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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TOKYO 000206 
 
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 01/28/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Destroyers to convoy commercial freighters: guidelines on 
anti-piracy measures (Yomiuri) 
 
(2) Editorial: Shore security policing just for this time only 
(Mainichi) 
 
(3) Anti-Aso forces suffering setback; Will fourth political party 
be formed? (Yomiuri) 
 
(4) Market-fundamentalism-is-almighty theory is a mistake (Mainichi) 
 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Destroyers to convoy commercial freighters: guidelines on 
anti-piracy measures 
 
YOMIURI (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
January 28, 2009 
 
The government has set guidelines for the Maritime Self-Defense 
Force's (MSDF) mission to guard Japan-related vessels from possible 
attacks by pirates in waters off Somalia, Africa. But the dispatch 
plan under the existing law contains many problems, including a ban 
on guarding foreign freighters unrelated to Japan. The government 
will have to set the scope of anti-piracy operations by MSDF 
vessels. 
 
Gunners onboard warning helicopters, but ban on protecting foreign 
ships left as problem 
 
 Escort of fleet 
 
A senior MSDF member said: "I believe that the mission to be 
assigned to us is not to fight pirates but to prevent possible 
attacks by pirates and ensure the safe navigation of Japan-related 
ships." 
 
The government has decided through consultations with the Japanese 
Shipowners' Association (chaired by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha President 
Hiroyuki Maekawa) to have two MSDF destroyers guard a fleet of 
commercial freighters in front and behind. 
 
But merchant vessels have never been convoyed. There are few 
Japanese-registered ships and few ships taking Japanese crew members 
on board. In addition, most are ships owned by subsidiaries of 
Japanese companies, with Philippine and Malaysian crewmen on board, 
so cooperation through radio communications might be difficult in 
times of emergency. 
 
 
 Warning shots 
 
In the convoy mission, helicopters will play the main role. 
Machineguns will be taken in helicopters, and special security 
guards will go on board. If they spot a suspicious ship considered 
to be a pirate ship, they will warn the ship not to approach the 
fleet by international radio. 
 
A senior MSDF member said: "If the unidentified ship does not come 
 
TOKYO 00000206  002 OF 006 
 
 
closer, the MSDF will ignore the ship and continue escorting the 
fleet. But if the ship ignores the warning, the MSDF will then need 
to fire warning shots at a considerably early stage." 
 
Pirates are armed with automatic rifles and other weapons. Since 
their rockets have a range of over 1,000 meters, it is imperative to 
keep suspicious ships more than one nautical mile away from the 
fleet. The MSDF intends to use machineguns in helicopters and the 
main guns of escort ships in firing warning shots, but 
short-distance firing could damage nearby warships. A senior MSDF 
member said: "When the distance between a fleet and an unidentified 
boat is narrowed to 2,000 to 3,000 meters, firing warning shots will 
be necessary." When suspicious boats that were identified later as 
North Korean spy boats were spotted in Japanese territorial waters 
off the Noto Peninsula 10 years ago, a Japan Coast Guard patrol ship 
fired warning shots from a distance of 3,000 meters. 
 
 Limits under existing law 
 
Japanese and other countries' vessels approach fleets escorted by 
French and other countries' warships and pass through the Gulf of 
Aden off Somalia to ensure safety. If the MSDF starts anti-piracy 
operations, foreign commercial freighters will likely to navigate 
around Japanese escorts. 
 
Under Article 82 of the Self-Defense Forces Law, the legal grounds 
for dispatching the MSDF to Somalia, the MSDF is allowed to guard 
only (1) ships with Japanese registry; (2) foreign ships operated by 
Japanese shipping companies; and (3) foreign ships carrying cargoes 
bound for Japan. The Japanese Shipowners' Association is required to 
let the Defense Ministry know which ships will be protected through 
the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry. If the 
MSDF finds a ship that is outside the reach of their protection 
being attacked by pirates, the MSDF will urgently fly a helicopter 
to inform other countries' navies and ask for their help. 
 
Under the existing law, protecting foreign ships is impossible. But 
the senior MSDF official said: "This is what we can do under the 
existing law. We want the government to explain to the people what 
the MSDF can do and what it cannot do." 
 
The official said: "In the past war, the Japanese Navy was unable to 
protect Japan's convoy of transport ships. At that time, we lost the 
shipping industry's confidence. We must restore the lost confidence 
of the industry." 
 
(2) Editorial: Shore security policing just for this time only 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
January 28, 2009 
 
In order to protect Japanese tankers and other commercial ships from 
pirates, the government has decided to send the Maritime 
Self-Defense Force to waters off the coast of Somalia by invoking an 
action for maritime security operations under the Self-Defense 
Forces Law. Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada will shortly direct the 
MSDF to prepare for deployment to Somalia waters. The government and 
the ruling parties are expected to present a bill to the Diet in 
March to create a new law for the SDF's antipiracy deployment 
overseas. The action is a 'stopgap' measure to be taken until then. 
 
Primarily, antipiracy action, which is a sort of policing, is a task 
 
TOKYO 00000206  003 OF 006 
 
 
to be assigned to the Japan Coast Guard. . However, MSDF deployment 
is an effective measure, given that the JCG can hardly cope with 
pirates because they are heavily armed with weapons like rockets. 
 
SDF Law Article 82, which provides for maritime policing, does not 
specify any geographical limitations. Under the law, however, the 
MSDF is expected to act in Japanese waters. Moreover, the government 
will dispatch MSDF vessels not for an actual incident but for the 
purpose of escorting civilian ships as a preventive measure against 
pirate attacks. It was probably outside the scope of the 
government's anticipation. 
 
There is no doubt that the SDF's escort of Japan-linked merchant 
ships will have deterrent effects on pirates. That is, however, one 
thing. The government is going to send the SDF for maritime policing 
overseas, and whether this is an appropriate action is another 
thing. If the SDF's overseas deployment is intended for antipiracy 
measures, a new law should be established through Diet 
deliberations. The SDF's deployment for maritime policing should be 
a special measure just for this time only. It must not become a 
precedent for the SDF's arbitrary overseas deployment in the 
future. 
 
The government and the ruling parties have discussed the SDF's 
deployment for maritime policing, and the biggest issue was what to 
do about guidelines for the SDF to use weapons or the so-called 
rules of engagement (ROE). Maritime policing is equivalent to an 
action that is allowed under another law that governs police 
officers in the line of duty. Accordingly, the SDF is allowed to use 
weapons only for self-defense or emergency evacuation. The SDF may 
have to fire on a criminal's ship to halt it. The SDF's use of 
weapons in this case, however, is allowed only in Japan's 
territorial waters. In the government's discussions, the Cabinet 
Secretariat maintained that there are also cases where the SDF is 
not only allowed to fire warning shots in order to halt a scuttling 
ship but is also allowed to fire on that ship. The Defense Ministry 
was against this assertion. The Defense Ministry probably wants the 
government to devise clear-cut guidelines for the SDF's use of 
weapons under a new law. In the end, the government, including the 
Defense Ministry, will define the SDF's use of weapons in the ROE, 
which will not be made public. 
 
We take it for granted that guidelines for the use of weapons should 
be determined through Diet deliberations. The government has now 
decided to invoke an action for maritime policing. As a result, it 
may safely be said that the decision will leave room for the 
government and the commanding officer to expand the guidelines 
substantially at their discretion. 
 
There is another problem. In its maritime policing activities, the 
SDF is not allowed to escort or help foreign ships. The government 
will now invoke a maritime policing action while being saddled with 
these problems. Meanwhile, China has dispatched a naval fleet to 
Somalia waters. In addition, South Korea is planning to send naval 
vessels there. The government, probably with these moves in mind, 
made such a snap political decision to send MSDF vessels before 
clearing up the problems. 
 
The government and the ruling parties will only make a report to the 
Diet about the SDF's deployment after issuing an order to the SDF. 
However, the Diet should at least deliberate on the reported 
deployment. They should consider an even deeper role for the Diet. 
 
TOKYO 00000206  004 OF 006 
 
 
 
Antipiracy measures are not only in the military area. The 
government should study comprehensive measures in consideration of 
such moves as containing pirates in the Straits of Malacca and 
providing international assistance to Somalia that has been in a 
state of anarchy due to a civil war. We hope that the Diet will hold 
full-fledged deliberations on legislative measures, including a new 
law. 
 
(3) Anti-Aso forces suffering setback; Will fourth political party 
be formed? 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
January 27, 2007 
 
With an eye on the political situation before or after the next 
general election for the House of Representatives, Koichi Kato and 
Hidenao Nakagawa, former secretaries general of the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) who intend to realign political parties, 
appear to be considering forming a fourth political party, following 
the LDP, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the 
LDP's coalition partner New Komeito. In the LDP, however, there is 
no move to link rebels to a new party. Kato and Nakagawa are now 
being forced to sit on the fence. 
 
When asked by reporters about the defeat of the candidate for whom 
he had offered full support in Sunday's Yamagata gubernatorial 
election, Kato said in the Diet building: "At the final stage (of 
the campaign), the DPJ took up issues to be dealt with by national 
politics. There might have been the unpopularity of the (Aso) 
administration and the LDP as factors." 
 
Kato, who has stated that the LDP has "completed its historical 
mission," is looking into launching a study group on "correcting 
excessive market fundamentalism," with the formation of a new party 
ahead of the snap election on the horizon. On his website, as well, 
Kato expressed his determination that this year is a time to take 
the initiative. He seems to be aiming at wiping out the stain of the 
failure in the so-call "Kato rebellion," in which he tried to topple 
the cabinet of then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. 
 
However, it appears that he has not been able to pull together 
like-minded persons. Lower House member Kenichi Mizuno said: "There 
is a possibility of underlying discontent building up like magma in 
the LDP" over Prime Minister Aso's management of his administration. 
However, the dominant view in the LDP is that there is a prevailing 
mood of prioritizing the passage of the fiscal 2009 budget bill. 
Therefore, moves openly calling for Aso's resignation have not come 
to the surface. When Taku Yamasaki, a former LDP vice president and 
a longtime ally of Kato, mentioned cooperation with DPJ Deputy 
President Naoto Kan in realigning political parties, he met strong 
reactions from his supporters. He was then forced to change his 
policy to political realignment focused on the LDP and New Komeito. 
So, it is uncertain whether he will participate in Kato's study 
group. 
 
Kato is confident in what he is doing, saying: "When the election 
comes closer, the wave will become larger." He intends to make an 
approach to lawmakers who acted in concert with him in the former 
Kato faction. He will likely put off inaugurating the study group. 
 
Nakagawa is believed to aim at embroiling the DPJ in political 
 
TOKYO 00000206  005 OF 006 
 
 
realignment. He has formed four study groups on such issues as the 
environment and nursing-care services. He reportedly has held 
meetings with junior Machimura faction lawmakers. As the faction has 
strengthened pressure, a senior faction member clearly said: "There 
is no member who will follow him." 
 
(4) Market-fundamentalism-is-almighty theory is a mistake 
 
MAINICHI (Page 11) (Full) 
January 27, 2009 
 
Iwao Nakatani: Executive Director of Mitsubishi UFJ Research and 
Consulting 
 
-- The world is facing the financial crisis and the economic 
recession. 
 
"Global capitalism, which has ruled the world over the past 20-30 
years, has exposed its defects. Speculative funds for 
border-crossing investments will flood lucrative markets, but 
investors will pull out of markets, once they determine that the 
markets are no longer profitable, causing a sudden change in the 
economies of countries and areas. It is symbolical that Iceland has 
plunged into a crisis of the state going bankrupt. The outflow of 
investment funds has devastated the nation to an extent of its 
finding it difficult to hold its own. Unless there is a new 
mechanism for controlling global capitalism, the global economic 
turmoil will not end. It is necessary to have a pluralistic system 
so that each country can control speculative money." 
 
-- Mr. Nakatani, you once spearheaded global capitalism, didn't 
you? 
 
"I was at one point fascinated by the rationality and simplicity of 
the principles of the U.S.-style neoliberalism. I made an appeal on 
economic revitalization through deregulation and market opening, as 
I had an illusion that it would be possible to manage the economy 
and economic policies with the principles of neoliberalism alone. 
However, I have changed my mind, wondering whether it is possible to 
settle everything with rationalism alone. 
 
"Structural reforms carried out by the government have produced some 
results. However, this policy had major side-effects. For example, 
it has created social disparity and turned Japanese society into a 
poverty-stricken society second to the U.S. Japan has never been 
placed in a situation in which the number of people whose annual 
income is less than 2 million yen exceeds 10 million. If social 
stability is destroyed, its economy will not grow." 
 
-- What course do you think Japan should follow? 
 
If we leave everything up to the market to work out, it will become 
impossible to hold our society together with individuals becoming 
isolated (as can be seen in the recent employment uncertainty). It 
is necessary to improve social security and remove public anxieties 
even at the cost of shifting away from the small government policy 
and raising the consumption tax substantially. The government should 
draw upon the cases of Scandinavian countries, where the public 
financial burden is heavy, but international competitiveness is 
being maintained." 
 
-- Do you think it is necessary to have a growth scenario as well?" 
 
TOKYO 00000206  006 OF 006 
 
 
 
"The Japanese spirit of valuing coexistence with nature is its forte 
in the age when importance is attached to the environment. Japan 
should aim at becoming an environment-oriented country that leads 
the world in an overwhelming way. The government should tackle such 
a goal with an unwavering resolve, by, for instance, using all 
revenues from the provisional tax for an environmental policy. The 
government should consider disapproving investment by companies and 
investment funds, if the government finds that the investment would 
lead to a serious disruption of the environment. If such a way of 
thinking is put into practice, the highest level of researchers and 
engineers in the world would come to Japan, and new technical 
innovation would occur." 
 
Iwao Nakatani: Macroeconomist. Spearheaded the economic structural 
reform policy line, by serving as acting chairman of the Council on 
Economic Strategy during the Obuchi administration. Published a book 
titled "Why Has Capitalism Disintegrated?," "repenting" his 
inclination toward market fundamentalism. 
 
ZUMWALT