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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 000324 
 
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 2/12/09 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
 
2) Editorials 
 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
4) Secretary Clinton's visit will be the occasion for formal signing 
of a U.S.-Japan agreement on relocating Marines on Okinawa to Guam 
(Asahi) 
 
5) During Clinton visit, Okinawa's opposition to seek halt to Marine 
move to Guam and new runway at Camp Schwab, and closing down of 
Futenma Air Station (Akahata) 
 
6) Secretary Clinton wishes to meet DPJ President Ozawa during Japan 
visit (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
7) But "cautious" Ozawa may not wish to meet Clinton (Mainichi) 
 
8) Crimes by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa not declining (Tokyo 
Shimbun) 
 
9) Foreign ministers Nakasone, Yu agree in Seoul meeting that Japan, 
South Korea will jointly cooperate in assisting Afghanistan, working 
through NGOs (Yomiuri) 
 
10) Main points of Japan-ROK foreign ministerial meeting in Seoul 
(Yomiuri) 
 
11) Former North Korean spy Kim Hyon-hui to meet family members of 
Japanese woman abducted by North Korean agents (Yomiuri) 
 
12) Two abducted Japanese women revealed to be married and living in 
North Korea (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
13) Former Prime Minister Mori, apparently upset by Prime Minister 
Aso's recent performance in Diet, calls his replies "terrible" 
(Yomiuri) 
 
14) Aso's call for review of postal privatization creates dilemma 
for Democratic Party of Japan, which is split on the issue (Yomiuri) 
 
 
15) Japan Business Federation joins U.S., European organizations 
send letter to U.S. Congress on protectionist language in stimulus 
bill (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
16) Japan to propose to United Nations that developing countries be 
brought into the new greenhouse-gas reduction scheme (Yomiuri)   11 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
Asahi: 
Osaka consultancy firm collected over 10 billion yen in suspected 
fraud from more than 10,000 members 
 
Mainichi: 
Right wing wins majority in Israeli general election: Will peace 
process become stagnant? 
 
TOKYO 00000324  002 OF 011 
 
 
 
Yomiuri: 
Government to subsidize firms that have introduced work-sharing to 
hire unemployed people 
 
Nikkei: 
One in three listed companies to forego or reduce dividend payouts 
for fiscal 2008: 9 PERCENT  drop in total amount 
 
Sankei: 
Prime minister to visit Sakhalin on the 18th: Will approve Russian 
ownership of island? Concern that priority given to practical 
advantage 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Two female abductees believed to have married in North Korea: 
Taguchi with South Korean, Matsumoto with Japanese 
 
Akahata: 
Prep rally to call on Toyota Motors to protect jobs, subcontractors 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) President Obama's economic stimulus package: Implement quickly 
to win trust 
(2) General election in Israel: Do not shut out path to peace 
process 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Israel: Administration urged to value peace in Middle East 
(2) Arrest over tainted rice: Agriculture ministry should make sure 
to prevent recurrence 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) U.S. new financial stabilization measures: Purchases of bad 
loans to get under way 
(2) Teachers graduate school: Challenge is to strengthen ties with 
education boards 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) U.S. financial stabilization package falls short of expectation 
(2) Israel leans to the right: 
 
Sankei: 
(1) U.S. financial stabilization measures: Embody measures that can 
satisfy market 
(2) Make dialogue between U.S. and Iran lead to overcoming hostile 
relationship 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) U.S. economic stimulus package: Concern about protectionism 
remains 
(2) Aerospace Exhibition: Industry to be promoted, following auto 
industry 
 
Akahata: 
(1) March 1 Bikini Day: Steady progress to eliminate nuclear 
weapons 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
 
TOKYO 00000324  003 OF 011 
 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, February 10 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 11, 2009 
 
07:12 
Took a walk around his official residence. 
 
09:19 
Met with State Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories Sato 
and Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura in the Diet building. Attended 
afterwards cabinet meeting. 
 
09:56 
Met at Kantei with Finance Vice Minister for International Affairs 
Shinohara. 
 
10:13 
Met with Foreign Minister Nakasone, followed by Consumer Affairs 
Minister Noda and Kawamura. Kawamura remained. 
 
12:10 
Met with Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Yosano. 
 
13:04 
Met with Kawamura and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Matsumoto, 
Konoike and Uruma. Kawamura remained. Met Deputy Foreign Minister 
Otabe. 
 
14:10 
Met with Advisors to the Cabinet Kusaka and Nishimura; Uruma; and 
Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Fukuda and Hayashi. Met 
afterward with Cabinet Intelligence Director Mitani, Defense 
Ministry Defense Policy Bureau Chief Takamizawa, and Defense 
Intelligence Headquarters Chief Shimohira. Mitani remained. 
 
16:12 
Met with Cabinet Public Relations Secretary Ogawa. 
 
17:13 
Met at LDP headquarters with Secretary General Hosoda. Taped message 
for public relations, attended by Public Relations Headquarters 
Chairman Furuya. . 
 
18:18 
Met with Kawamura at his official residence. 
 
19"06 
Dined with editorial writers of various media companies at Japanese 
restaurant Toufu-ya-Ukai in Shibakoen. 
 
21:06 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, February 11 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
09:31 
Took a walk in the area near his official residence. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000324  004 OF 011 
 
 
Afternoon 
Stayed at home. 
 
4) Marines pact to be inked Feb. 17 during Clinton visit 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
February 11, 2009 
 
U.S. Secretary of State Clinton will shortly visit Japan for the 
first time since assuming office. On that occasion, Japan and the 
United States will hold a foreign ministerial meeting in Tokyo on 
Feb. 17 and will reach a formal agreement on a bilateral arrangement 
regarding the planned relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to 
Guam, sources have revealed. Japan and the Untied States will 
confirm in written form that the two countries will continue 
bilateral cooperation to push for the realignment of U.S. forces in 
Japan after the Obama administration's inauguration. This is meant 
to underscore the importance of the alliance between the two 
countries. 
 
According to Japanese government officials, Japan is now going 
through final coordination with the United States for Clinton and 
Foreign Minister Nakasone to hold a signing ceremony after their 
meeting. The bilateral pact is to specify that Japan's fiscal 
spending on the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam is up to 
2.8 billion dollars (approx. 250 billion yen). The pact is to 
stipulate that the United States will be prohibited from using the 
money for any other purposes and that Japanese contractors will be 
equally treated in bidding. 
 
In their meeting, Nakasone and Clinton will confirm that the 
relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam, which will lessen 
Okinawa's base-hosting burden, and the relocation of Futenma 
airfield are in an inseparable package. Meanwhile, the government's 
coordination with Okinawa has been drawn out over the relocation 
site of an alternative facility for Futenma airfield. On this issue 
as well, Nakasone and Clinton are expected to concur on pushing for 
Futenma relocation. Clinton reportedly gave high marks to the 
Japanese government for its earmarking of Guam relocation related 
costs in its fiscal 2009 budget. In May 2006, the Japanese and U.S. 
governments agreed on a "roadmap" that sets an itinerary for the 
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. It says the United States will 
move 8,000 Marines and 9,000 family members to Guam by 2014. It also 
incorporates the Japanese government's financial backing for that 
purpose. 
 
5) Okinawa's opposition lawmakers ask gov't to drop new base plan 
 
AKAHATA (Page 4) (Full) 
February 11, 2009 
 
Ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Clinton's scheduled visit to Japan 
from Feb. 16, opposition party lawmakers elected from Okinawa 
Prefecture yesterday made a request to the Foreign Ministry and the 
Defense Ministry over the U.S. military presence in the island 
prefecture. In concrete terms, they asked the two ministries not to 
sign a bilateral agreement on Japan's sharing of costs for the 
planned relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam. They also asked 
the government to call off the planned construction of a new base at 
the Henoko district of Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture and request 
the U.S. government to close down and return Futenma airfield at 
once. In addition, they asked the two ministries to call for a 
 
TOKYO 00000324  005 OF 011 
 
 
drastic revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement. 
 
At the Foreign Ministry, North American Affairs Bureau Deputy 
Director General Koji Haneda met the group of lawmakers. Haneda said 
the Foreign Ministry was preparing to sign the agreement on the 
occasion of Clinton's visit to Japan. 
 
Seiken Akamine, a Japanese Communist Party lawmaker seated in the 
House of Representatives, pursued the issue: "The government's 
cost-sharing plan includes spending on the construction of 
infrastructure at Andersen Air Base in the northern part of Guam 
Island, but that's irrelevant to the relocation of U.S. Marines from 
Okinawa to Guam. We absolutely cannot agree to let the government 
spend taxpayers' money on the pretext of mitigating Okinawa's 
burden." Haneda insisted, "This project has bearing on the 
relocation of Marines to Guam. We will scrutinize this matter well 
every year between Japan and the United States and will refer the 
budget plan to the Diet." 
 
In addition, Haneda also indicated that the Japanese and U.S. 
governments would specify a package plan in the bilateral agreement 
to go ahead with the Guam relocation, construct the new base, and 
return the sites of U.S. military bases located south of the Kadena 
Air Base. 
 
Akamine criticized the government plan severely, saying, "Concluding 
such an agreement between Japan and the United States is pressure on 
Okinawa Prefecture and its people opposing the government plan." 
 
6) U.S. Secretary of State Clinton seeks meeting with Ozawa 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
February 11, 2009 
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sounded out Ichiro 
Ozawa, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan 
(DPJ), on holding a meeting with her during her visit that starts on 
Feb. 16, a DPJ source revealed on Feb. 10. According to the source, 
a request to hold a meeting on Feb. 17 came through the U.S. Embassy 
in Tokyo late last week. 
 
Foreign ministers visiting Japan sometimes meet with opposition 
leaders, but it is rare for a U.S. secretary of state to request 
such a meeting. In consideration of the backdrop of falling support 
rates for the cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, as well as the 
possibility of the DPJ wresting power from the ruling coalition in 
the next Lower House election that must be held by the fall, 
Secretary Clinton appears to have judged that there is a need to 
hold talks with Ozawa regarding the bilateral alliance. Ozawa is 
expected to give his reply, while taking into account the current 
Diet situation of the ruling and opposition camps engaged in severe 
clashes. 
 
If realized, Clinton is expected to explain the Obama 
administration's basic policy of placing priority on the U.S. 
relations with Japan, as well as to discuss such issues as the 
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan and relocation of U.S. Marine 
Corps' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan City). Clinton is scheduled 
to meet with Aso and Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone on Feb. 17. 
 
7) Ozawa to cautiously decide on whether to accept meeting with U.S. 
Secretary of State Clinton 
 
TOKYO 00000324  006 OF 011 
 
 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sounded out Ichiro 
Ozawa, president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan 
(DPJ), about holding a meeting with during her during her Japan 
visit that starts next Monday. Ozawa is expected to make a decision 
in a cautious manner on whether to accept the request. The DPJ has 
advocated the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air 
Station out of Okinawa Prefecture to someplace overseas. This was 
not the agreement reached by the Japanese and U.S. governments to 
relocate the base to a location elsewhere on the island prefecture. 
The U.S. government is strongly concerned about the DPJ view. If a 
meeting between Clinton and Ozawa is realized, the Futenma 
relocation will likely be on the agenda. 
 
According to DPJ sources, the request for a meeting came in early 
February through U.S. Embassy officials. The DPJ was told that 
Clinton thought it only natural to meet with the leader of the 
largest opposition party. The U.S. would like to hold the meeting on 
Feb. 17. Ozawa, however, has yet to make a decision on whether to 
accept the request, indicating he is reluctant to see Clinton after 
her meeting with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone. Ozawa 
reportedly has told senior party members that he will meet with her 
if his schedule allows, but he is giving priority to preparing for 
the next general election. Regarding the relocation of the Futenma 
Air Station, the DPJ's "Okinawa vision" issued last July calls for 
considering moving Futenma to someplace outside of the prefecture, 
possibly abroad, taking the change in strategic environment into 
account. 
 
8) One year after schoolgirl rape, despite preventive measures, no 
decline in incidents by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa; Brutal 
crimes at worst level in 10 years 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 8) (Full) 
Eve., February 10, 2009 
 
On Feb. 10, it was exactly one year since the rape of a schoolgirl 
by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa. However, even after preventive measures 
were created by the U.S. forces and the government, the number of 
incidents by U.S. military personnel has not declined. According to 
the Okinawa prefectural police, there was an increase by seven 
incidents last year over the year before in penal offenses involving 
arrest and prosecution. Such brutal crimes as robbery and rape were 
at the highest recorded level in 10 years. 
 
After a U.S. Marine last Feb. 11 was arrested, the U.S. forces had a 
"period of self-reflection," implemented such measures as training 
to prevent sex crimes, and at one time imposed a total 24-hour 
curfew. However, starting with the incident of an assault on a taxi 
driver by U.S. personnel troubled for money, including an military 
policeman, who is supposed to control military incidents, the number 
of incidents increased involving arrests of U.S. soldiers on such 
charges as inflicting bodily harm, drunk driving, and foreign 
currency counterfeiting. 
 
The Okinawa office of the Foreign Ministry has beefed up its seminar 
to promote understanding of Okinawa, the idea being that crime can 
be preventing by instilling in U.S. military personnel a respect for 
the region. In addition to having young U.S. troops assemble on 
 
TOKYO 00000324  007 OF 011 
 
 
their bases to listen to lectures on local history and culture, in 
January, a Okinawa karate expert trained approximately 200 U.S. 
military personnel. 
 
In the lecture by a local historian, such historical incidents are 
referred to as the forced takeover of land under the U.S. military 
occupation. After listening to the lecture, one soldier raised the 
question, "Are we hated in Okinawa?" The Foreign Ministry's local 
office plans to continue the program, a spokesman saying, "It is 
important to tell them about the reasons and background for the 
strong reactions to the bases by local communities." 
 
9) Japan, South Korea agree on specific plans for joint assistance 
in Afghan reconstruction 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
Risa Kato, Seoul 
 
Foreign Minister Nakasone and his South Korean counterpart Yu 
Myung-hwan affirmed in their meeting in Seoul on Feb. 11 that the 
two countries would deepen their cooperative relation in the 
international community. They agreed on concrete plans for joint 
assistance in Afghan reconstruction, such as dispatching Japanese 
experts to a South Korean vocational training center in Kabul and 
supporting a soybean-plantation project being promoted by a 
nongovernmental organization (NGO). 
 
In their foreign ministerial held last June, the two countries had 
agreed to hold high-level administrative talks to discuss future 
options for international organizations, including a reform of the 
UN Security Council. Nakasone and Yu decided to hold their first 
meeting in Tokyo in March or April. 
 
During their 70-minute meeting, Nakasone and Yu discussed issues 
with North Korea for about 30 minutes. They shared the importance of 
cooperation among Japan, the U.S. and South Korea in dealing with 
North Korea. Nakasone emphasized: "North Korea is trying to increase 
tensions. We must not allow the North to move to divide Japan, South 
Korea and the U.S." Yu replied: "Its attempt to raise tensions is 
undesirable." 
 
The two ministers also agreed to: (1) upgrade working-level talks 
aimed to resume negotiations on an economic partnership agreement 
(EPA) from the current division-director level to the vice 
minister-level; and (2) continue the 10-year project to have 1,000 
South Korean students specializing in science and technology study 
in Japan. 
 
10) Main points from Japan-S. Korea foreign ministerial talks 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
(The following is a gist of yesterday's meeting between Foreign 
Minister Nakasone and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myong Hwan in 
Seoul) 
 
Bilateral relations 
 
Nakasone, Yu: We welcome the fact that shuttle summit diplomacy is 
 
TOKYO 00000324  008 OF 011 
 
 
becoming a fixed occurrence. We have agreed to continue the cultural 
exchange conference between Japan and South Korea for a third term 
and to continue the joint program for the two countries' science and 
technology students to study in Japan and South Korea. 
 
Fisheries 
 
Nakasone: We need to cooperate on the management of natural 
resources in the waters provisionally designated under the bilateral 
fisheries agreement between Japan and South Korea. 
 
Yu: We want to hold close consultations. 
 
Drifted refuse 
 
Nakasone: There are (numerous) polytanks (plastic containers) 
drifting ashore. I'd like to ask for cooperation to improve the 
situation. 
 
Yu: We have been educating and guiding fishermen. 
 
North Korea problem 
 
Nakasone: We want to maintain and strengthen close-knit cooperation 
between Japan, South Korea, and the United States. 
 
Yu: The six-party talks are now at a critical turning point. We also 
want to consult closely with the Obama administration. We want to 
continue our support as much as we can to resolve the abduction 
issue. 
 
Afghan reconstruction aid 
 
Nakasone, Yu: We will cooperate on vocational training and 
agricultural assistance. We will look into the feasibility of 
further cooperation. 
 
Talks for economic cooperation agreement 
 
Nakasone, Yu: We will raise the current level of bilateral 
consultations from working level to vice ministerial level in order 
to resume consultations, and we will expedite our studies. 
 
11) South Korean foreign minister: Coordination underway for meeting 
between Taguchi's kin and Kim Hyon Hui 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
Risa Kato, Seoul 
 
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone held separate talks with South 
Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Foreign Affairs and Trade 
Minister Yu Myung Hwan in Seoul on Feb. 11 and exchanged views on 
the North Korean issue and other matters. 
 
In a joint press conference that followed the foreign ministerial, 
Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu indicated that arrangements 
were being made for a meeting between Kim Hyon Hui, who was 
sentenced to death for the 1987 fatal bombing of a South Korean 
airliner, and family members of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, who serves 
as Kim's tutor. Yu noted that the time and the place for the planned 
 
TOKYO 00000324  009 OF 011 
 
 
meeting were under arrangement, saying, "I understand that the 
meeting will take place before long." 
 
Taguchi was abducted in 1978. The Japanese government has identified 
Kim's Japanese-language tutor named Lee Un Hae as Taguchi. Her older 
brother Shigeo Iizuka is chairman of the Association of the Families 
of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea. 
 
12) Two abducted Japanese women likely to have married in North 
Korea; Taguchi to South Korean man and Matsumoto to Japanese man; 
High possibility that they are still alive 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top play) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
Eiji Tsukiyama, Seoul 
 
Two Japanese women who are on the Japanese government's list of 
Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea are believed to have 
married in North Korea, a source connected with the government 
revealed on Feb. 11. Seventeen nationals are officially recognized 
by the Japanese government as victims of abduction by North Korea. 
Of them, at least two are likely to be alive in North Korea. 
 
According to the source, the two are Yaeko Taguchi, who was abducted 
in 1978 at the age of 22, and Kyoko Matsumoto of Yonago, Tottori 
Prefecture, who was abducted in 1977 at the age of 29. The source 
said that there has been information that Taguchi married a South 
Korean and Matsumoto a Japanese. 
 
Taguchi taught Japanese to North Korean agent Kim Hyon Hui, 47, who 
fatally bombed a South Korean airliner (in 1987). In 1984, Taguchi 
moved to Chungryong-ri in a Pyongyang suburb where Fukie Chimura, a 
former abductee who returned to Japan (in 2002), also lived. Taguchi 
moved to another military base in 1986. She married a South Korean 
man, according to Chimura. 
 
South Korean abductee family group representative Che Song Yong 
indicated that he learned from a source connected with North Korea 
early in 2006 that a Japanese women different from abductee Megumi 
Yokota, who married an abducted South Korean man, was also living 
with an abducted South Korean man. 
 
North Korea claimed that Taguchi married Japanese abductee Tadaaki 
Hara and died in a traffic accident in 1986. Matsumoto is also 
believed to have been on the register of a trading firm connected 
with the North Korean military at least until 2002. 
 
13) Mori: Prime minister's remarks at Diet "terrible" 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
Yesterday influential Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members, who 
have close ties with Prime Minister Taro Aso, presented candidate 
advice about the flip flops in his remarks regarding a review of the 
postal privatization program. In a speech in Niigata City, LDP 
Election Strategy Council Deputy Chairman Yoshihide Suga said: 
 
"The prime minister's remarks are extremely heavy. He should refrain 
from making remarks that give misunderstanding to the public and 
cause unnecessary run-ins with the party." 
 
 
TOKYO 00000324  010 OF 011 
 
 
Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in a speech in Tokushima City, 
pointed out: "His way of answering was pretty bad. There are 
differences between my remark about not agreeing with (postal 
privatization) and the (incumbent) prime minister's." Meanwhile, 
Mori criticized anti-Aso moves in the LDP, saying: 
 
"When they are in a disadvantageous position, they make a fuss. Even 
people with good sense are saying bad things about the LDP. There 
are many members who say they will form a new party in cooperation 
with opposition parties." 
 
14) DPJ in dilemma over postal issue, eager to attack Aso's remarks 
but reluctant about discussing review 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
February 12, 2009 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has been caught in a dilemma 
over Prime Minister Aso's statements about a review of the postal 
privatization plan. The main opposition party is poised to step up 
the attack against the prime minister's recent controversial 
remarks, but since the DPJ has also advocated reviewing the postal 
privatization plan, the party finds it difficult to go deep into 
discussing the postal issue. 
 
Appearing on a TV program on Feb. 10, DPJ President Ozawa criticized 
the prime minister's recent inconsistent statements over the postal 
privatization, saying: "The people must be questioning his 
qualifications as a Japanese prime minister." 
 
Some DPJ members suggested that the party should call for intensive 
deliberations on "summing up the postal privatization" process at 
the House of Representatives' Budget Committee, but this call is 
likely to be pushed out by a growing argument that the party should 
not enter into discussions on the postal privatization issue. That 
is because the DPJ's call for reviewing the four-company system 
overlaps with the prime minister's view. The DPJ has insisted on 
reviewing postal privatization, based on the stance of prioritizing 
a joint struggle with the People's New Party, which has made 
opposition to the postal privatization as the party platform. 
 
A senior DPJ member said: "Our members in urban districts in favor 
of reforms have supported the postal privatization, confronting with 
those dependent on labor unions as their support base." In the 
overall paper issued when the DPJ suffered a crushing defeat in the 
Lower House election carried out in 2005 over the postal 
privatization issue, the party noted: "Our response to the postal 
privatization was unclear." It did not even refer to the postal 
issue in the policy platform for the House of Councillors election 
in 2007. 
 
Later, the party began to call for a review of the privatization 
plan as it deepened cooperation with the People's New Party 
leadership, but the DPJ and the LDP both share the view calling for 
reviewing the four-company system, although a gap is growing between 
the two parties. 
 
15) Japan Business Federation joins nine influential business 
organizations to send letter to U.S. Congress calling for revision 
of protectionist language in stimulus bill 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
 
TOKYO 00000324  011 OF 011 
 
 
Eve., February 10, 2009 
 
Jiji Press in Washington 
 
The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and nine 
influential Western business organizations, including European ones, 
have signed and sent a letter to leading members of the U.S. 
Congress calling for revision of the "Buy American" clause that is 
included in the economic stimulus bill. This was revealed by a 
connected source. 
 
The language in the bill makes it mandatory to procure U.S. 
products, such as steel, for use in public works projects. However, 
there is a strong protectionist tinge in the language that has 
raised concerns in Japan, the European Union and other countries. 
The letter, sent when a joint congressional committee is down to the 
wire in ironing out the differences in the Senate and House versions 
of the bill, aims to heighten international pressure on the 
lawmakers to revise the language. 
 
Other than Japan and Europe, the letter is signed by business 
organizations from Brazil, Britain, Canada, India, South Korea, 
Germany and Turkey. Fifteen influential U.S. business organizations 
including the American Chamber of Commerce are sending their own 
letter opposing the language. 
 
16) Japan to propose to UN measures developing countries should take 
in tackling greenhouse gas emissions, environmental pollution 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 12, 2009 
 
As part of the new framework of measures to curb greenhouse gas 
emissions that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, the Japanese 
government has submitted to the UN a paper calling for the 
broad-based adoption of a co-benefit system for developing countries 
simultaneously tackling greenhouse gas emissions and environmental 
pollution. 
 
To promote reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by developing 
countries, a clean development mechanism (CDM) has been introduced, 
under which industrialized countries that provided technologies and 
funds to developing countries can offset the cuts achieved by the 
recipient countries against the output of their own country. Japan's 
proposal is designed to prioritize co-benefit projects when 
implementing the CDM scheme. Japan at a UN taskforce meeting on the 
next-term framework to be held in Germany in March will call for 
simplifying UN procedures needed for the application of the scheme 
or exempting developing countries from registration fees regarding 
projects intended to make improvements to measures to address 
environmental pollution, water pollution and waste materials. 
 
ZUMWALT