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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001583 
 
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 06/10/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) No room for N. Korea's nuclear possession: Schieffer (Sankei) 
 
(2) Interview with Kent Calder -- New U.S. administration will deal 
with Futenma flexibly (Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(3) Government, ruling coalition may extend current Diet session for 
a week; DPJ to submit censure motion against Fukuda to Upper House 
tomorrow (Nikkei) 
 
(4) Ruling parties lose majority in Okinawa assembly: Calls for 
forgoing Lower House dissolution gain ground due to setback from new 
health care plan for elderly; DPJ looking to submit censure motion 
against prime minister (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(5) Civil service reform law: Skepticism about feasibility of 
abolishing career bureaucrat system, disclosure of contacts between 
politicians and bureaucrats; Unified job referral center for 
retiring bureaucrats (Mainichi) 
 
(6) Fukuda's Kantei and Sichuan earthquake (Part B): Inside story on 
aid to China after quake; Prime minister: "China accepted Japanese 
relief teams because of the bilateral summit"; Top leaders close, 
administrative-level immature; Government fixated on human 
assistance (Mainichi) 
 
(7) Fukuda's Kantei and Sichuan earthquake (Part C): Inside story on 
aid to China after quake; Confusion resulted from shift in Japan's 
request from in or near a hospital before deployment to field 
hospital-style activities after arriving in Sichuan (Mainichi) 
 
(8) TOP HEADLINES 
 
(9) EDITORIALS 
 
(10) Prime Minister's schedule, June 8 & 9 (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) No room for N. Korea's nuclear possession: Schieffer 
 
SANKEI (Page 7) (Full) 
June 10, 2008 
 
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Schieffer met yesterday for a session with 
Japanese reporters, during which he referred to the issue of North 
Korea's nuclear declaration. "The U.S. government cannot accept a 
partial solution that would leave room for North Korea's nuclear 
possession," Schieffer said. "President Bush takes the position that 
North Korea will have to scrap all its nuclear programs to 
denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," he added. On this issue, there 
are reports that the U.S. government is prepared to delist North 
Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in return for that country's 
ambiguous nuclear declaration. However, Schieffer denied such a 
conjecture. 
 
Meanwhile, Japan and the United States have agreed to realign U.S. 
forces in Japan. In this regard, Schieffer touched on the fact that 
the planned relocation of Futenma airfield has been substantially 
falling behind schedule. "If the momentum for the U.S. military's 
realignment is lost," he said, "that's a matter of concern." He 
 
TOKYO 00001583  002 OF 011 
 
 
urged Japan to "push ahead with the realignment process immediately" 
from a broader perspective in order to modernize the Japan-U.S. 
alliance for the 21st century and alleviate Okinawa's base-hosting 
burden. 
 
Ambassador Schieffer also referred to the U.S. presidential election 
campaign, in which the two major political parties have now decided 
on their candidates. "International order is now being redefined 
around the world," Schieffer said, noting that the philosophical 
difference between the center left and the center right will be 
important. "I think it will be a very close race," he added. 
 
(2) Interview with Kent Calder -- New U.S. administration will deal 
with Futenma flexibly 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full) 
June 10, 2008 
 
Tokyo 
 
Kent Calder, who is director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for 
East Asian Studies and a well-known Japan expert, gave an interview 
to the Ryukyu Shimpo in Tokyo on June 9. In the interview, Calder 
discussed his analysis of the current situation and outlook on the 
relocation of Futenma Air Station. 
 
-- An effort to iron out differences in views between Tokyo, 
Washington, and Okinawa over the relocation of Futenma Air Station 
has bogged down. 
 
"If the United States is convinced by the terms and conditions 
presented by Okinawa and if the whole matter begins to move forward 
as a result, that would be more rational." 
 
-- The United States seems to adamantly refusing Okinawa's call for 
moving the relocation site into the ocean. 
 
"The United States will soon have a new administration. Truly 
resolving the Futenma issue under a new administration would be 
extremely important for U.S.-Japan relations." 
 
-- Will (the United States) remain interested in the Futenma 
relocation issue even if a Democratic administration replaces the 
Republican administration? 
 
"It is about time that the Democratic Party begins considering 
Okinawa policy. In my impression, (the Democratic Party) does not 
have a strong vision yet. Nevertheless, (former Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Defense) Curt Campbell knows the progress well because 
he is one of the members who drew up the 1996 Futenma relocation 
plan." 
 
"The United States has said that it would not allow the relocation 
site (to be moved into the sea) even by an inch. Probably those who 
held talks (with Japan) personally do not want to see the plan 
altered. The standpoints of the consul general and the Foreign 
Ministry are understandable. But the new administration would not 
feel responsibility there. 
 
-- Can (the new administration) overturn what was decided by its 
predecessor? 
 
 
TOKYO 00001583  003 OF 011 
 
 
"In view of the credibility of the United States, (the new 
administration) will probably not make major changes, but if changes 
are necessary in order to realize the plan, it would implement (the 
plan) flexibly." 
 
"The Japanese political scene is also fluid nationally. If (Japanese 
politics) is thrown into turbulence as a result of the next general 
election, the government would not be able to advance the relocation 
plan proactively. Nothing would move forward until the United States 
has a new President." 
 
-- It has been 12 years since the reversion (of Futenma Air Station) 
was decided in 1996. What are the main factors that prevented the 
matter from moving forward? 
 
"I am really surprised that nothing has moved forward. I wonder what 
the U.S.-Japan alliance is all about. Basically, enhancing functions 
at the same place would draw less opposition than relocation. But in 
the case of Futenma, it has to be closed down and that would cause 
some problems. The relocation plan must be the choice that benefits 
Okinawa. The fact that the 1996 plan is not designed to benefit 
Okinawa fully is a point of reflection. It is favorable to major 
Japanese shipbuilders. Consideration for the environment is another 
point. An environmental impact assessment must be conducted fully." 
 
-- What would unfold after the new administration is established (in 
the United States)? 
 
"The 2009 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will be 
held in Singapore. The new U.S. President will attend it. Chances 
are high that the new President will stop over in Japan (on his 
Singapore tour). That will be a good sign for U.S.-Japan relations. 
It would be very good to make administrative moves ahead of the 
visit to Japan by the new U.S. President." 
 
"The national political scene does not often show a new development, 
so it can be called a (the chance) in decades. The new U.S. 
administration should make its pragmatic choice of the Futenma issue 
a first step to U.S.-Japan relations." 
 
(3) Government, ruling coalition may extend current Diet session for 
a week; DPJ to submit censure motion against Fukuda to Upper House 
tomorrow 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 10, 2008 
 
With the June 15 closing of the current Diet session just around the 
corner, there is surge in a mood of confrontation between the ruling 
and opposition parties. The ruling coalition intends to extend the 
ongoing session for about a week should the main opposition 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) fail to agree to the handling of 
treaty-related bills, deliberations on which have been bogged down 
in the House of Councillors. The DPJ has taken a position of 
submitting to the Upper House on June 11 a censure motion against 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. The opposition therefore will unlikely 
respond to deliberations after the motion is approved in the upper 
chamber. There is a strong mood in the largest opposition party that 
any easy concession would put it at a disadvantage. 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Diet Affairs Committee Chairman 
Tadamori Oshima and his DPJ counterpart Kenji Yamaoka faced each 
 
TOKYO 00001583  004 OF 011 
 
 
other in a Diet building room last evening. The two gathered to 
deliberate on the handling of such treaty-related bills as one on an 
economic partnership agreement (EPA) between Japan and the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 
 
As a condition for responding to the handling of the treaty-related 
bills before the end of the current regular session, Yamaoka 
demanded that Naoki Akiyama be summoned to testify as a witness 
before the Diet over a bribery scandal involving former Vice Defense 
Minister Takemasa Moriya. Oshima, however, rejected the demand, 
saying: "(Are you all right if) the session is extended?" 
 
Toshimi Kitazawa of the DPJ chairs the Upper House Committee on 
Foreign Affairs and Defense, which deliberates on the treaty-related 
bills. In opposition to the absence of ruling coalition members in a 
testimony session on May 22 by Motonobu Miyazaki, the committee has 
not begun deliberations even on the EPA bill. Yesterday, Oshima and 
Yamaoka held four meetings, but they failed to reach an agreement. 
They forwent today's discussion. 
 
LDP Upper House Chairman Hidehisa Otsuji told the press last night: 
"If the session is not extended, it will be difficult" to get Diet 
approval of the treaty bills that the government and ruling camp 
wish to enact during the current session. The reason is that since 
the DPJ has now assumed a stance of confronting the ruling camp, it 
is indispensable for the ruling bloc to lay the groundwork for 
enacting necessary bills and treaty-related bills. 
 
DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama yesterday told the press corps: 
"Even if the session is extended, we have no intention to change our 
action." Last evening, Deputy President Naoto Kan, Upper House 
Chairman Azuma Koshiishi, and Yamaoka reaffirmed in a meeting that 
their party would submit a censure motion on June 11 to the Upper 
House. The DPJ, however, intends to forgo submitting a no-confidence 
motion against the cabinet to the Lower House. DPJ President Ichiro 
Ozawa told reporters in Niigata: "A censure motion (against the 
prime minister) is the same as a no-confidence motion against the 
cabinet." Hatoyama clearly stated: "We will not respond at all to 
any deliberations at least in the Upper House" if the censure motion 
is adopted (in the upper chamber). Last night, a senior DPJ member 
also took a stance of not responding to deliberations on a bill 
abolishing the new health insurance system for those aged 75 and 
older, which has been forwarded to the Lower House, unless the 
ruling coalition pledges passage of the bill. 
 
The DPJ has judged that the wind appears to be blowing favorably for 
it as seen in the fact that the ruling camp lost its majority in the 
June 8 Okinawa prefectural assembly election due to opposition 
against the new health insurance scheme for the elderly. The view is 
gaining ground in the ruling parties that the legislation to scrap 
the new medical insurance system should be left on the shelf so that 
the Lower House can continue deliberations. As it stands, the ruling 
and opposition camps have now assumed the stance of facing down each 
other. The outlook is that the handling of such bills as one to 
provide relief to the victims of the Tokyo subway sarin gas incident 
caused by Aum Shinrikyo cult will be pushed ahead with. The Diet 
affairs committee chairmen of the ruling and opposition parties, in 
a meeting yesterday, reached an agreement on a policy of enacting as 
early as possible bills that are needed for the daily lives of 
people, as well as for humanitarian purposes. 
 
(4) Ruling parties lose majority in Okinawa assembly: Calls for 
 
TOKYO 00001583  005 OF 011 
 
 
forgoing Lower House dissolution gain ground due to setback from new 
health care plan for elderly; DPJ looking to submit censure motion 
against prime minister 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
June 10, 2008 
 
The ruling parties in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, which 
support Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, lost their majority in the 
prefectural assembly election on June 8. Opinions in favor of 
forgoing a dissolution of the Lower House for a snap election have 
gained ground in the ruling camp, with many acutely feeling a 
backlash from the newly adopted public health insurance scheme for 
elderly people aged 75 or older. On the other hand, the Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) is receiving a boost for its plan 
to submit a censure motion against Prime Minister Fukuda. 
 
Of 48 assembly seats up for grabs, the opposition bloc garnered 26, 
while the ruling camp secured 22. Incumbent Lower House members' 
terms of office expire in September next year. With public support 
ratings for the Fukuda cabinet remaining sluggish, many ruling party 
members had been of the opinion that a dissolution of the Lower 
House should be put off as long as possible. Then the ruling parties 
were defeated in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly election. It is 
believed that the negative reaction of the elderly, the LDP's 
support base, to the new health care scheme was the major reason for 
the defeat. It is now clear that there is no chance of the ruling 
parties winning a Lower House election under the present 
circumstances. 
 
Many ruling party lawmakers on June 9, the day after the election, 
said that Prime Minister Fukuda would not be able to dissolve the 
Lower House for the time being. 
 
The government and the ruling parties plan to map out a plan to 
improve the management of the public health insurance system before 
the end of the week. However, as LDP Election Committee Chairman 
Makoto Koga told reporters, "Elderly people are angry that the 
government does not care about them. The issue has become a matter 
of feelings instead of the specifics of the policy." There is no 
prospect of the ruling camp regaining support from the elderly. 
 
Four opposition parties have in a sense obtained an endorsement from 
voters on their scenario of using a bill to abolish the system to 
corner the Fukuda administration. In particular, the DPJ is moving 
toward the submission of a censure motion against the prime 
minister. 
 
Some opposition party members had worried that the government and 
ruling parties might press ahead with efforts to look into reducing 
premiums under the said system. However, the opposition camp won a 
sweeping victory, appealing to the public with their policy of 
abolishing the health care plan in the election campaign. DPJ Diet 
Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka at a meeting of diet 
affairs committee chairmen of both the ruling and opposition parties 
pressed the ruling parties, "People supported us. The ruling parties 
should decide to abolish the system." 
 
The DPJ intends to submit a censure motion against the prime 
minister on June 11 as planned, even if the government and the 
ruling parties extend the Diet session. It is now confident because 
it has increased its seats from one to four in the election for the 
 
TOKYO 00001583  006 OF 011 
 
 
Okinawa prefectural assembly, where its political base is weak. 
Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama underscored to reporters, "Okinawa 
residents expressed their determination to see the ruling and 
opposition camps trade places at the national level as well." 
 
(5) Civil service reform law: Skepticism about feasibility of 
abolishing career bureaucrat system, disclosure of contacts between 
politicians and bureaucrats; Unified job referral center for 
retiring bureaucrats 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 7, 2008 
 
The Upper House in a plenary session on June 6 passed and thereby 
enacted legislation to reform the civil service system, following 
agreement reached among the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the New 
Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) to 
revise the bill. The Mainichi Shimbun has worked out what will 
change under the new system that will be introduced within five 
years after the law goes into effect. 
 
Personnel affairs system 
 
The Basic Law for Reform of the Civil Service System provides for 
the establishment of a cabinet personnel bureau for the uniform 
management of senior personnel affairs and makes the chief cabinet 
secretary responsible for drawing up the lists of nominees. In 
reality, however, it is difficult for the chief cabinet secretary to 
know in detail all about the nominees. A DPJ lawmaker who took the 
floor to answer questions, acknowledged the fact that government 
agencies would be involved in the process: "Each government agency 
will recommend appropriate persons to the chief cabinet secretary, 
who will then make a list of nominees after screening their 
suitability. 
 
The current carrier bureaucrat system under which those who passed 
examinations for first-class civil servants become candidates for 
senior government officials will be abolished. Under the new system, 
any bureaucrat can be appointed to a senior position, according to 
their ability and performance record. However, the point has been 
made that there is a possibility of super-elite bureaucrats being 
created, depending on the application of a new course to train 
senior government officials that has yet to be created. 
 
Basic labor rights 
 
The basic law includes a regulation that an autonomous 
management-labor relations system should be created and that a right 
to conclude a collective labor agreement should be granted to 
national government employees in the future. If realized, working 
conditions, such as civil servants' salaries, which are currently 
laid down in compliance with the recommendations of the National 
Personnel Authority, will become subject to labor-management 
negotiations. 
 
State Minister for Administrative Reform Yoshimi Watanabe during a 
meeting of the Upper House Cabinet Committee replied, "The 
government will set up a review organ, involving trade unions, 
within a month after the passage of the law. However, the coverage 
of public servants to whom the collective labor agreement right is 
granted and the range of items covered by the agreement have yet to 
be set. 
 
TOKYO 00001583  007 OF 011 
 
 
 
Contacts between politicians and bureaucrats 
 
A provision limiting contacts between politicians and bureaucrats 
has been deleted. However, the law stipulates the documentation of 
contacts between bureaucrats and politicians for the disclosure of 
information. The aim is to avoid politicians from applying pressure 
on bureaucrats or bureaucrats from excessively lobbing politicians. 
However, some have voiced skepticism about the efficacy of such a 
regulation, noting that complete information disclosure would be 
difficult, because it is viewed that bureaucrats may want to avoid 
trouble with politicians. 
 
Restriction on amakudari practices 
 
The basic law does not directly regulate amakudari (golden 
parachute) practices. However, it envisages the correction of the 
current early retirement recommendation practice, the background of 
the rampant amakudari practices, noting that consideration should be 
given to the raising of the mandatory retirement age to 65 in 
stages. A Government-Private Sector Personnel Exchange Center to 
render job referral service to retiring bureaucrats will be set up 
before the end of the year. However, proposals for the nominations 
of a chairman and members of an outplacement monitoring committee to 
be established to check job referral services provided by each 
government agency until the envisaged Center takes off was 
disapproved in the Upper House on June 6. There is a possibility of 
the Government-Private Sector Personnel Exchange Center itself 
becoming dysfunctional. 
 
(6) Fukuda's Kantei and Sichuan earthquake (Part B): Inside story on 
aid to China after quake; Prime minister: "China accepted Japanese 
relief teams because of the bilateral summit"; Top leaders close, 
administrative-level immature; Government fixated on human 
assistance 
 
MAINICHI (Pages 1 and 3) (Abridged slightly) 
June 8, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka 
Machimura, and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masahiro Futahashi 
received a first report on the Sichuan earthquake via a secretary 
from the Cabinet Crisis Management Center a little before 4:00 p.m. 
May 12. The report said that China was hit by a magnitude-7.8 (later 
corrected to 8) earthquake at a depth of 10 kilometers. To Japan, a 
quake-prone country, it was easy to imagine the extensive damage. 
Some l0 responsible officials from the foreign and defense 
ministries were immediately assembled at the Prime Minister's 
Official Residence (Kantei). 
 
Futahashi ordered them to assemble personnel so that the Japan 
Disaster Relief Team would be able to be sent to China as soon as 
there was a request from Beijing. The government began preparations 
for human assistance in tandem with financial aid. 
 
Although the government waited for a request for personnel 
assistance from China until nightfall, there was no request. "China 
perhaps could not afford to think of requesting foreign relief 
teams," a government source said. The Japan Disaster Relief Team was 
standing by at Haneda Airport, but the government had to recall it 
temporarily on May 13. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001583  008 OF 011 
 
 
Another government source noted: "As long as China has expressed its 
intention to respond to the situation independently, chances are 
slim that the country would accept foreign relief teams later on." 
The expiration of the optimum rescue timeframe -- the first 72 hours 
after an earthquake -- was approaching. 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda was still telling reporters on May 14: "We 
should recall what happened after the Great Hanshin Earthquake (in 
1995). Japan's lack of preparedness to accept (foreign relief teams) 
caused confusion. I think China will request our assistance when it 
is ready." 
 
Beijing abruptly informed Tokyo that it would accept the Japanese 
relief team around noon May 15, shortly before the expiration of the 
72-hour rule. Machimura had just said an hour earlier: "We have 
received a reply from China that it would not ask for assistance." 
 
Japan was the first case in which China announced to accept human 
assistance from abroad. The government readily dispatched relief 
teams composed of some 60 firefighters, police officers and others 
to China from the night of May 15 through May 16. 
 
Around the time the rescue team started activities in China, Prime 
Minister Fukuda told his aide: "In carryout out diplomacy, it is my 
principle to think of the circumstances of the other side. China 
accepted Japan's team because of the May 7 Japan-China summit. I 
think matters will move forward favorably for Japan." 
 
In the wake of the Sichuan quake, the prime minister conveyed his 
willingness to provide aid to China by quietly sending personal 
letters rather than playing up the government's steps before the 
media. The prime minister also used his personal letters to transmit 
his severe view on the Tibet issue instead of making formal 
statements. Before his meeting with President Hu in May, Fukuda sent 
three letters to China. They can be taken to reflect Fukuda's 
consideration to the pride of China, a major power. 
 
In turn, China has responded to such thinking of Japan. China 
accepted the Japanese relief team ahead of other countries seemingly 
with the aim of deepening the general public's understanding of 
President Hu's visit to Japan. A Japan-China diplomatic source 
noted: "State-run television cameras covered the (Japanese) relief 
teams from the beginning. I sensed the government's intention 
there." 
 
(7) Fukuda's Kantei and Sichuan earthquake (Part C): Inside story on 
aid to China after quake; Confusion resulted from shift in Japan's 
request from in or near a hospital before deployment to field 
hospital-style activities after arriving in Sichuan 
 
MAINICHI (Pages 1 and 3) (Abridged) 
June 8, 2008 
 
Turmoil over the planned dispatch of SDF aircraft partly resulted 
from Tokyo's excessive consideration to relations with China 
following the visit to Japan by President Hu. 
 
Coordination on the number of personnel joining the Japan Disaster 
Relief Team was undertaken by the Foreign Ministry. There were no 
inquiries of or requests from China about medical equipment, so the 
Japanese team took with it what was generally necessary, according 
to a person connected with the Internal Affairs and Communications 
 
TOKYO 00001583  009 OF 011 
 
 
Ministry Fire and Disaster Management Agency. 
 
A rescue team that was sent first to China procured devices to 
detect electromagnetic rays and carbon dioxide to find survivors 
under the rubble, but mudslides in Qingchuan County were so massive 
that the team was not able to find any survivors. 
 
A person concerned said: "Local residents thought that we were able 
to do anything. If there had been residential areas and places to 
utilize our equipment fully, we might have been able to find some 
survivors." 
 
Difficulty in communicating with the Chinese also delayed the start 
of activities by a medical team that followed the rescue team. 
 
Previously it was explained that China had requested that the 
Japanese team conduct secondary medical activities in a large urban 
hospital, contrary to Japan's supposition of emergency treatment in 
quake-hit areas with no doctors. 
 
But it has become clear that the delay in the start of activities by 
the Japanese team resulted from difficulty in working things out 
with the Chinese because the Japanese authorities had made changes 
to the plan that was conveyed to the Chinese side in advance. 
 
The medical team arrived in Chengdu late at night on May 20, eight 
days after the earthquake occurred, and it was decided it would 
carry out activities based at Sichuan University's West China 
Hospital. The team finally began medical activities on the afternoon 
of May 22 and returned to Japan on June 2. 
 
According to a person concerned, Tokyo presented the following 
"official requests" to Beijing: (1) allow all the Japanese medical 
members to carry out activities at one place because of the 5 tons 
of equipment, and (2) allow the team to treat outpatients in tents 
in or near a hospital. The Chinese government selected a number of 
hospitals based on Japan's request and informally decided on the 
First People's Hospital in Sichuan. 
 
The Japanese team after arriving in Sichuan conveyed its desire to 
the Chinese side to provide field hospital-style assistance. This 
forced China to reconsider the candidate hospital. China eventually 
came up with West China Hospital and the Japanese team gave a nod to 
it. 
 
The Japanese team's abrupt change to its plan could be ascribable to 
a wide range of requests from team members who met with each other 
for the first time at Haneda Airport, as well as to activities by 
the Russian and German teams that were in China ahead of the 
Japanese term. 
 
An official of the Foreign Ministry Overseas Disaster Assistance 
Division explained to the Mainichi Shimbun: "Before the deployment 
of the medical team, we did not especially ask the Chinese side to 
let them work in or near a hospital." 
 
The new trend of strategically reciprocal relations between Japan 
and China contrasts sharply with the issue of national sentiment and 
immature administrative-level cooperation between the two countries. 
And how should Japan extend disaster assistance as a country prone 
to earthquakes? The Sichuan earthquake still continues to present 
challenges to the Japanese government. 
 
TOKYO 00001583  010 OF 011 
 
 
 
(8) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi, Mainichi, Sankei, and Tokyo Shimbun 
Suspect in Sunday's Akihabara rampage said to have bought five 
knives two days earlier in Fukui 
 
Yomiuri: 
FTC to investigate suspected resumption of bid-rigging by Hitachi, 
eight other companies over sewerage 
 
Nikkei: 
Prime minister announces emissions trading trial run in fall to 
reduce amount up to 80 PERCENT 
 
Akahata: 
JCP wins five Okinawa prefectural assembly seats 
 
(9) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Fukuda Vision: Combating global warming requires specific steps 
(2) Akihabara stabbing spree: What was the cause? 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Akihabara stabbing rampage: Determining causes of incidents 
essential 
(2) Fukuda Vision: Means to achieve targets more important 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Will Fukuda's anti-global warming guidelines be able to become 
global standards? 
(2) Society's notion of safety shaken to its core 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Fukuda Vision specifies emissions trading 
(2) Put an end to tragedies 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Fukuda Vision: Participation by U.S. and China essential 
(2) Akihabara stabbing rampage: Make effort to create safe society 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Akihabara tragedy: Killer's motive eerie 
(2) Fukuda administration loses Okinawa prefectural assembly race 
 
Akahata: 
(1) National rally against deployment of nuclear-powered aircraft 
carrier to be held on July 13 
 
(10) Prime Minister's schedule, June 8 & 9 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 10, 2008 
 
June 8 
 
07:35 
Met at National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation with 
Education Minister Tokai, JAXA President Tachikawa, and U.S. 
Ambassador Schieffer. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001583  011 OF 011 
 
 
08:02 
Talked with Astronaut Hoshide, who is on the International Space 
station. 
 
08:56 
Photo shoot at LDP headquarters for public relations. 
 
09:10 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
14:50 
Met with Special Advisor Ito. 
 
17:45 
Arrived at his private residence in Nozawa. 
 
21:12 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
June 9 
 
09:25 
Met at Kantei with METI Minister Amari, METI Vice Minister Kitabata, 
METI Trade Policy Bureau Director General Suzuki, followed by Deputy 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Iwaki. 
 
11:10 
Met with Ito, followed by National Public Safety Commission Chairman 
Izumi. 
 
12:00 
Attended meeting of government and ruling coalition. 
 
13:00 
Attended Upper House Audit Committee session. 
 
16:26 
Met at Diet building with New Komeito leader Ota and Youth Bureau 
chief Taniai. 
 
17:01 
Attended LDP board meeting. 
 
17:58 
Met at Japan National Press Center with Japan National Press Club 
President Takuo Takihana. Delivered speech at the press center. 
 
18:59 
Met with Columbia University Professor Gerald Curtis. 
 
19:19 
Dine with Lower House member Yasufumi Tanahashi and others at a 
Chinese restaurant in Nihi-Azabu. 
 
21:04 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
SCHIEFFER