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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 TOKYO 002364 
 
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 08/28/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Security situation in Afghanistan deteriorating; Japanese aid 
worker kidnapped; NGOs targets of attacks (Asahi) 
 
(2) Japan to endorse U.S.-India nuclear agreement (Asahi) 
 
(3) Fear that Agriculture Minister Ota's office-expense issue may 
deal fatal blow to Fukuda cabinet (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(4) Agriculture Minister Ota may decide whether to resign this week 
over money scandal (Sankei) 
 
(5) U.S., Europe at odds with Russia over Georgia: Japan having 
difficulty deciding what approach to take as host nation at upcoming 
G-8 foreign ministerial -- take hard line or attach importance to 
dialogue? (Nikkei) 
 
(6) Japan, South Korea staking claim to Takeshima islets based on 
different grounds (Mainichi) 
 
(7) SDF dispatches (Part 4): Revising Article 9-LDP overconfident in 
two-thirds' majority, backs down (Mainichi) 
 
(8) SDF dispatch (Part 5): Public trust a must, Ishiba says 
(Mainichi) 
 
 ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Security situation in Afghanistan deteriorating; Japanese aid 
worker kidnapped; NGOs targets of attacks 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
August 27, 2008 
 
The security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating. An 
increasing number of private-sector aid workers have been kidnapped 
or attacked. The poor security situation in Afghanistan was proven 
by the abduction on Aug. 26 of Kazuya Ito, 31, of the Peshawar-kai, 
a reputable Japanese nongovernmental organization conducting aid 
activities in the country. The incident has spread strong anxiety 
among aid-related organizations, with some groups having decided to 
evacuate their Japanese workers evacuate from Afghanistan. 
 
Although the Taliban government collapsed in 2001, Taliban 
dissidents have been intensifying their activities in the eastern 
part, where Ito was kidnapped, and the southern part of the country. 
Civilian victims of battles between the Taliban and government 
forces and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force have 
been increasing at a record pace since 2001. Discontent with the 
long presence of ISAF and growing civilian victims has resulted in a 
vicious cycle of armed conflicts and terrorist attacks. 
 
Since 2001, the U.S. military, a central player in ISAF, has lost a 
total of over 500 lives, including100 this year. On Aug. 18 and 19, 
Taliban fighters killed 10 French soldiers in fighting near Kabul. 
The US-led coalition forces seem to losing lives in Afghanistan at a 
greater pace than in Iraq. The number of civilian victims is even 
greater due to errant bomb attacks by ISAF and other eventualities. 
In fact, the number of civilian lives lost to terrorist attacks and 
fighting has reportedly increased by 60 PERCENT  from last year. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002364  002 OF 012 
 
 
Aid workers are also vulnerable to armed attacks. Three female aid 
workers of a U.S.-based NGO, including a Canadian, were gunned down 
in Logar Province in the central part of the country. After the 
incident came to light, a Taliban spokesman indicated that the 
attack was aimed at the aid organization, saying: "(Their) work is 
not helping Afghan people." 
 
Ito was kidnapped in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an important 
area with the Jalalabad Highway connecting Kabul and Pakistan 
running through it. Al Qaeda elements are also reportedly hiding out 
in tribal areas on the Pakistani side. The fighting between Taliban 
rebels and ISAF/U.S. military troops is intensifying on the Afghan 
side. 
 
On July 6, a U.S. air strike mistakenly killed many wedding guests 
in the eastern Nangarhar province. The area has now become extremely 
dangerous for foreigners with the surge of anti-U.S. sentiment from 
the incident. 
 
The kidnapping of Ito added to the anxiety of persons concerned who 
were already highly alarmed against the trend of growing attacks on 
and abduction of NGO workers. 
 
The incident has prompted the Association for Aid and Relief, Japan, 
which has been conducting activities in Kabul, to decide to evacuate 
its two Japanese workers from the country as early as Aug. 27. "The 
security situation has rapidly deteriorated since last year. Nobody 
knows when and where a person will be kidnapped," an association 
member said. 
 
Many NGOs have taken self-defense measures. The Jalalabad-based 
Japan International Volunteer Center, for example, withdrew Japanese 
staffers in January this year and adopted a short-term business-trip 
system instead. 
 
The refugee-assistance organization JEN also moved its Japanese 
workers to Pakistan last October and has been making contacts with 
Afghanistan mainly via email and telephone. 
 
The area in which the Peshawar-kai has been conducting activities is 
highly dangerous and other NGO workers have rarely visited there. 
Dotted with U.S. bases, the region was also a center of drug 
production. The Peshawar-kai has not been attacked owing to its 
trusting relationship with local residents forged through long years 
of activities. 
 
Peshawar-kai head Manji Fukumoto commented: "Local people do not put 
trust in NGO and UN workers who stay there only for short periods of 
time. They trust us because we have been there for over 10 years 
providing finely-tuned assistance to them. Trust is the best 
security." 
 
Fukumoto also explained the kidnapping's background this way: "Such 
factors as drought-induced soaring wheat prices and the U.S. 
military's anti-Taliban operation have caused moral corruption." 
 
The kidnappers' motive is unclear. Keiko Nishigaki of the Takarazuka 
Afghanistan Friendship Association that is conducting activities in 
Jalalabad noted: "I cannot quite understand why they suddenly 
attacked the NGO worker who has been blended in with and respected 
by local farmers." 
 
 
TOKYO 00002364  003 OF 012 
 
 
The Japanese government has announced to extend a total of 2 billion 
dollars (approximately 220 billion yen) in aid to Afghanistan. The 
aid is specifically for the disarmament, demobilization and 
reintegration (DDR) project, the disarmament of illegal armed groups 
(DIAG), the improvement of infrastructure, and support for health 
and medical services and education. Assistance for building schools 
through NGOs and technological cooperation by the Japan 
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are also included in the 
aid. 
 
The Peshawar-kai to which Ito belongs is being operated with some 
300 million yen in membership dues and donations without funding 
from the Japanese government. 
 
A total of 40 JICA workers are stationed in Kabul and Jalalabad. 
 
In the wake of a string of suicide attacks on foreign troops and 
kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry has 
issued an evacuation advisory to Japanese citizens in the country. 
According to the ministry, there are some 150 Japanese residing in 
Afghanistan, including government personnel, economic 
cooperation-connected persons, NGO workers, and media people. 
 
(2) Japan to endorse U.S.-India nuclear agreement 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Abridged slightly) 
August 28, 2008 
 
Should Japan endorse support for the peaceful use of nuclear power 
by India, which possesses nuclear weapons and has not signed the 
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)? Pressed for a difficult 
decision as the sole atomic-bombed country, Japan has finally 
decided to conditionally endorse the treatment of India as an 
exception, thinking that it will contribute to measures against 
global warming and nuclear nonproliferation. India's program also 
runs the risk of undermining efforts to deal with the nuclear 
programs of North Korea and Iran, shaking international trust in the 
NPT regime. 
 
Japanese government 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura in a press conference 
yesterday showed understanding toward India's nuclear power 
promotion policy, saying: "It will contribute to efforts to combat 
global warming. (India) is the largest democracy and is a rapidly 
growing economy. In view of strategic partnership, India's 
expectations and hope must be accepted honestly." 
 
The government plans to endorse the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation 
agreement allowing the United States to provide India with nuclear 
technology and nuclear fuel in the next Nuclear Suppliers Group 
(NSG) meeting expected to take place in Vienna on Sept. 4-5. The 
government is also likely to seek some conditions in order to 
prevent nuclear power being used for military purposes. 
 
For Japan, as the only atomic-bombed country, maintaining the NPT 
regime is a basic policy goal. India and Pakistan conducted nuclear 
tests in 1998. In reaction, Japan, along with other international 
members, fiercely protested, even temporarily suspending yen loans. 
 
India's economy has been rapidly growing as it entered the 21st 
century. A senior Foreign Ministry official said: "We realized that 
 
TOKYO 00002364  004 OF 012 
 
 
all other countries have lifted their sanctions on India. We have 
failed to get India to abandon its nuclear weapons program." 
 
The government has recently shifted its policy course, contending 
that CO2-free nuclear power contributes to curbing global warming. 
The U.S.-India pact will be followed by an agreement between India 
and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which will enable 
the latter to inspect 14 nuclear facilities in the country, instead 
of six. Machimura indicated that this, too, would help ensure 
nuclear nonproliferation. 
 
But there is no doubt that the exceptional treatment of India will 
amplify the paradoxes of the NPT regimen. North Korea and Iran might 
seek the same treatment as India in the future. Antinuclear 
nongovernmental organizations have expressed concern that the NPT 
regime might collapse. A New Komeito lawmaker has raised a question 
about allowing an exception to the nuclear nonproliferation regime. 
 
A prime ministerial aide noted: "The five major nuclear powers 
(United States, Britain, France, Russia and China) have said 'yes.' 
It is meaningless for Japan to say 'no.'" Japan is likely to present 
some conditions, such as not providing uranium-enrichment technology 
and information that can be used for military purposes, while 
continuing urging India to join the NPT. 
 
International community 
 
The international community is split over the exceptional treatment 
of India. The NSG failed to reach a conclusion in its Aug. 21-22 
meeting. The group will aim at a unanimous decision in the next 
session in September. 
 
The members are roughly categorized into three groups: proactive, 
cautious, and tolerant. The proactive group includes the United 
States, France, Russia, and Britain that are allowed to possess 
nuclear weapons under the NPT regime. These countries have 
effectively endorsed India's possession of nuclear weapons. Although 
China has not clarified where it stands, the country is not against 
applying special treatment. 
 
The cautious group includes New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and 
Scandinavian countries that are actively advocating nuclear 
disarmament and are against nuclear weapons programs. 
 
Canada, Australia, and Japan are among those countries that tolerate 
the situation. They place high priority on relations with the United 
States, while pursuing the goals of nuclear disarmament and 
nonproliferation. 
 
NSG discussions are conducted behind closed doors, but according to 
a diplomatic source, over 50 opinions and revision requests came 
from some 20 countries of the 45 countries that attended the 
previous session. The source described the situation as a far cry 
from reaching a consensus. In the meeting, the United States 
proposed the unconditional lifting of embargo. Meanwhile, the 
cautious group sought the inclusion of the provisions that are 
designed to: (1) stop treating India as an exception in the event 
the country conducts another nuclear test; (2) review the 
arrangement regularly; and (3) restrict the exports of 
uranium-enrichment and reprocessing technologies. 
 
High-ranking officials from the United States and India discussed a 
 
TOKYO 00002364  005 OF 012 
 
 
response on the weekend that followed the NSG meeting. India, which 
has promised a continued voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests, 
insisted that it cannot accept additional conditions. The United 
States is scheduled to present a revised plan for the next meeting. 
Whether the plan can convince the cautious countries is a delicate 
question. 
 
(3) Fear that Agriculture Minister Ota's office-expense issue may 
deal fatal blow to Fukuda cabinet 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Slightly abridged) 
August 27, 2008 
 
It was discovered on Aug. 26 that a political organization of 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Seiichi Ota in its 
annual political funding reports had declared as office expenses the 
home of a secretary. Unless Ota fulfills his responsibility as a 
politician and gives a full explanation, he may be pressed to 
resign, a move that would inflict a mortal wound on the Fukuda 
cabinet. The opposition camp plans to question Fukuda's 
accountability for appointing Ota as farm minister. 
 
Asked by reporters last night, Fukuda said:  "Ota should give a 
thorough explanation as a politician. That's all I can say." 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said: "I'm not in a 
situation to make any comment" on Ota's next course of action. This 
is the dominant view in the government and ruling coalition. 
 
However, many government and ruling coalition members, mainly from 
the New Komeito, have said that Ota's explanation is insufficient, 
with New Komeito leader Akihiro Ota saying: "He needs to explain the 
details of the issue." The New Komeito has begun distancing itself 
from Fukuda. 
 
Fukuda has asked his cabinet members to strictly manage their 
political funds since soon after taking office so as not to follow 
the footsteps of the former Abe administration, which collapsed due 
to a series of money-related scandals involving cabinet members. 
 
At the time of inauguration of the Fukuda cabinet, the Political 
Funds Control Law did not require lawmakers' fund management 
organizations to attach to their fund reports receipts for 
expenditures of less than 50,000 yen for office, utilities, and 
miscellaneous expenses. However, since the law was revised last 
year, receipts for expenditures of more than one yen, excluding 
labor costs, will be made public from January 2009. 
 
Fukuda appears to be overcoming this crisis by letting Ota disclose 
receipts based on the present law. 
 
However, since Ota has yet to clarify when he will disclose them, no 
prospects for settling the issue are in sight for now. 
 
Opposition aims at using money-related issue to attack ruling camp 
 
The opposition camp now has a golden opportunity to attack Fukuda 
prior to the upcoming extra session, which is viewed as a 
battleground to force the Prime Minister to dissolve the Lower 
House. 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama 
 
TOKYO 00002364  006 OF 012 
 
 
stressed: "I think Ota has no choice but to quit his post before the 
extra session. If he does not resign, we will thoroughly pursue him 
in the Diet." Tadayoshi Ichida, head of the secretariat of the 
Japanese Communist Party, made this comment: "The Prime Minister's 
responsibility for appointing a person who is not suitable to serve 
as a cabinet minister is serious." 
 
Ota recently made a controversial remark: "Consumers are noisy." At 
the time when the opposition was trying to come up with a strategy 
of attacking Fukuda's policy of placing importance on consumers in 
the extra session, the money-related issue cropped up. 
 
It is safe to say that if Ota quits his post, the Fukuda government 
will suffer a setback. If Ota does not resign, the opposition will 
continue to attack Fukuda. One senior DPJ member said: "If Ota does 
not step down, it would be good for us. Because there will issues 
that we will be able to use to attack Fukuda." 
 
(4) Agriculture Minister Ota may decide whether to resign this week 
over money scandal 
 
SANKEI (Page 3) (Full) 
August 28, 2008 
 
Allegations of shady accounting of office expenses by Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries Minister Seiichi Ota have arisen. Ota will 
explain later this week for what purpose his political support group 
used the 12 million yen reported as office expenses in 2005 and 
¶2006. The government and the ruling camp have so far defended Ota, 
but they still remember that the downfall of the Abe administration 
was greatly attributed to a series of politics-and-money scandals 
involving cabinet ministers. Given this situation, Prime Minister 
Yasuo Fukuda is expected to decide the fate of Ota while carefully 
watching public reaction to his explanation. Meanwhile, the 
opposition side is poised to attack the government on the latest 
scandal. 
 
Asked by a reporter last night about whether he had been aware of 
Ota's office-expense trouble before he shuffled his cabinet on Aug. 
1, Fukuda replied: "I didn't know about it. Politicians must be 
careful about how they behave. Since the Agriculture Minister has 
said he will give an explanation, I would like to wait for it." 
Fukuda added that if he had learned of Ota's involvement in such an 
issue, he would not have awarded him a cabinet post. 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura also said in a press 
conference yesterday: "I wonder how accurate was the report about 
fictitious (office expenses)." But he added: "I expect him to give a 
convincing explanation based on reliable data." 
 
"There is a particular reason why the Kantei (the Prime Minister's 
Office) is unable to easily say that Mr. Ota is innocent," a Kantei 
source said. It is because former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had 
initially defended Toshiaki Matsuoka and Norihiko Akagi, both of 
whom assumed the post of agriculture minister in succession, when 
office expense scandals involving them emerged. But Matsuoka 
committed suicide and Akagi was forced to quit in the end. This 
"shock" has yet to fade away. However, a senior government official 
said: "Ota's political organization registered the home of his 
secretary as its office, and this is a serious problem." 
 
For the Kantei, "the Ota shock" seems to be so big that it 
 
TOKYO 00002364  007 OF 012 
 
 
immediately ordered the Cabinet Information Research Office to check 
other cabinet ministers to see if there were no hidden money 
scandals. 
 
Ota has been under heavy fire from the opposition bloc for his 
controversial remark that consumers are "noisy," as well. A source 
in the Liberal Democratic Party said: "The Prime Minister is 
expected to determine Mr. Ota's future course by taking into 
consideration the public's and media reactions to Ota's 
explanation." 
 
Meanwhile, Ota, showing confidence, has said that he would like to 
hold a briefing on Sept. 2. 
 
24.8 million yen also reported in 2000-2002 
 
It has been found that Ota's political organization also logged a 
total of about 24.8 million yen as office expenses from 2000 through 
¶2002. The group registered the home of Ota's secretary as its 
office. The total amount of reported office expenses for the five 
years, with this total amount added to those in 2005 and 2006, 
reaches 48.2 million yen. 
 
The organization declared 12.82 million yen for 2000, 8.92 million 
yen for 2001, and 3.09 million yen for 2002 as office expenses in 
its political fund report. Of those, it reported 4.96 million yen, 
3.29 million yen, and 1.22 million yen in office-operation costs for 
2000, 2001, and 2002, respectively. 
 
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Management Committee, 
jurisdiction over the political group was shifted from the Internal 
Affairs Ministry to the said Tokyo committee in 1995. At that time, 
its registered address was Shibuya Ward, but the address was changed 
to the current one in 2000. When Ota lost his Lower House seat in 
2003, the address was changed to Roppongi, Minato Ward. Since he 
regained a Lower House seat in the 2005 general election, however, 
the organization has registered his secretary's home as its address, 
again. 
 
(5) U.S., Europe at odds with Russia over Georgia: Japan having 
difficulty deciding what approach to take as host nation at upcoming 
G-8 foreign ministerial -- take hard line or attach importance to 
dialogue? 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
August 28, 2008 
 
The confrontation between the U.S. and Europe on one side and Russia 
on the other is now beginning to force Japan to weave through a 
difficult course as it steers its diplomacy. The Group of Eight 
nations (G-8) holds a foreign ministerial every year, coinciding 
with the UN General Assembly held in late September. Japan, which 
will chair the ministerial this year, must lead discussions of such 
issues as the Georgia situation. Now that a number of key Russian 
government officials are expected to visit Japan later this year, 
how Japan will demonstrate its diplomatic capability, while taking 
the power balance among the U.S., Europe and Russia into account, 
will soon be tested. . 
 
Georgia issue to top the agenda 
 
Japan is now sounding out participating countries about a plan to 
 
TOKYO 00002364  008 OF 012 
 
 
hold the foreign ministerial around September 27. One senior Foreign 
Ministry official said: "The Georgia issue is a hot topic. We cannot 
help but bring it up." 
 
Japan has gone along with the U.S. and Europe in demanding that 
Russia should ensure Georgia's integrity as a nation. Foreign 
Minister Koumura issued this statement denouncing Russia in early 
hours of August 27, the day after Russian President Medvedev signed 
a presidential order approving the independence of the Republic of 
Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia. 
 
Japan's position is delicate. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on the 
afternoon of the 27th met with British Ambassador to Japan Warren 
and exchanged views on the situation in Georgia. Fukuda agreed on 
the importance of maintaining the solidarity of the Group of Seven 
(G-7) nations. However, he reportedly indicated a skeptical stance 
toward dealing with Russia solely with a bullish approach. 
 
Some G-7 members take the stand that it is necessary for the G-7 to 
discuss the Georgia issue without the participation of Russia, as 
one European diplomatic source said. If such an opinion gains ground 
among the G-7 nations, Japan will likely be pressed to undertake 
coordination, including the propriety of holding a G-8 foreign 
ministerial in September. 
 
Russia may try to make approach to Russia 
 
In the meantime, there is a possibility that as the confrontation 
between the U.S. and Russia deepens, Russia will step up its 
diplomatic approach to Japan. Deputy Foreign Minister Karasin on the 
20th met with Japanese Ambassador to Russia Yasuo Saito at the 
Russian Foreign Minister. Karasin during the meeting urged that 
Japan as the host nation of the G-8 should take an objective and 
balanced approach. 
 
Coordination is now underway with the possibility of Industry and 
Trade Minister Khristenko visiting Japan in September and Foreign 
Minister Lavrov in October. Premier Putin and Deputy Premier Ivanov 
are also expected to come to Japan before the end of the year. Some 
take the view that Russia may try to strengthen its involvement in 
Asia, sending some positive message regarding economic cooperation 
and the Northern Territories issue on those occasions, as one source 
familiar with Japan-Russia relations predicted. 
 
(6) Japan, South Korea staking claim to Takeshima islets based on 
different grounds 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
August 27, 2008 
 
South Korea has avoided responding to Japan's proposal for bringing 
the Takeshima islet (known as Dokdo by South Korea) issue before the 
International Court of Justice, based on the accomplished fact that 
it effectively controls the islets. It has insisted that there is no 
territorial issue. 
 
However, it has nervously reacted to the descriptions of the islets 
in Japan's school curriculum guidelines. The reason is because for 
South Korea, the Takeshima islets issue is not just a territorial 
issue. The government links it to the historical issue. 
 
The Takeshima issue has a long history. South Korea's announcement 
 
TOKYO 00002364  009 OF 012 
 
 
of a plan to construct port facilities there in February 1996 has 
given rise to the present strain between the two countries. Then 
Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda protested to South Korea, noting, 
"The Takeshima islets are the integral part of Japan in terms of 
both history and international law." Then President Kim Yong Sam 
rebutted, using the word "absurd" -- often used by South Korea when 
criticizing Japanese politicians' historical views. 
 
Japan apologized for its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula in 
the 1995 statement issued by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. 
But historical views have continued to be political and diplomatic 
issues between Japan and Asian countries since the end of the Cold 
War. The Takeshima issue has been particularly in the spotlight 
between Japan and South Korea. Japan has insisted in official 
statements that it had established sovereignty over the islets by 
the middle of the 17th century. South Korea has responded that it 
had established sovereignty over the islets in the early 6th century 
(era of the Silla Kingdom). However, it now attaches importance (to 
former President Roh Moo Hyun's special statement on the so-called 
seizure of Takeshima), which notes that Japan first took the islets 
(by force) in the process of its invasion of the Korean Peninsula in 
¶1905. It characterizes the incident as the start of the move that 
led to Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910. 
 
This is why there is a divergence in the views of the two countries 
regarding Japan's call for settling the territorial issue through 
international mediation. A contributing factor was the priority that 
Japan gave to settling the compensation issue when signing the 
Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea 
(1965) that placed on the backburner any compromise between the two 
countries on historical views of Japan's colonial rule of the Korean 
Peninsula. 
 
Although bilateral relations became strained in 1996, South Korea 
took a flexible stance when signing the Japan-South Korea Fisheries 
Agreement in 1999, putting the Takeshima territorial dispute on the 
backburner. Bilateral relations again became strained in 2004 when 
South Korea issued a Dokdo stamp, and in 2005 when Shimane 
Prefecture issued an ordinance celebrating Takeshima Island Day. 
However, in 2006 the two countries jointly conducted a radiological 
investigation near the islets. 
 
A pattern of strains, followed by efforts to ease them, has 
repeatedly occurred over the Takeshima issue. Japan and South Korea 
again are not being pressed to use their resourcefulness. The 
current foreign affairs and trade minister, Yu Myung Hwan, is the 
official who brought about the joint investigation in 2006 when he 
was first vice minister. 
 
(7) SDF dispatches (Part 4): Revising Article 9-LDP overconfident in 
two-thirds' majority, backs down 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Abridged) 
August 22, 2008 
 
In October 2005, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party released its 
draft of a new constitution for the first time, building on the 
momentum of the LDP and its coalition partner, the New Komeito, 
garnering a majority of over two-thirds of the seats in the House of 
Representatives in its election held over the issue of privatizing 
state-run postal services. The LDP-drafted constitution amends 
Article 9's second paragraph and allows Japan to send the 
 
TOKYO 00002364  010 OF 012 
 
 
Self-Defense Forces overseas for international cooperation. 
 
Whenever there was a need or call to send the Self-Defense Forces 
for overseas activities, the government was always drawn into a 
'theological' argument over the constitutional interpretation or 
with the making of a law for special measures to do so. But if the 
Constitution's Article 9 were changed, the government would not have 
to go through such difficult procedures. Amendments to the 
Constitution, however, "shall be initiated by the Diet, through a 
concurring vote of two-thirds or more of all the members of each 
House." The LDP, thinking a good chance had come, made advances to 
the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) and its 
coalition partner, the New Komeito, in an aim to ensure two-thirds 
in the opposition-dominated House of Councillors, avoiding 
reactionary wording in its draft of a new constitution. 
 
However, the three parties' cooperation, arranged through the LDP's 
advocates of constitutional revision, fell through due to what then 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. "We will of course make an appeal on 
constitutional revision in our campaign for the House of Councillors 
election," Abe said. The LDP tried to accentuate Abe's imprint so 
much that it was taken as a declaration of war in that 
constitutional revision would be made a campaign issue. The DPJ and 
the New Komeito chose to stress their differences with the LDP. 
 
Last year, the LDP's Abe administration steamrolled a bill to create 
a national referendum law that stipulates procedures for 
constitutional revision, something that had not been carried out in 
the postwar 60 years, in trying to make actual results for the House 
of Councillors election. The DPJ, which at one time was poised to 
vote for the national referendum bill, reacted against that move. 
"We will not respond to talks for amendments to the Constitution as 
long as the Abe administration is in office," a DPJ executive said. 
Although the bill was enacted into law, the momentum for 
constitutional revision faded. 
 
The national referendum law is set to be enforced in 2010. Until 
then, the Diet can neither initiate constitutional revision nor 
deliberate on it. The three years before the law could take effect 
is for the nation to deepen debate on such issues as revising 
Article 9. One year has already passed. However, the lower and upper 
chambers' constitutional panels are still unable even to select 
members. Each political party, believing that a general election is 
coming soon, is trying to avoid talking about constitutional 
revision. "We can't get votes for that," an LDP defense policy 
clique lawmaker said. 
 
With the ruling coalition's majority of two-thirds in the House of 
Representatives, constitutional revision loomed near at hand. 
However, the LDP was poised to take second votes in the Diet's lower 
chamber to override decisions by the upper chamber using the ruling 
coalition's two-thirds majority. Such a Diet tactic made the 
opposition parties turn against the LDP. As a result, the momentum 
for constitutional revision vanished. The ruling coalition is again 
running about in confusion over how to deal with Diet affairs 
relating to the SDF's overseas dispatch. The ruling bloc put too 
much faith in its two-thirds majority and failed to form a steady 
consensus with the opposition camp. This will heavily lie on 
politics as a whole. 
 
(8) SDF dispatch (Part 5): Public trust a must, Ishiba says 
 
 
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MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
August 23, 2008 
 
The ruling and opposition parties have been bogged down in their 
debate over the advisability of sending the Self-Defense Forces for 
overseas activities as needed. The Mainichi Shimbun interviewed 
former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was responsible for 
enacting the new Antiterrorism Special Measures Law. 
 
-- What if the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling activities in 
the Indian Ocean stop? 
 
Ishiba: The international community would think again that Japan is 
a country that cares only about itself. Japan has been leaving 
dangerous activities to other countries. Japan's supply of free oil 
can be a message meaning that Japan is playing a financial role. 
Japan is not the only country that is in trouble with the rising oil 
prices. Some people say that the oil should be used in Japan, but I 
feel something uncomfortable with that argument. There is something 
unrealistic about the idea of tasking the MSDF with escorting 
(Japanese) tankers there in the Indian Ocean. But it's possible to 
create a new law for the MSDF to patrol sea areas that are likely 
infested with pirates. 
 
-- Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Democratic Party of Japan 
(Minshuto) President Ichiro Ozawa talked about a grand coalition of 
the LDP and the DPJ. The two bargained over permanent legislation 
for Japan to send the SDF as needed (instead of creating a special 
measures law). In this grand coalition initiative, this permanent 
legislation was exploited for the political situation. 
 
Ishiba: I don't think so. Mr. Ozawa is a man who has been thinking 
about what we should do for the world. The prime minister is also 
not a man who thinks Japan can care only about itself. However, Mr. 
Ozawa thinks the United Nations is an absolute entity, so I guess 
his argument was hard to overcome. One of the general (permanent) 
law's features is the requirement of the Diet's prior approval (for 
the government's SDF dispatch masterplan). The government makes 
selections from a menu of SDF activities, and the Diet decides what 
to do. I wonder why this is not good. 
 
-- What do you think about the former Abe administration's attempt 
to change the government's interpretation of the Constitution's 
Article 9? 
 
Ishiba: His argument sounds very legitimate. We must reinterpret the 
Constitution, or we are not allowed to shoot down a missile if that 
is flying over to the United States. Another issue is whether SDF 
members on an overseas mission should be allowed to fight back to 
defend foreign troops if and when they came under attack. This 
matter has nothing to do with the right to collective self-defense, 
so it might be better to do this issue first. I'm in favor of the 
right to collective self-defense. But things have their own order. 
This is a big issue. To get this job done, we need political 
stability and public trust in the government. Otherwise, we would 
fail to do so. 
 
-- The Diet has also stopped its discussion of the Constitution. 
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to make it a campaign issue, 
but his attempt seems to have gone against him (with the LDP's rout 
in the House of Councillors election). 
 
 
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Ishiba: It was so soon. Some people (in the LDP) jumped the gun. 
There are many things like the healthcare and pension issues. But 
whatever issue we may address, we'll have to recover public trust in 
the government. We'll also have to go on with our discussion of 
security issues. We will need to make steady preparations and pull 
together. We must be ready for the opportunity that we will have 
once in several years. 
 
ZUMWALT