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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 002735 
 
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: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 10/01/08 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Economic policy: 
4) U.S. financial crisis placing downward pressure on the Japanese 
economy  (Nikkei) 
5) Nikkei's NEEDS computer forecast for fiscal 2008 see the economy 
falling slightly due to low stock prices and yen appreciation 
(Nikkei) 
6) Worried ruling camp plans to add 10 trillion yen to the domestic 
economic stimulus package due to the international financial crisis 
(Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
7) JICA, JBIC to merge yen loans divisions in order to unify ODA 
administration  (Mainichi) 
 
Budget politics in the Diet: 
8) The ruling parties watching financial crisis and opposition camp 
moves as they move into deliberations next week on the supplemental 
budget bill  (Nikkei) 
9) Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) willing to pass the extra budget, 
conditioned on Diet dissolution right after  (Nikkei) 
10) DPJ's Hatoyama to lead interpellations, answering questions 
raised about his party by Prime Minister Aso during Diet policy 
speech  (Asahi) 
 
11) Looking increasingly likely that Diet dissolution will come 
after Oct. 3  (Sankei) 
12) Prime Minister Aso, hedging his bets, says he will move to the 
official residence after the Lower House election  (Asahi) 
13) LDP Executive Council Chairman Sasagawa slammed for his gaffe by 
the opposition  (Asahi) 
14) Prime Minister Aso used the expression "Greater East Asian War" 
to describe WWII in the Pacific, raising questions about his 
historical views  (Asahi) 
 
Defense and security affairs: 
15) Aso wants right of collective self-defense to be discussed in 
the Diet  (Mainichi) 
16) Foreign and defense ministers say official view of collective 
self-defense has not changed  (Asahi) 
17) Three days of drills with the Russian Navy will start on Oct.3 
(Asahi) 
18) LDP approves dispatch of SDF officers to PKO headquarters in the 
Sudan  (Asahi) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Financial woes originating in U.S. yet to be contained; now crucial 
moment to avert depression 
 
Mainichi: 
Collapse of financial system (Part 1): "Bad dream" with rejection by 
U.S. House of bailout bill spreading across world 
 
Yomiuri: 
 
TOKYO 00002735  002 OF 011 
 
 
Bush calls for early passage of rescue bill for financial system 
 
Nikkei: 
Financial crises wipes out 2,000 trillion yen in global market 
capitalization over past year 
 
Sankei: 
Rejection of bailout legislation pushing down global stock prices 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
TSE loses 100 trillion yen in market capitalization since early this 
year 
 
Akahata: 
Dow falls record 777 points, with House rejecting bailout bill 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Rejection by House of bailout bill: U.S. must be aware of being 
responsible for protecting global economies 
(2) Bring city youngsters into agricultural sector 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Rejection of rescue bill: U.S. does not understand seriousness 
of global financial crisis 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) U.S. must quickly move to cure global financial woes 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) U.S. must take responsible action to avert global depression 
 
Sankei: 
(1) U.S., as center of financial meltdown, should be responsible for 
stabilizing global financial systems 
(2) Return of Chinese manned space vehicle to earth: International 
cooperation also needed in space 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) U.S. must realize its responsibility for global economies 
(2) Hurriedly ensure safety of workplace, reflecting on increasing 
work-related accidents 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Abolish fundamentally improper elderly health plan 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, September 30 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
07:30 
Took a walk around his private residence. 
 
10:01 
Cabinet meeting at the Kantei. METI Minister Nikai remained. The 
issues a letter of appointment to Special Advisor to the Prime 
Minister Yamaguchi. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura was present. A 
photo session followed. 
 
TOKYO 00002735  003 OF 011 
 
 
 
10:48 
Entered his name in the register book at the residence of Prince 
Katsura at Sanban-cho. 
 
14:02 
Met with Nippon Keidanren Chairman Mitarai at the Kantei. Then met 
with Takada, chief of the secretariat of the Cabinet Office 
International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, followed by Deputy 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Uruma. 
 
15:04 
Met with Ambassador to Italy Ando, followed by Party Administrative 
Reform Promotion Headquarters chief Chuma. 
 
16:22 
Met with Chairman Niwa of the Decentralization Reform Promotion 
Committee. Then met with Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Saka. 
 
16:56 
Met with Upper House member Otsuji. 
 
17:43 
Met with Party Constitution Council Chairman Nakayama and Deputy 
Chairman Yasuoka and Chief of Secretariat Nakatani. 
 
18:41 
Dined with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Matsumoto and Konoike at 
Unkai, a Japanese restaurant at ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo. 
Then goes to Manhattan Lounge with the two. 
 
22:42 
Arrived at the private residence. 
 
4) US financial crisis working as downward pressure on Japanese 
economy 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
The deepening financial crisis that started in the U.S. is 
increasingly applying downward pressure on the Japanese economy. 
There are no signs of improvement in corporate activities, which 
have become stagnant due to a slow down in exports. There is a 
strong likelihood that mining and manufacturing production in the 
July-September quarter will remain in negative territory for the 
third consecutive quarter. The environment for individual 
consumption is increasingly becoming harsh due to high prices and 
employment instability. There is fear that the sluggish U.S. economy 
will aggravate the sense that the global economy is slowing down, 
making it difficult to envision a scenario for buoying up the 
economy. 
 
Stagnant production, shrinking consumption 
 
The mining and manufacturing production index (preliminary figure; 
100 in 2005) for August, released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade 
and Industry (METI), stood at 104.5, down 3.5 PERCENT  from the 
previous month. In the manufacturing industry production projection 
survey, which shows an outlook for production by leading 
manufacturers, such an index for September is expected to rise 1.6 
 
TOKYO 00002735  004 OF 011 
 
 
PERCENT  and drop in October by 0.1 PERCENT . Given these 
projections, such an index for the July-September quarter will 
likely drop 1.1 PERCENT , indicating a strong possibility of the 
index marking negative growth for three quarters in a row. 
 
The major cause of the slow down in production is a slump in 
exports. In particular, drops in U.S.- and Europe-bound exports of 
automobiles and Asia-bound electronic parts exports are noticeable. 
If exports show negative growth for four consecutive quarters, it 
would be the first since 2001, when the IT bubble collapsed in the 
U.S. If the U.S. economic slump becomes drawn out due to the 
financial crisis, the economies of emerging countries, such as 
China, are bound to suffer a blow. A growing view is that the 
production environment would remain bad for the next six months or 
so, as Daiwa Research Institute projected. 
 
Now that corporate activities are bound to become stagnant, the 
consequent constraining of employment and wages will likely affect 
personal consumption. The total unemployment rate for August stood 
at 4.2 PERCENT , up 0.2 points from the preceding month. The 
job-offers-to-seekers rate fell below 1.00 for nine consecutive 
months. A rise in the prices of daily necessities and employment 
instability are beginning to apply pressure on household budgets. 
 
A loss of consumer confidence is also visible. According to a survey 
released on the 30th by the Nippon Research Institute (NRI), an 
external body of the Cabinet Office, a livelihood anxiety index 
showing projection for circumstances for the next one year logged 
163 in August, topping 159 marked in April 2004. This is the worst 
level since the survey started in April 1977. The NRI has analyzed 
the outcome of the survey that concern about a rise in prices and a 
decline in business confidence is mounting. 
 
Falling stock prices as a result of the financial crisis is also 
working as a negative factor for consumption. An increasing number 
of medium- and small-businesses are collapsing. Kyohei Morita at 
Barclays Capital Securities said, "Since it is difficult for medium- 
and small businesses to offer jobs, chances are high that 
consumption will become sluggish." 
 
5) Real growth rate for fiscal 2008 down by 0.1-0.2 points due to 
plunging stock prices, strong yen trend, according to NEEDS 
estimate 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
According to a forecast by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Digital Media, based 
on NEEDS, a comprehensive economic data bank, real growth in the 
economy in fiscal 2008 will fall 0.1-0.2 points, if stock prices 
continue to fall and the trend of yen appreciation continues into 
the second half of fiscal 2008 (October-March, 2009). The strong yen 
will put a dent in exports and corporate earnings, stagnating 
economic activities. 
 
The estimate was made, based on the comparison with a case of the 
Nikkei Stock Average (approximately 12,800yen) and the yen exchange 
rate (about 107.6 yen against the dollar) hovering on the level 
marked in the July-September quarter in 2008. 
 
Provided that stock prices hover at around 11,000 yen and yen 
quotation at 100 against the dollar, the growth rate would drop 0.1 
 
TOKYO 00002735  005 OF 011 
 
 
point. As a result, a decline in exports will apply downward 
pressure on corporate earnings, holding down capital investment, 
albeit slightly. 
 
If stock prices go down to 10,000 yen and the yen exchange rate to 
95 against the dollar, the economic growth rate would fall 0.2 
point. The main reasons for this would be  a slow down in exports 
and stagnant capital investment. According to the estimate, however, 
those factors would not have a major impact on personal consumption, 
which commands more than 50 PERCENT  of GDP. 
 
6) Ruling coalition eyes additional economic measures worth 10 
trillion yen, focusing on tax incentives 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito started 
yesterday mapping out additional economic measures to ease growing 
concerns about a recession in Japan due to the global financial 
crisis triggered by the U.S. Some members are calling for a package 
worth 10 trillion yen, focusing on tax incentives. The coalition 
hopes to present such extra measures after the fiscal 2008 
supplementary budget bill clears the Diet and before the next House 
of Representatives election. 
 
The ruling coalition agreed in a meeting of their secretaries 
general and Diet Affairs Committee chairmen yesterday to set up a 
project team tasked with hammering out measures to counteract global 
stock plunges following the rejection by the U.S. House of 
Representatives of a rescue bill for the U.S. financial system. A 
decision was also made to swiftly map out additional economic 
measures and propose them to the government. 
 
In addition to tax incentives, the package is expected to include 
measures to reduce corporate tax rates and to expand the coverage of 
credit guarantees for small businesses. 
 
The coalition intends to incorporate these extra measures, together 
with the income tax reduction scheme to be implemented in fiscal 
2008, in a second supplementary budget bill that the ruling parties 
intend to submit to the ordinary Diet session early next year. 
 
But the ruling parties have yet to determine where the fiscal 
resources for extra economic measures should come from, so 
coordination may not go smoothly in the government and the ruling 
camp. 
 
7) Yen-loan sections of JICA, JBIC to be integrated 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Bank 
for International Cooperation (JBIC) have decided to integrate their 
yen-loan sections engaged in aid to developing countries today. When 
official development assistance (ODA) disbursements have been 
reduced every year, they aim to strengthen collaboration with the 
private-sector and nongovernmental organizations (NGO). 
 
Through the integration, JICA will be tasked with such new services 
as yen loans and part of grant aid of which the Foreign Ministry is 
 
TOKYO 00002735  006 OF 011 
 
 
now in charge, in addition to its current duty of technological 
cooperation (personnel dispatch). JICA and JBIC are willing to 
integrate aid administrative functions now split among various 
organizations. They have also decided to set up a liaison center 
with the private sector to learn know-how from NGOs on aid 
activities with meager funds, aiming to offer aid that combines 
personnel contributions with financial aid. 
 
8) Ruling bloc leaning toward enacting supplementary budget 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
October 1, 2008 
 
In the wake of the U.S.-originated global stock plunge, the ruling 
camp will make utmost efforts for the enactment next week of a 
fiscal 2008 supplementary budget bill, including a comprehensive 
economic stimulus package. The ruling bloc still clings to its basic 
plan to dissolve the Lower House in October for a snap general 
election in early November, but cautious views about an early 
dissolution have emerged in the Liberal Democratic Party. Prime 
Minister Taro Aso plans to make a final decision after closely 
monitoring the economic situation and the opposition bloc's moves. 
 
Speaking to a group of reporters last evening, the prime minister 
played up his eagerness for an early enactment of the supplementary 
budget, saying: "We must get the extra budget approved by the Diet 
as an emergency means to prop up the economy at all costs. I think 
the New Komeito understands that, as well." 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, too, called for the 
cooperation of the opposition bloc in a press conference, saying: 
"It is Japan's responsibility to the world to act properly. It is 
important to build a consensus from such a viewpoint." 
 
In a meeting yesterday of the secretaries general and others of the 
LDP and New Komeito, the two parties confirmed they would aim at the 
swift enactment of the extra budget in line with the prime 
minister's wishes. They are planning for the budget's enactment on 
Oct. 9 after two days of budget deliberations in each chamber 
starting on Oct. 6 following the Oct. 1-3 representative 
interpellations in the two houses. 
 
Many in the leaderships of the two chambers who have been calling 
for Lower House dissolution ahead of budget deliberations also 
voiced in their meeting the need to speedily pass the extra budget. 
A prime ministerial aide noted: "The prime minister is firmly 
determined to get the budget approved by the Diet. Still, the 
timetable for Lower House dissolution and a general election would 
not be delayed significantly. There is no doubt that the election 
will take place. The day to dissolve the lower chamber is near at 
hand." Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshitada Konoike, who is 
close to the prime minister, indicated at a fund-raising party held 
by an LDP lawmaker in Tokyo last night that the prime minister would 
dissolve the Lower House before long. 
 
If the chamber is dissolved immediately after the extra budget 
clears the Diet on Oct. 9, chances are that the official campaign 
will kick off on Oct. 21 and the voting will take place on Nov. 2. 
If budget deliberations continue until mid-October, the option of 
going to the polls on Nov. 9 would emerge. In the event the 
opposition bloc tries to protract the deliberations further, the 
ruling camp's strategy is to dissolve the chamber at that point. 
 
TOKYO 00002735  007 OF 011 
 
 
 
Prospective candidates across Japan are also in favor of an early 
dissolution for financial reasons. A New Komeito executive 
commented: "We want to enact the supplementary budget, but at the 
same time, we must run the Diet so as not to destroy the scenario up 
to the election on Nov. 9." 
 
Meanwhile, in an LDP General Council meeting yesterday, one said: 
"The country needs to cooperate with U.S. measures; this is no time 
to discuss dissolving the Diet." 
 
The prime minister told LDP Upper House Caucus Chairman Hidehisa 
Otsuji at the Prime Minister's Office last night that giving up an 
early dissolution is one option depending on how the economy turns 
out. Given the murky economic and financial situations, there is a 
view that the timing for dissolving the Diet is becoming fluid. 
 
9) DPJ willing to endorse supplementary budget based on Lower House 
dissolution; Related bills to move into focus 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
October 1, 2008 
 
If the ruling bloc promises an early Lower House dissolution, the 
main opposition Democratic Party of Japan intends to agree to adopt 
a supplementary budget bill after two days of deliberations in each 
chamber. Even if the Upper House rejects the budget bill, it will 
clear the Diet, given the Lower House's ascendancy over the upper 
chamber under the Constitution. In future negotiations between the 
ruling and opposition blocs, a bill to make up for regional revenue 
shortfalls resulting from the loss in April of the provisional tax 
rates on road-related revenues is expected to become a bone of 
contention. 
 
The DPJ is scheduled to discuss the handling of the supplementary 
budget and related bills at its budget research committee meeting 
and its shadow cabinet meeting today. Objections are deeply rooted 
in the party leadership, with one saying: "It is not effective to 
take half-baked economic countermeasures." Some are in favor of 
approving the bills, reasoning that it is not good to generate an 
impression before the next Lower House election that the party is 
trying to block the government's effort to invigorate the economy. 
 
The DPJ, joined by the Social Democratic Party and the People's New 
Party, has called on the ruling camp to dissolve the Lower House 
through talks. The main opposition party plans to continue pressing 
the ruling coalition for assurance for an early dissolution with an 
eye on holding the election by Nov. 9. 
 
At the same time, some DPJ members are highly alarmed at pushing 
ahead with deliberations alone, while leaving the dissolution 
timetable ambiguous. Upper House DPJ Caucus Chairman Kenji Hirata 
warned: "Nobody knows how may days the deliberations will take 
before the bill is adopted." 
 
The Upper House might shelve discussions on the regional 
compensatory bill that came from the Lower House. In such a case, it 
takes 60 days for the legislation to clear the Diet with the ruling 
bloc's overriding vote in the Lower House. Many DPJ lawmakers are 
supportive of the bill so as not cause a hole in local fiscal 
resources. Some think a decision must be made by linking the matter 
to the party's dissolution strategy. 
 
TOKYO 00002735  008 OF 011 
 
 
 
10) DPJ's Hatoyama eager to clash in Diet with Prime Minister Aso 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ), is enthusiastic about locking horns with Prime 
Minister Taro Aso in representative interpellations today in the 
plenary session of the House of Representatives. It is because their 
grandfathers were prime ministers who were rivals also engaged a 
power struggle. Hatoyama intends to argue against Aso's unusual 
"questions" posed to the DPJ in his policy speech delivered on Sept. 
¶29. 
 
In 1946, Hatoyama's grandfather Ichiro Hatoyama was banned from 
holding public office immediately before assuming the prime 
minister's post, leaving the reins of government with Shigeru 
Yoshida, Aso's grandfather. Ichiro Hatoyama, however, became prime 
minister in 1954, after devoting himself intensely to toppling the 
"one-man" force, Prime Minister Yoshida, from power. Ichiro made 
efforts to normalize diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. 
 
Yukio Hatoyama stressed that Shigeru Yoshida was a bureaucrat-turned 
politician but Ichiro Hatoyama was a party politician. He has always 
superimposed his political stance of toppling bureaucracy-led 
politics on his grandfather. He expressed his rivalry against Aso in 
August when Aso became secretary general of the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP), but his desire ended in failure because 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda suddenly abandoned his administration. 
 
Hatoyama has now finally got a chance to lock horns with Aso. He is 
bent on clashing with Aso, saying: "I can't put up with such rude 
questions." 
 
11) Diet dissolution to be put off until after Oct. 3 as 
deliberations begin tomorrow on supplementary budget bill 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
October 1, 2008 
 
The government and ruling parties yesterday decided to start 
deliberations Oct. 2 on the supplementary budget bill for fiscal 
2008 that includes an emergency economic stimulus package. There are 
many voices in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito 
calling for Diet dissolution on Oct. 3, but Prime Minister Taro, who 
is giving priority to the economic package in the face of the 
financial crisis started in the U.S., made his own decision. With 
that, it is certain now that dissolution will be put off until after 
Oct. 6 next week. 
 
On the other hand, the Prime Minister also has shown a strong 
intention to pass the anti-terrorist special measures bill that 
would extend by a year the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling 
mission in the Indian Ocean. There is thus a possibility of Lower 
House deliberating that bill as well as the supplementary budget at 
the same time. The Prime Minister also has shown interest in having 
the three bills establishing a consumer affairs agency passed. The 
outlook after next week is for fierce horse trading to occur between 
the ruling and opposition camps over the schedule of deliberations 
on these pieces of legislation and the timing of the dissolution. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002735  009 OF 011 
 
 
12) Prime Minister Aso plans to move into official residence after 
Lower House election 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
Asked by reporters when he would move into his official residence 
adjacent to the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei), Prime 
Minister Taro Aso said yesterday: "After the election." He indicated 
that he would come to the Kantei from his private residence in 
Shibuya Ward. He appears to be thinking that he will move into his 
official residence after his party wins the House of Representatives 
election. 
 
Nine prime ministers -- from Kiichi Miyazawa to Yasuo Fukuda -- 
lived in the prime minister's official residence. Of the nine, six 
prime ministers moved into there within two weeks after taking 
office. 
 
Aso's residence is a magnificent Western-style house in which former 
Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida once lived. A source familiar with 
Aso said: "It would be uncomfortable for him to live in the official 
residence. He can get rid of his boredom by living in his private 
residence." Shinzo Abe and Fukuda, who inherited their fathers' 
private residences, moved in the official residence 62nd day and 
111th day respectively from the day they assumed office. 
 
13) SDP protests Sasagawa's remark 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
Following the rejection of a financial industry bailout by the U.S. 
House, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) General Council Chairman 
Takashi Sasagawa said: "The speaker of the House is a woman. That's 
why (the bailout plan) burst." In regard to Sasagawa's remark, 
Social Democratic Party Chairperson Mizuho Fukushima yesterday 
released a statement calling on Sasagawa to withdraw his remark. The 
statement went: "It had nothing to do with the fact that the House 
speaker is a woman. He discriminates against women and his remark is 
anachronistic." 
 
Sasagawa, meanwhile, told reporters in Maebashi City: "I didn't say 
that the bailout was rejected because the House speaker is a 
woman." 
 
14) Aso uses expression "Greater East Asia War," raising questions 
about his historical view 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Aso told reporters yesterday at his office when asked 
for his view of wars in the past, "I think the Sino-Japanese War (of 
1894-95) and the Russo-Japanese War (of 1904-05) were a little bit 
different from the so-called Greater East Asia War or the Second 
World War." He added: "It's been about 120 years since the Meiji 
Constitution was promulgated. Regarding Japan's history, there is 
history that Japan can boast of, and there is also history Japan 
cannot boast of." 
 
The "Greater East Asia War" (Daitoa Senso) is the official name 
 
TOKYO 00002735  010 OF 011 
 
 
adopted by the government in wartime. After the war, however, GHQ, 
or the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers, prohibited the 
government from using it in its official documents. School textbooks 
generally refer to it as the "Pacific War" (Taiheiyo Senso) or the 
"2nd World War" (Dainiji Sekaitaisen). 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura, meeting the press yesterday, 
stated: "The prime minister was under former Prime Minister Shigeru 
Yoshida's tutelage from his childhood, and the prime minister, among 
our generation, is the only lawmaker who can recite the Imperial 
rescript on education. People in those days didn't say the 'Second 
World War' but said the 'Greater East Asia War.' I thought this 
might be what he meant." 
 
15) Aso urges Diet to debate collective self-defense 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso yesterday met at his office with three 
leaders from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including LDP 
Constitution Council Chairman Taro Nakayama. Aso has recently 
alluded to the necessity of changing the government's conventional 
way of reading and interpreting the Constitution over the right to 
collective self-defense. In this connection, Nakayama said the Diet 
should reinterpret the right to collective self-defense. According 
to Nakayama, Aso said he wanted the Diet to discuss the matter. The 
government, based on its constitutional interpretation, has taken 
the position that Japan is not allowed to participate in collective 
self-defense. Nakayama reported on the past circumstances of this 
government interpretation. Meanwhile, the Diet has set up a panel on 
the Constitution in both houses. However, the panels have yet to 
meet so far. Touching on this fact, Aso told Nakayama that the 
panels should start discussions early. 
 
16) Foreign, defense chiefs say gov't view on collective 
self-defense remains same as ever 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
Foreign Minister Nakasone and Defense Minister Hamada, respectively 
meeting the press yesterday, indicated that they would take over the 
government's conventional view that Japan is constitutionally not 
allowed to use the right to collective self-defense. Meanwhile, 
Nakasone and Hamada, given changes in the security environment of 
Japan, pointed to the necessity of discussions for Japan's possible 
participation in collective self-defense. 
 
Concerning the right to collective self-defense, Prime Minister Aso 
stated right after coming into office that the government's 
constitutional interpretation should be changed and Japan should be 
allowed to exercise the right to collective self-defense. 
 
Nakasone said the government's view remains the same as ever. Based 
on this standpoint, he remarked: "The security environment has been 
changing. We should discuss well about whether the current 
interpretation is all right." Hamada indicated that he would have to 
follow the government's current policy. He added: "When thinking as 
a politician, "I wish we could do so. However, I think it's 
extremely delicate as to whether it will become an issue (in 
campaigning for a general election)." 
 
TOKYO 00002735  011 OF 011 
 
 
 
17) Joint drill with Russian navy set for Oct. 3 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
The Maritime Self-Defense Force will conduct an annual bilateral 
joint search and rescue drill with the Russian navy on Oct. 3, MADF 
Chief of Staff Keiji Akahoshi said in a press conference yesterday. 
Russia has been at odds with the United States and Europe over the 
Georgia issue, so there were cautious arguments from within the 
government. "Since this summer, we've coordinated with our Russian 
counterpart while in consideration of the international situation, 
and we decided to carry it out at this time," Akahoshi explained. 
 
18) LDP OKs SDF dispatch 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 1, 2008 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party's General Council met yesterday and 
approved a government plan to send officers from the Self-Defense 
Forces for United Nations peacekeeping operations in the southern 
part of Sudan. The government will make a cabinet decision on Oct. 3 
to adopt the plan and will send two SDF officers to the headquarters 
there in mid-October and late that month. They will be posted there 
until the end of June next year. 
 
SCHIEFFER