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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 002444 
 
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 10/23/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Special Diet session: 
4) DPJ committee chairperson: Ship inspection bill unlikely to gain 
approval in special Diet session  (Nikkei) 
5) Hatoyama administration eliminates SDF reference from 
ship-inspection bill  (Asahi) 
6) Bill granting voting rights to foreigners postponed  (Nikkei) 
 
Futenma drama: 
7) Prime Minister opines no need to rush decision on Futenma; Obama 
visit is not a deadline  (Yomiuri) 
8) Tanigaki worried about review of Futenma agreement  (Nikkei) 
 
Politics: 
9) DPJ announces four independent lawmakers joined party  (Nikkei) 
 
Foreign relations: 
10) Japan International Forum submits policy recommendations on 
Japan-U.S. alliance to Hatoyama administration  (Yomiuri) 
 
Space: 
11) U.S. to use in new unmanned space vehicle approach system 
developed in Japan  (Yomiuri) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Wasteful public work projects sneaked into estimated budget 
requests 
 
Mainichi: 
Government Revitalization Unit to publicly sort through projects to 
cut wasteful spending from 95 trillion yen in budget requests 
 
Yomiuri: 
Government Revitalization Unit to review priorities for special 
account budget requests 
 
Nikkei: 
Central government to transfer control of six administrative 
services, including standards for childcare center users, to 
municipalities 
 
Sankei: 
Futenma Air Station relocation issue: New candidate for relocation 
site to be picked before year's end 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Education Ministry to make request for free private high school 
tuition fees 
 
Akahata: 
Toyota Motors resumes recruiting contract workers, but only for six 
months at most 
 
TOKYO 00002444  002 OF 005 
 
 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Reopening of Ashikaga case: The court should sit in judgment on 
its own mistake 
(2) Government Revitalization Unit: We pin hopes on panel members 
tasked with identifying wasteful spending 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Government Revitalization Unit should serve as mechanism to 
enhance quality of budget 
(2) Futenma Air Station relocation: The will of the administration 
not in sight 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) How will the Government Revitalization Unit cut wasteful use of 
tax revenues by screening budget requests? 
(2) Reopening of Ashikaga case should lead to prevention of 
recurrence of false charges 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) The Hatoyama administration should debate issues in Diet 
(2) Chinese economy only midway to recovery 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Extraordinary Diet session to be convened on Oct. 26: Continue 
efforts to submit key legislation 
(2) Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Maehara's statement: 
He should continue to dig in heels over illegal occupation of 
Northern Territories by Russia 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Appointment of former bureaucrat to Japan Post Holdings Co. 
president: We doubt the government is serious about moving away from 
bureaucracy-oriented politics 
(2) Reelection in Afghanistan: Priority should be given to rooting 
out irregularities and corruption 
 
Akahata: 
(1) National Association of Social Rehabilitation Centers for 
Mentally Handicapped Persons' case: Correct the collusive ties that 
allow it to swindle subsidies 
 
3) Prime Minister's schedule, October 22, 2009 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 23, 2009 
 
07:58 Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano at the Prime Minister's 
Official Residence (Kantei). Joined by National Strategy Bureau 
Minister Kan. 
08:53 Attended a meeting of the Government Revitalization Unit. 
10:05 Held a briefing on the Government Revitalization Unit to 
senior vice ministers and others. 
10:57 Attended a memorial service at the Grand Arc Hotel to 
commemorate police officers and people that cooperated with them who 
died in the call of duty. 
11:43 Attended a special cabinet meeting at the Kantei to examine 
policy speech. 
12:33 Met Foreign Minister Okada and Defense Minister Kitazawa. 
13:45 Attended the Autumn Garden Party at the Akasaka Imperial 
 
TOKYO 00002444  003 OF 005 
 
 
Gardens. 
15:18 Met METI Vice Minister Mochizuki and Trade Policy Bureau 
Director General Okada at the Kantei. 
16:03 Attended a meeting of government and DPJ leaders. 
17:20 Met Kan and Cabinet Office Vice Minister Furukawa. Kan stayed 
behind. Vice Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hosokawa joined 
later. 
18:41 Recorded a video to introduce Japan to the APEC member 
countries. 
19:37 Attended a gathering to remember the late Ryuichiro Hosokawa, 
a political commentator, at a restaurant in Kita-Aoyama. 
23:23 Arrived at his private residence. 
 
4) DPJ Diet affairs chief: "Enacting ship inspection legislation is 
difficult" 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 23, 2009 
 
Democratic Party of Japan Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji 
Yamaoka indicated to the press corps at the Prime Minister's 
Official Residence (Kantei) yesterday that during the extraordinary 
Diet session (to be convened on Oct. 26) it would be difficult to 
enact special measures legislation to facilitate inspection of cargo 
on ships traveling to and from North Korea. The government is 
leaning toward submission of a bill to the Diet. Yamaoka did not 
deny the possibility of the government submitting the bill, saying, 
"Depending on circumstances, the government may submit (the bill)." 
 
5) Government deletes reference to SDF involvement from cargo 
inspection bill 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
October 24, 2009 
 
The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama compiled a bill 
yesterday to enable Japan to inspect ships heading to and from North 
Korea. It is planning to submit the bill to the upcoming 
extraordinary Diet session. The previous government led by the 
Liberal Democratic Party had the involvement of the Self-Defense 
Force (SDF) in mind, but the Hatoyama government deleted any 
reference to the SDF from the bill, out of consideration for the 
Social Democratic Party, which is opposed to the dispatch of SDF 
personnel overseas. The bill stipulates that the primary 
responsibility for the task be given to the Japan Coast Guard. 
 
6) Bill granting right to vote for permanent foreign residents put 
on hold 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 23, 2009 
 
Referring to a bill that would grant local election voting rights to 
permanent foreign residents, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Oct. 
22 said, "Preparations might not have been completed yet. It might 
be difficult to have it ready for submission to the next Diet 
session." He thus noted that the bill will not be submitted before 
the regular Diet session to be convened next January. He made this 
statement in reply to a question asked by reporters at the Prime 
Minister's Official Residence (the Kantei). While visiting South 
Korea on the Oct. 9, the prime minister said that he wanted to reach 
a positive conclusion on the issue. 
 
TOKYO 00002444  004 OF 005 
 
 
 
7) Prime minister will not rush decision on Futenma relocation 
issue: "The U.S. President's visit to Japan is not a deadline" 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Excerpt) 
October 23, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the evening of Oct. 22 said, "I do 
not think the planned Futenma Air Station relocation is an issue 
that must be settled by the time U.S. President Obama visits Japan." 
He thus indicated that the time of the U.S. President's visit to 
Japan, which will take place on November 12-13, will not be a target 
for a decision on the matter. He thus clarified his stance of not 
complying with the U.S. request. He made this remark at the Prime 
Minister's Official Residence (the Kantei). 
 
8) LDP's Tanigaki "concerned" about Futenma pact review 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 23, 2009 
 
Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki held a press 
conference yesterday, during which he strongly criticized the 
Hatoyama cabinet's response to the issue of relocating the U.S. 
Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture. "Just 
because they've taken the reins of government, they're going to 
casually overturn the agreement reached between Japan and the United 
States," Tanigaki said. "I'm very concerned," he added. Tanigaki 
also stressed: "The Futenma issue is part of a package including 
plans to move the U.S. Marines (from Okinawa) to Guam and to 
mitigate Okinawa's base-hosting burden. So if they're going to 
change the agreement, they must come up with an alternative plan." 
 
9) Four independent Upper House members join DPJ 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
October 23, 2009 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) announced yesterday that four 
independent House of Councillors members - Yoetsu Suzuki, Toshiro 
Tomochika, Hajime Hirota, and Ikitsu Toyama - have joined the party. 
Because the four already belonged to the DPJ-led parliamentary group 
in the Upper House, there is no change to the 118 parliamentary 
group members (excluding Upper House President Satsuki Eda). 
 
10) Tokyo think tank makes proposal for Prime Minister Hatoyama on 
Japan-U.S. alliance 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
October 23, 2009 
 
The Japan Forum on International Relations (chaired by Takashi Imai) 
submitted to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama a policy proposal titled 
"Proactive pacifism and the Japan-U.S. alliance." The proposal 
points out that the Hatoyama administration "should make its best 
effort to implement" the agreement reached between Japan and the 
United States on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station 
Futenma. The forum also calls for lifting the ban on the use of the 
right of collective self-defense, as well as for creating a general 
law for international peace cooperation. 
 
11) U.S. chooses Japanese PLS components for new unmanned 
 
TOKYO 00002444  005 OF 005 
 
 
spacecraft 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
October 23, 2009 
 
Technology installed on the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) - an 
unmanned spacecraft developed in Japan - has been chosen for a key 
component in an unmanned spacecraft under development in the United 
States, according to an announcement yesterday by Mitsubishi 
Electric Corporation, developer of the technology. This is the first 
time Japanese technology was chosen for a core component in a U.S. 
space vehicle. Its selection proves, in a sense, that Japanese space 
technology is becoming more competitive in international satellite 
and other space-related markets. Japanese companies are expected to 
step up efforts to sell their products on international markets. 
 
Mitsubishi Electric received an order to supply Proximity Link 
System (PLS) components that will guide a space vehicle safely to 
the International Space Station (ISS). In the middle of last month, 
the HTV successfully docked with the ISS, giving the company a high 
reputation for its space technologies. 
 
Mitsubishi Electric received the order from Orbital Sciences 
Corporation (based in Virginia), a private firm that is developing 
the new unmanned space vehicle Cygnus Spacecraft under contract with 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Mitsubishi 
Electric will deliver the components for nine vehicles to Orbital 
between 2010 and 2014 in a deal valued at approximately 6 billion 
yen. 
 
ROOS