VZCZCXRO0475
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1165/01 1420036
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 220036Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3162
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/USFJ //J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 6477
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 4143
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 7945
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 1748
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 4674
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9413
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 5432
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 5183

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 TOKYO 001165 
 
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 05/22/09 
 
Index: 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule  (Nikkei) 
 
4) U.S. Embassy hosts conference on international child abductions, 
asks Japan to sign Hague Convention  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
5) Prime Minister Aso in speech pledges 6.7 billion dollars in aid 
to Asia for projects, including development of the Mekong Delta 
(Nikkei) 
 
6) Meeting of G-8 energy ministers: Japan to propose regulating 
speculators  (Mainichi) 
 
7) Ambassador-designate Roos seen as someone who can pick up the 
phone and call President Obama on the issues  (Yomiuri) 
 
8) Government delegate Yachi denies making statement about reversion 
of 3.5 northern islands  (Yomiuri) 
 
9) North Korea issues warning about danger zone where missiles would 
be tested  (Nikkei) 
 
Diet agenda: 
10) Upper House enters deliberation on anti-piracy bill  (Sankei) 
11) Democratic Party of Japan attacks wasteful projects in the 
supplementary budget bill, including plan to build anime cartoon 
arcade  (Yomiuri) 
12) DPJ deepening ties with labor federation Rengo  (Sankei) 
13) DPJ President Hatoyama already on a stumping tour of local areas 
in preparation for the upcoming Lower House election  (Sankei) 
14) Restrictions on hereditary Diet seats being considered by LDP, 
but this could affect even former Prime Minister Koizumi's son, who 
is running for his seat  (Sankei) 
 
15) Government readying 4 trillion yen in emergency financing for 
businesses hit hard by the economic recession  (Nikkei) 
 
16) Prime minister orders Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy to 
include measures on falling birthrate in "big-boned" policies 
(Sankei) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi, Yomiuri, Sankei & Tokyo Shimbun: 
Ex-student arrested for killing Chuo University professor 
 
Mainichi: 
Contractor Kumagai Gumi suspected of providing politicians with 30 
million yen in donations from 1995 through 2000 via dummy entities 
 
Nikkei: 
Aso vows 67 billion dollars in aid for Asian economic development 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Ban on inheriting seats: Make efforts to gather able personnel 
in Diet 
 
TOKYO 00001165  002 OF 012 
 
 
(2) Kanji testing body must reform itself 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Hatoyama DPJ urged to present measures to realize slogan "avert 
bureaucratic meddling" 
(2) Japan Post President Nishikawa's staying on: More explanation 
needed 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Reorganize Health Ministry to regain public trust 
(2) Obama policy may contribute to bringing about peace in Middle 
East 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Japan must make efforts to boost demand in Asia 
(2) Japan needs to take lead in curbing greenhouse gas emissions 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Cool response imperative to prevent expansion of new flu 
infections 
(2) Circumstances for indictment of Suu Kyi incomprehensible 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Agreement urgently needed to ban nuclear testing 
(2) Give priority to consumers in working out agriculture policy 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, May 21 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
07:25 Met deputy chief cabinet secretaries Matsumoto and Asano at 
the Kantei. Matsumoto stayed on. 
09:01 Attended an Upper House Budget Committee session. 
12:04 Returned to the Kantei. 
13:00 Attended the Upper House Budget Committee session. 
16:34 Met Finance Minister Yosano, Administrative Reform Minister 
Amari, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura. 
17:19 Attended a Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy meeting held 
at the Kantei. 
18:30 Attended a dinner party held at the Imperial Hotel by the 
Future of Asia, an international exchange council. 
19:26 Dined with his secretary at a restaurant in Toranomon. 
21:39 Returned to his official residence. 
 
4) Allow visitation of children across national borders: U.S., 
Canadian, French, British ministers urge Japan to sign Hague treaty 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 23) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Norio Noro 
 
A symposium on finding a solution to the problem of Japanese 
citizens married to foreigners bringing their children back to Japan 
after divorce and denying the other parent visitation rights was 
heard at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on May 21. The ministers of the 
U.S., Canadian, French, and British embassies in Japan held a joint 
news conference where they asked that the "Japanese government sign 
the Hague treaty at an early date." 
 
TOKYO 00001165  003 OF 012 
 
 
 
Appeal by U.S., Canadian, French, and British ministers 
 
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michele Bond spoke 
earnestly about the "tragedy" of the affected parents and children: 
"There have been 73 cases, affecting 104 children, of Japanese 
parents, mostly mothers, bringing their children to Japan and 
refusing visitation rights to the American parents. This is the 
largest number among non-members of the treaty." 
 
The Hague treaty protects children from the harmful effects of being 
brought across borders unlawfully, returns them to the country where 
they previously lived, and protects the right of parents to see 
their children. 
 
There are 81 members of this treaty, and Japan and Russia are the 
only G-8 countries that have not signed the treaty. Japanese 
citizens are involved in the largest number of disputes among the 
East Asian countries, but the government has been unreceptive to the 
treaty. 
 
Minister David Fitton of the British Embassy said: "There have been 
36 disputes since 2003, and 11 of them remain unresolved. There had 
been no progress in the other cases and the British parents have 
given up." French minister Christophe Penot reported that, "The 
mother would not even accept the letter sent by the father to his 
daughter in Japan, and he was devastated. This may develop into a 
political issue between Japan and France." 
 
Canadian minister Donald Bobiash also noted that "the protection of 
children under treaty is also in the interest of Japan." Maura 
Harty, senior policy director for the International Center for 
Missing and Exploited Children in the United States, called for 
"doing what is best for the children." 
 
At the end of the news conference, U.S. Embassy Charg d'Affaires 
James Zumwalt said: "Disputes are expected to increase from now on, 
so this is an urgent and important issue." The joint press statement 
issued strongly urges the Japanese government to "implement measures 
such as facilitating parental visits." 
 
5) Prime Minister Aso pledges 6.7 billion dollars for economic 
development in Asia at 15th International Conference on the Future 
of Asia 
 
NIKKEI (Top Play) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso on May 21 gave a speech at a dinner party 
for the 15th International Conference on the Future of Asia, hosted 
by Nihon Keizai Shimbun. In the speech, he announced that Japan 
would take every measure to double Asian countries' gross domestic 
product (GDP) by 2020. He then revealed a plan to extend financial 
assistance totaling 6.7 billion dollars in the form of official 
development assistance (ODA), trade insurance, etc. He also revealed 
a plan to hold the first Japan-Mekong summit before year's end in 
order to confer on the issue of developing five Southeast Asian 
nations in the Mekong River Basin. 
 
The speech given was titled "Toward Asia's Renewed Progress, 
Overcoming the Economic Crisis." It embodies the prime minister's 
"Initiative to Double Asian Economies" not only for Southeast Asian 
 
TOKYO 00001165  004 OF 012 
 
 
countries to surmount the current economic crunch but also for all 
Asian countries to achieve mid- to long-term growth. 
 
The prime minister noted that Asia should first regain its vitality 
and spread it around the world. He stressed that in order to 
overcome the economic crisis at an early date, it is very important 
for various countries to fall in step toward expanding domestic 
demand. He welcomed economic the stimulus measures taken by various 
Asian countries and also called for continued cooperation with 
measures to expand domestic demand. 
 
He stressed that Asia's growth power should be strengthened from the 
mid- to long-term perspective in order for its potential to be 
realized. The speech also included a plan to back efforts to 
consolidate wide-area infrastructure, including goods distribution 
systems, and expand the middle class through improved social 
security and education. 
 
The speech especially placed importance on the correction of 
disparities in the region of the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN). The Japan-Mekong summit will focus on discussions 
regarding economic cooperation to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos 
and Burma, which are still underdeveloped, and development issues. 
 
The prime minister also stressed that he considers Russia could 
become an important partner in achieving regional stabilization and 
prosperity. He thus indicated his view that Russia, which is 
focusing on the development of East Siberia and the Far East, will 
play a role in the economic development of East Asia. Concerning the 
pending Northern Territories issue, Aso said, "I am determined to do 
my utmost to eliminate barriers between Japan and Russia." 
 
The prime minister also said, "In order to maintain sustainable 
growth, an environment where people can engage in activities with 
safety and  peace of mind is necessary." He then indicated his 
intention to cooperate with various countries on cross-border 
issues, such as measures to deal with the new influenza strain; 
measures to curb global warming; and North Korean nuclear, missile, 
and abduction issues. 
 
Gist of prime minister's speech 
 
He aims to double the GDP of Asian regions by 2020 
 
Q In order to overcome the current economic/financial crisis, it is 
important for various countries to fall in step toward expanding 
domestic demand. 
 
Q Further promote trade and capital transactions in the Asian 
region. Use intraregional currency. Double the size of Asian 
economies by 2020 through strengthened growth power. Propose 
formulating a comprehensive development plan with private-public 
sector cooperation in mind. 
 
Q Japan will host the first Japan-Mekong summit to confer on the 
development of five nations in the Mekong River Basin before year's 
end 
 
Q Possibility of Russia becoming a key partner in developing Asian 
economies. Make utmost efforts to settle the territorial issue. 
 
Q Call on various countries to cooperate in tackling health, 
 
TOKYO 00001165  005 OF 012 
 
 
environment and regional security issues in order to maintain 
sustained growth. 
 
Q Help Asian countries stockpile antivirus medicines as a measure to 
deal with the new influenza strain 
 
6) G-8 energy ministers meeting: Japan to propose controls on 
speculators 
 
MAINICHI (Page 6) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
The Group of Eight (G-8) major nations will hold a two-day meeting 
of their energy ministers in Rome from May 24. In the G-8 energy 
ministerial, Japan will point out that speculative market players 
have brought about excessive fluctuations in the prices of crude oil 
and other natural resources. Japan will suggest the need to 
strengthen transactions and oversights in order to ensure market 
transparency. However, the U.S. and British governments remain 
cautious about excessive market intervention. The ministerial is 
therefore likely to have difficulties in its coordination. 
 
The energy ministerial is expected to agree to set up an 
"International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation," or 
IPEEC for short, in the International Energy Agency for the spread 
of energy-saving technologies. It will also discuss measures to cope 
with climate change, including the feasibility of low carbon 
society. 
 
7) Who's Roos? 
 
YOMIURI (Page 7) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Tatsuhito Iida, San Mateo, California 
 
U.S. President Obama has decided to appoint John Roos, 54, as the 
next ambassador to Japan. According to his law firm's website, Roos 
is an able lawyer who shored up Obama's election campaign as one of 
Obama's top fundraisers. He has little to do with Japan and his 
ambassadorial capabilities are unknown. However, Roos is a confidant 
of Obama who can call the president directly by phone. 
 
Roos lives in the California county of San Mateo, which is situated 
in the neighborhood of San Francisco. His residence is located in an 
exclusive area where the average home price is one million dollars 
(approx. 94 million yen). 
 
On the morning of May 20, Roos, dressed casually in a white shirt 
and navy blue pants, got into a Toyota Prius with his son. I shot a 
question at him about his ambassadorial appointment. "I'm sorry," 
Roos responded, "but I can't make any comment." My next question was 
when he would be formally designated. "I don't know," Roos said. He 
added: "I really can't say anything. I'm now going to take my son to 
school." So saying, Roos took the wheel and left his home. 
 
According to a legal journal issued by Stanford University, Roos 
graduated from its law school and then started to work at a Los 
Angeles-based law firm. Later, with an eye on the future, Roos moved 
on to a law firm in Silicon Valley. He distinguished himself in 
corporate finance and has been the law firm's chief executive 
officer since 2005. His law firm's clients include Google and many 
 
TOKYO 00001165  006 OF 012 
 
 
other well-known businesses. In the 1984 presidential election, Roos 
took leave from work for a year to join the campaign staff of Walter 
Mondale, who was a presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. 
In last year's presidential election, Roos held a fundraising party 
at his home shortly before Obama announced his candidacy and 
promoted Obama to entrepreneurs and investors from Silicon Valley. 
Some of the U.S. media have called him an "amazing fundraiser." 
 
8) Yachi points out need to have new viewpoint on Northern 
Territories, denying 3.5 islands remarks 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged slightly) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Former vice foreign minister and currently government representative 
Shotaro Yachi attended yesterday's House of Councillors Budget 
Committee session as a government unsworn witness. There, Yachi 
denied the Mainichi Shimbun's report that he had expressed a 
willingness to accept the return of just 3.5 of the four 
Russian-held islands off Hokkaido. It is the first time Yachi has 
offered an explanation in public. 
 
Before the committee, Yachi said: "I did not say that the (return) 
of 3.5 islands would do. (The Northern Territories issue) needs a 
new viewpoint, a new approach. The issue must be resolved in a way 
that is acceptable to the public. We must put our heads together. 
There is a need to draw up a big strategic design, including nuclear 
energy, pipelines, the environment, the development of Far East 
Siberia, and the integration of Russia into the Asia-Pacific." 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taro Aso offered the following explanation 
about the government's basic policy toward the Northern Territories 
issue: "Once Japan's ownership over the four islands is confirmed, 
we will deal with the question of when to actually return the 
islands in a flexible manner. Japan's stance has been consistent." 
 
The 3.5 islands approach is designed to evenly divide the disputed 
Russian-held northern territories between Japan and Russia and to 
return to Japan three islands -- Kunashiri, Shikotan, the Habomai 
islet group -- plus part of Etorofu. The Mainichi Shimbun reported 
last month that Yachi had referred to the return of 3.5 islands in 
an interview. This has created a stir in Japan and in Russia. 
 
9) N. Korea warns of another red zone for missile launches 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
North Korea warned that it has set up another danger zone near its 
coast for missile launches and other purposes, sources said 
yesterday. The Japan Coast Guard picked up a radio warning that 
prohibits sea traffic within waters 137 kilometers south of 
Musudanri on May 15-30 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Japan time. 
 
A high-ranking official of the government explained: "A small rocket 
won't get into international waters. That will have no impact on 
Japanese fishing boats." Another high-ranking official said, "It's 
part of their military training exercises." 
 
10) Yachi points out need to have new viewpoint on Northern 
Territories, denying 3.5 islands remarks 
 
 
TOKYO 00001165  007 OF 012 
 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged slightly) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Former vice foreign minister and currently government representative 
Shotaro Yachi attended yesterday's House of Councillors Budget 
Committee session as a government unsworn witness. There, Yachi 
denied the Mainichi Shimbun's report that he had expressed a 
willingness to accept the return of just 3.5 of the four 
Russian-held islands off Hokkaido. It is the first time Yachi has 
offered an explanation in public. 
 
Before the committee, Yachi said: "I did not say that the (return) 
of 3.5 islands would do. (The Northern Territories issue) needs a 
new viewpoint, a new approach. The issue must be resolved in a way 
that is acceptable to the public. We must put our heads together. 
There is a need to draw up a big strategic design, including nuclear 
energy, pipelines, the environment, the development of Far East 
Siberia, and the integration of Russia into the Asia-Pacific." 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taro Aso offered the following explanation 
about the government's basic policy toward the Northern Territories 
issue: "Once Japan's ownership over the four islands is confirmed, 
we will deal with the question of when to actually return the 
islands in a flexible manner. Japan's stance has been consistent." 
 
The 3.5 islands approach is designed to evenly divide the disputed 
Russian-held northern territories between Japan and Russia and to 
return to Japan three islands -- Kunashiri, Shikotan, the Habomai 
islet group -- plus part of Etorofu. The Mainichi Shimbun reported 
last month that Yachi had referred to the return of 3.5 islands in 
an interview. This has created a stir in Japan and in Russia. 
 
11) DPJ attacks "Anime Hall of Fame" in Upper House Budget Committee 
session 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged slightly) 
May 22, 2009 
 
The major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) fiercely 
attacked in yesterday's House of Councillors Budget Committee 
session the government's plan to use part of the fiscal 2009 
supplementary budget to build what is called the National Media Arts 
Center. 
 
The envisaged center will be a base facility to collect, exhibit, 
and study animated films, comic strips and cartoons, and games. The 
center is also dubbed the "anime hall of fame." The concept has been 
studied since last August by a blue-ribbon panel of the Cultural 
Affairs Agency. Tokyo's Odaiba district has been cited as the 
potential site for center. About 11.7 billion yen, the amount 
equivalent to the cost of the construction of the center, is 
incorporated in the supplementary budget. 
 
DPJ lawmaker Kohei Otsuka criticized the plan during the session, 
saying, "(The government) has decided to build the center after only 
six meetings in six months." Otsuka also revealed the fact that 
Cultural Affairs Agency Director-General Tamotsu Aoki had said 
during the panel's last meeting on April 21, "There would not be an 
opportunity to budget funds like this in the next 50, 100 years." 
Aoki admitted that he had made such a statement. 
 
Perceiving the center as a facility symbolizing the wasteful 
 
TOKYO 00001165  008 OF 012 
 
 
spending of budgets in the name of additional steps to shore up the 
economy, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama has also condemned it as a 
huge government-run comic caf. Shozaburo Jimi of the People's New 
Party, too, said before the committee, "It is bureaucrats' product 
to please Prime Minister Taro Aso, who loves comics." 
 
The prime minister rebutted, "Animated films and TV games will 
become a new growth area in the Japanese economy." Finance Minister 
Kaoru Yosano, too, reacted strongly, calling it a "longstanding 
pending issue." At the same time, there is the view in the ruling 
bloc that if the cost had been included in the fiscal 2009 budget, 
criticism to this degree would not have emerged." 
 
12) Rengo, DPJ to promote dialogue with residents from June 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
The Japan Trade Unions Confederation (Rengo), the largest support 
body of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), decided 
yesterday that Rengo Chairman Tsuyoshi Takagi together with senior 
DPJ members will hold a dialogue with residents in nine places 
across the nation in June and July. The new DPJ leadership has now 
launched following the resignation of Ichiro Ozawa as DPJ president 
over the indictment of his chief secretary for accepting alleged 
illegal donations from Nishimatsu Construction Co. Therefore, Rengo 
intends to strengthen cooperation between itself and the DPJ with an 
eye on a victory in the new House of Representatives election. 
 
It is expected that such DPJ leaders as President Yukio Hatoyama, 
Deputy President Ichiro Ozawa and Secretary General Katsuya Okada 
will join Takagi. With the next general election in mind, the 
planned sessions will be held in urban areas in which there are many 
unaffiliated voters. They will play up the Rengo and DPJ 
connection. 
 
Since there were mixed views among Rengo leaders on whether Ozawa 
should resign from the DPJ's top post or not, the distance between 
Rengo and Ozawa widened. However, the support rates for the DPJ then 
rose in the polls conducted by the media, even though Hatoyama 
picked Ozawa as his deputy in charge of election strategy. With this 
in mind, Rengo is determined (to step up its cooperation with the 
DPJ). "We can push forward with strong election strategy along with 
Mr. Ozawa, who enjoys the confidence of Rengo's local chapters." 
 
13) DPJ President Hatoyama sets out on stumping tour in Saitama 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama yesterday 
visited Saitama City to give a speech to support the mayoral 
campaign of a candidate backed by the DPJ's Saitama chapter. The 
Saitama mayoral election will take place on May 24. Hatoyama's 
stumping tour is the first since assuming the party's presidency. 
 
Hatoyama delivered the speech in front of the JR Omiya Station. The 
incumbent mayor, who is a candidate backed by the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito, is seeking a third term. 
With this in mind, Hatoyama emphasized: "Any long-term 
administration becomes corrupt. We want to bring about a change in 
administration to Saitama City." Regarding "a fraternal society," 
 
TOKYO 00001165  009 OF 012 
 
 
creation of which is his argument, Hatoyama explained: "(The society 
that I want to create) is a society in which the baby boomers are 
not treated as burdens, but where they are happy with doing 
volunteer activities." 
 
The mayoral election is contested between the candidate backed by 
the DPJ Saitama chapter and the incumbent mayor. 
 
According to a source familiar with the DPJ, it is unusual for the 
party head to go stumping for a candidate supported by a prefectural 
chapter. Hatoyama went to Saitama have the candidate win the race 
and to bolster his party's strength for the next Lower House 
election. 
 
14) LDP mulling restrictions on hereditary candidates from next 
Lower House election; Koizumi's second son running as independent? 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
May 22, 2009 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) began considering the 
introduction of restrictions on the candidacy of new hereditary 
candidates from the next House of Representatives election on May 
¶21. This was revealed by a senior official of the Election Strategy 
Council. This official indicated that former prime minister 
Junichiro Koizumi's second son, Shinjiro (11th district of Kanagawa) 
and former justice minister Hideo Usui's eldest son, Shoichi (first 
district of Chiba) will not be designated as the party's official 
candidates. If such a decision is made, the two will most probably 
run as independents. There is a proposal for the LDP not to field a 
rival candidate in these districts and to recognize them as party 
members after they get elected. However, there are also dissenting 
opinions in the party, so the final decision will be left to the 
president, Prime Minister Taro Aso. 
 
There is opposition in the LDP to restrictions on hereditary 
candidates, especially among the second-generation Diet members. The 
reason restrictions are going to be imposed despite such opposition 
is because this is meant to counter the plan of the Democratic Party 
of Japan (DPJ) to apply restrictions on new hereditary candidates 
from the next Lower House election and make this a point of 
contention in the election. 
 
However, only Shinjiro and Shoichi will be affected. It is reported 
that Election Strategy Council Vice Chairman Yoshihide Suga, who is 
the head of the LDP Kanagawa chapter, and former secretary general 
Tsutomu Takebe, who is close to former prime minister Koizumi, are 
coordinating on this. A senior LDP official pointed out: "The party 
will not field an official candidate. Shinjiro and Shoichi will be 
elected even if they run as independents. We can just recognize them 
after the election." 
 
If they are recognized ex post facto, they will become LDP official 
candidates in subsequent elections, so this may not sit well with 
the idea of restricting hereditary candidates. Therefore, the DPJ is 
criticizing this as "indirect recognition (as official candidate)," 
(says a senior DPJ official). 
 
At the first meeting on May 21 of the "Association for Pioneering 
New Politics," (chaired by Lower House member Taro Kono) a 
parliamentary union working for restrictions on the hereditary 
system, Suga stressed that, "The LDP, a party of the people, should 
 
TOKYO 00001165  010 OF 012 
 
 
take in a great variety of talented people. We should put a stop (to 
the hereditary system) through self-purification." 
 
Some 50 lawmakers, including former secretary general Hidenao 
Nakagawa and junior Diet members, attended the meeting. They agreed 
that restrictions on hereditary candidacy should be written into the 
party's manifesto for the Lower House election. 
 
At a meeting of the party's Reform Implementation Headquarters 
(chaired by Takebe) on the same day, a proposal for a new party rule 
that prohibits direct descendants of Diet members running in the 
same constituency from being recognized as official candidates from 
the next Lower House election was presented. The recommendation with 
be made to Aso before the end of May. 
 
15) Government, banks to launch emergency lending program of 4 
trillion yen 
 
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
The government and Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) have decided to 
introduce an emergency lending program possibly in June for large 
and mid-sized companies, with the government and private-sector 
banks each contributing 50 percent of the financing burden in 
principle. The government aims to make commercial banks more willing 
to lend by having the DBJ shoulder half of the financing and also to 
avoid official loans from being exposed to excessive risks. The 
government envisions a program worth up to 4 trillion yen, with 2 
trillion yen to be shouldered by the DBJ and to come from the 15 
trillion yen earmarked for emergency lending in its additional 
economic stimulus package and 2 trillion from commercial banks. 
Given that companies have found it difficult to raise funds, the 
government will take full measures to facilitate money to flow into 
companies. 
 
Because a rise in corporate bankruptcies and other factors have 
caused many loans to sour, banks remain cautious about lending. The 
government has judged it necessary to make banks more willing to 
lend in order to promote the smooth inflow of money into 
corporations by having the DBJ shoulder half of the lending burden. 
In this new program, companies' main lenders, which could be major 
or regional banks, present lists of potential borrowers to the DBJ. 
These banks will select candidates based on such conditions for 
lending as credit ratings and capital ratios, simplifying the DBJ's 
loan approval process. Under this system, it will become possible 
for the DBJ to screen applications for loans from companies, based 
on their financial data, even if it has no business dealings and 
knows nothing about their asset components. 
 
Companies eligible for loans under the program will be sound 
mid-sized firms capitalized at 1 trillion yen or less, with several 
hundred million yen to several billion yen to be provided in each 
case. Large firms will also be allowed to apply for loans. 
 
If these loans become unrecoverable, taxpayers might be pressed to 
foot a portion of the bill, because the DBJ will be able to ask the 
government to guarantee half of the loan amount. For the loans 
offered by private-sector banks, however, there will be no 
government guarantees. The DBJ has said that it will carry out 
strict screening in order to prevent defaults. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001165  011 OF 012 
 
 
Companies will be able to use the borrowed funds only for newly 
needed operating funds and capital investment. Regarding the period 
of emergency lending, many of the loans are expected to be for about 
a year. 
 
16) Prime minister orders Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy to 
include measures on falling birthrate in "big-boned" policies; 
health minister to draw up new road map 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
May 22, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso ordered relevant ministers to include 
measures to deal with the falling birthrate in the basic policies 
for FY2010 economic and fiscal management ("big-boned" policies) at 
the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on May 21. Minister of 
Health and Labor Yoichi Masuzoe announced at the meeting that he 
would draw up a new road map for the reinforcement of social 
security functions up to 2015 and will introduce a new system for 
unified provision of services to support child rearing. 
 
On the measures to arrest the declining birthrate, Aso indicated 
that, "bold measures comparable to the economic stimulation package 
should be taken." He also pointed out that, "So far, we have focused 
our social security measures on the aged. However, support for young 
people and child rearing households has emerged as the most 
important issue that the country needs to work on as a whole." 
 
The prime minister is advocating the strengthening of measures to 
deal with the falling fertility rate because there have been strong 
demands at the government's "Council for the Realization of a 
Society of Peace of Mind" for the reinforcement of such measures, 
and these will constitute the main component of the Council's final 
report to be issued in mid-June. This is also meant to counter the 
proposal of the Democratic Party of Japan for a monthly "child 
allowance" of 26,000 yen in the forthcoming House of Representatives 
election. 
 
Private-sector members of the Council have also proposed the use of 
consumption tax revenues for measures to rectify social disparities, 
such as free preschool education and welfare payments to low-income 
earners. They asked for the measures to remedy social disparities to 
be included in the social security measures which have been 
designated as the budget allocation that consumption tax revenues 
will pay for in the "mid-term program" for tax reform. 
 
Specifically, there was a proposal for the creation of "tax 
deduction with welfare payments," using consumption tax money for 
funding, to help low-income earners and others. 
 
Meanwhile, in the new road map proposed by Masuzoe, the following 
interim measures to deal with low birthrate will be implemented: 1) 
building of more day care centers and after-school facilities by 
2011; 2) expansion of the system of home nurseries; 3) expansion of 
free maternity checkups; and 4) requiring employers to allow shorter 
working hours for employees with small children. 
 
In addition, longer-term measures will include the creation of a new 
unified system of providing child rearing support services by 2015, 
uninterrupted day care services to help parents cope with both work 
and family life, and a plan to allow the use of "temporary day care" 
of up to 20 hours even by full-time housewives. 
 
TOKYO 00001165  012 OF 012 
 
 
 
ZUMWALT