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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6738

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001886 
 
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 (1) 08/17/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Coordination underway for Japan-U.S. summit in late September 
(Yomiuri) 
(2) Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau director-general 
contributes an article saying, "There were documents connected with 
the secret nuclear pact" (Asahi) 
(3) Former Foreign Ministry bureau chief intends to cooperate on 
investigation of secret nuclear pact after Lower House election 
(Yomiuri) 
(4) Government to monitor flight routes of Futenma military 
helicopters all year round from 2010 (Yomiuri) 
(5) Joint policy platform of three opposition parties calls for 
reviewing planned split of Japan Post into four businesses, omits 
foreign policy, national security (Sankei) 
(6) LDP, DPJ to clash in 263 districts in Lower House election 
(Tokyo Shimbun) 
(7) DPJ endorses Makiko Tanaka as official candidate for Lower House 
election; Husband Naoki will also join DPJ (Mainichi) 
(8) Prime minister opts not to visit Yasukuni to avoid stirring up 
political issue; DPJ's Hatoyama does the same (Yomiuri) 
(9) Consumer Affairs Minister Noda visits Yasukuni Shrine; Former 
Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe also pay respects at the shrine 
(Nikkei) 
(10) National memorial facility for war dead now likely with backing 
from DPJ's Hatoyama and SDP (Yomiuri) 
(11) Prime Minister Aso negative about building a national memorial 
facility (Mainichi) 
(12) Three opposition parties make policy switch in joint policy 
platform from structural reform line promoted by LDP, New Komeito 
(Nikkei) 
(13) Japanese, U.S. governments considering new energy cooperation 
in Okinawa and Hawaii (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Coordination underway for Japan-U.S. summit in late September 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 16, 2009 
 
The Japanese and U.S. governments are coordinating to hold a 
Japan-U.S. summit meeting when the G-20 financial summit is held in 
Pittsburgh on September 24-25. If a change of administration results 
from the House of Representatives election on August 30, and 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama becomes the 
prime minister, this will be his first meeting with President Barack 
Obama. 
 
The Japanese government has the following events lined up for the 
prime minister's trip to the United States in late September: the UN 
Climate Change Summit at the UN headquarters in New York on 
September 22, a speech at the UN General Assembly on September 24, 
and participation in the "Summit on Nuclear Non-proliferation and 
Nuclear Disarmament" at the UN Security Council led by President 
Obama. The prime minister will travel to Pittsburgh for the 
financial summit after the UN events. 
 
President Obama is scheduled to visit Japan in November, but due to 
the possibility of a change of government in Japan, coordination is 
now underway for holding a bilateral summit at an early date. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001886  002 OF 008 
 
 
(2) Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau director-general 
contributes an article saying, "There were documents connected with 
the secret nuclear pact" 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) 
August 15, 2009 
 
Former Ambassador to the Netherlands Kazuhiko Togo, 64, who served 
in such posts as director general of the Treaties Bureau of the 
Foreign Ministry, has contributed an article to the Asahi Shimbun on 
a secret nuclear pact between Japan and the United States designed 
to exempt stopovers in Japan by U.S. warships and aircrafts carrying 
nuclear weapons from prior consultations between the two countries. 
Although it stops short of confirming the existence of the secret 
agreement itself, the article reveals that the Foreign Ministry had 
a large volume of documents on the handling of the Japan-U.S. 
agreement which is now referred to as the secret pact. The article 
says, "The time has come to explain to the public about what the 
problem is and how the government has handled it." 
 
According to his notes, after becoming the Treaties Bureau's 
director-general of in July 1998, Togo disposed of documents on 
bilateral talks for conclusion in 1960 of the U.S.-Japan Security 
Treaty and on its operation thereafter. The notes also say that the 
documents on the introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons into Japan 
represented the largest portion of what was disposed of. Also 
included in them were documents on how past Treaties Bureau 
directors-general handled this matter as well as on discussions in 
the Foreign Ministry on how it should handle the secret deal in case 
documents and testimonies on it were made public, according to the 
notes. 
 
(3) Former Foreign Ministry bureau chief intends to cooperate on 
investigation of secret nuclear pact after Lower House election 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
August 16, 2009 
 
Former Foreign Ministry Treaties Bureau Director-General Kazuhiko 
Togo, 64, gave on Aug. 15 an interview to the Yomiuri Shimbun 
regarding an allegation that the governments of Japan and the United 
States has concluded a secret pact allowing U.S. warships carrying 
nuclear weapons to stop at Japanese ports. In the interview, Togo 
said if the new administration decided to investigate the secret 
pact after the next House of Representatives election, he would 
cooperate. Togo also expressed his willingness to testify on the 
documents he saw while he was in office and on how they would have 
been handled if the government and the Diet had decided to 
investigate the facts. 
 
The government and the ruling coalition have persistently denied the 
existence of the secret pact, adding that they have no plans to 
investigate it. Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President 
Yukio Hatoyama and others have made it clear that if their party 
takes power through the upcoming Lower House election, a DPJ 
government will investigate the pact and make (the results) public. 
 
Togo said on Aug. 15: "Contemplating how the government has 
responded to the nuclear issue and on what to do with the three 
non-nuclear principles in the future is more important than the 
existence or nonexistence of the secret pact." 
 
 
TOKYO 00001886  003 OF 008 
 
 
Togo retired from the Foreign Ministry in 2002 after serving as 
director-general of the Treaties Bureau (currently International 
Legal Affairs Bureau) between July 1998 and August 1999. 
 
In a Yomiuri Shimbun interview conducted in July of this year, Togo 
indicated anonymously that several files on the secret nuclear pact 
entered into when the revised U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was 
concluded in 1960 had existed during his term of office. 
 
(4) Government to monitor flight routes of Futenma military 
helicopters all year round from 2010 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
August 16, 2009 
 
The government has decided to monitor the flight routes of military 
helicopters at the Futenma Air Station (Ginowan City, Okinawa 
Prefecture) throughout the year from next January. It will set up 
flight route monitoring equipment to see if the designated routes 
over the military base at takeoff and landing, which were set in 
consideration of the danger posed by military aircraft on nearby 
residential areas, are being observed. 
 
The Ministry of Defense conducted a preliminary investigation for 
one week in late August 2008 and determined that data gathering is 
possible. Antennas and cameras will be installed around the air 
field by next January to receive radio waves from the base around 
the clock and draw up a track chart. 
 
The government has been taking steps to remove the danger posed by 
the Futenma base until its relocation in the wake of the crash of a 
military helicopter in Ginowan City in August 2004. An agreement was 
reached with the U.S. side that the helicopters would avoid flying 
over the residential areas at takeoff and landing, and trees, 
towers, and obstacles on the air field have been removed. 
 
(5) Joint policy platform of three opposition parties calls for 
reviewing planned split of Japan Post into four businesses, omits 
foreign policy, national security 
 
SANKEI (Top Play) (Full) 
August 15, 2009 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social Democratic Party 
(SDP), and the People's New Party (PNP) yesterday revealed their 
joint policy platform for the upcoming House of Representatives 
election. The platform includes measures for reviewing the 
government's plan to split Japan Post into four businesses and keep 
the 5% consumption tax unchanged. The measures in the three parties' 
platform will become their basic policies if they win a majority 
(241 seats) in the Lower House election and establish a coalition 
government. But the platform stops short of mentioning specific 
measures on the foreign and national security fronts, reflecting 
major differences of opinion on the dispatch of Self-Defense Force 
(SDF) troops overseas and other issues in these areas. 
 
The joint platform rejects the policies mapped out by the cabinet 
led by Junichiro Koizumi, which contributed to the ruling camp's 
overwhelming victory in the previous Lower House election in 2005. 
It notes: "The economic policy giving priority to market 
fundamentalism and a competitive market mechanism has destroyed 
public livelihoods and local economies. Further, it has increased 
 
TOKYO 00001886  004 OF 008 
 
 
public anxiety and caused the collapse of the social security and 
education safety nets." 
 
As a specific measure, the platform proposes keeping the current 5% 
consumption tax unchanged. Regarding postal services, it suggests 
reviewing the government's plan to split Japan Post into four 
businesses in response to a strong proposal from the PNP, as well as 
freezing the sale of the government's shares in three companies in 
the Japan Post group, such as Yucho Bank and Kampo Life Insurance. 
 
Regarding child-rearing and educational support measures, the 
platform proposes such measures as introducing a child allowance 
system. In the social security area, it vows to resolve the pension 
record-keeping fiasco and other problems. 
 
With no direct reference to foreign and security policies, the 
platform just notes: "We, as the people of the only nation to have 
suffered nuclear bombing, will abide by the three principles, 
including pacifism, in the Constitution of Japan." 
 
In a press conference in the Diet Building yesterday, DPJ Policy 
Research Council Chairman Masayuki Naoshima said: "We would like to 
obtain support (from the voters) for the measures we have presented 
and bring about a change of government and a coalition government. 
We are determined to deliver our promises one after another." He 
thus stressed his determination to turn the measures into action at 
an early date if the opposition camp seizes political power. 
 
(6) LDP, DPJ to clash in 263 districts in Lower House election 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
August 16, 2009 
 
The official campaign for the 45th House of Representative election 
will kick off on Aug. 18 and candidates will launch their campaigns 
for the election to be held on Aug. 30. The Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP) and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are expected to clash in 
263 districts of the 300 single-seat constituencies. Most of the 
attention is now focused on whether the LDP-New Komeito coalition 
government will remain in power or the DPJ will realize a change of 
government. 
 
According to the Tokyo Shimbun's survey, about 1,300 candidates plan 
to run in the single-seat constituency and proportional 
representation (180 seats) races in the upcoming Lower House 
election. 
 
The LDP is expected to file 289 candidates in the district races; 
and the DPJ is expected to file 271 candidates. Both parties are now 
carrying out final coordination of their candidates for the 
proportional representation segment. 
 
The LDP is now having difficulty coordinating candidates who will 
run only for the proportional representation race. In the previous 
election, candidates running in single-seat constituencies 
complained about the party's policy of listing former lawmakers on 
the upper ranks, citing a decrease in the seats for candidates 
running for both district and proportional representation seats as a 
reason. 
 
The DPJ intends to give priority to candidates running in the 
single-seat constituencies by not fielding candidates running only 
 
TOKYO 00001886  005 OF 008 
 
 
for the proportional representation segment. 
 
(7) DPJ endorses Makiko Tanaka as official candidate for Lower House 
election; Husband Naoki will also join DPJ 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 15, 2009 
 
Makiko Tanaka, a former foreign minister, will run in the upcoming 
House of Representatives election as a candidate on the Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ) ticket from the No. 5 district in Niigata 
Prefecture. Makiko's husband, House of Representatives member Naoki 
Tanaka, who left the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last October, 
will also join the DPJ. DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama is going to 
visit them in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, on the 15th, at 
which time they will announce the news together. 
 
After bolting the LDP in 2003, Makiko was elected to the Lower House 
in the 2005 general election as an independent. Although she is a 
member of a DPJ parliamentary group, she had not joined the DPJ. 
Naoki left the LDP in order to support Makiko in the Lower House 
election. 
 
(8) Prime minister opts not to visit Yasukuni to avoid stirring up 
political issue; DPJ's Hatoyama does the same 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
August 16, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso offered flowers at the Chidorigafuchi 
National Cemetery and participated in the memorial ceremony for the 
war dead hosted by the government on August 15, the anniversary of 
the end of World War II, but did not visit the Yasukuni Shrine. The 
only cabinet minister who made the Yasukuni visit was Minister for 
Consumer Affairs Seiko Noda. Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 
President Yukio Hatoyama also opted not to visit the shrine. If the 
prime minister had visited Yasukuni, it could become a political 
issue ahead of the official declaration of candidacy for the House 
of Representatives election on August 18, but August 15 ended in 
quiet prayers for the war dead. 
 
With regard to the Yasukuni visit, certain Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP) members, who were alarmed by the party's low support rating, 
had asserted that "the prime minister should visit Yasukuni Shrine 
on August 15 to restore support from the conservative voters" ahead 
of the Lower House election. 
 
However, Aso told reporters on August 10: "It is wrong to make 
people who sacrificed their precious life for the country into pawns 
for political maneuvering or involve them in the commotion over the 
election. (Yasukuni) is supposed to be a place for quiet prayers," 
indicating he would not make the shrine visit. It appears that he 
learned a lesson from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who 
pledged in the 2001 LDP presidential election to visit the shrine 
and made this a political issue in the next five years. 
 
Aso used to visit the Yasukuni Shrine during its spring and autumn 
festivals each year until he became the minister of internal affairs 
and communications in April 2005. However, he stopped doing so after 
becoming the foreign minister in October 2005. In August 2006, he 
suggested that Yasukuni Shrine should voluntarily dissolve as a 
religious corporation and become a special public corporation under 
 
TOKYO 00001886  006 OF 008 
 
 
the government's management. After becoming the prime minister, he 
has limited himself to making a contribution for the religious rites 
during the spring and autumn festivals out of his own pocket. 
 
Hatoyama stated at a news conference on August 11 that if he becomes 
the prime minister, he "has no plan to visit (Yasukuni) and will ask 
the cabinet members to refrain from doing so." 
 
(9) Consumer Affairs Minister Noda visits Yasukuni Shrine; Former 
Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe also pay respects at the shrine 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
Evening, August 15, 2009 
 
Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, former prime ministers, visited 
Yasukuni Shrine in Kudankita, Tokyo, on the morning of Aug. 15, the 
anniversary of the end of World War II. Among the Aso cabinet 
ministers, only Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Seiko Noda 
paid her respects at the Shinto shrine. Prime Minister Taro Aso did 
not visit, but instead offered flowers at the Chidorigafuchi 
National Cemetery. 
 
A nonpartisan parliamentary group (headed by Yoshinobu Shimamura), 
including Liberal Democratic Party Election Strategy Headquarters 
Acting Head Makoto Koga and LDP Upper House Chairman Hidehisa 
Otsuji, also visited the shrine on the morning of Aug. 15. According 
to Shimamura, who held a press conference, a total of 41 persons, 
including his group members, such former Lower House members as 
Koizumi and Abe, and incumbent House of Councillors members, visited 
Yasukuni. 
 
From the government side, Senior Vice Minister of Justice Tatsuo 
Sato and Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Nobuo Kishi visited the 
shrine. From the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Upper House 
members Yuichiro Hata and Hirokazu Shiba visited. Aso and 15 of his 
cabinet members had announced earlier that they would not visit the 
shrine. Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone has not clarified his 
intention, but he appears to have decided not to visit Yasukuni. 
 
(10) National memorial facility for war dead now likely with backing 
from DPJ's Hatoyama and SDP 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) 
August 16, 2009 
 
The building of a non-religious national memorial facility for the 
war dead is now becoming a real possibility. Democratic Party of 
Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama has indicated that he will 
promote the construction of such a facility if the DPJ takes over 
the administration, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has also 
said that it will cooperate with this project. 
 
At a news conference in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture on August 
15, Hatoyama said: "The Emperor has not visited Yasukuni Shrine for 
many years. A facility where the Emperor can offer his prayers in 
peace is probably necessary. Our party will work on this," 
reiterating a positive stance on building a new facility. 
 
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada has also indicated that an 
experts' committee will study this issue. Meanwhile, the SDP has 
been calling on other parties to cooperate in drawing up a 
construction plan during the term of office of the next Lower 
 
TOKYO 00001886  007 OF 008 
 
 
House. 
 
For now, there is no opposition to this plan in the DPJ. However, 
there are also DPJ members who visit the Yasukuni Shrine with 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Diet members because "the main 
facility for mourning the war dead is Yasukuni." When the plan to 
construct a new facility reaches the implementation stage, it is 
possible that opposition may emerge. In the past, a similar plan 
emerged during the Koizumi administration but was met with strong 
opposition, causing the project to be shelved. The hurdles remain 
for a "Hatoyama administration." 
 
(11) Prime Minister Aso negative about building a national memorial 
facility 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
August 15, 2009 
 
Referring to the fact that Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President 
Yukio Hatoyama has taken a forward-looking stance toward the idea of 
constructing a national memorial facility for the war dead, Prime 
Minister Taro Aso made a negative comment: 
 
"I think the biggest question is whether the public will agree such 
an idea. I wonder whether the construction of a national memorial 
facility can resolve the Yasukuni issue. I don't think it's that 
simple." 
 
Aso was responding to questions from the press corps at the Prime 
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). 
 
Hatoyama on Aug. 12 stressed the need for a new memorial facility, 
saying: "It is not desirable for the prime minister and cabinet 
ministers to visit" Yasukuni Shrine. 
 
Aso proposed in 2006 when he was serving as foreign minister an idea 
of changing the status of Yasukuni Shrine from a religious 
organization to a government-affiliated corporation in order to 
resolve the issue of the separation of politics and religion. 
 
(12) Three opposition parties make policy switch in joint policy 
platform from structural reform line promoted by LDP, New Komeito 
 
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Full) 
August 15, 2009 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social Democratic Party and 
the People's New Party yesterday announced their joint policy 
platform for the upcoming House of Representatives election. The 
platform includes measures to freeze the sale of the government's 
shares in Japan Post and to abolish the current government's annual 
economic and fiscal policy guidelines to curb the natural growth of 
social security spending. The three opposition parties have thus 
underscored their stance of shifting from the structural reform line 
promoted by the government of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and 
the New Komeito. DPJ Policy Research Council chairman Masayuki 
Nagashima said in a press conference: "After the election, we will 
start consultations on our coalition government," indicating his 
eagerness to hold policy talks based on the joint policy platform. 
 
It is unprecedented for opposition parties to compile their common 
policy goals before an election. The platform lists specific 
 
TOKYO 00001886  008 OF 008 
 
 
measures to rebuild the livelihood support, employment, and social 
security systems. Naoshima stated: "To put these measures into 
practice, we would like to win the Lower House election and take 
over the reins of government. These measures can be taken as the 
three parties' campaign pledges." 
 
The platform also proposes reviving the mother-and-child welfare 
benefit system and scrapping the health insurance system for people 
aged 75 or older and the Services and Supports for Persons with 
Disabilities Law. On these issues, the opposition parties locked 
horns with the government in Diet deliberations. They aim to stress 
their intention to make a policy switch after a change of 
government. 
 
Regarding economic measures, the opposition parties regard support 
for households as the top priority task. Specifically, the platform 
lays out plans to introduce a system to offer a monthly 
child-raising allowance, eliminate public high school tuition fees, 
and to improve working conditions for nursing-care workers. 
 
(13) Japanese, U.S. governments considering new energy cooperation 
in Okinawa and Hawaii 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
August 15, 2009 
 
It was learned on Aug. 14 that the governments of Japan and the 
United States are now considering launching a joint project on clean 
energy development such as solar power and biofuels, based in 
Okinawa and Hawaii. The two governments are considering holding 
energy symposiums and conduct technology development aimed at 
increasing the level of energy self-sufficiency on the islands. They 
hope to reach an agreement on the matter as part of a new economic 
cooperation framework when President Barack Obama visits Japan in 
November. 
 
This information was revealed by sources connected to Japan-U.S. 
relations. Coordination between the two governments is underway in 
order to build new cooperative relationships in such areas as global 
warming prevention measures and environmental conservation. This 
direction is not expected to change even if the Democratic Party of 
Japan (DPJ) takes over the reins of government. The two governments 
aim to build strong relations between Hawaii and Okinawa as a symbol 
of bilateral cooperation. 
 
ZUMWALT