ want Japan to do 
instead? 
 
Ozawa initiative: Mr. Ichiro Ozawa announced that Japan should stop 
refueling at sea and participate in the ISAF. He insists that Japan 
should join in even more dangerous activities. This assertion is 
fine in itself, and we should go for it. He said, "We can't keep 
saying that we will only take care of humanitarian assistance to be 
loved by everybody, and that you guys go ahead with security 
maintenance that is dangerous." That's a good point. Some people in 
the Liberal Democratic Party opposed Mr. Ozawa's advocacy, just 
because that's his own. The LDP also thinks more of the political 
situation than Japan's national interests. 
 
PRT participation, Counselor Oku's tragedy: Mr. Ozawa withdrew his 
advocacy of ISAF participation, and the DPJ proposed local public 
support through PRT participation. However, there is a fundamental 
misunderstanding. In the case of ordinary public support for local 
people, experts from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) 
and those from NGOs are already in action. In the case of PRT, a 
civilian team is escorted and guarded by military troops, border 
guards, or special police to work directly for stabilization. Is it 
really possible? Japan is not prepared to protect Japanese nationals 
overseas. This is not a matter of the Self-Defense Forces' members. 
Japan is a thoroughly equitable society, so no one in this country 
thinks that Japanese people (SDF members) should be exposed to 
danger as a shield for other Japanese people (embassy staff). One 
may say, "We will send experts, but other countries should ensure 
their security." That's even more shameful. 
 
Broad view: The United States came up with an enormous quantity of 
materials for Japan to continue the MSDF's refueling mission in the 
Indian Ocean. In the Diet, however, the opposition parties were 
against that from the beginning, and they just intended to hold up 
the government. Japan highhandedly pursued even how one liter of oil 
was used. Other countries are fed up with Japan. They want to say 
Japan should risk working together with them on the ground. 
 
Gulf mistake: There was a similar thing at the time of the Gulf War. 
It was not the Diet but the Japanese government that angered (U.S. 
forces). Japan entirely turned its back on international operations 
against Hussein's aggression, and only attached importance to Diet 
deliberations. That is the same as this time. The Diet went back 
again into those days and lost sight of the general situation. The 
Diet was caught in fault-finding arguments from beginning to end 
without giving thought to the enormous sacrifices of other 
countries. 
 
Terrorism must be prevented from spreading: The Moriya issue is 
extremely serious, but that is a different problem. The Diet should 
enact the legislation into law. First of all, Japan should get the 
supply ship back in the Indian Ocean. The United Nations also wants 
Japan to resume the MSDF's refueling activities. How about shifting 
the MSDF's activities to the Strait of Malacca in the Indian Ocean? 
Many people would support efforts to prevent the spread of terrorism 
from the Middle East to Pakistan and Asia. The MSDF would be tasked 
with warning and surveillance activities as well as providing 
information about that sea area. This does not fall under the 
 
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category of collective self-defense and contributes to Asia's peace. 
No countries would raise an objection. 
 
Japan at a crossroads: Civilized society is made up of countries 
helping each other. Will Japan remain a friend, or will Japan 
otherwise drop out? It is time to hold thoroughgoing discussions. If 
the MSDF refueling bill gets low support from the public even after 
it is voted down in the House of Councillors, the government should 
then give straightforward explanations to the general public about 
the impact of Japan's nonparticipation, instead of revoting on the 
bill in the House of Representatives. The people would support the 
course of action Japan should take as a civilized nation if they 
understand the whole picture. With a rise of public support, the 
government should present a new legislative measure to the Diet at 
its ordinary session early next year in order to create a permanent 
law that can meet every case. The Special Measures Law is a 
time-limited law that is valid for a period of one year. The 
government should now appeal to the people. Japan can be helped by 
its people, not by politicians. 
 
(6) Sympathy budget: Are Japanese employees working at U.S. bases 
sacrificial stones? 
 
ASAHI (Page 18) (Abridged slightly) 
December 14, 2007 
 
By Kenji Watanabe, member of the All Japan Garrison Forces Labor 
Union Central Committee 
 
Some 25,000 Japanese people are working at the U.S. bases in Japan. 
The government has decided to reduce the salaries of the Japanese 
workers. As a result, our employer, the Ministry of Defense (MOD), 
has presented the All Japan Garrison Forces Labor Union (Zenchuro) 
with a plan to cut the Japanese labor costs by a total of 10 billion 
yen. In talks on the Japan-U.S. Special Measures Agreement scheduled 
to expire at the end of next March, the government proposed cuts in 
USFJ utility costs, but the talks were deadlocked due to stiff 
resistance from the U.S. side. Given the situation, the government 
has turned to slashing the labor costs of the Japanese workers that 
will not increase the burden on the United States. 
 
A law stipulates that the defense ministry determines the salaries 
and the condition of employment of the Japanese people working at 
U.S. bases in view of those of national civil servants and 
private-sector employees. The salaries of base workers are revised 
annually at the same rate as the National Personnel Authority's 
annual recommendations with the concurrence of the U.S. military. 
Playing a role in national defense, Japanese employees' work at the 
U.S. bases under the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty is of a high public 
nature. This can explain why the status of the base workers is 
similar to that of the national civil servants. 
 
Abolishing "differential pay" is one of the key elements in the 
government's plan. "Differential pay" denotes a 10 PERCENT  wage 
added to base pay. The system dates back to 1947 when a 10 PERCENT 
wage was added to the level of wages of the national public servants 
in consideration of unique differences in language, culture, and 
custom under the occupation forces. 
 
When the current pay scale was completed in 1963, the U.S. military 
reduced base pay by 8 PERCENT  in lieu of maintaining differential 
pay. The salaries of all Japanese base workers were annually subject 
 
TOKYO 00005572  013 OF 014 
 
 
to the U.S. military's wage reductions until the Japanese government 
decided in 1978 to cover their labor expenses with the "sympathy 
budget." 
 
At present, the base pay of Japanese employees working at the U.S. 
bases is lower than that of national civil servants. Even if 
differential pay is counted in, our average monthly salary is 80 
PERCENT  of that of the national civil servants. Because 
differential pay is different from base pay, it is not included in 
calculating bonuses, and therefore greater differences in annual 
wages. The abolition of differential pay would reduce the base 
worker's average monthly salary to 73 PERCENT  of the civil 
servants. The government's explanation to abolish differential pay 
to correct the impression of base workers' salaries being too high 
is groundless and unsubstantial. 
 
Work environments surrounding base workers are very bad. Because the 
U.S. military does not agree, many Japanese laws, including the 
Labor Standards Law, do not apply to Japanese people working at the 
U.S. bases, where no one can enter without U.S. military 
authorization under the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement. Since 
9/11, U.S. bases have become targets of terrorism, and tensions run 
high at times. Job security has always been poor. 
 
Zenchuro has presented a set of counterproposals willing to respond 
to calls for partial cuts in salaries and allowances and seeking 
improved overall working conditions pursuant to those of the 
national servants. There has been no specific reply form MOD. 
 
The government maintains that the base workers' salaries must be cut 
in order also to win public understanding of its plan to infuse 
approximately 320 billion yen of taxpayer money into Guam as part of 
U.S. force realignment. Are the Japanese base employees who are 
working between Japan and the United States and contributing to 
Japan's security sacrificial stones? 
 
(7) Five Japanese companies, including Nippon Oil Corp., to 
construct refinery in Libya: Joint project negotiations underway; 
Project cost estimated to come to 500 billion yen 
 
NIKKEI (Top Play) (Excerpts) 
December 14, 2007 
 
The Nikkei learned yesterday that a consortium of five Japanese 
companies, including Nippon Oil Corporation, Inpex Holdings and 
Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX), is moving ahead with talks with 
Libya for the construction of a refinery. The planned refinery is 
estimated to have 200,000 barrel-a-day-class refining capability. 
The estimated cost of the project is 500 billion yen. Sanctions 
against Libya were lifted in 2003. The nation is now making efforts 
to return to the international community. Nippon Oil Corp. and other 
companies are aiming at securing vested interest in large-size 
resources in Libya, which has the largest crude oil reserves in 
Africa, by consolidating a system allowing the combined management 
of oil drilling and a refinery. 
 
Securing vested interests in oil fields as well aimed at 
 
 The project, if realized, will become the first case in which Japan 
takes the initiative in the construction of a refinery abroad. 
Viewing the project as leading to the diversification of crude oil 
suppliers, the government intends to assist it with public loans 
 
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with the securing of vested interest in oil fields as well as a 
premise. The consortium is expected to cover a large part of the 
project expenses, estimated to reach between 400-500 billion yen, 
with loans by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. 
 
Those three companies, JGC Corporation and Nippon Yusen Kaisha are 
now looking into the possibility of setting up a joint project 
company with Libya's state-owned oil company. A project site up for 
consideration is a coastal area in the suburb of Tripoli, the 
capital. The plan is to build a state-of-the-art refinery equipped 
with facilities capable of producing more gasoline, by breaking down 
heavy oil with low value produced in the process of refining crude 
oil. 
 
SCHIEFFER