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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 000048 
 
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 01/08/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
 
(1) Obama administration plans to name Joseph Nye new ambassador to 
Japan, giving importance to relations with Japan (Asahi) 
 
(2) Government to ban retired senior bureaucrats from watari or 
switching from one organization to another, Prime Minister Aso to 
announce as early as today (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(3) Bid-rigging, cartels: FTC to resubmit amendment to Anti-Monopoly 
Law featuring proposal for court trial for companies complaining 
about administrative penalties; Advance judgment system for dumping 
(Nikkei) 
 
(4) Government starts drafting bill for MSDF support of anti-piracy 
efforts off Somalia, but New Komeito remains cautious, DPJ opposed 
(Asahi) 
 
(5) Relations between Japan, U.S., China changing (Yomiuri) 
 
(6) ODA - Japan's option: Revival of "profitable assistance"? (Tokyo 
Shimbun) 
 
(7) TOP HEADLINES 
 
(8) EDITORIALS 
 
(9) Prime Minister's schedule, January 7 (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Obama administration plans to name Joseph Nye new ambassador to 
Japan, giving importance to relations with Japan 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpts) 
Evening, January 8, 2009 
 
Yoichi Kato, Washington 
 
The incoming Barack Obama administration has decided to appoint 
former Assistant Secretary of Defense and Harvard University Prof. 
Joseph Nye as the new ambassador to Japan. This was revealed on Jan. 
¶7. With the selection of high-ranking officers responsible for East 
Asian affairs at the White House, State Department, Defense 
Department now over, the administration's lineup of major players on 
its Asia policy team is complete. 
 
It is unprecedented for the incoming ambassador to Japan to be 
determined before the establishment of the new administration. The 
step is seen as reflecting the Obama administration's attachment of 
importance to relations with Japan. According to a relevant source, 
Nye has been informed of the administration's decision and he is 
expected to accept the offer. 
 
He will be formally named ambassador to Japan following the 
President's nomination and the Senate's approval. Incumbent 
Ambassador Schieffer is scheduled to leave Japan ahead of the 
presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. 
 
Nye, who served as assistant secretary of defense in the Clinton 
administration, was responsible for the so-called 1996 redefinition 
 
TOKYO 00000048  002 OF 009 
 
 
of the Japan-U.S. security system. He has been involved deeply in 
Japan-U.S. relations, as seen in the fact that he formulated the 
Armitage-Nye Report twice jointly with former Deputy Secretary of 
State Richard Armitage: in 2000 shortly before the establishment of 
the Bush administration and in 2007 ahead of the last Presidential 
election. The Report is a comprehensive strategic text on U.S. 
policy toward Japan as its ally. 
 
He is also known as an advocate of "smart power" that calls for the 
use of soft power, such as values and cultures, as a diplomatic 
means, without placing a disproportionate emphasis on hard power, 
such as military might. 
 
In June 2008, amidst the presidential race, Nye, along with former 
Secretary of Navy Danzig, contributed to the Asahi Shimbun an Obama 
camp Japan policy essay, reading: "The U.S.-Japan alliance remains 
the cornerstone of American policy in the Asia-Pacific region." He 
has been playing a pivotal role in policy. His appointment as 
ambassador to Japan seems to be based on the positive assessment of 
such achievements. 
 
(2) Government to ban retired senior bureaucrats from watari or 
switching from one organization to another, Prime Minister Aso to 
announce as early as today 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Full) 
January 8, 2009 
 
The government decided yesterday to immediately prohibit the 
practice of ministries or agencies arranging watari for retired 
bureaucrats or the practice of switching from one cushy job to 
another at government-affiliated organizations and private-sector 
companies over which the former officials had had oversight 
responsibilities. Prime Minister Taro Aso is expected to announce 
this policy change as early as today at a House of Representatives 
Budget Committee session. 
 
The Reemployment Oversight Committee approves the practice of 
amakudari or placing retiring senior bureaucrats into 
government-affiliated organizations and high-paying posts at private 
firms in the industries they had overseen. However, the committee 
members have not been chosen due to objections from the opposition 
parties. The government decided as a result to give approval using 
the authority of the prime minister, but it has judged that the 
prime minister would come under public criticism if he directly 
approved the practice of watari, through which retired bureaucrats 
repeatedly receive lucrative retirement benefits. 
 
A high government official last night said: "The practice of watari 
should be immediately stopped. The prime minister will make a final 
decision on the matter." 
 
The placement of retired bureaucrats in outside positions was 
unified under the government-private sector personnel exchange 
center that was established last Dec. 31 The center does not provide 
its good services, however, for watari or shifts from one position 
to another. However, it has been decided that during a three-year 
transition period, the center will be able to arrange positions for 
retired bureaucrats more than once, as long as the special committee 
approves. 
 
However, it does not appear likely that Diet approval of the 
 
TOKYO 00000048  003 OF 009 
 
 
committee members will be obtained because of opposition camp's 
blockage. The cabinet adopted late last year an ordinance that the 
prime minister can exercise his authority if the posts of committee 
members are vacant. If the prime minister does not approve, the 
ministries and agencies will be no longer be able to give watari 
positions to retiring bureaucrats. 
 
(3) Bid-rigging, cartels: FTC to resubmit amendment to Anti-Monopoly 
Law featuring proposal for court trial for companies complaining 
about administrative penalties; Advance judgment system for dumping 
 
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Full) 
January 6, 2009 
 
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to take a second look at 
its judgment system, under which it decides the propriety of 
administrative penalties it has issued in cases violating the 
Anti-Monopoly Law (AML). Many are skeptical about the impartiality 
of the system with one saying that it is like a public prosecutor 
doubling as a judge. The FTC has looked into a system that allows 
cases involving bid-rigging and cartel practices to be directly 
brought to the law courts. Regarding dumping, it intends to 
introduce an advance judgment system, under which penalties are 
handed down, based on allegations given by the corporate side. 
 
Under the present system, a company challenging the administrative 
penalties issued by the FTC applies for a judgment, which is 
equivalent to the first instance in trials. In response to the 
application filed by the company, the FTC decides the propriety of 
the penalties it had earlier issued. If the company still complains 
about the FTC's decision, it can apply to a high court for a trial. 
However, the penalties issued by the FTC were revised just once 
under the judgment system over the past decade. Business circles 
have been critical of the judgment system, as a result. 
 
According to the draft review proposals, the ex-post facto judgment 
system will be scrapped. Instead, in cases involving bid-rigging and 
cartels among cases of violation of the AML, companies will become 
able to directly appeal to a court of law on unacceptable penalties. 
The judgment is that such cases are suitable for court trials 
because irregularities are clear. In the meantime, an advance 
judgment system, under which the FTC decides the details of 
penalties it issues, based on its investigation into companies' 
allegations and evidence, will be adopted. 
 
The FTC submitted to the regular Diet session last year a bill 
amending the AML attached with an additional clause that 
consideration should be given to revision of the system. The bill, 
however, was killed, with talks between the ruling and opposition 
parties encountering complications due to strong calls for the total 
scrapping of the bill. This time, the FTC will resubmit the bill 
incorporating concrete revisions with the aim of having it enacted 
before the end of 2010. However, since business circles and the 
Democratic Party of Japan are seeking the bill be scrapped, the FTC 
could be pressed to make even more revisions to it. 
 
(4) Government starts drafting bill for MSDF support of anti-piracy 
efforts off Somalia, but New Komeito remains cautious, DPJ opposed 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 8, 2009 
 
 
TOKYO 00000048  004 OF 009 
 
 
The government and the ruling parties have started work on preparing 
a new law to enable Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to be 
deployed to waters off Somalia in support of international 
anti-piracy efforts. They will also study a two-stage formula under 
which the government would temporarily resort to a provision in the 
Self-Defense Forces Law to order a maritime police action by the 
MSDF until the law comes into effect. Debate on this issue is likely 
to heat up over rules on the use of weapons against pirates. 
 
Prime Minister Aso told reporters yesterday: "Many countries have 
dispatched naval ships, and China has also decided to dispatch 
warships to the area. Under this situation, it is very important, in 
view of protecting the property of the people, for Japan to consider 
what actions it can take in the area,." Aso thus expressed his 
eagerness about Japan's participation in countering piracy off 
Somalia. 
 
The prime minister, who used to be a company president, is 
interested in pragmatism in foreign policy. Given this, he is eager 
to ensure the safety of sea lanes by taking anti-piracy measures. In 
Diet deliberations on a bill amending the refueling-assistance 
special measures law last October, Akihisa Nagashima of the 
Democratic Party of Japan urged the government to dispatch MSDF 
warships to battle Somalia pirates. Aso promptly replied: "We would 
like to consider this idea." Just after China announced in December 
a plan to deploy warships, Aso instructed Defense Minister Hamada to 
work out specific measures. 
 
In response to Aso's eagerness, the Liberal Democratic Party and the 
New Komeito decided yesterday to set up a project team tasked with 
drawing up anti-piracy measures. The panel will look into the two 
options of ordering a maritime policing action by the MSDF and of 
enacting a new law. The panel envisions dispatching not Japan Coast 
Guard (JCG) members but MSDF troops. 
 
Under new legislation, troops would be allowed to take action to 
protect foreign vessels, but a senior government official commented: 
"Whether a new law is enacted hinges on a decision by the New 
Komeito." A senior New Komeito member recognized the need for new 
legislation but also insisted that strict rules were necessary, 
saying: "There are constitutional restrictions, so in dispatching 
troops overseas, restrictions must be imposed by legislation." 
 
Debate is expected to heat up particularly on standards for troops 
to be allowed to use weapons in cracking down on pirates. In the 
government's document presented to the ruling side, "matters related 
to authority over the use of weapons necessary in performing the 
mission" were specified as those up for consideration. The issue of 
weapon-use standards was not taken in discussing the anti-terrorism 
special measures law or the Iraq special measures law. 
 
Even if agreement is reached in the government and the ruling camp, 
the DPJ is unlikely to easily approve the plan. President Ozawa has 
insisted on the need for a basic law on SDF overseas missions and 
has been negative about introducing a special measures law, 
remarking: "(Dealing with the issue with special legislation) is 
undesirable, because it could leave the issue of interpretation of 
the Constitution ambiguous." DPJ Policy Research Committee Chairman 
Masayuki Naoshima, while acknowledging the need for Japan's 
cooperation in combating pirates, said in a press conference 
yesterday: "I cannot say whether the party will support new 
legislation before the government reveals its specific contents." 
 
TOKYO 00000048  005 OF 009 
 
 
 
Even if the government submits a new law, deliberations will 
unlikely not start before the fiscal 2009 budget bill and related 
bills are enacted into law. If the opposition camp, which has now 
control of the House of Councillors, puts up all-out resistance, the 
ruling camp will have the option of resorting to the override vote 
tactic in the House of Representatives. In this case, too, the 
battle in the Diet will inevitably be prolonged. Since a Tokyo 
Metropolitan Assembly election, on which the New Komeito has placed 
great importance, will take place this summer, it is still 
unpredictable whether the new legislation can clear the Diet. 
 
Some government officials have put forth the idea of ordering a 
maritime policing action as a stopgap measure, but the Defense 
Ministry remains cautious about the plan, citing such reasons as 
unclear weapon-use standards. The New Komeito's assertion is that 
the Japan Coast Guard primarily should be responsible for the 
anti-piracy mission. Defense Minister Hamada reportedly told a 
senior New Komeito member when they met last evening: "It is not 
true to think that troops are allowed to take any actions under the 
provision pertaining to an order for maritime patrol action. I take 
a view that is similar to the New Komeito's." 
 
(5) Relations between Japan, U.S., China changing 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
January 7, 2009 
 
How will relations between Japan, the United States and China shift 
this year, which falls between the 30th anniversary of the 
conclusion of the Japan-China Peace and Amity Treaty and the 50th 
anniversary of the conclusion of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty? 
 
In a lecture in January 2008, James Steinberg, who has been named 
President-elect Obama's deputy secretary of state nominee, made this 
statement: 
 
"It is best for strong U.S.-China relations to complement strong 
U.S.-Japan relations. Japan will be able to build good relations 
with China without concern about possible conflict with the United 
States or being overwhelmed by China's momentum." 
 
Among the sets of relations -- Japan and the U.S., the U.S. and 
China, and Japan and China -- Japan-U.S. relations stand out as 
having the most pressing destabilizing factors. 
 
For instance, U.S. Marines are scheduled to be relocated from 
Okinawa to Guam and Futenma Air Station is to be moved from Ginowan 
by 2014 as part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The 
United States is becoming increasingly frustrated with the Futenma 
relocation plan being sidetracked by local objections. 
 
Although the Aso cabinet is said to lack a "control tower," Prime 
Minister Taro Aso has been involved in (the Guam relocation plan). 
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), which was hard-lined at the 
time, initially requested that Japan bear 75 PERCENT  of the Guam 
relocation cost. But it was Aso who presented a plan that persuaded 
the DOD to change its mind at an early stage in the process and 
lower Japan's share to 59 PERCENT , including loans. Aso was serving 
as foreign minister at the time. 
 
Aso played golf in Tokyo with U.S. Ambassador to Japan J. Thomas 
 
TOKYO 00000048  006 OF 009 
 
 
Schieffer in the spring of 2006. While on the green, Aso wrote "1/3" 
on the sand bunker with his club. The ambassador then asked, "The 
United States and Japan would bear one-third each. What about the 
rest?" Aso replied: "Loans. Interest rates in Japan are now low. If 
you present the difference in interest rates between Japan and the 
United States, the Congress would accept it." The ambassador 
reportedly nodded, saying, "I get the picture." It is well known 
that the ambassador subsequently did the spadework on the U.S. 
side. 
 
With such an experience, the prime minister must have a strong 
desire to break the deadlock in the current situation. But with many 
government and ruling party members turning their backs on Aso, it 
is not easy for him to demonstrate strong leadership at the moment. 
 
In addition, there are many outstanding issues that are vital from a 
viewpoint of the Japan-U.S. alliance, such as measures against 
piracy in waters off Somalia, Africa, and expanded reconstruction 
assistance to Afghanistan. Even if the Democratic Party of Japan 
(DPJ) is in charge of the government, these issues will not go away. 
If they are postponed, they would become more difficult to handle. 
Even so, there is no momentum for talks. There is a sense of alarm 
in the United States toward the DPJ, with some taking the party's 
call for Japan-U.S. relations to be placed on equal footing and for 
moving Futenma Air Station out of Okinawa, as is specified in its 
Okinawa Vision, as an indication of the party's turning away from 
the United States. 
 
Many observers think that compared to Japan and the United States, 
the U.S. and China will move closer to each other. Not only in trade 
and the economy but also in the war on terror, there are strong 
calls in the United States for attaching more importance to China, a 
nuclear power that has its own trouble with Muslim extremists. The 
United States has also high regards for China as the chair of the 
six-party talks on North Korea. 
 
There have been new developments in relations between Japan and 
China, as seen in the first independent Japan-China-South Korea 
summit in December 2008. Although there is no lack of seeds of 
discord, such as the undeveloped gas fields in the East China Sea 
and intrusions into Japanese waters near the Senkaku Islands, China 
no longer reacts fiercely to Japan, as it did during the Koizumi 
administration. Some observers think that in view of China's 
hospitality toward DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa in the past, Japan and 
China will develop closer relations under a DPJ administration. 
 
(6) ODA - Japan's option: Revival of "profitable assistance"? 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Full) 
January 8, 2009 
 
The Japanese government plans to extend yen loans worth 25 billion 
yen as official development assistance (ODA) to expand facilities at 
Port Toamasina, Madagascar, with the intention to use them jointly 
with that country. Sumitomo Corporation is now engaged in exploring 
for rare metals, such as nickel, in Madagascar. It will ship those 
metals from that port. It will be a massive project that will cost 
about 10 PERCENT  of that country's tax revenues, once completed. 
Research and preparations are under way at a very fast speed. 
Transport Minister Botozaza wants the project to be completed by 
fiscal 2012. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000048  007 OF 009 
 
 
In the 1960s and the 1970s, Japan extended ODA as a joint effort of 
government and private sector or in the form of tied aid in order 
for Japanese companies to receive project contracts. The 
international community criticized Japan as carrying out "commercial 
ODA." 
 
Since then, Japan's ODA has changed. It has been giving more 
consideration to criticism both from home and abroad. It has set 
stricter environment standards. It has also constrained the total 
value of ODA. Japan's ODA, which has become "too polite," as one 
development consultant put it, has lost attractiveness to 
companies. 
 
As a result, Japan's ODA has been pushed into the background. China, 
instead, has begun to carry out ODA as a joint government-private 
sector effort, which once was Japan's monopoly. In Madagascar, you 
see billboards in Chinese on both sides of the highway between the 
airport and the capital. 
 
This sense of alarm has brought about a move in Japan to take a 
second look at the ODA program. The Government-Private Sector 
Partnership, compiled last April at the initiative of the Foreign 
Minister, reflects the government's desire to revive Japan as an ODA 
power by rebuilding the cooperative relationship between the 
government and the private sector. The project now being carried out 
in Madagascar is a concrete example of such a desire. The Finance 
Ministry expects a kill-three-birds-with-one-stone effect from the 
project in Madagascar with one official noting, "This project will 
be beneficial for Japan, companies, and Madagascar." 
 
Nickel mines and access roads to them will certainly bring about 
benefits to Africa. However, a question remains whether this is the 
most needed assistance to the people of Africa, who are suffering 
from poverty and famine. Minoru Omura, chief of the Citizens' 
Society Forum of the Tokyo International Conference on African 
Development, suggested that Japan should set up an assistance agency 
so that it can extend assistance with focus on poverty and 
humanitarian assistance. This is close to Japan International 
Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Sadako Ogata's stance on human 
security. 
 
Should Japan follow the path toward "profitable ODA," now that it is 
suffering from an economic recession? Should ODA be limited to 
humanitarian areas? The issue extends beyond diplomacy; it is a 
choice involving domestic affairs. 
 
(7) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry likely to lower cell 
phone fees 
 
Mainichi: 
Russian gas supply to Europe via Ukraine stops completely 
 
Yomiuri: 
Japanese group suspected of helping to find accommodations for 
illegal-stay foreigners 
 
Nikkei: 
Mitsubishi Motors to produce electric cars for Peugeot 
 
 
TOKYO 00000048  008 OF 009 
 
 
Sankei: 
Japan Post's decision to hand over 70 facilities to ORIX a new 
source of trouble 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Government to ban retired senior bureaucrats from getting 
high-paying posts at private sector; Prime Minister Aso to announce 
today 
 
Akahata: 
Need for international pressure on Israel to bring about immediate 
ceasefire 
 
(8) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Don't leave tragedy of Gaza as is 
(2) Depict future of sports with cooperation between regional 
communities and corporations 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Extension of efforts to achieve fiscal soundness: Government 
should show new goal to put the public at ease 
(2) Review of Public Office Election Law: Hurry to lift ban on 
Internet election 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) To secure IT systems, prepare for accidents 
(2) Taxi drivers must act in self-defense 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Government must come up with short- and medium-term measures to 
protect workers 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Green New Deal: Bring together wisdom of Japan 
(2) Dispatch of workers to manufacturers: Cautious argument on 
tightening of regulations 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Fiscal reconstruction: Discipline on expenditures indispensable 
(2) Review of reduced-rice-acreage policy: Don't end in mere talk 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Companies must not fire workers unscrupulously 
 
(9) Prime Minister's schedule, January 7 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 8, 2009 
 
09:50 
Shikinensai Imperial memorial ceremony marking the 20th anniversary 
of Emperor Showa's death held in Hachioji City. 
 
13:14 
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Konoike at the Kantei. 
 
14:01 
Upper House plenary session. 
 
16:00 
 
TOKYO 00000048  009 OF 009 
 
 
Lower House Budget Committee meeting. 
 
17:27 
New Year's party hosted by Jiji Press, etc., at Imperial Hotel. 
 
17:49 
Acting Policy Research Council Chairman Sonoda at Bar Golden Lion in 
the same hotel. 
 
19:25 
Met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsumoto. 
 
20:44 
Arrived at the private residence in Kamiyama-cho. 
 
SCHIEFFER