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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TOKYO 000212 
 
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 01/29/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Second extra budget finally clears Diet; With no coordination 
functions, ruling and opposition camps fail to make good use of 
joint committee of two chambers (Nikkei) 
 
(2) "Substance" of cooperation will become necessary (Asahi) 
 
(3) Okinawa Police send papers to public prosecutors on three U.S. 
servicemen suspected of assaulting man (Ryukyu Shimpo) 
 
(4) Deformed gobies found in Yokosuka port in field survey by health 
insurance doctors' association; high concentration of zinc detected 
(Akahata) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Second extra budget finally clears Diet; With no coordination 
functions, ruling and opposition camps fail to make good use of 
joint committee of two chambers 
 
NIKKEI (Page 3) (Abridged slightly) 
January 28, 2009 
 
The pitched battle between the ruling and opposition camps over a 
second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 finally came to an end 
yesterday. As seen in mediation efforts by the leaders of the two 
Diet chambers, the fierce battle has exposed the absence of 
coordination functions from the two camps, with the next Lower House 
election approaching. The political knockabout at a joint committee 
of the two chambers, which was supposed to look for common ground, 
has also brought to light serious flaws in the system to make 
decisions under the divided Diet. 
 
When a decision was made to take a vote on the second extra budget 
in the Upper House, the ruling parties were certain that the budget 
would clear the Diet on January 26. They anticipated that the 
opposition-controlled Upper House would adopt a bill to revise the 
government's budget bill to remove a cash handout plan. The ruling 
parties had in mind a constitutional provision stipulating the 
precedence of the more powerful Lower House's decision. 
 
But their scenario derailed when the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 
adopted the odd strategy of protracting the joint committee 
session. 
 
There was some opposition in the DPJ to prolonging the meeting. 
Despite that, frustration from a lack of factors to force the prime 
minister into dissolving the Lower House during Diet deliberations 
on a fiscal 2009 budget bill prompted the DPJ to use this strategy. 
 
After the matter was settled through the committee talks that lasted 
two days for the first time in 15 years, LDP Diet Affairs Committee 
Chairman Tadamori Oshima complained to his DPJ counterpart Kenji 
Yamaoka that the opposition bloc had protracted the session far too 
long. In response, Yamaoka proudly said: "The joint committee 
session carried historical significance." 
 
The DPJ's plan was to play up its achievement by rejecting the 
unpopular cash handout plan. The party hopefully thought that such 
might result in a chance to push the Aso administration, which puts 
top priority on the enactment of the fiscal 2009 budget before the 
 
TOKYO 00000212  002 OF 004 
 
 
end of March, to the breaking point. 
 
DPJ Vice President Hajime Ishii in a press conference yesterday 
referred to what had taken place at the joint committee as a 
preview, leaving the door open for another fierce battle over the 
2009 budget. 
 
Nevertheless, the DPJ's approach of prolonging the joint committee 
session after taking a vote in the Upper House has drawn fire from 
within the opposition camp, with Japanese Communist Party 
Secretariat Head Tadayoshi Ichida describing it as 
"incomprehensible." Some senior DPJ lawmakers are worried about the 
public's reaction to the joint committee session that exposed the 
Diet's lack of order amid the deteriorating economy. 
 
The face-off between the ruling and opposition camps clearly showed 
the lack of their ability to coordinate views. 
 
The ruling parties insisted on the prime minister delivering his 
policy speech on January 27. Yet allowing the prime minister to 
deliver his policy speech before the enactment of the second extra 
budget ran the risk of intensifying the clash with the opposition 
camp. On the night of January 26, the ruling parties asked for 
mediation by Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono. Advice by Kono and 
Upper House President Satsuki Eda quickly paved the way for a 
settlement. 
 
Flaws in the system have also become clear. In many cases in recent 
years, talks have failed because a join committee was composed of 
members supporting the decision of each chamber. A joint committee 
has been set up in 13 cases under the current Constitution. Every 
time, the committee failed to produce a final plan. 
 
This time around, the opposition bloc abruptly demanded that minutes 
be disclosed ahead of the joint committee meeting. 
 
The opening of the meeting delayed significantly due to the conflict 
with the ruling camp. The opposition bloc took advantage of the 
practice of deciding on the method of running the meeting in advance 
talks among Lower House representatives. It has also become clear 
that the direction of talks might change considerably depending on 
who -- a ruling party member or an opposition party lawmaker -- 
takes on the chairmanship, which is determined by lottery. 
 
In his talks with Seishiro Eto and other LDP lawmakers yesterday, 
Lower House Speaker Kono asked to study the proper form of a joint 
committee of the two chambers. A senior DPJ lawmaker said: "Once we 
win the (next) Lower House election, a joint committee will no 
longer be necessarily." 
 
(2) "Substance" of cooperation will become necessary 
 
ASAHI (Page 10) (Full) 
January 29, 2009 
 
Yukio Okamoto, foreign affairs commentator 
 
We can see by the positions taken by Hillary Clinton at the 
congressional hearing to confirm her appointment as secretary of 
state, as well as the statements of other personnel appointments 
that the Obama administration attaches importance to Japan-U.S. 
relations. Nevertheless, the alliance will now enter an era in which 
 
TOKYO 00000212  003 OF 004 
 
 
managing it will be fairly difficult. 
 
Since 9/11, security has been a top priority subject for the 
Japan-United States relationship, continuing on from the Cold-War 
period. Recently, a number of wide-ranging issues have been added 
on. 
 
Having wasted the legacy of the Koizumi administration, Japan has 
become unable to take risks on the security front due to conflict 
between the ruling and opposition camps in the Diet. The 
government's official development assistance (ODA) program also 
continues to shrink. The entire country is now turning inward. 
 
The honeymoon-like period with the Obama administration is expected 
to last about half a year. Sooner or later, Japan will be asked, 
"What are you going to do?" An icy view has grown in Europe and the 
United States, namely that while Japan is aiming at a permanent seat 
on the UN Security Council, it is unwilling to send troops to 
Afghanistan. 
 
During the friend-or-foe Bush era, (Japan) had only to show that it 
was (a U.S.) friend in a symbolic way. The dispatches of the 
Self-Defense Forces to Iraq and the Indian Ocean were prime 
examples. But from now on, not only symbolic presence and words but 
also the substance of cooperation are deemed necessary. 
 
To begin with, foreign policy in principle should be nonpartisan. 
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan need 
to stop fighting each other for a while and discuss external 
relations. The ODA budget must be increased, and Japan must turn 
itself into a country that can take risks in order to protect its 
people. 
 
(3) Okinawa Police send papers to public prosecutors on three U.S. 
servicemen suspected of assaulting man 
 
RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 23) (Full) 
January 29, 2009 
 
Okinawa police on January 28 sent papers to the Naha District Public 
Prosecutors Office on three U.S. Marines aged between 22 and 26 
belonging to the US Marine Corps' Camp Schwab on suspicion of 
assaulting a man at a parking lot in Misato, Okinawa City. 
 
According to the police, the three U.S. Marines in early hours of 
December 13, 2008 parked their compact passenger car at a long-term 
parking lot. When a man (22) who lives in Okinawa City told them 
that they could not park their car there, they hit him in the face 
and fled the scene. The man suffered a facial contusion, which took 
about two weeks to heal completely. 
 
One of the three servicemen hit the man in the head and the face, 
while the other two tried to take his vehicle key, etc., from his 
pockets and bag by force. Okinawa police handled the case by relying 
on the voluntary investigation of US armed forces of the U.S. 
servicemen. 
 
(4) Deformed gobies found in Yokosuka port in field survey by health 
insurance doctors' association; high concentration of zinc detected 
 
Shimbun Akahata (Page 15) (Full) 
January 29, 2009 
 
TOKYO 00000212  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
The Kanagawa Prefecture's health insurance doctors association has 
released a report of a field survey it had conducted in the Port of 
Yokosuka located near the U.S. forces' Yokosuka Naval Base 
facilities in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The report 
confirmed that deformed gobies (haze) were found in the area. 
 
The association since 1998 has been annually carrying out a field 
survey of environmental pollution likely to have been caused by 
Yokosuka Naval Base. 
 
In a survey conducted on November 16, 2008, 36 spiny gobies were 
captured. An X-ray examination found abnormalities such as bent 
bones in 23 (63.9 PERCENT ) and external abnormalities, such as 
curvature, in six (16.7 PERCENT ). There has been concern about 
pollution caused by heavy metal. High concentrations of zinc, 
arsenic and PCB were detected in the fish found to have 
abnormalities. 
 
Similar surveys were carried out in Tsurumi River, which runs 
through Machida City, Tokyo, Yokohama City and Kawasaki City, 
Kanagawa Prefecture. An X-ray examination of 13 spiny gobies 
captured there found no abnormalities. They had no external 
abnormalities, either. 
 
Dredging work to deepen the sea bed was carried out in preparation 
for the deployment of U.S. forces' nuclear-powered aircraft carrier 
George Washington at the Yokosuka Port. 
 
Referring to the discovery of many deformed gobies from the area, 
Tetsuo Nomoto, director of the pollution and environmental measures 
department of the Kanagawa Prefecture health insurance doctors 
association, pointed out, "It is feasible to think that the dredging 
work has caused an increase in the occurrence of abnormalities in 
the area in front of the Naval Base." He continued, "It is necessary 
to continue the survey. Naturally, it is dangerous to eat any gobies 
caught in this area." 
 
ZUMWALT