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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 000576 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA; 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; 
TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; 
SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; 
CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/05/08 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Defense issues: 
4) USFJ Commander Rice in meeting with Defense Minister Ishiba vows 
prevention of recurrence of incidents by military personnel  (Asahi) 
 
5) Host-nation support budget also being held up by stalled Diet 
(Sankei) 
6) MSDF top brass on Aegis accident sees problem linked to MSDF's 
organization itself  (Nikkei) 
7) Defense Ministry to streamline lines of communication with Prime 
Minister's Official Residence in case of emergency, terrorism, and 
the like  (Sankei) 
8) Diet league formed to restrict cluster bombs  (Mainichi) 
 
China connection: 
9) Japan informally asks China to postpone President Hu's trip to 
Japan until  early May  (Mainichi) 
10) Government protests to China about preventing imports of 
Japanese books with reference to the Senkaku isles in them 
(Mainichi) 
 
11) Government to make its case to the IWC against violent 
anti-whaling groups who are attacking Japanese crewmembers on 
whaling ships  (Mainichi) 
 
12) LDP considering amending child pornography law to toughen 
penalties, make possession of such pornography illegal  (Asahi) 
 
Political agenda: 
13) Ozawa posits dissolution of the Lower House during this regular 
session of the Diet  (Nikkei) 
14) Battle in the Diet being ratcheted up as issues mount  (Asahi) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Toyota to enter Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' aircraft development 
project 
 
Mainichi & Tokyo Shimbun: 
Supreme Court to uphold guilty ruling for ex-Health Ministry 
official over outbreak of HIV 
 
Yomiuri: 
70 Shinginko debtors go under 
 
Nikkei: 
Management of public pension premiums for FY2007 likely to see minus 
yields for first time in five years 
 
Sankei: 
China sends 50 copies of book about Deng Xiaoping back to Japan, 
labeling it as taboo literature 
 
Akahata: 
 
TOKYO 00000576  002 OF 009 
 
 
Constitution study group gets executives from LDP, DPJ 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Hurriedly work out anti-spam measures, focusing also on e-mails 
from overseas 
(2) Prosecutors should admit false charges in case of shooting Osaka 
District Court head 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Resume Diet deliberations 
(2) Attack on whaler: Violence is against protection of nature 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) New constitution study group launched 
(2) Attack on whaler tantamount to piracy 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) FTC to impose surcharges on improper labeling 
(2) Trust in accountants undermined again 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Political strife just leads to accelerate economic 
deterioration 
(2) Vicious sabotage on whaling must be prosecuted 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Guilty judgment for ex-Health Ministry official over outbreak of 
HIV: Take it as blame for irresponsible administration 
(2) Nonpartisan group "Sentaku" must make efforts to erase public 
doubts about its moves 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Okinawa rally: Express resolve not to forgive crimes by U.S. 
soldiers 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, March 4 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
08:31 
Attended a cabinet meeting in Diet. After that, met with Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Machimura and Land Minister Fuyushiba. Machimura 
remained. 
 
09:59 
Met with MOFA's International Cooperation Bureau Director-General 
Bessho at Kantei. 
 
10:54 
Met with Machimura. 
 
12:14 
Attended the Tokyo forum of the Institute of Developing Economies 
held at ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo. 
 
12:36 
Met with LDP Administrative Reform Headquarters Head Chuma and 
 
TOKYO 00000576  003 OF 009 
 
 
National Strategy Headquarters Head Sugiura  at Kantei. 
 
14:09 
Met with State Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform Watanabe. 
After him, met with Prime Ministerial Advisor Ito. Afterwards, met 
with Cabinet Intelligence Director Mitani. 
 
15:26 
Met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Futahashi. Afterwards, met 
with Vice Education Minister Zeniya and MEXT  Research and 
Development Bureau Director-General Fujita. After them, met with 
MOFA Foreign Policy Bureau Director-General Kawai. 
 
16:36 
Met with Portuguese National Assembly Speaker Gama and others. 
 
17:10 
Met with Fuyushiba. Afterwards, attended a meeting for Gender 
Equality. 
 
18:57 
Arrived at Kantei residence. 
 
4) New USFJ chief vows to prevent recurrence 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
U.S. Forces Japan Commander Lt. Gen. Edward Rice, who arrived at his 
post on Feb. 25, paid a courtesy call on Defense Minister Ishiba 
yesterday at the Defense Ministry, during which Rice referred to the 
recent arrest of an Okinawa-based U.S. Marine over his alleged rape 
of a local junior high school girl. In this case, the Marine has now 
been released as prosecutors have decided not to indict him. The 
U.S. military is investigating the incident. In this regard, Rice 
told Ishiba that USFJ would carry out educational and training 
programs for all U.S. military bases in Japan to prevent such an 
incident from recurring. 
 
"This is a serious problem that could undermine the alliance. We 
will cooperate." With this, Ishiba indicated that the Japanese 
government will work together with the U.S. government to prevent a 
recurrence. 
 
5) Ruling bloc frustrated with effectively out-of-session Diet; 
Sympathy budget also in limbo 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Abridged slightly) 
March 5, 2008 
 
In the wake of the House of Representatives' approval of the fiscal 
2008 budget bill, the Diet was effectively out of session yesterday. 
Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui's term of office will expire 
on March 19. Further, such crucial issues as road construction 
revenues special measures legislation stipulating the use of the 
provisional gasoline tax rate and a new Japan-U.S. Special Measures 
Agreement to extend Japan's host-nation support (commonly called the 
sympathy budget) for U.S. forces in Japan for three years are left 
in limbo. Although the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic 
Party and New Komeito is increasingly frustrated, there is no 
prospect that the Diet will return to normal anytime soon. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000576  004 OF 009 
 
 
House of Councillors Budget Committee Chairman Yoshitada Konoike of 
the LDP decided yesterday morning in his capacity to open a 
question-and-answer session. But the session was later called off 
because it was boycotted by four opposition parties: the Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ), Japanese Communist Party, Social Democratic 
Party and People's New Party. All cabinet ministers from Prime 
Minister Yasuo Fukuda on down waited for the session to start for 
about one hour at the Upper House No. 1 committee room. 
 
DPJ Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Susumu Yanase reacted strongly 
to Committee Chairman Konoike's decision to open a session, saying, 
"It is an outrageous act, using the Diet for political 
grandstanding." Yanase also indicated that his party would boycott 
all deliberations. 
 
Meanwhile, Lower House Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee 
directors met last evening, in which Chairman Naokazu Takemoto 
proposed the committee's approval on March 5 of the road 
construction revenues special measures legislation. Opposition 
parties rejected his proposal. The legislation is inseparable from 
the revenue-related bills that cleared the Lower House in late 
February. The LDP and New Komeito want to get this legislation 
approved by the Lower House within this week. Lower House Speaker 
Yohei Kono, though, is reportedly unwilling to do so, saying, "I 
will not allow the ruling camp to unilaterally adopt a bill in a 
plenary session for two weeks in a row." 
 
The ruling bloc also intended to have the government explain the 
envisaged new Japan-U.S. special measures agreement on the sympathy 
budget and take questions at a Lower House plenary session on March 
¶6. But that, too, remains up in the air. In the event the Upper 
House does not take a vote on a new special measures agreement 
within 30 days, it is automatically enacted, like budget bills, 
because the Lower House vote takes precedence. A failure to obtain 
Diet approval for the agreement within the current fiscal year might 
hinder the implementation of the budget and that could rock the 
foundation of the Japan-U.S. alliance. 
 
6) MSDF has organizational problems, says chief of staff in wake of 
Aegis accident 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Eiji Yoshikawa in a press 
conference yesterday announced a plan to review the organization, 
including personnel composition and education, in the wake of a 
flurry of accidents and incidents, including the recent collision 
between an MSDF Aegis destroyer and a fishing boat. Yoshikawa said, 
"The organization has some (problems) that caused accidents over the 
last several years." He also revealed a plan to hold an MSDF senior 
officers' meeting on March 8 to discuss efforts to determine the 
causes of accidents and reform the organization. 
 
Another MSDF destroyer also had minor collisions with freighters in 
Vietnam on March 3 and 4. Yoshikawa said: "We would like to find out 
whether there are any sections lagging behind other segments and 
moral hazards among personnel." Yoshikawa also revealed in the press 
conference that the defense minister and the MSDF chief of staff had 
questioned the Aegis destroyer (Atago's) chief navigator without 
realizing that he had been a duty officer until minutes before the 
collision. 
 
TOKYO 00000576  005 OF 009 
 
 
 
7) Defense Ministry mulls hotline to prime minister's office 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
March 5, 2008 
 
In the wake of the recent collision of a Maritime Self-Defense Force 
Aegis destroyer with a fishing boat that has left its two fishermen 
missing, the Defense Ministry yesterday revealed a plan to revamp 
its communication system. The accident this time was belatedly 
reported to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Defense Minister Shigeru 
Ishiba. This sort of accident will be categorized as a "crisis," and 
the staff offices of the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense 
Forces will be required to report such an eventuality directly to 
the Cabinet Information Center. The SDF is currently required to 
report its own incidents and accidents to the center. From now on, 
the SDF will also report to the center all kinds of contingencies, 
such as armed suspicious vessels' intrusion and terrorism using 
nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weaponry. The Defense 
Ministry plans to utilize the SDF's intelligence-gathering 
capability to the fullest. 
 
Ishiba has ordered the Defense Ministry to study how to improve its 
reporting system. The Defense Ministry is expected to issue a 
notification this week in the name of its administrative vice 
minister and implement it immediately. 
 
In the accident this time, the MSDF Maritime Staff Office and the 
Defense Agency's internal bureau in charge thought that they had 
already reported it to the defense minister. The initial information 
on the accident therefore took about one and a half hours to reach 
Ishiba after its occurrence and about two hours to Fukuda. The 
Defense Ministry was called into question over its insufficient 
crisis management. The Defense Ministry, in its in-house 
notification, will require the SDF's staff offices and organizations 
to report serious incidents and accidents to the center as soon as 
they recognized their occurrence. The SDF is currently required to 
report such eventualities "within one hour" through the Defense 
Ministry's internal bureau but will now be required to do so 
"immediately." 
 
8) Parliamentary league eyed against cluster bombs 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
March 5, 2008 
 
A supraparty group of 22 lawmakers from both houses of the Diet met 
yesterday in the Diet and decided to launch a parliamentary league 
this month with the aim of restricting cluster bombs. More than 50 
lawmakers are expected to participate in the new parliamentary 
league. There are moves in the international community for creating 
an international convention by the end of this year to ban cluster 
bombs. The league is aimed at backing the government for its 
proactive role. 
 
Kuniko Inoguchi, a House of Representatives member, took the 
initiative to launch the league. The league will be made up of 
lawmakers who have worked for disarmament and landmine prohibition. 
It will look into the facts about cluster bomb victims and will also 
study how to restrict cluster munitions. The league is expected to 
launch with more than 50 lawmakers. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000576  006 OF 009 
 
 
9) Japan informally asks China to delay presidential visit to early 
May 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
The Japanese government has unofficially asked the Chinese 
government to delay the visit to Japan by Chinese President Hu 
Jintao planned for April to early May, according to informed sources 
yesterday. Both countries' investigative and public security 
authorities have been at odds over the poisoning outbreak caused by 
tainted Chinese frozen dumplings. This situation is seen as the 
major cause for Japan's proposal. China, however, would like to 
bring about the presidential visit sometime during the 
cherry-blossom season in mid-April. Coordination is still underway 
between the two governments. 
 
Upon explaining that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is looking to visit 
Europe and Russia during the Golden Week holidays, Ambassador to 
China Yuji Miyamoto yesterday unofficially asked his counterpart to 
delay the presidential visit to sometime after the Golden Week 
holidays, diplomatic sources said. China reportedly did not give an 
immediate answer. 
 
Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan sounded out the Japanese 
government on a visit to Japan by President Hu for about four days 
from April 20 when he visited Japan on Feb. 20. But the Chinese 
dumpling scare has developed into confrontation between Japan and 
China over the outcome of scientific tests of the pesticide in 
question. For arrangements for Hu's visit to Japan, Foreign Minister 
Yang Jiechi is scheduled to Japan in late March, but a final 
decision on the visit has yet to be made. 
 
The Japanese government is likely to invite President Hu to attend 
an expanded meeting of the Lake Toya Summit in Hokkaido in July. 
Keeping this in mind, one Chinese government official said: "The two 
schedules are too close," indicating disapproval of Japan's 
proposal. Some government officials are worried that the Chinese 
presidential visit in the spring itself might be postponed. 
 
10) Tokyo files protest with Beijing over seizure of Japanese books 
related to Senkaku Islands 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
Ken Uzuka 
 
The government revealed in a written reply adopted at a cabinet 
meeting yesterday that Japan lodged a protest with the Chinese 
Foreign Ministry and Shanghai against the seizure by Shanghai 
Customs of books the Shanghai Japanese School had imported from 
Japan. The books describe the Senkaku Islands as Japanese territory. 
This written reply was created to answer a question posed by House 
of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki. The written reply says that 
of the 892 books the school imported from Japan, eight have yet to 
be cleared for entry into China. The government asked the Chinese 
side about the reason for the seizure of the books and the 
applicable rules and regulations. No official explanation has been 
given by China so far through diplomatic channels. 
 
11) Japan to insist on need for measures to prevent obstruction at 
 
TOKYO 00000576  007 OF 009 
 
 
upcoming IWC meeting 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
Ichiro Ikawa, Ken Uzuka 
 
The antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd obstructed Japan's research 
whaling in the Southern Ocean and injured Japanese crew members. To 
deal with this incident, the government filed a protest with the 
Netherlands, which was the flag state of the group's ship, and 
Australia, where the ship's home port is located, and urged them to 
take measures to prevent a recurrence. Japan has now decided to 
bring up the issue of obstructing research whaling at the upcoming 
conference of the International Whaling Committee (IWC) in London 
starting on March 6 and emphasize the need to take preventive 
measures. 
 
Heeding international opinion, Japan has so far refrained from 
taking severe action in response to the obstruction of research 
whaling. But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's General Council 
Chairman Toshihiro Nikai pointed out, "Their obstructive behavior 
was too much to tolerate. Japan should have taken a more resolute 
attitude." Considering domestic responses like this, the government 
has decided to bring up the matter at the upcoming IWC meeting. 
Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura said at a press conference 
yesterday: "It's outrageous to use violence as a means of 
persuasion. Their activities are too much to tolerate." At a whaling 
seminar on March 3, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera 
said that such behavior was regrettable. The Foreign Ministry's 
Economic Affairs Bureau Director-General Yoichi Otabe lodged 
protests with both the Dutch ambassador to Japan and the Australian 
ambassador to Japan. A senior Foreign Ministry official said that at 
the upcoming IWC midterm session, Japan plans to "shed light on the 
truth of the heinous acts of obstruction." 
 
12) LDP mulling imposing ban on simple possession of child porno 
 
ASAHI (Page 14) (Full) 
Eve., March 4, 2008 
 
Birei Tsukue 
 
In an effort to prevent the proliferation of child pornography via 
the Internet, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has begun 
discussion to amend the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child 
Prostitution and Child Pornography in order to impose stricter 
punishment. The current law prohibits only the sale or offer of 
child pornography to third parties, but the LDP is considering 
banning in principle even a simple possession of child porno 
regardless of purposes. Police authorities have been strengthening 
controls over child pornography, but child pornography collected by 
individuals through websites is available here and there via the 
Internet. Given this, the LDP has concluded that banning even a 
simple possession of child pornography will lead to cutting off one 
source of child pornography. 
 
A number of images and animation of child porno copied via the 
Internet are available on the Internet. Those images and animation 
are often posted on websites through overseas servers. That is why 
it is difficult to detect their owners who posted them on websites. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000576  008 OF 009 
 
 
This past February, the LDP established a subcommittee headed by 
former Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama in its Judicial Affairs 
Division. The panel intends to form and submit a bipartisan bill to 
the current session of the Diet. 
 
The National Police Agency said that of cases violating the law 
during the past year, 567 cases (provisional value) were prosecuted 
in terms of child pornography, the figure being tripled from five 
years ago. 
 
Because of this situation, there is a deep-rooted criticism at home 
and abroad that Japan is a "child pornography power." Most of the 
Group of Eight (G-8) countries have already banned a simple 
possession of child pornography. 
 
When it comes to imposing a ban on a simple possession of child 
porno, at the time of amending the law in 2004, the ruling bloc 
discussed inserting a provision prohibiting such a possession. But 
some pointed out the possibility that individuals who happened to 
download child pornography or who received child pornography sent 
unilaterally to them would be also prosecuted. Some others 
criticized that the right to investigate might be abused and that 
the freedom of expression might be violated. As a result, such a 
provision was dropped. 
 
13) DPJ's Ozawa: I envision Lower House dissolution will occur 
during current Diet session 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
At a press conference in Hamamatsu City, Democratic Party of Japan 
President Ichiro Ozawa stated: "Assuming the House of 
Representatives might be dissolved during the current Diet session, 
I have worked on choosing candidates" for the next Lower House 
election. Referring to the collision of a Maritime Self-Defense 
Force Aegis destroyer and fishing boat, he stressed the need for an 
early change in government, saying: "Under the long-term government, 
the bureaucratic organization has become completely corrupted." He 
also pointed out: "Following the Abe government, the Fukuda 
administration has yet to receive the judgment of the people." In 
regard to campaign issues for the next Lower House election, he 
said: "It involves the daily lives of the people. We have learned 
that the policy of relying on a market-oriented economy is a mistake 
due to the expansion of economic disparities in society." 
 
14) DPJ again taking confrontational stance toward ruling parties, 
now having good materials to attack them with 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
March 5, 2008 
 
Previously, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or 
Minshuto), headed by Ichiro Ozawa, was forced to review its strategy 
of forcing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to dissolve the House of 
Representative in April and shifted its strategy toward bringing 
about a Lower House dissolution in the fall or later. That strategy 
has changed again, however, and the DPJ is now toughening its 
confrontational stance toward the ruling parties. The reason for the 
largest opposition party's on again and off again policy shift is 
that many DPJ members have called on the party to assume the 
original policy due to such issues as the road-related tax revenue, 
 
TOKYO 00000576  009 OF 009 
 
 
the appointment of a new Bank of Japan governor, the collision 
between the Aegis destroyer Atago and a small fishing boat, and the 
ruling camp's unilateral vote on the fiscal 2008 budget and 
budget-related bills in the Lower House. However, that does not 
necessarily mean that the DPJ has yet developed a full picture of 
its strategy, since there are members calling for "a March battle." 
 
Ozawa referred to the possibility of an early dissolution of the 
Lower House at a press conference yesterday in Hamamatsu City, in 
which he announced the name of a person, the DPJ-endorsed 246th 
candidate, for the next Lower House election. The aim of his 
reference to a Lower House dissolution was to erase the party's mood 
of targeting (the next Lower House election) in the fall or later. 
 
Ozawa, Deputy President Naoto Kan, Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama 
and Azuma Koshiishi, chairman of the DPJ caucus in the House of 
Councillors, held a meeting on Feb. 26. Ozawa there said: 
 
"If the ruling camp rams the bills through the Lower House, both the 
government's nomination of a new BOJ governor and the mediation 
effort by the leaders of the two Diet houses will come to nothing." 
 
After that, Ozawa held consultations with senior party members, 
including Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka, almost 
every day. He then told them: "I want you to tell all party members 
that we are now working toward the goal of Lower House dissolution." 
On the night of Feb. 29 when the ruling coalition unilaterally 
passed the budget bill in the Lower House, Ozawa cancelled his 
schedule and attended a meeting of the party's Lower House members. 
 
Ozawa took the initiative in the previous extraordinary Diet 
session. But he has often entrusted Diet affairs to Hatoyama and 
Yamaoka, as when he skipped a second vote on the bill to resume 
Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in the Lower House 
plenary session. He did not assume leadership in dealing with the 
stop-gap bills. When asked about the agreement between the ruling 
and opposition camps, he even said: "I am not involved in the 
matter." 
 
Siding with Ozawa and his now changed stance, Hatoyama said in a 
meeting on March 3 of the secretaries general of the opposition 
parties: "Let's agree that the mediation effort by the Lower House 
speaker and Upper House president has been ignored." One mid-level 
DPJ lawmaker, who has distanced himself from Ozawa, even commented: 
"Since we have many tools to fight with, Mr. Ozawa should fight. 
Even if we are defeated, everyone would still be convinced (it was 
the best course)." 
 
SCHIEFFER