VZCZCXRO4707
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2133/01 2570654
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140654Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6168
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 8771
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 6434
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 0249
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 3798
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6951
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0949
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7608
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7225

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 002133 
 
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 09/14/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Change of government: "Foreign Minister Okada" begins diplomatic 
effort; How will "stubborn fundamentalist and pro-Asian politician" 
steer diplomacy? (Mainichi) 
 
(2) Negative campaign produced opposite effect, according to survey 
on Lower House election; 60 percent of respondents say they had bad 
impressions of parties that criticized rival parties (Mainichi) 
 
(3) H-2B successfully launched, putting end to dependence on other 
countries and marking first step toward international contribution 
in space development (Sankei) 
 
(4) WTO talks: DPJ to adopt policy of protecting agriculture for 
time being; Switch to liberalization after Upper House election? 
(Sankei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Change of government: "Foreign Minister Okada" begins diplomatic 
effort; How will "stubborn fundamentalist and pro-Asian politician" 
steer diplomacy? 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
September 12, 2009 
 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama told 
reporters on the evening of Sept. 11 at party headquarters: "I have 
it in my mind. But I'm not ready to reveal it to you," implying that 
he is working out the lineup of cabinet members, whom he will 
announce after his election as prime minister. He then returned to 
his private residence. Hatoyama has been mum about his selection of 
cabinet members. 
 
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada, tapped as the next foreign 
minister, launched his diplomatic effort yesterday, with a meeting 
for about 30 minutes with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, 
arrived in his post just about three weeks ago, who called on Okada 
at the DPJ's headquarters. 
 
During the meeting, Okada told Roos: "There are outstanding 
bilateral issues relating to the Japan-U.S. alliance and security 
arrangements. But what is important is that a sustainable bilateral 
alliance will continue and deepen over the next 30 to 50 years." 
 
The Ambassador simply replied that he will work toward strengthening 
the bilateral alliance. 
 
What Okada had in mind is the Self-Defense Force's refueling 
operations in the Indian Ocean and the realignment of U.S. Forces 
Japan (USFJ).  "I proposed discussing these two issues," Okada said. 
He added that Roos did not say anything about the issues. Thus they 
avoided a  confrontation. 
 
Okada is 56 year old, five years younger than U.S. Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton. He is known to be a "stubborn 
fundamentalist," and some have contended that he lacks flexibility. 
In meeting with U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy in 
June in Japan, Okada insisted that U.S. bases are concentrated in 
Okinawa because the United States had occupied the island prefecture 
after World War II, and that the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces 
 
TOKYO 00002133  002 OF 005 
 
 
Agreement (SOFA) is not equal. Flournoy reacted sharply to his 
comment, sparking a heated debate. 
 
Since he was a junior Diet member, Okada has had exchanges with top 
government officials and influential lawmakers of China and South 
Korea. He has his own channels of communication to Chinese Executive 
Vice Premier Li Keqiang, regarded as a possible candidate to be the 
next premier. On Sept. 9, Okada met with visiting Chinese Vice 
Foreign Minister Wu Dawei. Although Okada studied in the United 
States when he was a bureaucrat at the then International Trade and 
Industry (MITI), he is widely viewed as a pro-Asian politician, and 
Roos apparently met with Okada in a bid to assess his diplomatic 
stance. 
 
"There are discussions on whether Japan should attach more 
importance to the United States or China. However, we value both 
China and the United States," Okada told a symposium held in Tokyo 
on Sept. 2 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of 
the People's Republic of China. He took a stance of attaching 
priority to Japan's relations with both the United States and China. 
However, it is difficult to promote the DPJ's plan to create an East 
Asian Community with Japan-China relations as its core, while 
strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance, the linchpin of Japanese 
diplomacy. 
 
It remains to be seen how the DPJ will steer Japan's diplomacy with 
the United States. The DPJ refused to incorporate a call for the 
withdrawal of the MSDF vessles from the Indian Ocean in its 
agreement to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic 
Party and the People's New Party because it could tie the new 
administrations' hands diplomatically, according to close aides to 
Okada. 
 
A senior official of the Foreign Ministry's North American Affairs 
Bureau said: "The amount of information, including diplomatic 
secrets, which Okada will obtain as foreign minister will greatly 
increase from the time he was an opposition lawmaker. I want him to 
sufficiently analyze the information and not to jump to hasty 
conclusions." 
 
(2) Negative campaign produced opposite effect, according to survey 
on Lower House election; 60 percent of respondents say they had bad 
impressions of parties that criticized rival parties 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
September 12, 2009 
 
A survey conducted by the Kan media society research group of the 
Japan Society of Information and Communication Research found on 
Sept. 11 that roughly 60 percent of respondents who viewed 
commercials of a political party criticizing its rival party during 
campaigns for the Lower House election had unfavorable impressions 
not of the party that was criticized but of the party that did the 
criticizing. 
 
The LDP ran animated commercials criticizing the Democratic Party of 
Japan's (DPJ) policies on the Internet and distributed fliers or 
leaflets carrying such criticism. Pointing this out, Gakushuin 
University Professor Kaoru Endo said at a press conference on the 
11th that it was the first full-fledged negative campaign in Japan. 
The survey found that the campaign resulted in the opposite of the 
intended effect. Endo said the results can be taken to mean that 
 
TOKYO 00002133  003 OF 005 
 
 
voters acted based on their sound judgment. 
 
The poll conducted after the Lower House election - on Aug. 31 and 
Sept. 1 - surveyed the impact of the Internet on voters' voting 
behaviors, targeting 1,000 people including both men and women in 
their 20s through 60s. 
 
According to the survey results, 45.5 percent of respondents watched 
negative campaigns, of whom 63.5 percent had unfavorable impressions 
of the party that did the criticizing. Thirty-three percent of those 
who voted for the LDP replied that they had unfavorable impressions 
of the LDP's negative campaign. 
 
The proportion of respondents who felt information provided on the 
Internet was important reached 57.3 percent, topping 58 percent 
citing newspapers, and 75.5 percent selecting television. 
 
(3) H-2B successfully launched, putting end to dependence on other 
countries and marking first step toward international contribution 
in space development 
 
SANKEI (Page 3) (Full) 
September 12, 2009 
 
A new large-scale rocket carrying Japan's first unmanned space 
transportation vehicle was launched from the Tanegashima Space 
Center (Kagoshima Prefecture) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration 
Agency (JAXA) at 2:01 a.m. of Sept. 11. The HTV transportation 
vehicle filled with supplies for the International Space Station 
(ISS) was successfully put into its intended orbit. Japan is the 
fourth country to transport goods to the ISS, following the U.S., 
Russia, and Europe. The successful launch means that Japan has taken 
its first step toward making a full-fledged international 
contribution to space development. 
 
The HTV, launched by the H-2B rocket, contains about 4.5 tons of 
goods, including food and other daily necessities for the crew 
aboard the ISS, as well as equipment to be used for experiments in 
Japan's Kibo laboratory module on the ISS. The vehicle is scheduled 
to gradually approach the ISS and berth at the station at an 
altitude of about 400 kilometers on Sept. 18. 
 
After delivering the goods to the ISS and loading waste materials, 
the HTV will be separated from the ISS and burn up when it re-enters 
the atmosphere. 
 
When setting up the Kibo module, Japan entrusted to the U.S. the 
task of carrying the necessary equipment aboard its space shuttles. 
In return for this contribution, Japan developed and produced the 
HTV at a cost of 68 billion yen. JAXA plans to launch seven HTVs, 
one each year, through 2015. The H-2B, developed jointly by JAXA and 
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is a two-engine rocket that is more 
powerful than the H-2A, its single-engine predecessor. The launch of 
the H-2B represents a significant step forward for Japan in the 
space development field. 
 
With the successful launch, Japan will play a role in transporting 
materials to the ISS. Stepping out of the stage of just 
participating in experiments, Japan will take on the heavy 
responsibility of transporting materials on behalf of many other 
countries. With the establishment of its own transport means as a 
beginning, Japan also plans to develop a manned space vehicle in the 
 
TOKYO 00002133  004 OF 005 
 
 
future. 
 
The vehicles capable of transporting goods to the ISS are U.S. space 
shuttles with the  capability of carrying 16 tons of goods, a 
European transport vehicle (7.5 tons of goods) and a Russian 
transport vehicle (2 tons of goods). 
 
The HTV is capable of transporting 6 tons of goods and large-sized 
loads that can be transported only by space shuttles. It can also 
carry replacement parts necessary to maintain the functions of the 
ISS. 
 
After the space shuttles are decommissioned next year, the HTV will 
be the only means of transporting such important materials. The ISS 
is scheduled to be completed next year, but supplying necessary 
goods is indispensable for its continued operations. Given this, 
Japan will make an outstanding international contribution from now 
on. Visiting NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier 
commented: "The HTV is very significant for the ISS project." 
 
In transporting necessary equipment to the ISS, Japan has depended 
on other countries in the past. In addition to developing the HTV 
and the H-2B independently, Japan will also control their operations 
on its own. 
 
In the HTV, there is a room that can be entered by astronauts not 
wearing spacesuits. JAXA has envisioned a plan to upgrade the HTV to 
a manned space vehicle. The agency intends to accumulate a variety 
of know-how through the planned lifting off of seven HTVs. 
 
Meanwhile, Japan succeeded in developing the H-2B rocket in a short 
period of time and at a low cost, demonstrating its credibility. It 
can load two large satellites, so the cost for lifting off one 
satellite can be reduced. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries expects that 
the H-2B will contribute to bolstering its competitiveness in the 
satellite-launch business. 
 
(4) WTO talks: DPJ to adopt policy of protecting agriculture for 
time being; Switch to liberalization after Upper House election? 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Full) 
September 14, 2009 
 
A senior officials' meeting of the World Trade Organization's new 
multilateral trade talks (Doha Round) will be held in Geneva, 
starting on September 14. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned on the 
11th that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) secretly coordinated 
with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries (MAFF) responsible for the talks and decided to firmly 
maintain Japan's previous stance of exempting key domestic 
agricultural items, such as rice, from substantial tariff cuts. 
However, chances are that since trade liberalization is a basic 
policy of the DPJ's, the party might increasingly shift to a 
liberalization policy line in step with progress in talks at the WTO 
after the Upper House election next summer. 
 
The DPJ had incorporated the promotion of agricultural 
liberalization in its policy manifesto. However, it has changed the 
stance in response to opposition from agricultural groups. 
 
With the exception of Japan, leading countries participating in 
agricultural talks at the WTO agreed in principle at a ministerial 
 
TOKYO 00002133  005 OF 005 
 
 
meeting in July last year to set the proportion of key items 
eligible for exceptionally low tariff cuts at 6 percent at the 
highest. Japan wants to see that proportion set at 8 percent. 
However, there is a strong possibility of Japan's being forced to 
make concessions on the rate of tariff cuts and expansion of the 
minimum import framework. Some party members said that should that 
occur, the DPJ, which will take over WTO trade talks from the LDP, 
will be left holding the bag. 
 
The DPJ is concerned over the talks' impact on the Upper House 
election. A lawmaker close to the DPJ leadership emphasized to a 
Geneva-bound deputy vice MAFF minister that there is no reason to 
rush during the talks. 
 
Farmers, alarmed about the agricultural market being liberalized, 
are shifting their attention from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 
to the DPJ. If the DPJ lowers barriers to reaching a settlement at 
the talks, the party could invite farmers' mistrust. On the other 
hand, if it adopts a policy of protecting domestic agriculture, it 
would give ammunition to the LDP. 
 
If imports of low-priced foreign agricultural products increase, 
prices on the domestic market will drop and the fiscal burden of a 
compensation system for individual farmers, the showcase policy, 
will swell. 
 
The position of the new administration in trade liberalization talks 
is totally different from the LDP's. The LDP administration, which 
has heavily relied on agricultural cooperatives for their 
vote-drawing power and financial strength, has adopted a stance of 
protecting agriculture at trade talks. However, the DPJ is staying 
away from agricultural cooperatives, with one party official saying, 
"Who wants to receive requests from an organization in the 
opposition camp?"  The DPJ will thus shift to a policy of promoting 
liberalization at the trade talks with the aim of capturing emerging 
markets for the sake of economic growth in the future. Although it 
may inherit the LDP administration's policy line for the time being, 
the undercurrent of Japan's trade policy will likely greatly change 
due to the change of administration. 
 
DPJ's agricultural policy 
 
The DPJ has set production goals for key agricultural items, such as 
rice, soy beans and wheat, abolishing the existing rice-reduction 
program. It plans to employ a system of compensating the income of 
farm households that cooperated for the policy to cover losses 
incurred by them due to gaps between the cost of the cultivation of 
rice and other crops, and their sales prices. This policy was 
premised on cuts in tariffs on agricultural products through the 
signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. However, 
meeting strong opposition from agricultural organizations, the DPJ 
has revised this policy and decided not to adopt any policies that 
could undermine agricultural promotion. 
 
Correction 
The Sept. 11, 2009, issue indicated the editorial "Don't make the 
Afghan war the 'Obama War'" appeared in the same day's Tokyo 
Shimbun. The editorial appeared on Sept. 10. 
 
ROOS