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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 000082 
 
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 01/10/08 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Civil servant reform panel's draft plan proposes establishing 
personnel agency and banning civil servants from contacting 
lawmakers in principle (Nikkei) 
 
(2) Civil servant system reform: Government panel proposes 
introduction of compensation system to deal with improprieties, 
pursue responsibility of retired government officials (Sankei) 
 
(3) Legislature: Part 1 (a): Opposition camp controls Upper House; 
DPJ also facing policy dilemma (Yomiuri) 
 
(4) New Komeito secretary general shows understanding for permanent 
legislation (Nikkei) 
 
(5) LDP's Upper House Caucus unhappy with ruling bloc's move to 
abandon plan to first handle the gasoline tax (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(6) UN recognizes greenhouse gas reductions generated by Japan's ODA 
project in India as CERs (Yomiuri) 
 
(7) Gist of funding mechanism to counter global warming (Nikkei) 
 
(8) Possibility of April panic moves closer to reality; If 
revenue-related bills expired, stock price would plunge and import 
product prices would surge (Sankei) 
 
(9) Japan, U.S. agree to build 3 helipads in Okinawa training area 
(Okinawa Times) 
 
(10) Gov't enters into full-fledged coordination with Okinawa for 
Futenma assessment (Okinawa Times) 
 
(11) MOJ to establish special team tasked to investigate immigrants 
with "disguised visa status" (Mainichi) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Civil servant reform panel's draft plan proposes establishing 
personnel agency and banning civil servants from contacting 
lawmakers in principle 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 10, 2008 
 
It became clear yesterday that the government panel on the 
comprehensive reform of the civil servant system, chaired by Toshiba 
Chairman Tadashi Okamura, would produce a draft report later this 
month with proposals that include the establishment of a cabinet 
personnel agency to exclusively manage personnel affairs regarding 
civil servants. The draft plan proposes establishing the post of 
parliamentary affairs specialist to assist cabinet ministers with 
Diet responses to prohibit civil servants from making direct 
contacts with lawmakers. The aim is to break away from the current 
bureaucratic sectionalism and eliminate collusive ties between 
legislators and government officials. 
 
Former Economic Planning Agency Director-General Taichi Sakaiya 
played a central role in drafting the plan. The council will begin 
discussions starting today based on the draft report. A strong 
reaction is expected from the Kasumigaseki bureaucratic district 
 
TOKYO 00000082  002 OF 011 
 
 
that would lose interests. To what extent the draft plan will be 
reflected in the planned final report remains to be seen. 
 
At present, the National Personnel Authority, a third-party organ, 
is responsible for making advice on hiring and salaries, the 
Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry Personnel and Pension 
Bureau for the management of retirement allowances, and the Finance 
Ministry for the management of housing and the pension system. Under 
the draft plan, such functions will be integrated into the envisaged 
personnel agency, which will also be involved in the selection of 
designated positions (above the councilor level) that are determined 
independently by each government agency. 
 
Parliamentary affairs specialists, along with cabinet ministers and 
senior vice ministers, will offer explanations on bills to lawmakers 
and do the spadework, which have been carried out by senior 
government officials. Some ten parliamentary affairs specialists who 
will be selected form civil servants in posts over the division 
director level will be assigned to the personnel agency in 
compliance with cabinet ministers' requests. Other public servants 
will be prohibited from making contacts with lawmakers in 
principle. 
 
The post of national strategic staffer, a specialist on the level of 
administrative vice-minister with high-level expertise and 
experience, will also be established in the cabinet. The prime 
minister will appoint about ten individuals from senior government 
officials, academics, and the private sector in order to strengthen 
the Prime Minister's Official Residence's (Kantei) ability to plan 
and realize policies. 
 
The first- and second-class employment examinations -- one of the 
focuses -- will be abolished to introduce three types of tests: 
general office worker, specialist, and managerial worker. The draft 
also proposes appointing many general officer workers, specialists, 
and mid-career workers as senior officials. The effort might end up 
as no more than changing the sign boards. It is unclear whether the 
measures can result in the abolition of the rigid career system. 
 
Main points from the draft report by the civil servant system reform 
council 
 
? Establish a cabinet personnel agency to exclusively handle 
personnel affairs 
? Establish the post of parliamentary affairs specialist to assist 
cabinet ministers with Diet responses. 
? Establish the post of national strategic specialist to assist the 
Kantei in policy planning. 
? Prohibit civil servants other than parliamentary affairs 
specialists from making direct contacts with lawmakers. 
? Replace the existing employment examinations with three types of 
tests: general office worker, specialist, and managerial worker. 
? Actively appoint general office workers and mid-career workers as 
senior officials. 
 
(2) Civil servant system reform: Government panel proposes 
introduction of compensation system to deal with improprieties, 
pursue responsibility of retired government officials 
 
SANKEI (Top play) (Excerpts) 
January 10, 2008 
 
 
TOKYO 00000082  003 OF 011 
 
 
The government council on the comprehensive reform of the civil 
servant system, chaired by Toshiba Chairman Tadashi Okamura, decided 
yesterday to incorporate in its draft report a proposal for 
establishing a system that will obligate retired government 
officials, who are found to have committed irregularities, to return 
their retirement allowances in compensation for inflicting damage on 
the government. Under the current system, one is not required to 
return his allowance even if he committed an irregularity that did 
not escalate into a criminal case or when a penalty for it stopped 
short of imprisonment. Calls for a review of the current system have 
been growing in the government. 
 
The pension record fiasco and the issue of hepatitis C by 
contaminated blood products have caused heavy damage to the Social 
Insurance Agency and the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry, 
respectively. The panel's decision indicates that it takes those 
issues seriously. The panel has decided that the government needs a 
new system to pursue the responsibility of those who handled such 
issues. 
 
The panel is scheduled to meet today to discuss the draft report 
with the aim of presenting it to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda later 
this month. After receiving the report, the government plans to 
submit what is tentatively called a civil servant system reform 
basic bill to the next regular Diet session, expected to open on 
Jan. 18. 
 
Specifically, in the event a retired government official is found to 
have committed an irregularity during his tenure of office, the 
envisaged system allows the government which suffered loss to seek 
compensation from him and a court to determine the amount of damage 
in view of his ability to pay. The system also envisages the return 
of retirement allowances and the confiscation of assets to cover 
shortfalls. 
 
(3) Legislature: Part 1 (a): Opposition camp controls Upper House; 
DPJ also facing policy dilemma 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Slightly abridged) 
January 9, 2008 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) President Ichiro Ozawa 
during an informal meeting with the Rengo (Japanese Trade Union 
Confederation) local of Kumamoto held at a Kumamoto City hotel on 
the evening of Dec. 27 slowly said: "The Upper House has adopted 
bills covering the pension issue and agricultural policy. However, 
in the Lower House, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New 
Komeito have not even deliberated on those bills. It is shameful. 
However, nothing can be done because of an overwhelming difference 
in the number of seats held by the ruling and opposition camps. It 
is truly regrettable." 
 
The Fukuda government and the ruling parties, which lost their 
majority in the Upper House, and the DPJ, which is now the number 
one party in the upper chamber, all feel blocked in their steering 
of the Diet. 
 
Ozawa spearheaded the move to submit DPJ-sponsored bills after the 
Upper House election last July. However, blocked by the wall of 
ruling camp members in the Lower House, Ozawa last fall even 
searched for the possibility of forming a grand coalition with the 
LDP, judging that if the DPJ were to hold policy talks with the LDP, 
 
TOKYO 00000082  004 OF 011 
 
 
it would become possible for it to follow through with its 
commitments to the public. 
 
However, he failed to obtain the understanding of the members of his 
own party. His authority was damaged. 
 
Officials of the Tax Bureau of the Finance Ministry were busy at 
work on Jan. 2 despite it being the New Year's holidays. They were 
drafting an amendment to the special taxation measures law in order 
to extend the time limit of the provisional tax rate imposed on the 
gasoline tax. 
 
If the legislation fails to secure Diet approval by the end of 
March, the provisional taxation would expire, cutting gasoline 
prices by 25 yen per liter starting in April. Should that happen, 
national tax revenues would drop 1.7 trillion yen a year. The result 
would be a major shortfall in road construction funds. 
 
Tax-related bills are usually submitted to the Diet in early 
February. However, with the DPJ calling for a total abolition of the 
provisional tax, there are no prospects for deliberations to take 
place in the Upper House. The ruling coalition ordered the Finance 
Ministry to prepare a bill as soon as possible. 
 
Commenting on Diet deliberations on the draft fiscal 2008 budget, 
Prime Minister Fukuda during his New Year's press conference on Jan. 
4 noted, "There should not be an adverse effect on people's lives. 
We must have ample opportunities for substantial talks with the DPJ, 
the number one party in the opposition." If confusion affects the 
passing of the budget, the administration would be driven into a 
corner. 
 
Bills submitted by the government and the ruling parties will not 
clear the Upper House, while those introduced by the DPJ in Upper 
House will be blocked in the Lower House. There is a possible danger 
that the Diet, in which the upper and lower houses are controlled by 
different parties, could become dysfunctional, since it would be 
impossible key policy proposals to be adopted. 
 
When the Fukuda administration came into office in September last 
year, Ryuhei Ogawa (53), who is responsible for rating Japan's 
long-term government bonds at U.S. rating company Standard and 
Poors, noted in a report sent to clients: "As long as the opposition 
remains in control of the Upper House, Japan faces a considerable 
degree of policy risk. It is essential for it to promote structural 
reforms. However, since a weakened coalition government could lead 
to stalemate in steering the Diet, it could prevent us from 
upgrading the ratings of long-term government bonds." Standard and 
Poors had just upgraded the rating of Japan's government bonds in 
April, giving high praise to Japan's progress in structural 
reforms. 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda has shown understanding about hiking the 
consumption tax rate, saying, "We cannot afford to let the nation's 
fiscal deficit increase any further." Ogawa took note of this 
remark. However, even after his meetings with Ozawa, Fukuda was 
unable to obtain any cooperation from the DPJ. Discussions on the 
consumption tax issue by the government and the ruling parties have 
also been put on the back-burner. 
 
A fund manager from a certain country asked Ogawa at the Standard 
and Poors' office in Singapore, "Is Japan's fiscal management all 
 
TOKYO 00000082  005 OF 011 
 
 
right?" 
 
Citing various policies incorporated in the draft budget, such as a 
freeze on an increase in elderly patients' share of medical 
treatment fees, keeping special-purpose road construction revenues 
as they are, and an increase in local tax allocations, all of which 
require more budget funds, Ogawa had no other choice but to say, "It 
will be difficult for an unstable administration to drastically 
reconstruct public finances." 
 
(4) New Komeito secretary general shows understanding for permanent 
legislation 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 10, 2008 
 
The government has begun considering enacting a permanent law 
allowing the country to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces on overseas 
missions as necessary. New Komeito Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa 
yesterday showed some understanding toward such a move by saying to 
the press: "The ruling bloc's project team will discuss the matter. 
If common ground is found, we might submit a bill." With strong 
cautious views in the party in mind, Kitagawa also presented the 
following conditions as prerequisites: (1) constitutionality, (2) 
clear weapons-use standards, and (3) thorough civilian control. 
 
(5) LDP's Upper House Caucus unhappy with ruling bloc's move to 
abandon plan to first handle the gasoline tax 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
January 10, 2008 
 
Shunsuke Shimizu 
 
The ruling bloc intended to first deal with a bill revising the 
Special Taxation Measures Law ahead of a budget bill for 2008 in 
order to keep the current temporary tax rates of the so-called 
gasoline tax (including the benzine tax) beyond April. But it later 
decided not to do so. This decision has met with voices of 
discontent in the Upper House Caucus of the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP). Members of the caucus are concerned that 
they may be forced to take responsibility one-sidedly if the current 
tax rates expire (on March 31, 2008) as a result of failure to keep 
them in place beyond their expiration. 
 
"It has now become definite that gasoline prices will decline for a 
while," a senior member of the LDP Upper House Caucus spat out. 
 
The major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is likely to 
aim to wait for the current temporary tax rates to expire by 
delaying a vote on the revision bill in the Upper House. However, if 
the revised bill clears the Lower House by the end of the month and 
is sent to the Upper House, it is possible to enact the legislation 
by the end of this fiscal year in accordance with the Constitution's 
provision that states no action by the Upper House within 60 days 
after receipt of a bill passed by the Lower House may be determined 
by the Lower House to constitute a rejection of the said bill by the 
Upper House. 
 
If the ruling bloc gets budget-related bills to clear the Lower 
House ahead of a budget bill, the opposition bloc would be certain 
to vehemently oppose the ruling bloc's unusual attitude like that. 
 
TOKYO 00000082  006 OF 011 
 
 
So a plan to first deal with the gasoline tax problem ahead of the 
budget bill was abandoned with a senior member of the LDP Lower 
House Diet Affairs Committee noting: "If the Diet falls into 
turmoil, calls for dissolution of the Lower House will erupt." 
 
The senior lawmaker intends to have the revision bill approved as 
swiftly as possible in the Lower House and prompt the DPJ to agree 
to take a vote on the revision bill at the end of March, which is 
the end of this fiscal year. 
 
Even if that bill is rejected (by the Upper House) within this 
fiscal year, if the bill is immediately put to a second vote in the 
Lower House, it is possible to maintain the current temporary tax 
rate of the gasoline tax. 
 
One plan being considered in the LDP at present is to strongly 
encourage some DPJ lawmakers who have expressed their understanding 
about maintaining the current temporary tax rates for the promotion 
of road construction to revolt against their party. 
 
Meanwhile, a senior member of the LDP Upper House Caucus, which has 
suffered from the offensive by the DPJ since the it has become the 
top party in the Upper House by winning last summer's Upper House 
election, sharply criticized the view taken by the above senior 
Lower House member: "It's too optimistic if he expects the DPJ to 
change its mind or some of that party to revolt against the party." 
 
Another senior LDP lawmaker stressed: "The members of the LDP Lower 
House Caucus are too lenient toward the DPJ. We must pick a fight 
with the DPJ if necessary." LDP Upper House lawmakers are urging the 
Lower House members, who, together with members of the junior 
coalition partner New Komeito, hold an overwhelming majority of 
seats there, to hold their ground against the DPJ. 
 
(6) UN recognizes greenhouse gas reductions generated by Japan's ODA 
project in India as CERs 
 
YOMIURI (Page 18) (Excerpts) 
January 10, 2008 
 
A subway system that was constructed in India with Japan's official 
development assistance (ODA) funds and its energy-conservation 
technology has contributed to reducing about 40,000 tons of carbon 
dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. It has been decided that Japan 
will be allowed to use the reduced portion to offset its emissions 
to help meet its emissions target under the Kyoto Protocol. The 
United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board 
last month approved the application of this portion to the CDM - 
designed to allow greenhouse reductions from projects implemented in 
developing countries to offset emissions of industrialized 
countries, regarded them as their certified emissions reductions 
(CERs) - in response to a request by the governments of Japan and 
India. This is the second Japan's ODA project to be recognized as a 
CDM project, following the wind-power construction project in Egypt. 
Among railway construction projects, this is the first case. 
 
The subway system runs in and around New Delhi. The construction 
started in 1997, and three lines (59 kilometers in total) 
constructed in the first stage of the project started operation by 
¶2006. The project costs approximately 278 billion yen, of which 
about 163 billion yen was disbursed from the yen-loan program. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000082  007 OF 011 
 
 
India has concluded a contract with Japan to sell 200,000 tons of 
emissions reductions to be accrued over five years to Japan Carbon 
Finance (JCF), a private firm based in Tokyo and invested by 33 
Japanese companies, including the Tokyo Electric Power Co. and 
Nippon Oil Co. 
 
(7) Gist of funding mechanism to counter global warming 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 10, 2008 
 
The following is a gist of the government's financial assistance 
mechanism for developing countries to contain global warming: 
 
"Initiation to Cool Earth 50" and aid to developing countries 
 
? Halve the current level of greenhouse gases emitted from the 
entire world by 2050. 
? Three principles to be kept in designing a specific framework to 
fight global warming beyond the 2012 timeframe set under the Kyoto 
Protocol. 
 
¶1. Include all major greenhouse gas emitters to reduce gases emitted 
from the entire world beyond the timeframe set in the Kyoto 
Protocol. 
¶2. Make a flexible and diversified framework, giving consideration 
to each country's circumstances. 
¶3. Give priority to both environmental preservation and economic 
development bye making use of energy-conservation and other 
technologies. 
 
Japan will offer assistance in wide-ranging areas to developing 
countries that have a lofty aspiration and to developing countries 
willing to change their policies in response to Japan's request - a 
new form in which Japan proposes policies and cooperation. 
 
To offer such assistance, Japan will build a new fund mechanism. The 
government will consider forming a new fund mechanism on a somewhat 
long-term basis and a considerably large scale, instead of 
allocating the funds set aside for assistance to developing 
countries in a conventional way. Japan will call on other 
industrialized countries and international organs to fall in step 
with Japan in order to operate the mechanism based on international 
coordination. 
 
Aid for measures to curb climate changes (reduction in greenhouse 
gas emissions) 
 
? Enhance the efficiency of energy use and proliferate 
energy-conservation technology; for instance, help China improve the 
efficiency of its superannuated thermal power plants. In the case of 
a medium-sized power plant, an about 5 PERCENT  increase in 
efficiency will contribute to reducing 200,000 tons of carbon 
dioxide (CO2) per unit annually. 
 
Japan will provide China mainly with technology and other official 
flows (OOF) than official development assistance (ODA) after Japan 
stops offering yen loans to that nation. 
 
Aid for developing countries to adjust themselves to climate changes 
(global warming preventive measures) 
 
 
TOKYO 00000082  008 OF 011 
 
 
Carry out projects to cope with climate changes (in such areas as 
water, agriculture, forest, and disaster-damage prevention). 
 
Prepare and monitor documents kept in developing countries, for 
instance, make plans on disaster prevention by making use of global 
simulation, etc. 
 
Improvement in access to energy 
 
Increase the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar heat, 
water power, and terrestrial heat. 
 
Promote electrification in farm villages and assist communities, for 
instance, offer aid to develop such villages while protecting the 
environment, focusing on small-scale alternative energy, water, and 
forests. 
 
(8) Possibility of April panic moves closer to reality; If 
revenue-related bills expired, stock price would plunge and import 
product prices would surge 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
January 9, 2008 
 
Ahead of the Jan.18 convocation of the ordinary Diet session, the 
government and the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling 
coalition are already at odds. There is a growing conflict over the 
handling of revenue-related bills between the LDP caucus in the 
House of Councillors, which has called for passage of the bills in 
January, and its caucus in the House of Representatives, which has 
taken a cautious stance toward such passage for fear of uproar in 
the ordinary session from the beginning. The main opposition 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) has called for 
abolishing the current provisional tariff on the gasoline tax, 
showing its stance of driving the Prime Minister to dissolve the 
Lower House as early as possible. Once the regular session starts 
under the present situation, the possibility of an "April panic" -- 
oil-buying-rush, a slump in stocks, and a steep rise in import 
products -- which would directly affect consumers, will move closer 
to reality. 
 
"What is the Lower House going to do? They don't understand 
anything." 
 
"It seems they are saying please confuse the Diet to bring about an 
early dissolution of the Lower House." 
 
The above conversation was held between senior LDP Upper House 
members on the afternoon of Jan. 7. 
 
Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki is the first person who enraged the 
 
SIPDIS 
LDP Upper House executive. Appearing on a NHK talk show on Jan. 6 
wearing a coat worn over armor in feudal Japan, he stated clearly: 
"It is difficult to end a debate on the revenue-related bills before 
the end of January." 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura also said yesterday: "We 
received various views, but it is not possible in consideration of 
the Diet schedule (to pass the bills in January)." Even Prime 
Minister Yasuo Fukuda stated in the LDP's New Year party: "We will 
walk on the right path fairly and squarely. There are some measures 
but if we take them, we will lose public trust." 
 
TOKYO 00000082  009 OF 011 
 
 
 
All the more because Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Tadamori Oshima 
stated in a meeting in late last year of the Diet affairs chiefs 
from the two chambers that the revenue-related bills would be 
enacted before the end of March by using the two-thirds majority 
vote in the Lower House, the LDP caucus in the Upper House insisted 
that's not the way they understood it. A senior LDP Upper House 
member grumbled: "The Lower House still does not understand a fear 
of April panic." 
 
If the bills do not clear the Lower House by the end of January, 
they will not be readopted with a two-thirds lower chamber majority 
override vote, which is allowed by law after 60 days after they were 
sent to the Upper House. If such happens, about 1000 special 
taxation measures would automatically lose effect at midnight on 
April 1. 
 
If the current provisional tariff, including the gasoline tax, 
becomes invalid, the cost of gasoline would drop by about 25 yen per 
liter, causing long lines of cars gassing up at gas stations. If the 
invalidation is prolonged, there would be pressure for a review of 
the road maintenance and improvement plan, and measures to modify 
the state budget would be needed. 
 
 What is more serious is the special government bond law, a legal 
basis for the issuance of deficit government bonds, expires. If the 
law expires, the government would not be able to issue 
deficit-covering bonds, resulting in a revenue shortfall. In order 
to cover such a shortfall, the calculation is that it would be 
necessary to hike the consumption tax by eight percent. 
 
If tariff special measures for about 420 import products are 
abolished, the import beef rate would rise sharply from 38.5 PERCENT 
 to 50 PERCENT . 
 
Tax deduction for capital investment and tax breaks for foreign 
companies would also be abolished. Special measures for Tokyo 
Offshore Market (market scale of about 60 trillion yen), which loans 
deposits by foreign firms, are discontinued, financial markets would 
be thrown into confusion. As a result, the trend of "selling Japan" 
might be accelerated. 
 
In a meeting on Jan. 8 of the secretaries general and Diet affairs 
chiefs of the LDP and the New Komeito, Ibuki stated: "Since passage 
of the revenue-related bills is precondition for the budget bill, 
there is no theoretical problem for them to be discussed before the 
budget." Many in the LDP Lower House have a faint hope that the 
bills will be enacted by the end of March, with one mid-level 
lawmaker saying, "Since there is no doubt that the opposition wants 
to avoid a panic, they are supposed to respond to a vote on them." 
However, a senior LDP member in the Upper House stated clearly: 
"What lies at the end of panic is the resignation of the cabinet en 
masse or Lower House dissolution. The opposition will never 
compromise with us." 
 
Mikio Aoki, former LDP Upper House chairman, who has a strong 
behind-the-scenes influence as the political boss in the upper 
chamber, told persons close to him: "When fighting, the party which 
has more members than the other one will win. I want the party with 
more members to fight it out." 
 
(9) Japan, U.S. agree to build 3 helipads in Okinawa training area 
 
TOKYO 00000082  010 OF 011 
 
 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 2) (Full) 
January 10, 2008 
 
TOKYO-Japan and the United States yesterday held a meeting of their 
intergovernmental joint committee and agreed to build three helipads 
on the northern side of the U.S. military's training area in Okinawa 
Prefecture's northern village of Kunigamison. The training area has 
six helipads, which are to be relocated after the training area is 
partially returned into local hands. The Japanese government will 
now enter into an agreement with a contractor to start construction 
work. 
 
In March last year, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed to 
build the other three helipads on the training area's southern side 
straddling the villages of Kunigamison and Higashison. The Japanese 
government started construction work there in July last year. The 
Defense Ministry says the new helipads will be built in about two 
years. The ministry plans to complete construction work in July 
¶2009. 
 
According to the Defense Ministry, the six new helipads are 
round-shaped with a diameter of 45 meters. Each helipad has a 
15-meter safety clearance zone on both sides. The three helipads on 
the training area's northern side are estimated at 400 million yen 
on a contract basis. Japan and the United States have agreed in a 
final report of the Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on 
Facilities and Areas in Okinawa (SACO) to return the training area 
in part to the extent of about 3,987 hectares. 
 
The six new helipads will be handed over to the U.S. military after 
they are all completed, the Defense Ministry says. The training 
area's partial return is expected to take place in July 2009 or 
after. 
 
(10) Gov't enters into full-fledged coordination with Okinawa for 
Futenma assessment 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 1) (Full) 
January 10, 2008 
 
TOKYO-The government yesterday entered into full-fledged 
coordination with Okinawa Prefecture to start an environmental 
impact assessment in early February for the relocation of the U.S. 
Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station to a coastal area of Camp Schwab 
in the prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago. Okinawa Gov. 
Hirokazu Nakaima yesterday met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka 
Machimura and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masahiro Futahashi at 
the prime minister's office to confirm that the government will hold 
its next consultative meeting with officials from Okinawa's 
prefectural and municipal governments at an early date to discuss 
the environmental assessment. In the next meeting, Okinawa 
Prefecture is expected to approve the government's proposal to 
sample corals for its environmental assessment. 
 
Okinawa Prefecture has asked the government to think twice about how 
to survey the relocation site's environs and release its forecast of 
the possible impact of Futenma relocation on the environment before 
conducting the environmental assessment. "I have told the Defense 
Ministry to give (Okinawa Prefecture) more detailed explanations," a 
high-ranking government official said. This official also said, 
"There are not so difficult problems." The official expects that the 
 
TOKYO 00000082  011 OF 011 
 
 
government and Okinawa Prefecture can agree in the next consultative 
meeting to set about the environmental assessment, saying: "There 
are not so many difficulties. We are now ready to go ahead." 
 
Gov. Nakaima is to set forth his statement on Jan. 21 about the 
government's environmental assessment plan. The government is now 
coordinating with Okinawa Prefecture to hold the next consultative 
meeting late this month after that. The government plans to lay down 
a V-shaped pair of airstrips on the premises of Camp Schwab as an 
alternative for Futenma airfield. Okinawa Prefecture and Nago City 
have proposed moving the construction site to an offshore area. The 
government is expected to exchange views with Okinawa's prefectural 
and municipal governments on this proposal in the next consultative 
meeting. 
 
(11) MOJ to establish special team tasked to investigate immigrants 
with "disguised visa status" 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
January 3, 2008 
 
Takashi Sakamoto 
 
The Ministry of Justice's (MOJ) Immigration Bureau decided to form a 
special team tasked to analyze information about and lay bare 
immigrants with "disguised residential status" as the number of 
cases of foreigners working beyond their initial visa status granted 
by Japan is on the rise. 
 
The revised law on the Employment Promotion Law, which includes a 
system for employers to report to the Ministry of Health, Labor and 
Welfare (MHLW) about names of foreign employees and other items, 
went into effect in last October. With this kind of information 
available to the MOJ, the Immigration Bureau now can constantly 
grasp the situation of employment and separation of foreign workers. 
This information is said to be helpful to examine, for instance, the 
case of an immigrant with a student visa continuing to work at a 
restaurant or the case of an immigrant who entered Japan in the 
disguise of being a wife of a Japanese national working at a place 
far away from her house. 
 
The special team was formed in last October and consists of 58 
officials coming mainly from the Tokyo Immigration Bureau. Of them, 
15 are engaged in analyzing information provided by the MHLW, and 43 
engaged in investigating and exposing cases of foreign nationals 
illegally working here in Japan. If the MOJ finds foreign nationals 
are working without working visas, it will cancel their residential 
status and take the procedures for deportation. 
 
There were 594 cases of immigrants with disguised visa status in 
2001, but the number of those cases exposed in 2006 reached 1,736. 
"It is difficult to expose immigrants with disguised visa status 
unlike fake passports. All we can do is to expose a small fraction 
of the real figure," a senior immigration official said. 
 
Meanwhile, some people express concern about the application of the 
reporting system to foreign workers. For instance, the Japan 
Federation of Bar Association has lodged a protest against the 
reporting system, citing the reason that the system violates 
foreigners' privacy. 
 
DONOVAN