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PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2285/01 2320750
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190750Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6687
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/USFJ //J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 1824
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RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 0042
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4967
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0957
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1295

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TOKYO 002285 
 
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 08/19/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Uruma City Assembly adopts second resolution in two weeks 
protesting port call by nuclear-powered submarine following 
radiation leak (Okinawa Times) 
 
(2) Okinawa Defense Bureau predicts WECPNL around planned heliport 
facility in Henoko would be 75 (Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(3) Editorial: Pressing criminal charges against Sea Shepherd 
members for obstructing whaling only natural (Asahi) 
 
(4) Minister Nakayama in interview indicates possibility of breaking 
deadlock in abduction talks (Yomiuri) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Uruma City Assembly adopts second resolution in two weeks 
protesting port call by nuclear-powered submarine following 
radiation leak 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 2) (Full) 
August 19, 2008 
 
Uruma 
 
The Uruma City Assembly (chaired by Toshio Shimabukuro), holding a 
special meeting on August 18, unanimously adopted a protest 
resolution and a draft opinion letter opposing the entry into and 
berthing at White Beach in Katsuren in the city on August 13 by the 
USS Columbus, a U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered 
submarine, while seeking clear explanations by organizations 
concerned. 
 
The protest resolution is addressed to the U.S. Secretary of 
Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, U.S. Forces Japan commander and 
others. The opinion letter is addressed to the heads of the two Diet 
chambers, prime minister, foreign minister, Okinawa governor, and 
others. The protest resolution denounces the Columbus's port call at 
White Beach before the cause of the leak of cooling water containing 
radioactive substances by the USS Houston, a nuclear-powered 
submarine of the same type, is determined, as "an act that tramples 
on the feelings of local residents and is utterly impermissible." 
 
In the wake of the Houston's accident, the assembly had just adopted 
a protest resolution on August 11 expressing opposition to its port 
call and calling for the determination of the cause of the accident. 
The protest resolution adopted yesterday expresses opposition to the 
port call, while urging the organizations concerned to make efforts 
to drastically revise the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, 
saying that the assembly "feels strong resentment at the latest port 
call by a nuclear-powered submarine in defiance of the voices of 
people of the city and the prefecture." 
 
(2) Okinawa Defense Bureau predicts WECPNL around planned heliport 
facility in Henoko would be 75 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full) 
August 19, 2008 
 
Members of the Okinawa prefectural assembly's special committee on 
U.S. bases, chaired by Kiyoko Tokashiki, made an inspection of Camp 
 
TOKYO 00002285  002 OF 004 
 
 
Schwab in Henoko, Nago City, and they were briefed by the Okinawa 
Defense Bureau on the site to which the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma 
Air Station will be relocated. According to Tokashiki, based on the 
data of noise levels of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft at 
Futenma Air Station, the Defense Bureau predicted that the WECPNL, 
which stands for Weighted Equivalent Continuous Perceived Noise 
Level, around the replacement facility of the Futenma base would be 
70-75. 
 
Regarding the bureau's prediction of the WECPNL around the alternate 
facility, Tokashiki pointed out: 
 
"It is strange for the bureau to predict the WECPNL without showing 
us the types of helicopters and aircraft to be deployed at the new 
facility. Since not only helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft but 
also other vehicles will be deployed, 75 is too low." 
 
According to Tokashiki, the bureau told them that it had conducted 
research on the seaweed bed for dugongs the same day. She expressed 
concern, saying: "Is one year of research enough?" 
 
Tokashiki and her committee members confirmed the exposed layer of 
red clay on the developed land caused by the construction of new 
Army barracks at Camp Schwab. The bureau explained that based on the 
prefecture's ordinances, it would take measures to prevent the 
outflow of red clay. 
 
(3) Editorial: Pressing criminal charges against Sea Shepherd 
members for obstructing whaling only natural 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) 
August 19, 2008 
 
The antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has often 
obstructed Japanese research whalers' activities in the Southern 
Ocean. Japanese police have finally decided to establish a criminal 
case against its members. 
 
The Metropolitan Police Department has obtained arrest warrants for 
three American and British members of the organization on suspicion 
of forcible obstruction of business. They are suspected to have 
transferred themselves to a dinghy and thrown flares onto the deck 
of the research whaler Kaiko Maru of the Institute of Cetacean 
Research and a rope into the sea, which coiled around the vessel's 
screw in February 2007. 
 
Sea Shepherd was established in 1977 under the banner of protecting 
wildlife, including whales. Headquartered in the United States, the 
organization has been run by donations from around the world. The 
group is trying to attract international attention by showing its 
use of force via TV and the Internet. 
 
Not limited to animal protection, freedom of expression must be 
respected anywhere on the globe. But if the charges against them are 
true, their acts clearly went beyond freedom of expression. There is 
every reason for the police to press charges against them based on 
the law. 
 
Sea Shepherd has intensified its interference even after this 
incident. Boarding and tossing bottles containing liquids at another 
Japanese research vessel this year, some Sea Shepherd members have 
inflicted minor injuries to its crewmembers. 
 
TOKYO 00002285  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
In reaction to such obstructive acts, the International Whaling 
Commission (IWC), which also includes antiwhaling countries, has 
released a unanimous statement condemning the group, reading, "Any 
act jeopardizing human lives or property is impermissible." 
 
Sea Shepherd's radical activities have drawn fire even from other 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In the event authorities make 
serious mistakes, such as a violation of human rights, Western NGOs 
take action without fear of facing criminal charges. At the same 
time, they make a clear distinction between the use of force that is 
acceptable to society and acts of violence that harm people. Sea 
Shepherd is being criticized because it has crossed that line. 
 
The police plan to put the three individuals on an international 
wanted list. We would like to see countries in addition to the 
United States and South Korea, with which Japan has extradition 
treaties, cooperate in transferring custody of the three. 
 
There exists a deep gulf over the whaling issue that has resulted in 
a series of incidents. Whaling countries, including Japan, regard 
whales as a resource for food and other products, whereas 
antiwhaling countries, including the United States, Australia, and 
many European countries, consider whales to be wildlife that needs 
to be protected. Increasing radical acts by antiwhaling 
organizations have been backed by such antiwhaling sentiment. 
 
The subject of pressing criminal charges must not be linked to the 
question of the propriety of whaling. An investigation viewed as a 
crackdown on antiwhaling activities might draw unnecessary protests 
from antiwhaling countries. 
 
If Japan is to continue whaling, the country needs to persistently 
make the case that whaling is part of a culture that does not run 
counter to the protection of resources. 
 
(4) Minister Nakayama in interview indicates possibility of breaking 
deadlock in abduction talks 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
August 17, 2008 
 
The Yomiuri Shimbun interviewed Kyoko Nakayama, minister of state 
for the declining birthrate, gender equality, the abduction issue, 
and official document management, who formerly served as special 
advisor to the prime minister on the abduction issue, to hear her 
views on the agreement reached in working-level talks between Japan 
and North Korea that the DPRK will reinvestigate the issue of its 
abductions of Japanese nationals, as well as on future challenges. 
 
-- How do you view the results of the Japan-North Korea 
working-level talks? 
 
Kyoko Nakayama: The biggest point is that changing its previous 
position that the abduction issue has been resolved, North Korea 
agreed to carry out a full investigation into its abductions of 
Japanese nationals in order to find surviving Japanese abductees and 
to have survivors return home. I think there is a possibility that 
the abduction issue will enter a new phase with the North's decision 
to reinvestigate the abduction cases. 
 
-- What are challenges now that an agreement has been reached? 
 
TOKYO 00002285  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
Nakayama: We need to ascertain whether North Korea will report the 
truth to us and whether a North Korean reinvestigation panel will be 
given real authority. Although the agreement says that North Korea 
will report to Japan and hold talks whenever necessary, 
consultations are still needed. 
 
-- Will Japan resume sanctions after lifting them if it judges the 
North's reinvestigation is insufficient? 
 
Nakayama: Since North Korea agreed to report any progress in the 
probe to Japan and hold talks whenever necessary, in general terms 
it is normal to resume sanctions (if the probe is insufficient) even 
before the reinvestigation is completed. 
 
-- Some members of the families of victims of kidnapped to North 
Korea are concerned that you will be unable to concentrate on the 
abduction issue, since you concurrently serve as minister for the 
declining birthrate. 
 
Nakayama: I will not neglect the abduction issue even though I am in 
charge of other issues. Since the government considers the 
abductions a priority issue, I want to persuade North Korea by using 
all possible measures. 
 
-- Some have contended that the role of abduction minister is 
ambiguous. 
 
Nakayama: The abduction minister's job is to resolve the abduction 
issue while coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies. I 
will carry out my duty in cooperation also with the Foreign 
Ministry. The government will deal with the issue in unison. 
 
-- You are in charge of the falling birthrate and official document 
management, areas in which you have little experience. Are you 
concerned? 
 
Nakayama: I am not at all concerned. Since the declining birthrate 
is an immediate problem, Japan has to come up with measures for its 
future. I have thought that official document management is also a 
theme that should be worked out. I will do my best to deal with 
those issues. 
 
SCHIEFFER