VZCZCXRO0073
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1832/01 2232142
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 112142Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5305
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 8148
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5816
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 9625
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 3254
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6331
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0375
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7035
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6664

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 001832 
 
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 08/11/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Mr Hatoyama should clarify his position on the three non-nuclear 
principles (Sankei) 
(2) Pundit on ignorance in debate on two non-nuclear principles; 
nuclear arms were removed from U.S. ships 18 years ago (Aera) 
(3) Employment measures in manifestos of LDP, DPJ (Part 1): Rescue 
non-regular workers (Yomiuri) 
(4) DPJ administration initiative: Struggling to realize government 
led by politicians (Nikkei) 
(5) TOP HEADLINES 
(6) EDITORIALS 
(7) Prime Minister's schedule, August 10 (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Mr Hatoyama should clarify his position on the three non-nuclear 
principles 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Unabridged editorial) 
August 11, 2009 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama has 
suddenly indicated that the codification of the three non-nuclear 
principles of not possessing, producing, and introducing nuclear 
arms is "an option" and will be considered. 
 
Mr. Hatoyama had just stated last month that the three principles 
should be "discussed thoroughly by Japan and the United States," 
including the possibility of reviewing them, in light of North 
Korea's nuclear threat. Considering he had also shown on August 4 a 
cautious attitude toward codification, asserting that "codification 
brings the risk of the amendment of the law," his inconsistency 
astonishes. 
 
It is beyond comprehension that one day he talks about reviewing the 
three principles and another day suggests codifying them. It would 
appear that he was responding to the Social Democratic Party's 
demand to enshrine into law the three principles. If he assigns 
higher priority to the coalition of opposition parties than to 
Japan's security, the DPJ can hardly be regarded as a responsible 
political party capable of taking the reins of government. Mr. 
Hatoyama should clarify his position on this issue. 
 
Faced with the new reality of the North Korean threat and the 
modernization of China's nuclear arsenal, Japan and South Korea have 
come to have concerns about the U.S. nuclear umbrella. The 
Japan-U.S. Security Subcommittee (SSC) meeting last month kicked off 
regular discussions on extended deterrence, and it is reckoned that 
the sharing of nuclear arms between Japan and the U.S. or Japan's 
possession of its own nuclear capability also needs to be debated. 
 
There is a strong possibility that the nuclear deterrence protecting 
Japan will not be effective and the nuclear umbrella will become a 
fiction if even U.S. ships carrying nuclear weapons are prohibited 
from calling at Japanese ports or passing through Japanese waters. 
Considering the new situation after the end of the Cold War, it is 
quite natural to review the three non-nuclear principles that do not 
allow nuclear weapons to be brought into Japan. Sankei Shimbun has 
long advocated such a review. 
 
Does Mr. Hatoyama want to make the fiction permanent through 
 
TOKYO 00001832  002 OF 007 
 
 
codification or does he want to face reality squarely and review the 
three principles? The issue is how to make expanded deterrence work 
effectively for Japan's peace and security. It is unrealistic to 
deny this. 
 
There is another question relating to the nuclear issue. The DPJ's 
manifesto (campaign pledges) mentions only "working for the 
denuclearization of Northeast Asia." Secretary General Katsuya Okada 
and other DPJ officials advocate denuclearizing Japan and North and 
South Korea completely and demanding a no-first-use pledge from the 
U.S., thus partially stepping outside the nuclear umbrella. 
 
In contrast to this, the Liberal Democratic Party manifesto calls 
for "enhancing the reliability of Japan-U.S. security arrangements," 
including the strengthening of expanded deterrence. Prime Minister 
Taro Aso is also negative and doubtful about demanding a 
no-first-use pledge from the U.S. 
 
The nuclear umbrella symbolizes deterrence through the Japan-U.S. 
alliance. There is a huge difference between strengthening the 
nuclear umbrella and stepping outside of it. We also want a clear 
answer from Mr. Hatoyama on this point. 
 
(2) Pundit on ignorance in debate on two non-nuclear principles; 
nuclear arms were removed from U.S. ships 18 years ago 
 
AERA (Pages 60-61) (Full) 
August 10, 2009 
 
Shunji Taoka, commentator 
 
Some Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Diet members and hawkish pundits 
are arguing for abolishing the ban on bringing nuclear weapons into 
Japan, one of the three non-nuclear principles, and allowing U.S. 
military vessels carrying nuclear arms to call at Japanese ports to 
strengthen deterrence as a countermeasure against North Korea's 
nuclear tests and missile launches. Furthermore, former Vice Foreign 
Minister Ryohei Murata's testimony that there was a secret agreement 
on tacitly allowing U.S. ships carrying nuclear arms to visit 
Japanese ports and recognition of this fait accompli have subserved 
the advocacy of two non-nuclear principles (instead of three). In 
light of this, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio 
Hatoyama is talking about a "flexible response," while the Social 
Democratic Party (SDP) has reacted strongly and is advocating the 
"codification of the three non-nuclear principles." DPJ and the SDP 
are now at loggerheads. 
 
However, all the protagonists seem to be mistaken in their belief 
that U.S. forces are keen on bringing nuclear arms into Japan, and 
if this is allowed, ships carrying nuclear weapons will call at 
Japanese ports. In reality, on September 27, 1991, U.S. President 
George Bush (senior) issued a statement calling for reductions in 
nuclear arms, and all nuclear devices on nuclear-powered attack 
submarines, cruisers, frigates, and other warships were removed. By 
1993, even the deployment of "Tomahawk" cruise missiles armed with 
nuclear warheads was discontinued. Among all U.S. vessels, the only 
ships armed with nuclear weapons are 14 nuclear-powered ballistic 
missile submarines. Eight of them are based in the Pacific coast 
states of Washington and Oregon. They take turns being on standby in 
waters off Alaska, and it is improbable that they will ever call at 
Japanese ports. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001832  003 OF 007 
 
 
Excepting nuclear-powered ballistic submarines, crew members of 
other submarines, aircraft carriers, and surface ships regarded 
nuclear weapons as a nuisance. Marines armed with loaded guns had to 
constantly guard the ammunition depot against the catastrophic 
seizure or use of nuclear weapons by unauthorized persons; ships had 
to embark nuclear safety officers; and monthly exercises were 
conducted to deal with various hypothetical nuclear accidents. The 
removal of nuclear weapons was greeted with enthusiasm because it 
was absurd to devote manpower to and fret about something they will 
likely never use at the expense of time that could be devoted to 
other duties and training. 
 
In the past 18 years, most of the nuclear weapons that were stored 
on land have been disposed of and most officers do not conduct 
nuclear-accident training. Nuclear arms have been completely removed 
from South Korea, and the nuclear bombs remaining in Western Europe 
are supposed to be disposed of this year. It is absurd to be talking 
today about port calls by ships carrying nuclear arms. Unless Japan 
threatens to arm itself with nuclear devices if nuclear-weapon-armed 
U.S ships do not call at its ports, such discussion is divorced from 
reality. 
 
(3) Employment measures in manifestos of LDP, DPJ (Part 1): Rescue 
non-regular workers 
 
YOMIURI (Page 3) (Full) 
August 11, 2009 
 
About 230,000 workers, including dispatched or temporary workers, 
have lost their jobs since the economy started going downhill last 
fall. Many youngsters remain unable to have a vision for their 
future while working in unstable conditions. The Liberal Democratic 
Party (LDP) and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) list measures to 
improve working conditions for non-regular workers in their policy 
platforms (manifestos) for the upcoming House of Representatives 
election. 
 
LDP calls for ban on dispatch as day laborers 
 
In its manifesto, the LDP lays out plans to increase jobs by buoying 
up the economy, promising to achieve 2% annual economic growth in 
the latter half of fiscal 2010 and to secure about 2 million jobs in 
the next three years. 
 
The party supports a ban on the one-day employment of non-regular 
workers based on the bill amending the Worker Dispatch Law that was 
abandoned with the dissolution of the last Diet session. Based on 
the government's series of emergency economic stimulus measures, the 
LDP pledges to give vocational training to one million citizens over 
the next three years as part of efforts to strengthen the job safety 
net, as well as to offer housing and livelihood support for those 
who lost their jobs and have no house. The manifesto also proposes 
setting up an office tasked with offering job and livelihood 
assistance and helping part-timers (job-hoppers aged between 25 and 
39) become regular workers. 
 
Further, the manifesto suggests creating a support system for 
companies eager to accept female ex-workers and providing persons 
aged 50 or older with counseling service or education assistance as 
employment promotion measures for elderly citizens. 
 
DPJ proposes minimum hourly wage of 1,000 yen 
 
TOKYO 00001832  004 OF 007 
 
 
 
The DPJ stresses in its manifesto measures the need to strengthen 
the nation's job safety net, including such measures as creating a 
support system for job-seekers with a monthly allowance of up to 
100,000 yen given to those in training and raising the average 
minimum wage. Defining the job-creation challenge as a priority 
task, besides such pledges as a monthly child-raising allowance 
pledges, the DPJ intends to set aside 1.1 trillion to finance the 
employment measures over the four years starting in fiscal 2010. 
 
Based on the view that "easy-going deregulatory measures made the 
job market unstable," as said by a senior member, the DPJ intends to 
ban the dispatch of temporary workers if they are dispatched for 
only less than two months or to manufacturing scenes in principle. 
As part of efforts to increase the number of regular workers for 
jobs other than those that require expertise, the party also intends 
to restrict the dispatch of workers by employee-leasing agencies. 
 
The manifesto also lays out plans to raise the minimum wage to 1,000 
yen an hour and to expand the scope of workers covered by the 
nation's employment insurance system. The party also proposes 
introducing a system under which workers engaged in the same job 
receive the same wage and doing a fact-finding survey regarding 
economic difficulties. 
 
(4) DPJ administration initiative: Struggling to realize government 
led by politicians 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
August 11, 2009 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) intends to complete the 
formation of a cabinet by mid-September and begin drafting the 
fiscal 2010 cabinet, if it takes the reins of government in the 
Lower House election on August 30. The new government at its first 
cabinet meeting would set up a national strategy bureau directly 
reporting to the prime minister by a government ordinance in order 
to take a second look at the conventional method of budget 
compilation. It would thus speed up efforts to secure fiscal sources 
to finance measures included in its manifesto. The DPJ is now 
devising ways to pave the way for realizing a government led by 
politicians in the run-up to budget drafting before year's end, 
which is to start within three months following the launch of the 
cabinet. 
 
National strategy bureau to play central role: Only three months 
left for revisions to budget items 
 
"The current budget has been compiled by each government agency. 
Politicians will get involved in budget preparations starting in 
December. We would revise the prepared budget from scratch and drop 
unnecessary items." Secretary General Katsuya Okada in a speech 
given in Tokyo on the 10th announced that if the DPJ takes the reins 
of government, it would take a second look at the budget compilation 
for the next fiscal year, based on a top-down system. 
 
Policy Research Council Chairman Masayuki Naoshima in July, when the 
budget request outlines for the next fiscal year were approved at a 
cabinet meeting categorically said that the DPJ would revise the 
budget from scratch, noting, "We will compile budgets without being 
fettered (by those prepared by the previous government). The 
decision made this time is, therefore, meaningless." According to 
 
TOKYO 00001832  005 OF 007 
 
 
the established practice, each government agency must submit its 
budget requests by August 31. They then negotiate with the Finance 
Minister until the year's end. However, the new administration's 
policy would greatly change the existing budget compilation 
process. 
 
Securing 3 trillion yen by constraining spending 
 
The DPJ manifesto advocates the implementation of policies costing 
7.1 trillion yen, including the provision of 50 percent of child 
allowance and the abolition of the provisional gasoline tax, in 
fiscal 2010. Its basic policy is to secure funding resources by 
totally revising budget items. It would also end the implementation 
of some items in the fiscal 2009 extra budget, which totals roughly 
14 trillion yen, to make up for shortfalls. 
 
It would scrutinize 4.3 trillion yen reserved for 46 funds, which 
were criticized as being padded during the previous regular Diet 
session, and 2.9 trillion yen for expenses to build facilities for 
various government agencies. It would also examine expenses 
allocated for the construction of a hall to display anime cartoons. 
The plan is to secure 3 trillion yen to 4 trillion yen, by cutting 
back on the extra budget to be submitted to the extraordinary Diet 
session that will be convened in the fall. 
 
Actual deadline for cabinet formation is September 18 
 
Revising budget items drastically in a short period of time requires 
a powerful mechanism led by politicians. 
 
The special Diet session, where a prime minister is designated after 
a Lower House election, must be convened 30 days after the election, 
according to the Constitution. If the newly-elected prime minister 
is to give a speech at the UN General Assembly in late September or 
take part in the Group of 20 financial summit (G-20), the formation 
of a cabinet must be completed by mid-September. September 18 would 
be the actual deadline if the attestation ceremony is to be ended 
before consecutive holidays, such as the Autumnal Equinox Day, in 
September. Chances are high that there will actually only be two 
weeks or so for the administration transition period, for which the 
DPJ intended to secure enough time. 
 
For this reason, the DPJ would first set up a national strategy 
bureau, which would play a central role in compiling the budget, 
based on a government ordinance. It envisages a scenario of holding 
an administrative revamping conference tasked with identifying 
wasteful administrative spending items during the extraordinary Diet 
session, which the DPJ plans to convene in early October, as well as 
to enact related bills to grant authority to the panel. 
 
(5) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Prosecutors keep audiotape from questioning of Sugaya, acquitted in 
murder case, over two other cases exempted from prosecution 
 
Mainichi: Akahata: 
Eighteen people missing due to torrential rain caused by Typhoon No. 
9: Damage spreads in eastern Japan 
 
Yomiuri: 
U.S., European countries eye bluefin trade ban 
 
TOKYO 00001832  006.2 OF 007 
 
 
 
Nikkei: 
Number of municipalities cutting hospital fees for children up to 
junior high school age tops 500 
 
Sankei: 
Sankei-FNN joint poll: DPJ still has lead 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Lay judges question crime victims at Saitama District Court in first 
court proceeding 
 
 
(6) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) 2009 general election: Child-raising assistance; Vie for 
investment in the future 
(2) Improved economic indexes: Economy still in crucial stage 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) 2009 Lower House election: Education needs ideals and vision 
(2) Improving people's livelihoods: Should political parties take 
such an inward-looking stance? 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Toll-free expressways: The people will end up footing the bill 
for pork-barrel largesse 
(2) Police white paper: People's resistance to crimes will prevent 
them from becoming victims 
 
Nikkei: 
 (1) 2009 Lower House election: Policies are being questioned; 
Decentralization will not move forwards without concrete measures 
(2) Realignment of chemical companies aimed at creation of growth 
potential 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Three nonnuclear principles: Mr. Hatoyama should clarify his 
stance 
(2) Use of stimulant drugs spreading, dangers being overlooked 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Election in Afghanistan: Take first step toward independence 
(2) Abolition of statute of limitations: Discussion involving people 
needed 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Discussion on doshu-sei regional bloc system: True aim of local 
administration forgotten? 
 
(7) Prime Minister's schedule, August 10 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 11, 2009 
 
10:08 
Met former Environment Minister Suzuki at the Kantei. 
 
16:57 
Met Thai Ambassador Suvidhya. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001832  007.2 OF 007 
 
 
17:16 
Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura. 
 
18:21 
Underwent acupuncture treatment in Kita-Aoyama. 
 
20:27 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
ZUMWALT