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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 002407 
 
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 10/20/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Futenma saga: 
4) PM: The relocation will not be postponed  (Yomiuri) 
5) Osprey to be deployed at new base  (Akahata) 
6) SDP party secretary general calls for relocation of Futenma 
facility outside Okinawa  (Nikkei) 
7) U.S. pressuring Japan by agreeing to shift of runway farther 
offshore  (Yomiuri) 
 
Defense & security: 
8) Secretary of Defense Gates to visit Japan today  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
9) Vice foreign minister mentions possible use of SDF for Afghan 
assistance  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
Politics: 
10) PM: Flexibility with regard to manifesto important  (Asahi) 
11) LDP President Tanigaki visits Yasukuni Shrine  (Asahi) 
 
Foreign relations: 
12) Amano expresses strong desire for resolution of North Korea 
nuclear issue  (Yomiuri) 
 
Economy 
13) Multiple-year appropriation introduced  (Nikkei) 
14) New government bond issue will likely exceed 50 trillion yen 
(Nikkei) 
 
Opinion: 
15) Sankei-FNN poll: 60.9 PERCENT  support Hatoyama cabinet 
(Sankei) 
 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi & Yomiuri: 
Japan Post President Nishikawa to step down 
 
Mainichi: 
Unity among new entrepreneurs stronger, putting end to role of 
Keidanren 
 
Nikkei: 
Finance minister hints at issue of 50 trillion yen in government 
bonds 
 
Sankei: 
Expert panel suggests using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to 
reconstruct JAL business 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Foundations employing ex-Transport Ministry win contracts at higher 
prices in 53 government-ordered airport projects 
 
Akahata: 
 
TOKYO 00002407  002 OF 008 
 
 
Short-term health insurance cards issued to 28,000 elderly persons 
due to failure to pay premiums under elderly health plan 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Let us overcome new-type influenza pandemic with accurate 
knowledge and careful preparations 
(2) International divorce dispute: Discuss parental authority, right 
to see children 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Vaccinations against new flu: Reliable information needed 
(2) 70th anniversary of return of Nippon-go twin-engine plane to 
Japan from around-the-world flight 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Japan Pension Agency to be launched: Don't forget about bold 
systemic reform 
(2) U.S. fiscal deficit troubles Obama administration 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Give priority to growth measures, labor market in compiling 
measures to create jobs 
(2) Supermarkets should make efforts to offer "bargains" 
 
Sankei: 
(1) U.S. defense secretary to visit Japan today: Government urged to 
settle bilateral issues to maintain alliance 
(2) New Rengo system: Give advice to government that is based on 
reality 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) New strain of influenza: Cooperation among medical institutions 
necessary 
(2) Burden of education fees: There is a limit to dependence on 
household budgets 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Immediately abolish elderly health program 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, October 19 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
09:52 Met Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President 
Sadako Ogata at Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). 
10:21 Met Vice Finance Minister Yasutake Tango. 
14:05 Met National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan and Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Hirofumi Hirano. Joined by prime minister's assistant 
Yoshikatsu Nakayama. 
15:55 Met Hirano. 
16:28 Met Cabinet Office Senior Vice Minister Kohei Otsuka. 
17:04 Met Indian National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan. Later 
met with House of Representatives member Keishu Tanaka. 
19:00 Attended welcome reception for U.S. Ambassador and Mrs. John 
Roos by Japan Stanford Association at Tokyo Club in Roppongi. 
19:53 Met Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Akira Nagatsuma at 
the Kantei. Hirano and others were also present. 
 
TOKYO 00002407  003 OF 008 
 
 
21:32 Arrived at his private residence. 
 
4) Futenma relocation will not be postponed; Hatoyama says 
"Japan-U.S. agreement carries weight" 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
October 20, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama emphasized yesterday evening that the 
government will not put off the deadline stipulated in an agreement 
reached between Japan and the U.S. on the relocation of the U.S. 
Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City to the coastal 
area of Camp Schwab in Nago City, both in Okinawa Prefecture, by 
¶2014. The ruling coalition of the Democratic Party of Japan, the 
Social Democratic Party, and the People's New Party has agreed to 
review the existing accord on the realignment of U.S. forces in 
Japan, including the Futenma relocation plan. The remarks yesterday 
by Hatoyama, however, suggest that the government would also 
consider the current plan as one option. 
 
Speaking before reporters at the Prime Minister's Official Residence 
last evening, Hatoyama said: "The agreement reached between the 
governments of Japan and the U.S. carries weight. We should not 
readily assume that we can put off the schedule beyond 2014." 
 
5) Ospreys to be deployed at new base; premise of environmental 
assessment collapses 
 
AKAHATA (Page 1) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
The U.S. Marine Corps has recently issued its fiscal year 2010 
aviation program which clearly stipulates that MV-22 Osprey 
state-of-the-art vertical takeoff and landing aircraft will be 
deployed to the envisaged new base in the Henoko district in the 
city of Nago, which is to replace the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air 
Station (in Ginowan). The MV-22 Ospreys will replace the CH-46E 
mid-size helicopters currently deployed to Futenma. 
 
In its aviation program released annually, the U.S. Marine Corps has 
made clear Futenma deployment plans for 2012 and beyond. This is the 
first time that the U.S. Marine Corps has clearly specified the 
additional deployment (of MV-22 Ospreys) to the new base to be 
completed in 2014. 
 
The U.S. document confirms that the new base is premised on a plan 
to deploy the Osprey, which is noisier than the CH-46E. 
 
According to the fiscal 2010 aviation program, the U.S. Marine Corps 
will begin replacing (the CH-46Es) with Ospreys at one of the two 
companies belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG36) deployed at 
Futenma Air Station in October 2012 and those at another company in 
April 2013 on the continental United States. In addition to Futenma, 
the Futenma replacement facility (FRF) is specified as a deployment 
site for (Ospreys). 
 
The Japanese government is pushing ahead with an environmental 
impact assessment for constructing the new base premised on the 
types of aircrafts currently deployed at Futenma Air Station. Local 
residents are calling for making the Osprey an object of the 
assessment. In response, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has repeatedly 
indicated that (the Osprey) is not an object of the environmental 
 
TOKYO 00002407  004 OF 008 
 
 
impact assessment because the U.S. side has replied that the 
deployment of the aircraft has not been specifically decided. 
 
Now that the U.S. Marine Corps has repeatedly released its programs 
based on the deployment of the Osprey to the new base, it can be 
said that the premise of the environmental assessment has 
collapsed. 
 
6) SDP secretary general: Futenma Air Station must be moved out of 
country 
 
NIKKEI (Page 3) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) reaffirmed at its cabinet minister 
liaison meeting held on Oct. 19 its position to seek a review of the 
existing Japan-U.S. agreement on the relocation of the U.S. Marine 
Corps' Futenma Air Station. Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno 
emphatically indicated in a news conference that Futenma Air Station 
must ultimately be moved out of the country. He said, "Our party's 
view is that Futenma Air Station should be relocated to a place 
outside Japan." 
 
7) Defense Secretary Gates in Japan today; U.S. applying pressure by 
accepting moving Futenma replacement facility farther offshore 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
October 20, 2009 
 
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit Japan for two days 
from Oct. 20. He will meet Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, and other officials to discuss the 
relocation of the U.S. Marines' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan 
City, Okinawa) and other issues. With regard to the current plan to 
relocate the Futenma base to the coastal area of the U.S. forces' 
Camp Schwab (in Nago City), the U.S. government says it accepts 
"minor modifications." Gates is expected to reiterate the U.S.' 
demand to implement this plan, and the Japanese government, which 
has not decided on a clear policy, will likely have difficulty 
responding. 
 
In addition to Futenma relocation, Afghan aid measures to replace 
the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian 
Ocean, the selection of Japan's next main fighter (FX), and other 
issues are expected to be discussed at Gates' meetings with Japanese 
officials. 
 
8) U.S. Defense Secretary in Japan today; compromise on Futenma 
relocation unlikely 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged) 
October 20, 2009 
 
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit Japan for two days 
starting on Oct. 20 to meet with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and 
other officials. Since the visit comes right after a senior 
Department of Defense official indicated that the U.S. will only 
accept minor modifications to the current plan to relocate the U.S. 
forces' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan City) to the coastal area of 
Camp Schwab (in Nago City), it will probably be difficult for the 
Japanese government, which is looking at the possibility of 
relocating the Futenma base out of Okinawa, to find common ground 
 
TOKYO 00002407  005 OF 008 
 
 
with the U.S. side. 
 
Gates's visit will be the first by a U.S. cabinet member after the 
inauguration of the Hatoyama administration. Gates will meet Foreign 
Minister Katsuya Okada on the afternoon of Oct. 20 and hold separate 
meetings with Hatoyama and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa on the 
morning of Oct. 21. 
 
Right before Gates's visit to Japan, a senior U.S. Department of 
Defense official has indicated that moving the runways (of the 
proposed Futenma replacement facility) further offshore for about 50 
meters under the current relocation plan will be acceptable and 
warned that failure to implement the Japan-U.S. agreement on this 
plan will be "a blow to the bilateral relationship of trust." Gates 
is expected to convey the same message and reject any major review 
of the current plan, including relocation out of Okinawa. 
 
Talking to reporters about the current relocation plan on Oct. 19, 
Hatoyama said: "We need to have the flexibility to think about 
whether there are other options with an open mind," conveying his 
demand on the U.S. side. He also said: "I am not thinking that we 
have to settle all the issues before the visit of Mr. Gates or of 
U.S. President Barack Obama (in November)," thus indicating that no 
major progress on the relocation issue is expected for the time 
being. 
 
9) "Use of SDF troops for assistance to Afghanistan is under 
consideration," says senior vice foreign minister 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Fukuyama revealed in a speech 
given in Tokyo on Oct. 19 that he is looking into the use of 
Self-Defense Forces as an aid measure to be extended to Afghanistan 
in place of the current refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. He 
noted, "We must look into such a possibility. We will identify what 
options are available and explore their feasibility." 
 
In specific terms, in view of the situation in Afghanistan where 
battles are continuing, it would be conceivable to have Air 
Self-Defense Force personnel engage in airlift operations of relief 
supplies to refugees in neighboring nations, instead of dispatching 
them for an on-site mission. 
 
Parliamentary Defense Secretary Akihisa Nagashima also said on the 
same day after discussing new aid measures with British 
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Defense Quentin Davies, "I cannot 
say that the use of SDF troops is not one of the options (for new 
aid measures)." 
 
The government has made the decision to end the refueling mission in 
January next year. In the meantime, it is looking into promoting 
assistance for basic human needs, including vocational training to 
former Taliban soldiers. 
 
However, due to poor security situation in Afghanistan, private 
citizens are limited in what they can do in extending assistance for 
basic human needs. If Japan only extends financial assistance as a 
new assistance measure, it could draw criticism from the 
international community. As such, the government has presumably 
decided to look into using the SDF. 
 
TOKYO 00002407  006 OF 008 
 
 
 
10) Prime Minister Hatoyama: Flexibility in implementing campaign 
platform important 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
When asked by the press corps about whether the manifesto (a set of 
campaign pledges) should be implemented without fail, Prime Minister 
Yukio Hatoyama yesterday said: "A manifesto includes pledges on 
which the public does not necessarily pin hopes. So we should 
consider them in a flexible manner," indicating the possibility of 
changing his party's manifesto if he judges it difficult to get 
support from the public. 
 
Hatoyama also stated: "The most important thing is to manage the 
government in a way that satisfies the public. The manifesto is 
important because it is a commitment, but just sticking to it is not 
good for the public." 
 
11) LDP President Tanigaki visits Yasukuni Shrine 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Sadakazu Tanigaki visited 
Yasukuni Shrine in Kudan, Tokyo, at noon on Oct. 19. The shrine is 
now holding its autumn festival. "I am chairman of the association 
of the bereaved families of the war dead in Kyoto. I prayed for the 
souls of those that died not only in World War II but also in all of 
the wars of the Japanese modern history," Tanigaki said to 
reporters. Regarding the fact that he took a negative stance toward 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, he 
said, "At that time I was also giving consideration to international 
relations, so I thought that the prime minister should refrain from 
visiting the shrine." 
 
12) Amano indicates eagerness to resolve North Korean nuclear issue 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
A symposium titled "Nuclear Nonproliferation and Peaceful Use of 
Nuclear Energy" on cooperation between Japan and the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was held yesterday at Imperial Hotel in 
Uchisaiwaicho, Tokyo. The symposium was hosted by the Net Journalist 
Association and others, and supported by the Yomiuri Shimbun and 
other media organizations. Yukiya Amano, currently the Foreign 
Ministry's ambassador in charge of the nuclear nonproliferation and 
nuclear energy, who will assume the post of IAEA director general in 
December, sent to the symposium a video message in which he 
indicated his eagerness to resolve the Iranian and North Korean 
nuclear issues, saying, "The role of the IAEA is extremely 
important. I will tackle the issues head on." 
 
13) Government panel eyes budget-management system spanning several 
years starting in fiscal 2011 
 
NIKKEI (Page 3) (Full) 
October 20, 2009 
 
The government's national strategy taskforce yesterday finalized a 
 
TOKYO 00002407  007 OF 008 
 
 
report on future options for budget compilation starting in fiscal 
¶2010. The report proposes introducing a budget-management system 
spanning several years starting in fiscal 2011. It also presents a 
program in which the government will reveal in fiscal 2010 
guidelines for medium- to long-term fiscal discipline and then work 
out a "mid-term fiscal frame" for expected state revenues and 
expenditures in fiscal 2011-2013. In addition, the report includes 
measures to make the budget-compilation process more transparent by 
using the Internet. 
 
The government will instruct all the cabinet ministers to proceed 
with budgetary compilation in accordance with this policy line 
within this week. 
 
Under the budget-management system envisioned by the taskforce, the 
government would show in the mid-term fiscal frame a general 
framework for state revenues and expenditures, as well as means to 
reduce spending. Such would be reflected in every fiscal year's 
budget. The taskforce judges that the envisioned system does not 
infringe on the Constitution, which stipulates the principle of a 
single-fiscal-year system. 
 
14) Finance minister hints at fresh issuance of government bonds 
worth all-time high of 50 trillion yen 
 
NIKKEI (Top Play) (Lead para.) 
October 20, 2009 
 
Referring to the management of state finances in fiscal 2009, 
Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, during an interview with the Nihon 
Keizai Shimbun, indicated his intention to make up for a tax revenue 
shortfall of more than 6 trillion yen with the additional issuance 
of government bonds. He hinted at an outlook that the issuance of 
government bonds would expand to the 50 trillion yen level, although 
the government had previously estimated such an amount at 44 
trillion yen. As a result, the amount of the issuance of government 
bonds will exceed tax revenues for the first time since fiscal 1946, 
when the nation was in a state of disorder after the War. Concerning 
the abolition of provisional taxes, such as the gasoline tax, which 
(the ruling Democratic Party of Japan pledged in its manifesto for 
the Lower House election), Fujii hinted at the possibility of 
adopting a measure to boost tax revenues, saying that switching 
those taxes to a tax to pay for measures against global warming, 
which is to be newly established, is "one option." 
 
15) Poll: Hatoyama cabinet's support rate at 60.9 PERCENT 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
October 20, 2009 
 
The rate of public support for Prime Minister Hatoyama and his 
cabinet, at one month since coming into office, remained high, 
scoring 60.9 PERCENT  in a public opinion survey jointly conducted 
by the Sankei Shimbun and Fuji News Network (FNN) on Oct. 17-18. 
However, the Hatoyama cabinet's support rate dropped 7.8 percentage 
points from a previous survey conducted Sept. 16-17 shortly after 
its debut. Meanwhile, the now-ruling Democratic Party of Japan's 
popularity also fell 3.8 points to 40.6 PERCENT . The Hatoyama 
government still maintains momentum, but its economic policy 
measures received much lower marks this time around. Economic trends 
could have an impact on the Hatoyama cabinet's future support 
ratings. 
 
TOKYO 00002407  008 OF 008 
 
 
 
ROOS