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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 000648 
 
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 03/11/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Government may again put Muto's name up for consideration even 
if DPJ disagrees (Mainichi) 
 
(2) Close-up 2008 column: DPJ stiffens its stance in response to 
government's nomination of Muto for BOJ top post (Mainichi) 
 
(3) Prefectural department chief points to possible reassessment if 
(Futenma replacement facility) is moved further offshore (Okinawa 
Times) 
 
(4) USFK F-16 jets dispatched to Kadena for readiness training 
(Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(5) U.S. warships hit largest number of port calls in 2007 
(Akahata) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Government may again put Muto's name up for consideration even 
if DPJ disagrees 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
March 8, 2008 
 
Masahiro Kawaguchi 
 
What will happen if the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan 
(DPJ) refuses to endorse Deputy Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Muto's 
promotion to the top BOJ post? 
 
The selection of the BOJ governor and deputy governors requires 
endorsement from both houses of the Diet. This means that if the 
DPJ, the first party in the Upper House, opposes the government's 
proposed candidate, that candidate will not be appointed for the 
post. In such a case, one possibility is that the government will 
come up with another candidate, but more likely is that the 
government will again put Muto's name. The reason is because the 
government, concluding Muto as being most qualified for the post, 
proposed Muto, so "If the government puts another's name for the 
post, there would be no sense in what it previously said," one 
official at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) noted. 
 
Should the DPJ again refuse to accept the government's proposal, it 
would become difficult in terms of schedule to select a new BOJ 
governor by March 19, when current BOJ Governor Fukui's term of 
office expires. The BOJ governorship will then be vacant for a 
while. If that happens, an assistant BOJ governor will act as 
governor, but there would be a managerial problem: How to manage the 
Monetary Policy Meeting, which is chaired by the governor. In 
addition, how to explain the reason for the absence of the governor 
to the rest of the world will surface as an international 
credibility problem. 
 
A view heard in the DPJ is that the party can save its face once it 
refused to endorse the government's proposal. One scenario being 
floated at present is that if the government again puts Muto's name, 
the DPJ will abstain from voting in the Upper House plenary session, 
but the government's proposal will be adopted by a majority of votes 
from the attending lawmakers. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000648  002 OF 007 
 
 
(2) Close-up 2008 column: DPJ stiffens its stance in response to 
government's nomination of Muto for BOJ top post 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Abridged) 
March 8, 2008 
 
In order to deal with the question of who will succeed current Bank 
of Japan (BOJ) Governor Toshihiko Fukui, the government proposed 
promoting Deputy BOJ Governor Toshiro Muto (64) for the BOJ 
governorship in spite of opposition to the nomination of Muto from 
the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). This proposal 
made the DPJ harden its stance. In the divided Diet, the DPJ holds 
the key to personnel selection for government posts. If the DPJ 
refuses to give the nod to the government's candidate to be BOJ 
governor, it would create a "vacuum" at the BOJ. The DPJ in this 
sense has put itself in a tight situation. Meanwhile, Prime Minister 
Yasuo Fukuda, with no prospect to obtain DPJ approval for the 
government's candidate, given the track record so far of overtures 
to the DPJ, is taking a gamble on DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa making 
his own decision. 
 
Flexible Ozawa torn between his party and the prime minister 
 
Takashi Sudo 
 
"Why?" This question came from the mouth of Ozawa on March 7, when 
he was told by DPJ Diet Policy Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka by 
phone about the government's nomination of Muto for the top BOJ 
post. Ozawa was apparently disgruntled when informed of the move. 
 
Following the government's action, the DPJ held a meeting of its 
sub-committee on personnel selection for government posts that 
require approval from both houses of the Diet. After the session, 
Chairman Yoshito Sengoku reiterated his disapproval of promoting 
Muto to the governor's post, saying, "Doing so is very risky and 
problematic." At the meeting, objections were voiced in succession 
by participants with one member arguing that Muto "comes from the 
Budget Bureau and lacks experience in monetary affairs." No one 
supported his nomination. DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama noted 
at a news conference afterwards: "The tide of opinion in the DPJ is 
that fiscal and monetary affairs must be separated." 
 
Despite a strong objection to the selection of Muto for the 
governor's post, Prime Minister Fukuda presented his nomination 
anyway. This is taken by the DPJ as "an act of the LDP picking a 
quarrel" with it, a senior DPJ lawmaker said. But the current 
situation is not so simple that the DPJ can just refuse the 
government's proposal. If a vacuum for the BOJ governorship is 
created, the DPJ may be exposed to public criticism. Ozawa from the 
beginning has been viewed as being flexible about the nomination of 
Muto. 
 
Ozawa was initially trying to informally unify the party's views, 
but the ruling bloc forced the passage of the fiscal 2008 budget 
bill in the Lower House. Since then the DPJ has hardened its 
attitude sharply. Those who have previously advocated the need for 
separation between fiscal and monetary affairs have now gained steam 
in the DPJ. Some in the DPJ are wary of Ozawa's possible softening 
of his attitude toward the ruling camp, while watching the right 
timing to do so. 
 
It is, however, true that given the mood in the party, it is 
 
TOKYO 00000648  003 OF 007 
 
 
difficult for Ozawa to shift toward endorsing the government's 
proposal. Those in the DPJ, including Sengoku, who are opposed to 
the government's nomination of Muto, overlap with those who can be 
categorized as opposing Ozawa, a trend that started last fall with 
the idea of forming a grand coalition between the LDP and the DPJ. 
If the DPJ moves to endorse the government's proposal led by Ozawa, 
it could change the party's mood toward a more cautious course. 
Prime Minister Fukuda is looking for ways to make a breakthrough 
through a one-on-one meeting between him and Ozawa, but on March 7, 
Yamaoka again denied the possibility of holding such a meeting, 
noting: "We don't want to be misunderstood as trying to form a grand 
coalition." 
 
On March 3, Ozawa reportedly snapped at his aides during a meeting 
with them: "Sengoku is standing in the way." On the other hand, 
however, Ozawa revealed to them: "I won't act in a way that will 
split the party over the selection of the BOJ governor. 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda, who is adamant in his idea of nominating Muto 
for BOJ governorship, started action before obtaining consent 
 
Yoshiaki Nakagawa 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda presented the nomination of his favorite 
candidate Muto at a time when only two weeks are left before the 
expiration of the current governor's term of office. Fukuda had not 
previously revealed his true feelings even to senior officials in 
the government and the ruling camp as to the three candidates for 
the governor and deputy governors until March 7, when the government 
presented the three candidates for those posts. Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, the right-hand man of the prime 
 
SIPDIS 
minister, sensed in advance that Muto would be nominated as 
governor. But it was in the morning of March 7 after a cabinet 
meeting when Machimura was told that candidates for deputy governors 
were Masaaki Shirakawa and Takatoshi Ito. 
 
Senior members in the BOJ as well as the Ministry of Finance were 
beset with doubts and fears over the question of whom Fukuda had in 
mind as a candidate for governorship. Former Secretary General 
Hidenao Nakagawa, who serves as the representative manager of the 
Machimura faction, also noted: "The prime minister is not the person 
who arm twists." However, some in the ruling bloc suspected that 
Fukuda might nominate another candidate because he is still 
enthusiastic about creating a grand coalition with the DPJ. 
 
In actuality, Fukuda felt he had no choice but to pick Muto. The 
staff for the prime minister, in anticipation of objections from the 
DPJ, at one point considered nominating Taizo Nishimura, chairman of 
the Tokyo Stock Exchange or Shigemitsu Miki, chairman of the Bank of 
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. But they later removed the two from the list 
of candidates, thinking it would not do to choose the top official 
of the stock market that fluctuates with monetary policy and the top 
leader of the bank repeatedly punished by the Financial Services 
Agency. Former Deputy BOJ Governor Yutaka Yamaguchi was also removed 
from the list at an early stage on the grounds that he made a 
mistake in determining when to end the zero-interest-rate policy in 
the days of former BOJ Governor Masaru Hayami. 
 
The government's concern was that if it had presented someone as 
candidate for BOJ governorship other than Muto, even if the DPJ 
accepted that nomination, it could be taken as a precedent that the 
right to nominate the head of the central bank was to be left to the 
 
TOKYO 00000648  004 OF 007 
 
 
opposition bloc. This was the bottleneck for putting someone's name 
other than Muto's 
 
In the end, the ruling bloc hoped that Ozawa might accept the 
nomination of Muto. According to a senior ruling camp member, former 
Administrative Vice Finance Minister Jiro Saito began to work to 
persuade Ozawa from a considerably early stage. In the days of the 
Hosokawa administration, Ozawa and Saito worked together to 
introduce a national welfare tax, an effort which ultimately failed. 
Since then their relationship has been inseparable. 
 
Senior ruling camp members, as well, tried to persuade the DPJ. On 
the night of March 21, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) 
Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki, LDP General Council Chairman 
 
SIPDIS 
Toshihiro Nikai, and LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Tadamori 
Oshima met with DPJ Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Yamaoka. 
 
Bearing in mind Muto, Ibuki told Yamaoka: "He is hard to replace." 
In response, Yamaoka asked, "Will Japan and the BOJ collapse if Muto 
does not assume the post?" He avoided responding to Ibuki's 
proposal. On the night of March 3, Oshima, along with junior 
coalition partner New Komeito Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Yoshio 
Urushibara, met with Yamaoka at a restaurant in Tokyo, but Yamaoka 
was noncommittal. Fukuda eventually had no choice but to decide to 
put Muto's name in a way to start action before obtaining consent. 
 
BOJ Governor Fukui: "I believe firmly an optimum person will be 
chosen" 
 
Takayuki Sakai 
 
When asked at a news conference on March 7 about the government's 
proposal to promote Deputy BOJ Governor Toshiro Muto to the top 
post, BOJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui said: "I believe firmly that the 
optimum person will be chosen in the current political situation. 
Things are moving in that direction." He thus expressed hopes that 
the selection of his successor would go smoothly, with his 
retirement scheduled for March 19. 
 
(3) Prefectural department chief points to possible reassessment if 
(Futenma replacement facility) is moved further offshore 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 2) (Full) 
March 11, 2008 
 
Before the Okinawa prefectural assembly special budget committee 
(chaired by Seizen Hokama), Okinawa Cultural and Environmental 
Affairs Department Director General Kenji Chinen yesterday made the 
following comment in the event the site for a Futenma replacement 
facility is moved 90 meters further offshore: "If (the facility) is 
moved, (the government) might have to consider redoing the 
environmental impact assessment procedures." Regarding the fact that 
in his views on the outline of the planned environmental impact 
assessment, the governor is seeking a multiple-year survey of 
dugons, Chinen said: "Depending on the conditions of the assessment, 
we will express our views as necessary." The comment was apparently 
intended to apply pressure on the Okinawa Defense Bureau, which has 
suggested shortening the assessment. 
 
Chinen was responding to a question from Yonekichi Shinzato (Goken 
Net). 
 
 
TOKYO 00000648  005 OF 007 
 
 
The department also announced that the number of port calls at White 
Beach by nuclear-powered vessels in fiscal 2007 (from April 2007 
through early March 2008) has significantly increased to 30 from 20 
in the previous fiscal year. The number was 18 in fiscal 2004 and 15 
in fiscal 2005. The government monitors radiation levels when 
(nuclear-powered vessels) are docked there. According to the 
prefectural government, levels have never exceeded the environmental 
standards. The information was revealed in response to a question 
from Masaharu Kina (Okinawa Social Mass Party). 
 
Chinen also expressed a negative view about establishing a drunk 
driving eradication ordinance, saying: "Although we have undertaken 
coordination for establishing an ordinance, which was proposed by 
the prefectural police, we have yet to find common ground on the 
need, effectiveness, and modality of the ordinance. We would like to 
study it carefully." 
 
He was responding to a question from Hiroko Tsujino (Liberal 
Democratic Party). 
 
(4) USFK F-16 jets dispatched to Kadena for readiness training 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Abridged) 
March 11, 2008 
 
KADENA-A flight of 12 F-16 fighter jets belonging to U.S. Forces 
Korea's Kunsan Air Base will participate in the U.S. Kadena Air 
Base's readiness training, sources revealed yesterday. The arrival 
of 10 F-16 fighters at Kadena has already been confirmed, and they 
are expected to start flight training today or later. The F-16 
fighters will stay at Kadena for about two weeks, and they will also 
carry out dogfight training with Kadena-based F-15 fighters. 
 
In December last year, FA-18 fighter jets from the U.S. Marine 
Corps' Iwakuni Air Station conducted joint readiness training with 
Kadena-based F-15 fighters. Kadena Air Base has been conducting 
joint training with U.S. forces stationed in other areas. USFK has 
never dispatched more than 10 fighter jets to Kadena in recent 
years, and jet noise is feared to intensify. 
 
According to eyewitnesses, a total of 10 F-16 fighter jets arrived 
separately at Kadena Air Base yesterday. The first five F-16 
fighters touched down a little past 1 p.m., and the other five jets 
after 3 p.m. Some of them were loaded with air-to-air missiles for 
training use. According to the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense 
Bureau, the F-16s will participate in an operational readiness 
inspection to be conducted Mar. 9-14 as part of the readiness 
training and will stay for about two weeks at Kadena Air Base after 
that to participate in dogfight training. 
 
The operational readiness inspection, based on a scenario 
anticipating an emergency, is intended to evaluate an air wing's 
overall readiness capability, including troop mobilization for 
deployment, fighter jets' readiness for flight operations, and base 
operability. 
 
Kadena Air Base will also use siren and alarm systems as well as a 
ground bombing simulator from tomorrow. F-15 flights have been 
suspended since last year. However, almost all of the Kadena-based 
F-15 fighter jets were back to normal operations in February. Jet 
noise will likely to intensify with the arrival of F-16s. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000648  006 OF 007 
 
 
In the past as well, F-16 fighter jets from Kunsan Air Base were 
confirmed at Kadena Air Base. The Mehyan'ni range has now been 
closed, and it is also clear that they have been conducting 
live-fire training at a range on the island of Torishima, which is 
situated west of Okinawa's main island. 
 
(5) U.S. warships hit largest number of port calls in 2007 
 
AKAHATA (Page 2) (Full) 
March 7, 2008 
 
U.S. military warships made a total of 28 port calls in Japanese 
commercial ports in 2007, the Foreign Ministry has revealed in its 
documentation submitted to the House of Representatives Budget 
Committee. In 2006 as well, U.S. warships made a total of 28 port 
calls in Japan, hitting an all-time high since the Soviet Union's 
collapse in 1991. The recent collision of a Maritime Self-Defense 
Force Aegis destroyer and a fishing boat unveiled the MSDF's 
military-first stance. The U.S. military also shows such a stance, 
as is evident from its port calls on the strength of the Japan-U.S. 
Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). 
 
The Foreign Ministry came up with such data at the Japanese 
Communist Party's request. 
 
One of the major features of port calls made in Japan by U.S. 
warships in 2007 is that the USS Guardian and Patriot, which are 
both minesweepers, entered the port of Sonai in the Okinawa 
prefectural town of Yonaguni-machi in June. This was the first case 
of U.S. warships' entry into a civilian port in Okinawa Prefecture 
since its reversion to Japan in 1972. 
 
The island town of Yonaguni-machi had clarified its opposition to 
U.S. warships' entry into the port of Sonai. In addition, the 
Okinawa prefectural government had also asked the U.S. military not 
to make a port call in that island's port. Nevertheless, the two 
U.S. warships entered port on the strength of a SOFA provision 
allowing U.S. warships to access Japanese seaports. The U.S. Navy 
had conducted a detailed fact-finding survey of the port of Sonai 
and the island's restaurants and recreational facilities before the 
two U.S. warships' port call. 
 
In October 2005, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed to realign 
U.S. forces in Japan, specifying the U.S. military's use of Japanese 
seaports to enhance bilateral military cooperation. The agreement 
incorporates a plan to conduct a detailed fact-finding survey of 
civilian seaports and other relevant facilities and carry out joint 
training exercises for bilateral defense planning to back up U.S. 
military interventions in neighboring contingencies in the 
Asia-Pacific region. 
 
In early November 2007, Japan and the United States conducted joint 
field drills in anticipation of neighboring contingencies, with the 
participation of U.S. naval vessels. In late October that year, 
shortly before the joint drills, four of those U.S. warships used 
civilian seaports in Japan. The four U.S. warships were the aircraft 
carrier USS Kitty Hawk, the destroyer USS Fitzgerald, the destroyer 
USS Mustin, and the cruiser USS Shiloh. The Kitty Hawk was the first 
U.S. flattop to enter the port of Muroran in Hokkaido. These also 
can be taken as shaping the agreement to realign the U.S. military 
presence in Japan. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000648  007 OF 007 
 
 
In February, the USS Ronald Reagan, a state-of-the-art 
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy, called at the 
U.S. Navy's Sasebo base. One of her escorts, the destroyer USS 
Russell, called at the port of Shimizu in Shizuoka Prefecture, and 
another escort, the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, called at the port 
of Wakayama in Wakayama Prefecture. 
 
In December, the frigate USS Ingraham, which escorted the amphibious 
assault ship USS Tarawa heading for the Middle East to support 
military operations in Iraq, called at the port of Takamatsu (in 
Kagawa Prefecture). It was the first port call of a U.S. warship at 
Takamatsu in about eight and a half years. 
 
Commercial ports in Japan are also logistical, transit, and attack 
bases for U.S. warships homeported in the United States. 
 
U.S. warship calls at Japan's civilian seaports in 2007 
(Source: Foreign Ministry statistics) 
 Ship name Port Date 
1 USS Frank cable (submarine tender) Wakkanai Jul. 8 
2 USS Stethem (destroyer) Ishikari Feb. 5-9 
3 USS Gary (frigate) Otaru Aug. 17-20 
4 USS Observation Island (missile tracking platform) Muroran Mar. 
29-30 
5 USS Kitty Hawk (aircraft carrier) Muroran Oct. 26-30 
6 USS Fitzgerald (destroyer) Muroran Oct. 26-30 
7 USS Mustin (destroyer) Hakodate Oct. 26-30 
8 USS Curtis Wilbur (destroyer) Hachinohe Jan. 25-29 
9 USS John S. McCain (destroyer) Sendai Nov. 1-5 
10 USS Tortuga (dock landing craft) Tokyo Aug. 29-31 
11 USS John S. McCain (destroyer) Niigata Jun. 30-Jul. 4 
12 USS Russell (destroyer) Shimizu Feb. 24-28 
13 USS Curtis Wilbur (destroyer) Shimoda May 17-21 
14 USS Paul Hamilton (destroyer) Nagoya May 19-23 
15 USS Paul Hamilton (destroyer) Maizuru April 19-23 
16 USS Shiloh (cruiser) Maizuru Oct. 26-30 
17 USS Stethem (destroyer) Osaka Mar. 1-5 
18 USS Paul Hamilton (destroyer) Wakayama Feb. 25-27 
19 USS Ingraham (frigate) Takamatsu Dec. 1-5 
20 USS Guardian (minesweeper) Kure Feb. 13-15 
21 USS Patriot (minesweeper) Kure Feb. 13-15 
22 USS John S. McCain (destroyer) Kure Jun. 19-22 
23 USS Guardian (minesweeper) Shimonoseki Feb. 8-12 
24 USS Lassen (destroyer) Oita Jun. 18-21 
25 USS Mustin (destroyer) Nagasaki Mar. 1-5 
26 USS Safeguard (salvage ship) Kagoshima Feb. 9-13 
27 USS Guardian (minesweeper) Yonagunijima Jun. 24-26 
28 USS Patriot (minesweeper) Yonagunijima Jun. 24-26 
 
SCHIEFFER