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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2297

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 003008 
 
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 10/28/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Poll on Aso cabinet, political parties (Nikkei) 
 
(2) No end to stock plunges: Market unfazed by government measures 
(Asahi) 
 
(3) Government's emergency economic measures unlikely to promptly 
bring about effect (Yomiuri) 
 
(4) Prime Minister Aso negative about dispatching SDF for activities 
on mainland Afghanistan (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(5) No gas, no power: U.S. pilot (Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(6) Prefectural assembly special committee coordinating resolution 
protesting crash of light aircraft (Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(7) U.S. military's investigative cooperation insufficient: Gov. 
Nakaima (Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(8) Death of Kazuya Ito and refueling mission extension debate: 
Japan's international view called into question; Afghan people's 
heart and soul must be respected (Mainichi) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Poll on Aso cabinet, political parties 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 27, 2008 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage. Parentheses denote findings for the 
Aso cabinet from the last survey conducted in September.) 
 
Q: Do you support the new Aso cabinet? 
 
Yes 48 (53) 
No 43 (40) 
Can't say (C/S) + don't know (D/K) 9 (7) 
 
Q: Which political party do you support or like now? 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 41 (41) 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 31 (31) 
New Komeito (NK) 3 (4) 
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) 5 (4) 
Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 2 (2) 
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 0 (1) 
Reform Club (RC or Kaikaku Kurabu) 0 (--) 
New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0 (0) 
Other political parties 0 (0) 
None 11 (13) 
C/S+D/K 6 (4) 
 
(Note) The total percentage does not become 100 PERCENT  in some 
cases due to rounding 
 
Polling methodology: The survey was taken in September by Nikkei 
Research Inc. by telephone on a random digit dialing (RDD) basis. 
For the survey, samples were chosen from among men and women aged 20 
 
TOKYO 00003008  002 OF 010 
 
 
and over across the nation. A total of 1,530 households with one or 
more eligible voters were sampled, and answers were obtained from 
947 persons (61.9 PERCENT ). 
 
(2) No end to stock plunges: Market unfazed by government measures 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 28, 2008 
 
Stock prices keep falling even after the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) 
hit a post-bubble low. The government is hastily compiling market 
stabilization measures. However, the key Nikkei index slipped to a 
26-year low, overcome by various negative factors, such as the 
financial crisis, the specter of a possible global depression and 
the strong yen. There seems to be no end to stock plunges, following 
the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a leading securities company. 
 
After briefing to State Minister for Fiscal and Financial Policy 
Nakagawa on an emergency market stabilization package, a certain 
senior Financial Services Agency official on the morning of October 
27 said with a shattered look, "We have included whatever measures 
possible, based on the determination that we will do whatever 
possible under the present circumstance." 
 
In an effort to abate the stock plunges and the strong yen, Prime 
Minister Aso on the morning of the same day instructed the 
government and the ruling parties to compile a package using every 
possible measure. 
 
However, the market hardly responded. The TSE plunged to a record 
low since the bursting of the bubble economy. One market player 
questioned the government's motive, saying, "If it had to compile a 
package of market stabilization measures, why didn't it release it 
before the market opened on the 27th?" 
 
Nakagawa, a close aide to the prime minister, executed the prime 
minister's order. In the wake of the TSE plunge, followed by the New 
York Stock Exchange closing lower, it was imperative for the 
government to come up with a clear-cut stance in the new week. 
 
Nakagawa, who wanted to put on a show of "a strong Aso," was 
motivated by the desire to receive a favorable response from the 
market, by releasing the prime minister's bold instruction at noon 
of the 27th. One government source explained, "He was also concerned 
that if he had released the package before the market opened and if 
stock prices had hit the post-bubble lows, it would have hurt market 
confidence in the prime minister." 
 
In addition, bargaining over the timing of a Lower House dissolution 
is heating up in the ruling camp. The prime minister from the 
beginning has taken a stance of prudently determining the timing of 
dissolving the Lower House, while determining the Diet and economic 
situations. However, Nakagawa strongly believes that a Diet 
dissolution should be put off to a later date in order for Aso to 
display leadership, by releasing his proposals at the emergency 
financial summit to be held in the U.S. The Aso's instruction given 
on the 27th was supposed to be the first step for this scenario. 
 
However, with the further advance in stock price falls and the 
strong yen, attention has focused on the government's 
countermeasures. Nakagawa ordered the Finance Minister and the 
Financial Services Agency to come up with every possible measure. 
 
TOKYO 00003008  003 OF 010 
 
 
Officials in charge continued working on that weekend until 
midnight, while being perplexed, because they were not sure about 
the cabinet's decision-making process." 
 
However, measures targeting the domestic market are limited in what 
they can do in dealing with stock plunges triggered by the U.S. and 
European markets, as one Finance Ministry official said. A sense of 
alarm about the strong yen, one factor for faltering stock prices, 
is mounting. However, the effect of intervention in the exchange 
market is unclear amid massive amounts of funds moving beyond 
national boundaries. It is also difficult to ask for concerted 
intervention from the U.S. and Europe. In the end, a joint statement 
designed to check the excessive high yen was issued in response to 
the request Japan made to the finance ministers and central bank 
governors of Group of Seven Nations. 
 
Commenting on a weak effect of the package, Aso simply told 
reporters on the afternoon of the 27th, "I do not think that the 
package would produce effects immediately. I have no intention of 
being moved from joy to sorrow by stock price fluctuations. 
 
Voices calling for interest rate cut at early date 
 
A person responsible for the stock market at a certain leading 
securities house was apparently surprised at the unabated stock 
price plunges, saying, "It is scary to check the stock price board." 
The observation on leading banks' plan to reinforce their capital 
bases triggered the stock plunges in the morning trading session. 
Concern about the right of existing shareholders being diluted sent 
the stock prices of the three major banking groups to a limit low. 
 
Foreign exchange quotations are now more visibly moving in lockstep 
with stock prices. As the yen makes more gains relative to the 
dollar, stock prices plummet further due to concern about a decline 
in export-oriented companies' business performances. This is the 
pattern now being repeated. Prime Minister Aso instructed the 
compilation of market stabilization measures after the morning 
session of trading ended. However, it was not the market 
stabilization package but the high yen that drew attention of the 
market. With market players determining that the G-7 statement will 
have a slim effect in checking the strong yen, stock prices of 
export-oriented companies, such as auto makers and electronic 
manufacturers, renewed a record low since the beginning of the year. 
All stock prices collapsed. 
 
Asian stock prices also plunged in an apparent chain reaction, 
followed by falls in European share prices. Norihiro Fujito, 
Investment Information Division chief at Mitsubishi-UFJ Securities, 
made this comment: "Domestic measures are limited in their effects 
of putting stock prices on a recovery track. Unless the U.S., where 
the financial crisis started, comes up with additional measures, the 
TSE will not stabilize." 
 
Amid the government being limited in what it can resort, voices 
hoping for an interest rate cut by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are 
beginning to gain ground on the market. There is a possibility of 
European countries and the U.S., where economies are slowing, 
cutting interest rates in the future. However, the BOJ has thus far 
indicated no stance of cutting the interest rate. One market player 
pointed out that the reason for the unabated strong yen caused by 
dollar and euro selling for yen buying is because investors are 
continuing buying the yen, which is free from an interest rate cut." 
 
TOKYO 00003008  004 OF 010 
 
 
 
 
The BOJ will hold a policy-setting meeting on the 31st and adopt an 
immediate monetary policy. The same source took the view that the 
BOJ could cut the interest rate, if stock prices continue to 
plunge. 
 
Takashi Anzai (president of Seven Bank): Reason for little expansion 
of domestic demand 
 
Japan's stock prices have fallen to the level of the fall of 1982. 
However, even now after the plunges, the Dow Jones industrial 
average stands at a level eight times higher than the 1982 level. It 
is difficult to compare these two phenomena in a simplistic manner, 
but the gap manifests the difference between the side that has 
served as an economic driving force and the side that has depended 
on it. 
 
The challenge for the Japanese economy has been all the while how to 
shift from dependence on foreign demand and expand domestic demand. 
What is happening means that structural reforms have not taken place 
on that front. 
 
Unlike the 1980s, there was no trade friction between the two 
countries. Japan recovered from the collapse of the asset-inflated 
bubble economy, by making direct investment in China and exporting 
goods to the U.S. It has increasingly become dependent on the U.S. 
As a result, the strong yen, which is supposed to have a positive 
aspect, has continued to serve as a factor for lowering stock 
prices. 
 
In Japan, the household economy has financial assets worth 1,500 
trillion yen, while the government is saddled with huge borrowings. 
Measures to expand domestic demand that will not entail any more 
fiscal disbursements governments and divert savings to spending are 
urged. One possible measure would be the adoption of a tax system 
that will encourage elderly people who have assets but do not spend 
much, to leave their assets to young people. 
 
However, it is impossible for Japan to settle the current financial 
crisis by its own ability. It is necessary for the U.S., where the 
financial crisis started, to bail out trust in the dollar from the 
abyss. 
 
Akio Mikuni: Market moving to dissolve distortion 
 
It should be viewed that the steep appreciation of the yen is not 
because the market has collapsed but because the original function 
of the market is now trying to work normally. Since the Tokyo market 
has been distorted extremely due to the policies of Japan and the 
U.S., drastic moves to dissolve the distortion are occurring. There 
are two distortions -- the Japanese economy's excessive dependence 
on foreign demand and the U.S. that uses Japan's money having 
supported the Tokyo market. 
 
Domestic demand expanded up until the 1980s, with the growth of 
export-oriented companies reflected in wages. However, low-wage 
countries have risen since the 1990s. Japan has constrained wage 
growth, as it wanted to boost exports. In order to prevent the yen 
from making gains, because a strong yen can have an adverse effect 
on export, it managed earned dollar funds, thereby returning such 
funds to the U.S., which wants to continue excessive spending. Japan 
 
TOKYO 00003008  005 OF 010 
 
 
and the U.S. both enjoyed a bubble economy. 
 
Regarding financial policy, yen-carry trading for managing foreign 
currency using the yen procured at a low interest rate occurred. 
Foreign money that flowed back to Japan was used for the purchases 
of Japan stocks. The current share price plunges are the results of 
the disappearance of a growth engine for the Japanese economy - the 
U.S. economy, and share buyers. 
 
Stock prices plummeting to the 1982 level does not mean that Japan 
has fallen into a bottomless pit. The real power of the 
manufacturing industry is solid. If companies stop exclusively 
engaging in cost reduction competition and if domestic demand 
recovers, Japanese companies' capability to respond to sensitive 
Japanese consumers' needs will increase, leading to the development 
of competitive new products. 
 
(3) Government's emergency economic measures unlikely to promptly 
bring about effect 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 28, 2008 
 
The government announced a set of emergency economic stimulus 
measures yesterday. The package includes all possible measure to 
stabilize the nation's financial systems that have been turbulent 
due to recent nose-diving stock prices. As key measures, the package 
proposes tightening controls over share trading and relaxing 
regulations on bank accounting. Even after the announcement of the 
package, however, stock prices continued to plummet.  Some market 
observers are skeptical of the prompt efficiency of these measures. 
Nobody can tell whether stock prices would rally owing to these 
measures. 
. 
Controls over short-selling 
 
State Minister in Charge of Economic and Fiscal Policy Yosano 
stressed the need for emergency measures, speaking before reporters 
at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday morning, just after meeting 
with Prime Minister Aso. He said: 
 
"Based on the current state of the monetary market, the prime 
minister gave us an instruction. We decided to carry out one 
practicable measure after another." 
 
The key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday fell past the 
post-bubble low immediately after the start of trading. Alarmed at 
the situation, the government put forth "the stabilization of the 
stock market" at the outset of its economic package. 
 
A pillar of the package is tightening controls over short selling of 
stocks. This measure, which will be introduced in November, will ban 
the practice of selling a stock short, without first borrowing the 
shares or ensuring that the shares can be borrowed. But many 
observers attribute the recent steep drop in stock prices mainly to 
moves by investors to unload their stocks in the wake of the 
financial crisis. Given this, it is uncertain whether the 
restrictions on short selling will greatly contribute to raising 
share prices. 
 
The package also proposes easing restrictions on banks' 
shareholdings. Banks are allowed to hold shares worth a value not 
 
TOKYO 00003008  006 OF 010 
 
 
exceeding their capital adequacy ratios. The government is aiming to 
raise the maximum value as a measure to prevent rushed selling. 
 
The government will also consider resuming a system to let the 
Banks' Shareholdings Purchase Corporation or the Bank of Japan (BOJ) 
purchase shares held by banks. However, some observers point out 
that the neutral stance of the BOJ might be undermined if it 
possesses shares in individual corporations. They are calling for 
caution about implementing the measure. 
 
Banks' recapitalization 
 
Another pillar is boosting banks' financial footing that has 
weakened due to nosediving stock prices. The government will relax 
restrictions regarding a bank's capital adequacy ratio (CAR). 
 
CAR is a ratio of a bank's capital to its all assets including risky 
loans. Banks are required to deduct about 60 PERCENT  of potential 
losses from their core capital, resulting in reducing their CAR. By 
lowering the ratio of latent losses deducted from capital, the 
government aims to make a reduction in CAR moderate. 
 
The government will expand the scale of public funds to be injected 
into banks from the planned 2 trillion yen to 10 trillion yen. It 
also intends to review the current market-value accounting. 
 
As measures to keep investors in the stock market, the government 
will consider extending the preferential securities tax system, as 
well as tax privilege for small-amount transactions by individual 
investors. The ruling coalition will study introducing these 
measures in revising the tax system for fiscal 2009 at the end of 
the year. In the process, the focus of attention is likely to be on 
how long the system should be extended and at what level the tax 
rate should be set. 
 
(4) Prime Minister Aso negative about dispatching SDF for activities 
on mainland Afghanistan 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Internet edition) 
October 28, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso, appearing in the Upper House Foreign and 
Defense Affairs Committee this morning, expressed a negative view 
about the idea of dispatching the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to 
mainland Afghanistan, calling into question the constitutionality of 
such activities. He said: "We cannot deny that they might not get 
caught up in acts of combat.  Opinion is divided over whether it 
would be viewed as constitutional if they fired in response to 
counter the other side." 
 
At the same committee meeting, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo 
Kawamura, commenting on dispatching the SDF to serve on ISAF for 
operations on mainland Afghanistan, he expressed his view about the 
possibility of such being related to the use of armed force which is 
prohibited by the Constitution. "When Japan considers joining 
activities, we need cautiously consider the relationship to the 
Constitution." 
 
Referring also to the refueling activities by the MSDF in the Indian 
Ocean, the Prime Minister stressed: "The operations are not for the 
sake the United States. Japan, too, has joined the war on terror, 
and since each country expects our refueling activities, we should 
 
TOKYO 00003008  007 OF 010 
 
 
not choose the option of withdrawal." He was replying to questions 
from Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Keiichiro Asao and Hiroe 
Makiyama. 
 
(Kyodo) 
(08102802bb) Back to Top 
 
(5) No gas, no power: U.S. pilot 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 1) (Full) 
Eve., October 27, 2008 
 
Hisao Miyagi 
 
TOKYO-On Oct. 24, a U.S. military light aircraft crashed at Makiya, 
Nago City. In the aircraft's last radio communication before 
crashing, its pilot had radioed to an official for Kadena Air Base 
radar approach control (RAPCON), a system controlling air traffic in 
airspace near Okinawa's main island, that the plane had "no gas, no 
power," sources revealed today. 
 
According to the Land and Transport Ministry, Kadena RAPCON 
authorities reported to the ministry's Naha Airport office on Oct. 
24 that there was such a radio message from the light aircraft. 
However, the ministry still cannot reconfirm it through the U.S. 
side. 
 
(6) Prefectural assembly special committee coordinating resolution 
protesting crash of light aircraft 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 1) (Full) 
Eve., October 27, 2008 
 
In response to the recent crash in Nago City of a light aircraft 
belonging to the U.S. military, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly 
Special Committee on U.S. Military Bases, chaired by Kiyoko 
Tokashiki, met this morning to hear the circumstances from Okinawa 
prefectural government and police officials. The committee will 
coordinate in order to present to the assembly a petition and a 
protest resolution. In the meeting, committee members from the 
ruling and opposition parties asserted that under an expanded 
interpretation of SOFA provisions, the application of the Japan-U.S. 
Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) extends even to leisure-purpose 
aircraft. 
 
Akira Uehara, chief of the Okinawa governor's office of the Okinawa 
prefectural government, explained that in the wake of a small U.S. 
aircraft's crash landing in 1999, "(The U.S. military) announced 
that flight plans would avoid flying over densely populated areas." 
Due to the accident this time, Uehara stated that the Okinawa 
prefectural government would also propose prohibiting aircraft from 
flying over residential areas, as well. Kiyoharu Hidaka, director 
general of the criminal investigation department at Okinawa 
prefectural police headquarters, stated that the police "were unable 
to fully investigate" the accident since the U.S. military, based on 
the SOFA, did not allow the local police to seize the crashed 
aircraft. Hidaka revealed that the police have requested the 
presence of the U.S. military's accident committee for an on-base 
inspection of the crashed aircraft. He stated that the pilot of the 
crashed aircraft belongs to a Kadena air wing, adding that the 
police take the accident as happening when he was off duty. 
 
 
TOKYO 00003008  008 OF 010 
 
 
(7) U.S. military's investigative cooperation insufficient: Gov. 
Nakaima 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 1) (Full) 
Eve., October 27, 2008 
 
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima voiced dissatisfaction with the U.S. 
military this morning over its failure to fully cooperate with 
Okinawa prefectural police on the recent crash of a U.S. military 
lightplane in Nago City, saying:  "I know there is Article 17 of the 
Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement. Basically, however, I want 
them to prepare a system in concrete terms under which they can 
cooperate properly with police investigations." 
 
Nakaima made the remarks to Yuji Sakota, a Cabinet Secretariat 
official for Okinawa affairs and crisis management, at his office 
this morning. 
 
Nakaima told Sakota: "Whether the U.S. military is cooperating with 
police investigations is a matter of primary concern to the local 
residents. I want the government to take appropriate action while 
standing between the prefectural police and the U.S. military. 
 
The governor told the Ryukyu Shimpo that he would like to go to the 
accident site shortly to look at the situation. 
 
(8) Death of Kazuya Ito and refueling mission extension debate: 
Japan's international view called into question; Afghan people's 
heart and soul must be respected 
 
MAINICHI (Page 6) (Abridged slightly) 
October 28, 2008 
 
By Shuichi Abe, Western Press Department 
 
A bill amending the New Antiterrorism Special Measures Law to extend 
the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for another year is being 
used as a bargaining chip between the ruling and opposition in 
connection with the timing of dissolving the Lower House. As a 
person who has covered Peshawar-kai, a nongovernmental pioneer 
organization of assistance to Afghanistan, I can hardly think that 
the refueling mission supporting the use of armed force will lead to 
the eradication of terrorism. Aside from that, it is regrettable 
that a chance to review Japan's assistance to Afghanistan, which is 
plunging deeper into chaos, and its involvement in the war on terror 
is being handled as part of deliberations linked to Lower House 
dissolution. The New Antiterrorism Law will expire in just two and a 
half months. I believe the matter must be discussed thoroughly 
before and after the next general election. 
 
There is a photograph I have of a farewell gathering (held in 
eastern Afghanistan) for Peshawar-kai aid worker Kazuya Ito, 31, who 
was abducted and slain in Afghanistan in August. According to 
Peshawar-kai, the gathering brought together some 800 local 
condolers, including influential figures. I visited the area for 
news coverage last year and walked along a 13-kilometer-long 
agricultural channel. I also saw green fields cultivated by Ito. 
Grassroots agricultural assistance was highly appreciated by the 
locals. The people mourning the death of Ito and the sight of those 
green fields touched my heart. 
 
Afghanistan has been hit by a serious drought on top of the 
 
TOKYO 00003008  009 OF 010 
 
 
maelstrom of war. A British NGO has warned that some 5 million 
people could face severe food shortages. One out of five children 
under the age of five dies from malnutrition. Youths finding it hard 
to make a living constantly join militant groups to earn daily wages 
like robbers. Ito and others were endeavoring to cut off this 
unfortunate vicious cycle resulting from poverty and anarchy. The 
fact that many refugees have returned to settle down in areas near 
the agricultural channel showed that their efforts have achieved 
results. 
 
What about the U.S.-led war on terror in Afghanistan? A record 43 
coalition force troops died this August. In addition, over 700 
civilians have died this year due to accidental bombings by the U.S. 
military and other events. The public's hatred of foreign forces and 
the government is increasing. 
 
There is a decisive difference between activities by Ito and others 
and the refueling mission, although they both aim at bringing peace 
to Afghanistan. The difference is whether or not in line with the 
feelings of local residents. Prime Minister Taro Aso has described 
the refueling mission as a due obligation as a member of the 
international community. His view ignoring the Afghan quagmire 
sounded as if Afghan people do not exist in the international 
community. The prime minister lacks an attitude to consider the 
reality of Afghanistan, a country far away from Japan, as his own. I 
cannot help feeling that he cannot face up to the stalled war on 
terror because of that. 
 
To me, Afghanistan overlaps with Japan 63 years ago. After its 
defeat in WWII, Japan was reconstructed as a result of accepting 
surveillance and assistance from the international community. What 
if the U.S. military continued bombing various parts of Japan in the 
name of sweeping war criminals? What if that resulted in massive 
collateral damage, including the deaths of many children? Under such 
circumstances, did the Japanese people come to terms with their 
defeat in the war? 
 
In Afghanistan, Taliban insurgents are still engaged in battles 
joined by "troops" who do not hesitate to launch suicide bombings 
due to poverty and hatred. Any act of terrorism is completely 
impermissible. We must not forget the fact that the death of Ito, 
who sided with those suffering hardships than with international 
criticism, resulted from the inhumanity of terrorism that has become 
instilled in the Afghan people. 
 
The Afghan issue is at a big turning point. 
 
It has become clear through Mainichi Shimbun coverage that the 
Afghan government has been in rapprochement talks with Taliban 
Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. The government feels its 
limitations to suppressing by force the Taliban, which is gaining 
strength as the spokesman for national anger. 
 
The next U.S. President is expected to pursue a new war on terror. 
Meanwhile, Japanese lawmakers are struggling to determine a Diet 
timetable centered on Lower House dissolution instead of on 
substantive debates. 
 
Peshawar-kai Representative in Afghanistan Tetsu Nakamura once 
described the group's starting point as efforts to respect peoples' 
lives and search for common ground. His words can be paraphrased as 
the role that must be played by lawmakers. Japan's international 
 
TOKYO 00003008  010 OF 010 
 
 
view underpinning the New Antiterrorism Special Measures Law does 
not project the aspect of Afghan people suffering from the vortex of 
war and the drought. I would like to see the ruling and opposition 
parties make maximum efforts to look for common ground and end the 
cycle of poverty and hatred in the backdrop of terrorism. 
 
The application filed for Peshawar-kai by Ito five years ago carried 
these words: "I want to grow with local residents. I want to assist 
their efforts to create the environment in which children do not 
have any difficulty getting food." His cause must not be go to 
waste. 
 
SCHIEFFER