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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TOKYO 002307 
 
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 08/21/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Defense Minister Hayashi: No logical reason for moving 
replacement facility offshore (Okinawa Times) 
 
(2) Japan providing free fuel that is purchased from U.S.; Checkbook 
contributions evident (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(3) SDF possesses large armaments for overseas missions, including 
200-billion-yen helicopter carrier (Akahata) 
 
(4) SDF dispatch (Part 2): Permanent legislation fades out in 
changing political situation (Mainichi) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Defense Minister Hayashi: No logical reason for moving 
replacement facility offshore 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 2) (Full) 
August 21, 2008 
 
After meeting with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, Defense Minister 
Yoshimasa Hayashi held a press conference yesterday afternoon at a 
hotel in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, where he visited for the 
first time since taking office. In the press meeting, Hayashi 
reiterated that without a logical reason it would be difficult to 
move the planned replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' 
Futenma Air Station offshore from the government's original plan. 
 
Asked by reporters about his impression of Okinawa, Hayashi said: "I 
felt anew that four U.S. military bases are concentrated here." He 
then stressed: "The realignment of U.S. bases in Japan is a chance. 
Taking this opportunity, we must endeavor to implement the 
realignment." 
 
Regarding his meetings with Nakaima and Nago Mayor Yoshikazu 
Shimabukuro, Hayashi said with confidence: "In order to work 
together, we reached a consensus on forging relations. I think we 
have the same position." 
 
The Hayashi-Shimabukuro meeting on the morning of Aug. 20 was 
closed, except for its opening. In addition to moving the alternate 
facility offshore, Shimabukuro made four requests, including that 
local companies be given priority in placing orders and that a 
portion of Camp Hansen's land be continued to be used. It has been 
decided that the land in question will be gradually returned to 
Okinawa. 
 
According to the Defense Ministry, Shimabukuro said he would like to 
engage in energetic consultations on an agreement on land use. 
 
Shimabukuro, after the meeting, expressed his desire, saying: 
 
"The working team has been created. We will promote discussion in 
detail, while acknowledging each other's positions. I think we will 
discuss matters in the relocation committee." 
 
In Hayashi's luncheon meeting with the heads of municipalities in 
northern Okinawa, Takeshi Gibu, the chairman of the association of 
the municipalities in northern Okinawa and mayor of Kin Town, called 
on Hayashi to give priority to residents in the northern region when 
 
TOKYO 00002307  002 OF 006 
 
 
hiring employees for the base. 
 
Hayashi viewed areas around Futenma No. 2 Elementary School, Futenma 
Air Station, and the takeoff and landing of FA-18s from Kakazu 
Takadai Park. He received a briefing from Okinawa Defense Bureau 
chief Ro Manabe on aerial surveillance and the location of Okinawa 
International University, where a CH-53 once crashed. 
 
Regarding the fact that he had not set a meeting with Ginowan Mayor 
Yoichi Iha, Hayashi in the press conference said: "Due to time 
constraints, I was unable to set any meeting with him. It is 
important to exchange views with various people, seizing every 
opportunity. I will look into the (possibility of meeting with Iha) 
in the future." 
 
(2) Japan providing free fuel that is purchased from U.S.; Checkbook 
contributions evident 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Abridged) 
August 21, 2008 
 
The Self-Defense Forces, which have been providing fuel to vessels 
of other countries in the Indian Ocean free of charge, have 
purchased fuel from the U.S. military for their airlift mission in 
Iraq. The refueling operation at sea started for supporting the 
United States, which began attacks in Afghanistan in retaliation for 
9/11. "Charging fees is an international norm. Providing anything 
free is unusual," a senior Defense Ministry official said. What does 
the Japanese public, who is suffering under soaring oil prices, 
think of such services? 
 
The Maritime Self-Defense Force provided naval vessels of the United 
States and other countries with fuel worth 22.4 billion yen free of 
charge under the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law that was in 
force for the six years from 2001 to 2007. People still remember 
that a U.S. oiler was suspected to have diverted its fuel from Japan 
to the war in Iraq. 
 
The MSDF provided over 800 million yen worth of fuel to a total of 
40 foreign oilers between January and July 31 this year under the 
new antiterrorism law (refueling law). Pakistan tops the list at a 
total of 16 occasions, followed by France, Germany, Canada, the 
United States, Britain and New Zealand. The MSDF has provided free 
fuel not only to Pakistan, which is subject to Japan's official 
development assistance (ODA), but also to industrialized countries 
as well. 
 
When an MSDF training fleet visited a French port in July 2005, it 
received 30 million yen worth of fuel from the country in return for 
providing free fuel to a total of over 50 French naval vessels in 
the Indian Ocean. That was the only occasion the MSDF has received 
free fuel. 
 
Meanwhile, the Air Self-Defense Force contingent in Kuwait has 
purchased fuel for its Iraq airlift mission from the U.S. military, 
which has fuel storage tanks at the same base, in accordance with 
the Japan-U.S. Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA). 
 
The antiterrorism law, refueling law, and Iraq measures law have 
articles allowing Japan to provide other countries with supplies 
free of charge. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002307  003 OF 006 
 
 
A Defense Ministry International Cooperation Division source said of 
the reason why the article was applied only to the refueling 
operation in the Indian Ocean and not to the airlift mission in 
Iraq: "It reflects the decision based on Japan's contribution 
policy." What was the decision? 
 
The antiterrorism law was enacted only after 25 days of Diet 
deliberations following the U.S. and British forces' air strikes on 
Afghanistan in October 2001. Asked his view on the law in a Lower 
House Budget Committee session on October 10, 2007, Prime Minister 
Yasuo Fukuda admitted Japan's "support for the war," saying: "The 
United States took action for self-defense following the enormously 
shocking 9/11 attacks. We were in a position to cooperate with it." 
 
The United States' war in self-defense ended with the establishment 
of the interim Afghan government on December 22, 2001, but Japan's 
refueling operation has continued and expanded to deal with 11 
countries. 
 
The government has defined the refueling mission as part of the 
country's support for (the U.S. military's) Operation Enduring 
Freedom Maritime Interdiction Operation (OEF-MIO). The U.S. Navy, 
which has been leading the operation, has changed the MIO into the 
Maritime Security Operations (MSO) for building a maritime 
environment that is safe and stable. The operations do not dovetail 
with the government's explanation. 
 
A refueling operation at sea that ignores the ever-changing 
situation brings back memories of Japan's checkbook diplomacy during 
the 1991 Gulf War, when the government provided 3 billion dollars. 
Fuel from oilers from the United States and Britain does not come 
free. A Defense Ministry source has indicated that the government is 
not considering switching the refueling operation to paid services 
at this point in time. 
 
(3) SDF possesses large armaments for overseas missions, including 
200-billion-yen helicopter carrier 
 
AKAHATA (Page 3) (Abridged slightly) 
August 20, 2008 
 
The August 23, 2007, launching ceremony of the Hyuga, a Maritime 
Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer, made the August 30, 2007, 
issue of the Asagumo, the Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces 
newsletter. The newsletter also described the 13,500-ton, 
197-meter-long destroyer as one of the largest vessels the MSDF 
has. 
 
Bearing a close resemblance to an aircraft carrier, the Hyuga is 
comparable to the British aircraft carrier Invincible (209 meters) 
and Italia's Giuseppe Garibaldi (180 meters) in size. The destroyer 
is capable of carrying up to 11 helicopters. 
 
The procurement of the Hyuga was determined in 2003 by the then 
Defense Agency. The agency cited the need to flexibly carry out 
overseas missions, such as long-term support for the U.S. military 
in the Indian Ocean, as the reason for building large vessels. 
 
The Hyuga cost 105.7 billion yen. The ministry has begun building 
another Hyuga-class destroyer for 97.5 billion yen. 
 
The MSDF also has large refuelers comparable to the Hyuga: the Mashu 
 
TOKYO 00002307  004 OF 006 
 
 
and Oumi (both 13,500 tons in displacement and 221 meters in 
length). 
 
The two vessels have repeatedly been dispatched to the Indian Ocean 
to provide naval vessels of the Untied States and other countries in 
the Indian Ocean with fuel and water free of charge. One Indian 
Ocean tour lasts five to six months. The Mashu has made three tours 
since it was commissioned in March 2004 and the Oumi two tours since 
March 2005. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were 
commissioned for refueling operations in the Indian Ocean. 
 
It cost the country 85.5 billion yen to build the two refuelers that 
have been ridiculed as free gas stations in the Indian Ocean. 
 
Besides those vessels, the MSDF possesses three 8,900-ton, 178-meter 
transport vessels -- Osumi, Shimokita, and Kunisaki -- that 
sea-lifted vehicles and supplies to Iraq for the Ground Self-Defense 
Force. 
 
Building the three vessels cost 115.4 billion yen. The construction 
cost of five vessels, including the two large oilers, ran up to 290 
billion yen. 
 
The government once declared that it would not possess any air 
tankers. Reversing its policy course, the government has now decided 
to introduce five KC-767 air tankers. It has already concluded 
contracts on four air tankers for 89.2 billion yen. 
 
Air tankers are designed to refuel fighters and other aircrafts in 
the air. They make it possible for fighters to fly further and 
attack other countries. Equipped with transport functions to be used 
in international cooperation activities, the government also 
envisages using the KC-767 as aircraft for transporting troops 
overseas. 
 
The cost of building four P1 next-generation patrol planes for the 
MSDF was incorporated for the first time in the fiscal 2008 budget 
with the aim of enhancing the country's overseas deployment 
capability. The government has decided to introduce a total of 65 P1 
next-generation patrol aircraft. The government is also trying to 
introduce next-generation transport planes sharing some frame 
structures with the P1 for the ASDF in the name of international 
cooperative duties. 
 
Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the SDF's international peace 
activities are on the decline with the failure of the Bush 
administration's preemptive strike strategy. 
 
In the face of growing national opinion opposing the MSDF's 
refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, some in the ruling bloc think 
the new antiterrorism law, the legal basis for the refueling 
operation, must not be extended beyond next January. The UN 
resolution backing the ASDF's Iraq airlift mission is also scheduled 
to expire at the end of this year. The government is desperately 
trying to find new overseas missions, such as one in Sudan, but 
there is a huge inconsistency between its intentions on the one hand 
and the Constitution and popular will on the other. 
 
Major armaments for overseas deployment and their procurement costs 
 
Helicopter carriers 
(Destroyers carrying helicopters) 
 
TOKYO 00002307  005 OF 006 
 
 
Hyuga 105.7 billion yen 
Hyuga-class second helicopter carrier 
 97.5 billion yen 
Total 203.2 billion yen 
 
Large refuelers 
Mashu 45.3 billion yen 
Oumi 40.2 billion yen 
Total 85.5 billion yen 
 
Large transport vessels 
Osumi 45 billion yen 
Shimokita 35.3 billion yen 
Kunisaki 35.1 billion yen 
Total 115.4 billion yen 
 
KC-767 air tankers 
No.1 KC-767 22.3 billion yen 
No.2  21.1 billion yen 
No.3 22.3 billion yen 
No.4 23.5 billion yen 
Total 89.2 billion yen 
 
P1 next-general patrol aircraft 
Four aircraft 92.4 billion yen 
 
(4) SDF dispatch (Part 2): Permanent legislation fades out in 
changing political situation 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
August 20, 2008 
 
Last fall, the political world was shaken in an uproar over the 
initiative to form a "grand coalition" of the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party and the leading opposition Democratic Party of 
Japan (Minshuto). If the LDP and the DPJ had been allied, the Diet 
could have enacted a permanent law allowing Japan to send the 
Self-Defense Forces overseas as needed. 
 
"If you're ready to discuss this permanent legislation in our talks 
for a coalition government (of the LDP and the DPJ), then we will 
cooperate to pass the bill for a new antiterrorism special measures 
law to resume the (Maritime Self-Defense Force's) refueling 
activities in the Indian Ocean." DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa made 
this overture to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. This offer from Ozawa 
touched off the uproar. At the time, Fukuda was in a fix as the 
MSDF's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean was soon to be 
terminated under a time-limited special measures law. Fukuda could 
therefore find a way out of the difficulties. Moreover, it was also 
possible to devise a plan for Japan to make still greater 
contributions in the international community. Ozawa's proposal was 
more attractive than killing two birds with one stone. 
 
At the time of the 1990 Gulf crisis, Japan was called on to make 
international contributions. Ozawa, as the then LDP secretary 
general, worked out a legislative measure (scrapped later) for a de 
facto permanent law allowing Japan to send SDF troops overseas in 
conformity with a United Nations resolution. The government faced 
difficulties in sending SDF troops to Iraq. Meanwhile, Fukuda also 
pushed for creating a permanent law when he was chief cabinet 
secretary. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002307  006 OF 006 
 
 
It takes time to create and enact a law for special measures each 
time Japan sends SDF troops to such countries as Afghanistan and 
Iraq. Moreover, the outcome of such legislative measures can be 
easily affected by the political situation. The permanent law is to 
list general guidelines for Japan to send SDF personnel overseas, 
and it is also to show a menu of activities for SDF personnel to be 
sent overseas. This law will allow Japan to send SDF personnel 
overseas as needed if the Diet approves the government's masterplan 
for SDF missions. 
 
There are differences between the Gulf and Iraq wars. However, both 
Fukuda and Ozawa had a hard time of it over the SDF's overseas 
dispatch. The two were once about to join hands for the permanent 
legislation. 
 
It was also Ozawa who refused to do so. The initiative to form an 
LDP-DPJ grand coalition drew unexpected negative reactions from 
within the DPJ. In point of fact, Ozawa took back the initiative. 
Ozawa then shifted his goal from the grand coalition initiative to a 
change of government in an election. "We can agree with the DPJ's 
defense policy clique, but the DPJ's leadership is quite hard to 
persuade," one LDP executive lamented. 
 
Ozawa has now made an about-face while taking it as a change of 
course in the political situation. In the meantime, Fukuda was still 
hanging on to the permanent legislation. "I want to work out a bill 
during the ordinary Diet session," Fukuda said in March this year. 
He wanted another chance to talk with the DPJ. However, Ozawa was 
cold on Fukuda. 
 
Meanwhile, the New Komeito-the LDP's coalition partner-was concerned 
about a potential general election for the House of Representatives. 
In June, the LDP and the New Komeito hit snags in their talks. 
Fukuda is now saying almost nothing about the permanent legislation. 
The top leaders of the two parties once tried to break the political 
deadlock with the permanent legislation-which, ironically enough, is 
now far from being realized in the changing political situation. 
 
SCHIEFFER