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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000684 
 
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 03/26/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Government to issue missile destruction order on March 27 
(Nikkei) 
 
(2) Petition against Guam relocation passed by majority (Okinawa 
Times) 
 
(3) Defense Ministry submits Guam relocation report to lower house 
(Okinawa Times) 
 
(4) Rift now obvious in DPJ (Mainichi) 
 
(5) Decentralization Committee meeting: Participants criticizes 
prime minister as having watered down recommendation report 
submitted by panel; One member even calls on Chairman Niwa to quit 
(Sankei) 
 
(6) Special board meeting to elect IAEA director general to start 
today (Mainichi) 
 
(7) TOP HEADLINES 
 
(8) EDITORIALS 
 
(9) Prime Minister's schedule, March 25 (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Government to issue missile destruction order on March 27 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 26, 2009 
 
In anticipation of a possible launch of a "satellite" as announced 
earlier by North Korea, though other countries believe the North 
plans to launch a long-range ballistic missile, the government 
decided yesterday to issue a "destruction order" possibly tomorrow. 
A launched projectile is expected to fly over Japan about five to 
ten minutes after it is launched. Assuming the fired rocket could 
fall in an area near Japan, Prime Minister Taro Aso will give prior 
approval so that destruction measures, using the missile defense 
(MD) system, will be taken flexibly. 
 
Aso will instruct Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada in a meeting of 
the Security Council of Japan tomorrow to prepare for intercepting 
an incoming projectile. Later, Hamada will issue the destruction 
order. Pyongyang announced it planned to launch a rocket between 
April 4 and 8. Aso told reporters last night: "The government will 
naturally take the utmost care, including giving information to the 
public, because there are some local areas where people are 
concerned (about the launch)." 
 
The order will be issued based on Article 82-2 of the Self-Defense 
Forces Law. These two procedures are provided for in issuing an 
order under the law: (1) when a launched projectile is feared to 
land in Japan, the defense minister will issue an order with a 
cabinet decision (Paragraph 1); and (2) the defense minister will 
issue an order in advance without making it public in preparation 
for an emergency (Paragraph 3). The government's conventional 
interpretation of these paragraphs is: When a launched projectile is 
considered likely to land in Japan, a decision should be made at a 
 
TOKYO 00000684  002 OF 008 
 
 
cabinet meeting and the public should be informed of it; and when a 
launched projectile is unlikely to land in Japan but preparations 
for an emergency are judged necessary, the public should not be 
informed of it. 
 
North Korea has already announced that the rocket to be launched 
will fly over Akita and Iwate prefectures. Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Takeo Kawamura, however, stated: "If what North Korea said is true, 
there is a slim possibility (of the rocket falling to Japan)." It is 
also necessary to assume that a North Korean rocket may get out of 
control and fall down, so the government judges it is proper to 
issue an order under Paragraph 3. 
 
If the issuance of the order is not publicized, it will not 
uselessly irritate North Korea. Even so, many Japanese people now 
know that the North is planning to launch a satellite. If the public 
are not informed of what policy the government intends to take about 
interception, they will inevitably become anxious. Many in the 
government and the ruling camp take this view: A cabinet decision is 
necessary in order to clarify the government's policy of 
intercepting an incoming projectile. 
 
Under such a situation, the government has decided to hold a meeting 
of the Security Council of Japan, though holding such a meeting is 
not required legally. In it, the prime minister will issue an order 
for interception. It has also been decided that the government side 
will publicize the defense minister's issuance of the order through 
press briefings and other forums. The government has decided to take 
a compromise plan under which the prime minister will grant (the 
defense minister) the authority to take destruction measures prior 
to the announced date of launching a rocket and then the public will 
be informed of the destruction measures. 
 
Even so, whether the nation's MD system is technically capable of 
intercepting an incoming projectile is totally another question. 
Many experts see it difficult to shoot down debris from a rocket. 
 
(2) Petition against Guam relocation passed by majority 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Abridged) 
March 26, 2009 
 
The Okinawa prefectural assembly held a plenary meeting of its 
members yesterday, the last day of its current regular session, and 
passed a petition with a majority approval opposing the ratification 
of a pact concluded between Japan and the United States on 
relocating U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam. Six opposition parties, 
which presented the petition, and Katsuhiro Yoshida, an independent, 
voted for the petition. The petition says the people of Okinawa 
Prefecture are against building a new base along the coast of Henoko 
(in Nago City as an alternative for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma 
Air Station). The Japanese and U.S. governments have agreed to move 
U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam in a package with the planned 
relocation of Futenma airfield's heliport functions. The petition 
raises an objection to this package agreement. Representatives from 
the prefectural assembly will come up to Tokyo in early April and 
will ask the government not to ratify the pact. 
 
Among those in favor of the petition, Masaaki Maeda, a member of the 
Japanese Communist Party, stated: "The plan has changed from the 
sea-based heliport to the V-shaped facility, but there is no change 
in Okinawa's public opinion against building a new base." Sueko 
 
TOKYO 00000684  003 OF 008 
 
 
Yamauchi, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto), also 
said: "The construction site (for Futenma relocation) has yet to be 
finalized. This shows something irrational about the plan. It's 
important that we remain determined without being at the mercy of 
the Japanese and U.S. governments." 
 
Kiyoki Nakagawa, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was among 
those opposed to the petition. He stated: "It has been 64 years 
since the war ended, but the base issues still remain unresolved. 
Diplomatic rights are not vested in Governor (Hirokazu) Nakaima but 
in the Japanese and U.S. governments. For the relocation of troops 
to Guam and for the return of facilities south of Kadena, the 
agreement should be ratified. That will help alleviate Okinawa 
Prefecture's base-hosting burden." 
 
In addition, the prefectural assembly took up the recent outbreak of 
a stray bullet incident in Kin Town's Igei district. On this issue, 
the assembly adopted a protest resolution and a petition calling for 
the U.S. military to suspend its live-fire training until its cause 
is located. The assembly also discussed the recent occurrence of 
fuel spills at Futenma airfield and adopted a protest resolution and 
a petition in pursuit of clearing up its cause and preventing such 
an accident from recurring. 
 
(3) Defense Ministry submits Guam relocation report to lower house 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Full) 
March 26, 2009 
 
The Defense Ministry submitted a report to the House of 
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in a meeting of its 
directors yesterday regarding the planned move of U.S. Marines in 
Okinawa to Guam. The report, however, blacks out such data as costs 
estimated by a private contractor of the Defense Ministry for the 
construction of facilities in Guam. The opposition parties raised an 
objection, urging the Defense Ministry to disclose the report in its 
entirety. 
 
The Defense Ministry accounted for not disclosing the estimated 
construction costs, according to one of the committee's directors 
who attended the meeting. This committee director said: "The report 
contains information that the Japanese government has obtained from 
the U.S. government on the assumption that the information will not 
be disclosed. The report also contains figures that the Japanese 
government calculated out on its own to insist on its standpoint in 
its future talks with the U.S. government. That's why." 
 
The report describes studies and blueprints relating to costs for 
the planned construction of such facilities as headquarters, 
billets, and family housing, which will be built at Japan's expense. 
However, their figures and other portions are blacked out. Akira 
Kasai, a House of Representatives member of the Japanese Communist 
Party, showed an outline of the report when the committee met on 
March 13. Kasai then asked the Defense Ministry to come up with the 
report. 
 
In that committee meeting, the government and the ruling parties 
accounted for presenting the Guam relocation pact in an aim to enter 
into deliberations on it. But the opposition parties raised an 
objection to that account. The ruling bench has therefore forgone 
deliberations. The ruling and opposition parties are expected to 
continue coordination over the committee's entry into deliberations 
 
TOKYO 00000684  004 OF 008 
 
 
on March 27. 
 
(4) Rift now obvious in DPJ 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 26, 2009 
 
Following the indictment of his first state-paid secretary, 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro Ozawa (on the 
evening of March 24) expressed his intention to remain in his post. 
However, party executives, who endorsed Ozawa's bid to continue 
serving as party leader, were busy yesterday drumming up support for 
him, since anti-Ozawa group members were openly calling for Ozawa's 
early resignation. Ozawa remarked that whether his continued 
leadership would be a plus or minus depended on how the public would 
take it. This has triggered a sense of alarm that he might suddenly 
quit, and no one is sure whether he might step down soon or later. 
With the heightening confrontation between the anti- and pro-Ozawa 
groups, a rift has been opened in the main opposition party. 
 
Yesterday in the Diet building, former DPJ policy chief Yoshito 
Sengoku blasted Ozawa before the press corps: "I would like (Ozawa) 
to wage a legal battle, but he should not involve candidates (for 
the next general election) who are engaged in their own desperate 
struggles." Sengoku called for a quick exit by Ozawa, saying: "The 
party head should make a political decision voluntarily." Earlier, 
DPJ House of Councillors member Reiho questioned the decision of 
party leaders in a meeting of the DPJ Upper House caucus. She said: 
"With the issue of politics and money, the public is now suspicious 
of the DPJ. I need to hear from party executives (why they approved 
Ozawa's decision to remain in his post)." 
 
Lower House member Katsuhiko Yokomitsu, who belongs to the party's 
"liberal group," urged Ozawa on March 24 to quit his post. 
Yesterday, he called on the leadership to have Ozawa give a better 
explanation of the donation scandal. 
 
Bearing the brunt of such criticism, party leaders have become 
perplexed. Last evening in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, DPJ 
Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama gave a speech to support the 
gubernatorial campaign of a candidate backed by the party. He 
expressed his party's determination to work to revise the Political 
Funds Control Law. "The people want the DPJ to become cleaner about 
the issue of politics and money," he said. 
 
Many in the group supporting Ozawa's continuing to serve as party 
leader have reacted coolly toward the anti-Ozawa group's call for 
his early resignation. One lawmaker said: "Only a few members are 
making a fuss. We don't care about them." 
 
However, Ozawa was adamant in a press conference on the 24th: "I 
don't have any regrets about assuming the posts of party leader and 
then prime minister." He underscored that public support would 
become a precondition for his continued leadership. He then told 
some around him: "I've become tired, anyway." Speculation is rife 
that Ozawa might quit all of sudden, depending on the outcome of the 
next round of public opinion polls and of the upcoming gubernatorial 
election in Chiba Prefecture. 
 
Ozawa's declaration to remain in his post has prompted the 
speculation among party members about when he will resign and it has 
caused worries and doubts to arise in the DPJ. 
 
TOKYO 00000684  005 OF 008 
 
 
 
(5) Decentralization Committee meeting: Participants criticizes 
prime minister as having watered down recommendation report 
submitted by panel; One member even calls on Chairman Niwa to quit 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 26, 2009 
 
The government's Decentralization Reform Promotion Committee, 
chaired by Uichiro Niwa, chairman of Itochu Corporation, held a 
meeting on March 25. Many participants expressed their 
dissatisfaction that the road map for reform of the central 
government's local branches, which the government adopted on the 
24th, ignores key proposals included in the committee's second 
recommendation report. One participant questioned the leadership of 
Prime Minister Taro Aso, who has put off a conclusion on the 
specific form of the organizations until the year-end compilation of 
a reform outline (decentralization reform promotion program). 
Another participant even called on Niwa, who praised the road map, 
to step down. 
 
The road map includes neither a proposal for combining and 
consolidating six local branches of the central government into a 
local development bureau and a regional works bureau, both tentative 
names, nor a numerical target for reducing the number of officials 
at local branches by about 35,000. Committee member Naoki Inose, 
vice governor of Tokyo, criticized the road map, saying, "The road 
map is disappointing because Prime Minister Aso said he would 
abolish local branches. Why on earth have our proposals been watered 
down to this extent?" Junichi Tsuyuki, mayor of Kaisei Town, 
Kanagawa Prefecture, loudly complained: "Prime Minister Aso's tongue 
wags too freely. I wonder whether he can continue to serve as prime 
minister." 
 
Niwa was also made the target of criticism. He attended a meeting of 
the Decentralization Reform Promotion Headquarters on the 24th, 
where the road map was adopted. He said he had highly evaluated the 
road map right before the eyes of the prime minister. Tsuyuki 
furiously said, "I am extremely dissatisfied with you, Mr. Niwa. I 
almost want to thrust a letter of resignation at you." 
 
Niwa rebutted, saying, "It is important to realize reform proposals. 
The road map stipulates that the points of the recommendations made 
by the panel should be included in the reform outline proposals in 
concrete terms." In the end, participants agreed that the committee 
calls on the government to include the panel's proposals for 
consolidating and reorganizing local branches and a goal of reducing 
officials by 35,000. However, a feeling of powerlessness permeated 
the meeting with one participant saying, "Discussing 
decentralization reform under the Aso administration leaves us with 
an empty feeling." 
 
(6) Special board meeting to elect IAEA director general to start 
today 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 26, 2009 
 
Interview with candidate Ambassador Yukiya Amano: Determined to 
protect confidence in the NPT 
 
Takuji Nakao, Vienna 
 
TOKYO 00000684  006 OF 008 
 
 
 
A special meeting of the Board of Governors of the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), attended by 35 countries, will assemble 
in Vienna to elect the next director general will start in Vienna. 
Prior to the meeting, Japanese Ambassador to the Delegation to 
International Organizations in Vienna Yukiya Amano (61) gave an 
interview to Mainichi Shimbun. Asked about Iran's nuclear 
development problem, the ambassador indicated a desire to settle the 
issue if he won the election: "There has to be a way to work this 
out, if we come up with ideas, while listening to what it has to 
say." He expressed his resolve toward nonproliferation, stressing, 
"I will make sure that confidence is maintained in the Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty." 
 
The ambassador noted: "If I am elected director general, I will deal 
with matters fairly instead of representing the interests of a 
specific group." Referring to Iran, he pointed out, "Iran, a country 
of great pride, takes it that it has been treated unjustly by the 
international community." He continued: "We cannot let a nation that 
is pressing ahead with nuclear development go unheeded, ignoring the 
UN Security Council's resolution. I will tenaciously hold a dialogue 
with that country. Leave it to me." 
 
Touching on the situations in Asia and the Middle East, he said, 
"The security of countries is being threatened by the nuclear 
weapons possessed by neighboring countries. India and Pakistan raced 
to become nuclear powers. Japan is alarmed about North Korea. (Iran 
and Arab nations) in the Middle East are sensitive about Israel 
(possibly possessing nuclear weapons." He noted, "We must not allow 
an increase in regions being destabilized by the spread of nuclear 
arms. 
 
Amano noted that the NPT only allows permanent members of the UNSC 
to possess nuclear arms. He added this view: "Although the NPT has 
been pointed to as an unfair treaty, it nonetheless is being 
supported because it is useful for protecting the security of the 
world." He underscored, "I would like to do my utmost to make sure 
that confidence in the NPT is maintained." 
 
South African Ambassador Abdul Minty (69) to the IAEA Board of 
Governors is also running in the election. The candidate winning 
two-thirds of the valid votes will be elected to the post. 
 
(7) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Shinagawa Ward to adopt unified education system for kindergarteners 
and children at daycare centers 
 
Mainichi: 
1000 elderly people receiving welfare benefits from Tokyo moved to 
facilities in other areas in Kanto District over past year 
 
Yomiuri: 
Nishimatsu Construction paid for office rent of METI Minister Nikai 
 
Nikkei: 
Electronics firms cancel or postpone planned mass-production of 
next-generation flat-screen panels 
 
Sankei: 
North Korea starts placing missile on launch pad 
 
TOKYO 00000684  007 OF 008 
 
 
 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Ruling parties' panel drafts bill to enable state subsidies to go to 
international schools 
 
Akahata: 
Many parts that lack common sense left in Welfare Ministry's new 
review plan for standards for care-need certification 
 
(8) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) WBC: Fresh breeze for Asian baseball now blowing 
(2) Judgment in lawsuit on recognition of A-bomb victims: 
Government's negligence accused 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) North Korea's "satellite:" Take every possible step, including 
response with MD system 
(2) Samurai Japan in WBC: Move us again in the Olympic Games 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Hurriedly purchase non-performing loans from troubled U.S. 
banks 
(2) Agreement between government, labor representatives: Carefully 
gauge effect of job-protection measures 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Expectation for and concern about U.S. plan to buy up toxic 
assets 
(2) Limited-time gift tax cut might bring about positive effect 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Ruling for Akita child killer: Questions left about avoidance of 
death sentence 
(2) Japan retains WBC title, with unity as driving force 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Measures agreed on between government and labor representatives 
must be quickly turned into reality 
(2) Japan's victory in WBC shows us how interesting baseball is 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Ruling over school sex education: Desirable education possible 
for first time when original ideas respected 
 
(9) Prime Minister's schedule, March 25 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 26, 2009 
 
07:32 
Took a walk around the official residence. 
 
10:15 
Met with public affairs officer Ogawa at the Kantei. 
 
11:02 
Met with Shigeo Sugiura, chairman of his supporters' association in 
his home district, and others. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000684  008 OF 008 
 
 
12:00 
Handed letters of recommendation at the party headquarters to a 
person who will run for the gubernatorial election in Ibaraki 
Prefecture. Secretary General Hosoda and Election Committee Chairman 
Koga. Then met with senior officials of local chapters in Tokyo and 
other prefectures in the Kanto region, including Chairman Sakuma of 
his supporters' organization in Saitama Prefecture. 
 
13:10 
Met with Chairman Ishida of the LDP National Liaison Council of LDP 
Secretaries General. Then met with State Minister for Administrative 
Reform Amari, Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarter head Chuma 
and Chairman Ishihara of the Public Servant System Reform 
Committee. 
 
13:38 
Met with Otsuji, head of the LDP Caucus in the Upper House Upper 
House Upper p 
 
14:12 
Met with Cabinet Councilor Kusaka. 
 
15:18 
Met with former members of the Hokkaido Junior Chamber, such as 
Hideaki Kaneko. 
 
16:17 
Met with participants in the meeting of ambassadors to Asian and 
Oceanian countries, such as Ambassador to China Miyamoto. Assistant 
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi and Foreign Ministry Asian 
and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Takagi were present. 
 
19:03 
 Met with Ukraine Prime Minister Tymoshenko. Then joint press 
relief. 
 
20:26 
Dinner hosted by the prime minister and his wife. 
 
21:55 
Arrived at the official residence. 
 
ZUMWALT