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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 003288 
 
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 12/03/08 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Political topics: 
4) LDP lawmakers distancing themselves from Prime Minister Aso 
(Nikkei) 
5) LDP nervous about DPJ's Ozawa over grand coalition initiative 
(Tokyo Shimbun) 
6) Gov't adopts masterplan for Japan's space activities  (Yomiuri) 
 
ASEAN talks: 
7) ASEAN summit put off  (Nikkei) 
 
Agricultural topics: 
8) Japan eyes raising food self-sufficiency to 50 PERCENT  in 10 
years  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
North Korea problem: 
9) U.S., Japan concur on sampling from nuclear facilities in North 
Korea  (Nikkei) 
10) Gov't wants abduction issue to be handed over to new U.S. 
administration  (Yomiuri) 
 
Global warming: 
11) Japan to propose halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 
(Nikkei) 
 
Defense & security issues: 
12) MSDF bill to clear upper chamber  (Nikkei) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi & Tokyo Shimbun: 
Government eyes 10 trillion yen budget not subject to budgetary 
ceiling over next three years to deal with employment issues 
 
Mainichi & Yomiuri: 
Government to consider freeze of policy of cutting 220 billion yen 
in social security spending 
 
Nikkei: 
As demand slumps, steelmakers poised to shut down furnaces 
 
Sankei: 
Aso plans to raise cigarette tax to cover cuts in social security 
and public works begets 
 
Akahata: 
JCP lawmaker Koike pursues Isuzu's violation of employment contract 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) People concerned about economic setback 
(2) Thai government urged to end turmoil 
 
Mainichi: 
 
TOKYO 00003288  002 OF 007 
 
 
(1) Hopes for Obama's security team to bring about bright era to the 
world 
(2) World must end use of cluster bombs 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Speed up providing funds to corporations 
(2) How Hillary Clinton will carry out foreign policy 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Government, BOJ urged to come up with appropriate financial 
measures 
(2) Meaning of Clinton becoming secretary of state 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Japan focus on Asia policy of new U.S. security team 
(2) Government, BOJ must cooperate to prevent the economy from 
worsening 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Obama administration gets started 
(2) Economy is deteriorating 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Clear up responsibility for appointing Tamogami as ASDF chief of 
staff 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, December 2 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
09:01 
Cabinet meeting in the Diet building. Space Development Strategy 
Headquarters meeting. National Government Employee System Reform 
Promotion Headquarters meeting. 
 
10:12 
Met with Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kaneko, 
followed by METI Minister Mikado. 
 
10:23 
Arrived at his private office in Nagata-cho. 
 
10:36 
Wrote his name along with his wife Chikako in the visitors' book at 
Prince Mikasa's palace at Motoakasaka to celebrate his birthday. 
 
10:49 
Visited his father's grave at Aoyama Cemetery along with his wife. 
 
12:03 
Met members of supporters' group "Asa no Mi" at the Kantei. 
 
13:36 
National conference on the promotion of forests and the forest 
industry held at the annex of the Sabo Kaikan Hall in Hirakawa-cho. 
 
13:54 
Met with Nomura Holdings Chairman Junich Ujiie, Japanese chairman of 
the Japan-U.S. Business Conference. Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet 
 
TOKYO 00003288  003 OF 007 
 
 
Secretary Hayashi and Foreign Ministry Economic Affairs Bureau 
Director General Otabe were present. 
 
14:32 
Met with Ambassador to the UN Takasu, followed by former agriculture 
ministers Yatsu and Wakabayashi. 
 
15:38 
Met with Upper House member Takao Fujii. 
 
15:55 
Met with Chairman Tanigaki of the Project Team for Reallocation of 
Tax Revenues for Road Construction, Policy Research Council Chairman 
Hori and Acting Policy Research Council Chairman Sonoda. Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Kawamura and State Minister for Economic and 
Fiscal Policy Yosano joined. Yosano remained. 
 
17:23 
Met with General Council Chairman Sasagawa. Kawamura was present. 
Kawamura remained. Then met with Special Advisor to the president 
Shimamura, followed by Upper House member Otsuji. 
 
18:31 
Dined with TEPCO advisor Araki and Chairman Katsumata at Hotel New 
Ohtani. 
 
20:42 
Met with Sankei Shimbun President Sumita at a bar in the same 
hotel. 
 
22:49 
Arrived at the private residence in Kamiyamacho. 
 
4) With sharp plunge in cabinet support ratings, many in LDP moving 
away from Aso out of fear of impact on Lower House election 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
December 3, 2008 
 
In the wake of the sharp drop in public support for the Prime 
Minister Taro Aso's cabinet, many lawmakers in the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) are now trying to move away from the prime 
minister. LDP members who have distanced themselves from Aso and the 
party leadership are forming groups one after the other. Lawmakers 
aiming at political realignment are trying to seize every 
opportunity. Behind these moves, concern has spread that with an eye 
on the next House of Representatives election, if they do nothing, 
they will be driven to ruin. Therefore, they have begun to look for 
ways to win the next Lower House election. 
 
The group to drastically promote the freeing up of revenues for road 
maintenance and construction held its first meeting yesterday. The 
meeting was attended by 16 junior and mid-level lawmakers. In the 
meeting, the group sought to constrain a policy by the party's road 
research council and project team, with one member saying: "(The 
government's plan) will become toothless." 
 
Another group of junior and mid-level lawmakers has called on the 
prime minister to submit a second supplementary budget for fiscal 
2008 to the current Diet session. Asked about the possibility of 
leaving the LDP or forming a new group on a TV Asahi program 
yesterday, former Administrative Reform Minister Yoshimi Watanabe, 
 
TOKYO 00003288  004 OF 007 
 
 
one of the group's main members, said: "I am told (to leave the 
LDP). If I am forced to do so, there will be a possibility that I 
will bolt the party." 
 
The support rate for the Aso cabinet plunged in a poll the Nihon 
Keizai Shimbun released. However, rather than the plunge in the 
support rate for the cabinet, LDP lawmakers were more shocked by the 
fact that the support rate for Aso over Ichiro Ozawa with regard to 
who should be prime minister fell from 36 PERCENT  to 17 PERCENT . 
This means that LDP members have now been freed from the constraints 
of criticizing the Aso administration, since they no longer have 
hopes for Aso to lead the LDP in the next Lower House election. 
 
Attention is now being paid to a move by former Secretary General 
Hidenao Nakagawa. He will soon form a parliamentary group in 
cooperation with junior and mid-level members regarded as anti-Aso 
forces, including former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, who 
contested the last LDP presidential race, and Watanabe, who has 
continued to criticize the Prime Minister's Office (Kantei). 
 
Around Nakagawa, who attaches importance to spending cuts and 
economic growth, there are junior lawmakers supporting the Koizumi 
structural reform program. 
 
Koichi Kato, the former chief cabinet secretary who aims at rallying 
together liberals, said yesterday: "It is unavoidable that the LDP 
will split or political realignment will occur in some form." 
 
However, the consensus is that there is no one to succeed Aso in the 
LDP. 
 
5) Ozawa's super-grand coalition vision to launch caretaker 
administration upsets LDP; Early Lower House dissolution eyed 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
December 3, 2008 
 
Yuji Nishikawa 
 
The revelation of a vision by Democratic Party of Japan President 
Ichiro Ozawa to form a super-grand coalition to launch a caretaker 
government by the ruling and opposition camps after the resignation 
of Prime Minister Taro Aso is creating a stir. The aim is to force 
Prime Minister Aso into an early Lower House dissolution for a snap 
general election. In the wake of his failed grand coalition attempt 
in November last year, some think Ozawa's plan aims at political 
realignment. 
 
It all started with a meeting between Ozawa and DPJ leaders on the 
night of Nov. 28 in which Ozawa said: "This cabinet will not last 
until the next regular Diet session. The question is when he will 
walk off the job. After that comes a caretaker cabinet. That might 
be formed by all parties." 
 
A person who attended the meeting said: "When one attendant asked, 
'Is it going to be a grand coalition?' Mr. Ozawa replied, 'No. It's 
going to be a super-grand coalition.'" 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Aso simply said to the press corps 
yesterday: "I don't understand his intent, so I cannot say 
anything." 
 
 
TOKYO 00003288  005 OF 007 
 
 
LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda criticized Ozawa by describing 
his approach as a pressure tactic, while referring to the fact that 
his grand coalition plan a little over year ago did not materialize 
due to strong objections from within the DPJ. Hosoda said: "If it 
had been implemented, all sorts of things could have happened. He is 
doing it again." 
 
At the same time, there is strong alarm in the ruling camp, with one 
saying, "(Ozawa) has begun tapping into the LDP." Saddled with 
plummeting support rates and conflicts in the LDP, the 
administration is foundering. 
 
Meanwhile, the DPJ this time around is not showing any strong 
reaction to the super-grand coalition vision. 
 
The reason is that party members think Ozawa's real aim is an early 
Lower House dissolution. Most members are supporting the vision, 
with one senior member saying: "Three prime ministers might end up 
walking off their jobs before the current Lower House term ends. In 
such a case, a caretaker administration should be launched." 
 
Ozawa yesterday discussed Diet strategy and other matters with 
Deputy President Naoto Kan, Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and 
other leaders. After the meeting, Hatoyama told the press corps: 
"Such a subject (forming a super-grand coalition) did not crop up." 
 
6) Outline of basic space plan approved 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
The government at a meeting yesterday of the Strategic Headquarters 
for Space Development, headed by Prime Minister Taro Aso, approved 
an outline of a basic space plan. The plan specifies the policy of 
shifting the stance of prioritizing the technical development of 
rockets and satellites to a position aiming to contribute to 
security, diplomacy and people's livelihoods. 
 
7) ASEAN summit reset for March 
 
NIKKEI (Page 8) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
BANGKOK-A Thai government spokesman announced yesterday that the 
Thai government would postpone a summit of Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders, a summit of the ASEAN Plus Three 
(Japan, China, and South Korea), and the East Asia Summit (EAS) due 
to political unrest. The series of meetings has been rescheduled for 
March next year. 
 
In response, the Singaporean foreign ministry released a statement 
last evening expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Thai 
government's announcement of its decision to put off these regional 
summit meetings. "ASEAN has been affected as well by the global 
financial crisis, so we hope the meetings will be held at the 
earliest possible time in January," the ministry said. 
 
8) Food self-sufficiency to be raised to 50 PERCENT  in 10 years, 
according to roadmap released by MAFF 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
December 3, 2008 
 
TOKYO 00003288  006 OF 007 
 
 
 
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on 
December 2 released a roadmap designed to raise the nation's food 
self-sufficiency from the current 40 PERCENT  to 50 PERCENT  in 10 
years. Main pillars of the plan include boosting production 
capacity, by stopping the decrease in farming land, increasing flour 
production, using paddy fields off-season and expanding rice 
consumption. In order to address the tight food supply-demand 
situation throughout the world and consumers' increasing inclination 
toward domestically produced foods, MAFF will also revise the Basic 
Program for Food, Agriculture and Farming Villages, which sets 
future agricultural policy, starting in the new year. 
 
MAFF has estimated that the achievements of goals included in the 
road map would increase food sufficiency 2.5 points with the 
increased production of flour, 1.4 points with the boosted 
production of rice powder and 1.3 points with expanded rice 
consumption. 
 
Regarding the roadmap, Agriculture Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a 
press conference held after a cabinet meeting the same day said, 
"The roadmap stipulates raising food self-sufficiency to 50 PERCENT 
. It is a model." 
 
MAFF will this month start soliciting opinions on the Basic Program 
for Food, Agriculture and Farming Villages. It will sort out items 
that should be revised after holding direct talks with producers and 
consumers and consult an advisory council to be held in late 
January. The new basic program will be formulated in 2010. 
 
9) Measures to verify North Korea's nuclear declaration: U.S. and 
Japan agree on six-party document that includes sampling 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry Asian and 
Oceanian Affairs Bureau, who serves as Japan's chief delegate to the 
six-party talks, on December 2 met with Assistant Secretary of State 
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy, at the Foreign Ministry. They 
conferred on the six-party talks, which are to be resumed as early 
as the 8th. They agreed to clearly mention in an agreement to be 
reached at the six-party talks verification measures, including 
sampling from nuclear-related facilities, so that North Korea's 
nuclear declaration can be strictly verified. Pyongyang has rejected 
sampling of nuclear materials. 
 
10) Government expects new U.S. administration to continue to tackle 
abduction issue 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
Commenting on President-elect Obama's announcement of his cabinet 
appointees for foreign relations and security affairs in the new 
U.S. administration, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura noted, "The 
appointments reflect President-elect Obama's stance of aiming for a 
seamless transition." The Japanese government sees that there will 
be no change in the basic U.S. stance toward Japan, including 
attaching importance to the Japan-U.S. alliance and cooperation for 
the abduction issue. However, since there is a possibility of the 
new administration seeking further contributions from Japan over 
 
TOKYO 00003288  007 OF 007 
 
 
assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the government 
wants to exchange views with the new administration at such venues 
as a summit and foreign ministerial meeting at an early stage after 
its inauguration. 
 
Prime Minister Aso during a press conference yesterday at the Kantei 
welcomed the appointment of Senator Hillary Clinton to the post of 
secretary of state, saying, "Clinton said that the Japan-U.S. 
alliance is the foundation for U.S. strategy toward Asia." 
 
11) Japan at COP14 proposes halving greenhouse gas emissions in 50 
years 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
The UN Climate Change Conference, COP14, on December 2 entered an 
intensive debate on a long-term goal of constraining greenhouse gas 
emissions. Japan called for a 50 PERCENT  cut in global emissions by 
2050, a goal agreed upon at the G-8 Summit (Lake Toya Summit) in 
July. A study meeting tasked with discussing a long-term goal was 
held on the afternoon of the 2nd (midnight, the same day Japan 
time). Talks on specifics have thus gotten underway at the COP14. 
 
Japan, which hosted the Lake Toya Summit, proposed adopting a 
long-term goal of cutting global emissions to 50 PERCENT  of the 
current level. It called on participating countries to strengthen 
measures, noting that in order to achieve a 50 PERCENT  cut by 2050, 
it is necessary to begin to bring down global emissions over the 
next 10-20 years. 
 
12) DPJ decides to vote on refueling extension bill in Upper House 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 3, 2008 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on December 2 decided to take a 
vote on a bill extending Japan's refueling mission in the Indian 
Ocean, now under deliberation in the Upper House, by the 20th during 
the current Diet session. Its judgment is that it would be 
advantageous to clarify its stance by voting down the bill before it 
is put to a revote in the Lower House, based on the 60-day rule. 
 
SCHIEFFER