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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 002549 
 
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 11/05/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Economy: 
4) GDP growth in July-Sept 2.6 PERCENT . at annualized rate 
(Nikkei) 
 
Foreign relations: 
5) --Okada forgoes U.S. trip; Kantei says Diet session more 
important  (Mainichi) 
6) --Okada forgoes U.S. trip  (Sankei) 
 
Defense & security: 
7) --Japan to postpone Futenma decision  (Yomiuri) 
8) --Hatoyama says dispatch of even a small SDF contingent to 
Afghanistan would be undesirable  (Asahi) 
 
Politics: 
9) Foreign Minister says stump speech comments don't constitute 
election pledges  (Sankei) 
10) Haraguchi asks cabinet to work out issues on use of Internet for 
election campaigns  (Asahi) 
11) Hirano: Cabinet will decide interpretation of Constitution 
(Nikkei) 
12) Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary differ on 
interpretation of constitution regarding collective self-defense 
(Mainichi) 
 
Special Diet session: 
13) Main exchanges at Lower House Budget Committee meeting  (Nikkei) 
 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
DPJ Secretary General Ozawa's political organization suspected of 
having made false reports on donations 
 
Mainichi: 
Welfare ministry plans to ease floor space requirements for nursery 
schools in urban areas to help reduce number of children on waiting 
lists 
 
Yomiuri: 
Diet debate on amakudari (reemployment of retired bureaucrats) 
practice between ruling, opposition camps; DPJ has shifted to 
pragmatic policy approach 
 
Nikkei: 
Toyota plans to establish research and development center in China 
as early as next year 
 
Sankei: 
Government Revitalization Unit likely to cut expenses for 
achievement tests 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
 
TOKYO 00002549  002 OF 008 
 
 
Tokyo government intends to carry out Tsukiji Market relocation 
plan 
 
Akahata: 
JCP lawmaker Kasai urges Prime Minister Hatoyama to take Futenma 
base issue seriously 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Hatoyama donation scandal: Prime Minister Hatoyama must abide by 
law 
(2) Reelection of President Karzai: Can he unite his country? 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Karzai reelected: Priority should be placed on ethnic harmony 
(2) Teachers with insufficient leadership: Education ministry must 
delve deeper into the problem 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Measures to improve quality of teachers: Reform teacher training 
system after examining its effects 
(2) Karzai reelection: He must unite ethnic groups and fight 
terrorism 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Prime Minister Hatoyama must answer questions about false 
reports on political donations 
(2) Karzai must quickly take action to restore trust 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Cancellation of foreign minister's U.S. visit: "Crisis" between 
Japan and U.S. must not be neglected 
(2) Political reform: We support a year-round Diet session plan 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Hike in tobacco prices: Debate on tobacco tax hike should be 
deepened 
(2) Karzai reelected: Taliban insurgents must go home 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Declassified U.S. diplomatic documents: U.S. pressure on Japan 
to execute "secret nuclear pact" 
 
3) Prime Minister's schedule, November 4 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
07:17 Arrived at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). 
08:31 Attended a cabinet meeting in the Diet building. Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Hirano and deputy chief cabinet secretaries Matsuno and 
Takino stayed behind. 
09:08 Attended a Lower House Budget Committee session. 
12:05 Arrived at the Kantei. 
13:01 Attended the Lower House Budget Committee session. 
17:44 Met Foreign Minister Okada and Vice Foreign Minister Yabunaka 
at the Kantei. 
18:03 Met China's Guangdong Province Communist Party Secretary Wang 
Yang, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai, and others, with MOFA 
Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director-General Saiki present. 
19:12 Attended a ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 
 
TOKYO 00002549  003 OF 008 
 
 
Japan National Press Club held in the Japan National Press Club 
Building in Uchisaiwaicho. 
19:50 Watched the Corteo circus show with wife, Miyuki, at the 
National Yoyogi Stadium Olympic Plaza in Jinnan. 
21:59 Arrived at his official residential quarters. 
 
4) Private think tanks project 2.6 PERCENT  growth in GDP for 
July-September period 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
November 5, 2009 
 
Twelve private-sector research institutes have projected that the 
nation's real gross domestic product (GDP) for the July-September 
quarter grew at an annualized rate of 2.6 PERCENT  over the previous 
period on average - registering a boost for the second straight 
quarter following 2.3 PERCENT  growth in the April-June period. The 
institutes have released their respective forecasts prior to the 
Cabinet Office's announcement of the GDP on Nov. 16. Exports and 
consumer spending have increased on the back of economic stimulus 
measures taken in Japan and abroad. Capital investment is also 
expected to take an upward turn for the first time in six quarters. 
 
According to their forecasts, the GDP for the July-September period 
would grow 0.6 PERCENT  in real terms over the previous period. The 
economy has been on a recovery track, and this favorable trend is 
likely to be reflected in the GDP. Even so, policies have greatly 
contributed to boosting the economy, so there is still concern about 
the continuity of the economic expansion. 
 
5) Okada forgoes visit to U.S. because of Kantei's giving priority 
to Diet business 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Excerpt) 
November 5, 2009 
 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has given up his plan to visit the 
United States ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's arrival in 
Japan on Nov. 12-13 due on account of Diet business. Highly alarmed 
at confusion over the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' 
Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture), Okada sounded 
out Washington on his plan to visit the United States without 
coordinating views with the Prime Minister's office (Kantei). But 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has said he would  postpone a 
decision on Futenma until after Obama's Japan visit, has not changed 
his stance of giving Diet business priority over other matters. Thus 
a difference in level of concern between the Kantei and Okada over 
the Futenma issue has been brought into the open. The cancellation 
of talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, requested by 
Okada, owing to domestic circumstances is drawing criticism from 
within the government. 
 
6) Foreign Minister Okada gives up U.S. visit 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
The governments of Japan and the United States decided yesterday to 
call off a meeting between their foreign ministers. The governments 
had been carrying out coordination with an eye to holding the 
meeting on Nov. 6 (Nov. 7 Japan time). Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Hirofumi Hirano announced the cancellation at a press conference on 
 
TOKYO 00002549  004 OF 008 
 
 
Nov. 4. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told reporters yesterday 
evening: "Schedules for budget committee sessions (at the House of 
Councillors) have not yet been decided. So I gave up the trip. I 
couldn't cause (the U.S. side) to keep their schedule open 
indefinitely." 
 
7) Gov't to postpone Futenma decision 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
Ahead of U.S. President Obama's visit to Japan on Nov. 12, the 
Japanese government's course of action for a scheduled summit 
meeting of Obama and Prime Minister Hatoyama was disclosed 
yesterday. The summit meeting is expected to focus on the issue of 
relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa 
Prefecture. Hatoyama, however, will tell Obama at the summit meeting 
that he will push back a conclusion on the Futenma issue, for the 
reason that the Japanese government is still in the process of 
verifying the circumstances leading to the decision to relocate the 
Futenma airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab, a U.S. military 
base in the island prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago. 
 
Hatoyama will meet at his office with Obama on Nov. 13. During the 
summit meeting, the two leaders will focus their discussion mainly 
on bilateral relations between Japan and the United States, 
assistance to Afghanistan for its reconstruction, North Korea's 
nuclear development programs, nuclear disarmament and 
nonproliferation, and climate change. Bilateral relations have been 
bumpy because of the pending issue of relocating the heliport 
functions of Futenma airfield. Against this background, Hatoyama 
will underscore the bilateral alliance between Japan and the United 
States. In addition, he would like to confirm bilateral cooperation 
on Afghan aid. When it comes to the Japan-U.S. alliance, next year 
marks the 50th anniversary of the revision of the Japan-U.S. 
Security Treaty, so Hatoyama will propose bilateral discussions to 
"deepen the alliance in a multilayered way." 
 
Concerning Japan's aid to Afghanistan, Hatoyama will clarify that 
Japan will substantially increase financial assistance for such 
projects as constructing social infrastructure in Afghanistan. 
Meanwhile, Hatoyama will explain that he will "not simply extend" 
the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling activities in the Indian 
Ocean. 
 
On the issue of nuclear disarmament, Hatoyama will express his 
support for Obama's vow to seek "a world without nuclear weapons." 
Hatoyama will tell Obama that Japan will also make proactive efforts 
for nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation. 
 
Obama will leave Japan on Nov. 13, so he is not expected to visit 
the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 
 
8) Hatoyama: Dispatching even a small group of SDF troops to 
Afghanistan would be undesirable 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama yesterday indicated a negative view 
about the proposed dispatch of Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops to 
join an international reconstruction mission in Afghanistan. He told 
 
TOKYO 00002549  005 OF 008 
 
 
reporters: "Dispatching even a small group of SDF personnel to 
Afghanistan would be undesirable." The prime minister appears to be 
in favor of centering Japan's aid for Afghanistan on civilian aid, 
including livelihood support for residents. He also said: "I am 
fully aware that each cabinet minister is mulling what Japan should 
do for Afghanistan, but I think it is better for the cabinet to come 
up with a unified (view) on the SDP dispatch." 
 
The Hatoyama cabinet has decided to halt the Maritime Self-Defense 
Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean when the refueling 
mission special measures law expires in January. With an eye on U.S. 
President Barack Obama's planned visit to Japan on Nov. 12, the 
Defense Ministry has looked into such plans as sending SDF officials 
to the headquarters of the U.S.-led International Security 
Assistance Force (ISAF) and Provisional Reconstruction Teams (PRT), 
as well as dispatching SDF troops to mainland Afghanistan. 
 
9) Remarks in stump speeches during Lower House campaign "are not 
campaign pledges," Foreign Minister Okada says at Diet 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
With regard to the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air 
Station in Okinawa, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said yesterday 
before the House of Representatives Budget Committee, "The campaign 
platform (for the Lower House election) and remarks made (by senior 
party members) during the election campaign are not equivalent. The 
campaign platform is the manifesto (set of campaign pledges)." Okada 
indicated his perception that policies stipulated in the manifesto 
are campaign pledges, but remarks made on the hustings are not 
campaign pledges. He was replying to a question by Akira Kasai of 
the Japanese Communist Party about the discrepancy between Prime 
Minister Yukio Hatoyama's comments during the Lower House campaign 
that it would be desirable to relocate the Futenma base out of 
Okinawa or out of Japan and the foreign minister's idea of 
integrating the Futenma base with Kadena Air Base. 
 
10) Issues on allowing use of Internet during election campaigns to 
be summarized 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi 
indicated at a news conference after a cabinet meeting on Nov. 4 
that he has ordered his ministry to summarize the issues on allowing 
the use of the Internet during election campaigns. The removal of a 
ban on the use of the Internet during election campaigns was 
specified in the Democratic Party of Japan's manifesto (campaign 
pledges). The government plans to make preparations for amending the 
Public Offices Election Law. 
 
There are strong concerns that the removal of the ban on the use of 
the Internet might result in spoof candidates and slander. Haraguchi 
stopped short of mentioning a clear timeline on amending the law. 
"Parties and floor groups must first discuss the matter thoroughly 
at the Diet," Haraguchi said, indicating that lawmakers will sponsor 
a bill. 
 
11) Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano leaves open option of revising 
constitutional interpretation of right of collective self-defense 
 
TOKYO 00002549  006 OF 008 
 
 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
At a news conference on Nov. 4, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi 
Hirano said that with regard to the government's constitutional 
interpretation banning the exercise of the right of collective 
self-defense, "when the world situation changes drastically, when a 
such a situation occurs, we will make a judgment at that point in 
time," leaving open the door to responding to changing 
circumstances. He added that "the cabinet consisting of the 
ministers will make the interpretation according to a political 
decision," emphasizing political leadership. 
 
Previously, the Cabinet Legislation Bureau has, in effect, been 
making the constitutional interpretations. On this point, Hirano 
said: "I do not think that the director general of the Cabinet 
Legislation Bureau should make this judgment. His opinion will not 
become the government's opinion." He indicated that the director 
general will only serve as an adviser to the cabinet, saying: "We 
will tap the director general's knowledge of and opinion on legal 
matters. The cabinet will make its judgment based on such 
knowledge." 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters at the Prime 
Minister's office (Kantei) on the same day that "I have no intention 
to change the interpretation of the right of collective 
self-defense. We should act within the bounds of the government's 
interpretation and the Constitution," reiterating his negation of 
the revision of the interpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution. 
He added, "While it is possible to change the interpretation, we 
need to be extremely careful when doing so." 
 
At a cabinet meeting on the same day the government decided on a 
response to a written query from New Komeito House of Councillors 
member Masayoshi Hamada: "The constitutional interpretation remains 
unchanged at this point." 
 
12) Hatoyama, Hirano have different views about government 
interpretation of Constitution on collective self-defense 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
In replying to questions at a meeting of the House of 
Representatives Budget Committee yesterday, Prime Minister Yukio 
Hatoyama said in reference to the current government interpretation 
of the Constitution, which prohibits the Self-Defense Force from 
exercising the right to collective self-defense: "I understand that 
Japan adopted the current interpretation based on its historical 
background. I have no intention to change it under my 
administration." Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano 
expressed a different view from Hatoyama's in a press conference the 
same day, saying: "When we see a change in the situation, the 
cabinet will make a decision in a responsible manner." Hatoyama 
later told reporters at the Prime Minister's Official Residence: "It 
doesn't make sense that the view of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau 
director general should be a golden rule," indicating that the 
cabinet could change the interpretation based on its own judgment. 
But he added: "It is also necessary to ascertain public opinion." 
 
13) Gist of PM Hatoyama's and Foreign Minister Okada's responses to 
 
TOKYO 00002549  007 OF 008 
 
 
interpellation on foreign policy issues at Lower House Budget 
Committee on November 4 
 
NIKKEI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 5, 2009 
 
Right of collective self-defense 
 
Shigeru Ishiba, chairman of Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research 
Council: The Prime Minister used to say that providing bases and 
logistic support (to the U.S.) constitutes exercising the right of 
collective self-defense. Do you still take that position after 
becoming prime minister? 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama: The term "right of collective 
self-defense" itself is ambiguous. It needs to be defined clearly 
and Japan's basic stance on defense needs to be asserted sooner or 
later. My cabinet has no intention to change the interpretation of 
Article 9 of the Constitution. 
 
Afghan aid 
 
Ishiba: How effective has the refueling mission of the Maritime 
Self-Defense Force in the Indian Ocean been? 
 
Hatoyama: The number of logistical support operations has been 
decreasing. Contribution to peace and economic rehabilitation in 
Afghanistan will be much more effective. 
 
Ishiba: Will the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) participate in Afghan 
aid? 
 
Hatoyama: Manpower contribution is also necessary, but this will be 
aid involving mostly civilians. I am not thinking of dispatching the 
SDF. 
 
Ishiba: What is the essence of the war against terrorism? 
 
Hatoyama: It is impossible to eradicate terrorism by armed force 
alone. Our responsibility is to think seriously about poverty and 
the religious aspects, and guide their lives. 
 
Futenma issue 
 
Ishiba: If the U.S. Marines are moved outside Okinawa or Japan, do 
you think the same deterrence can be maintained? 
 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada: We are currently looking into this. 
I do not think that deterrence will be lost completely if (the 
Marines) are not in Okinawa. However, it will depend on the 
situation and location. 
 
East Asian community 
 
Ishiba: Will the East Asian community include not only economic, but 
also military aspects? 
 
Okada: The East Asian community is a grand vision for the future. It 
is unconceivable for a collective security framework like NATO to be 
created immediately in a situation where there are countries with 
different political systems. This concept does not include (military 
elements). 
 
TOKYO 00002549  008 OF 008 
 
 
 
Japan-U.S. alliance 
 
Ishiba: The Japan-U.S. alliance is unequal compared to what? 
 
Okada: We are not talking about compared to something else; what we 
are saying is that Japan should voice its opinions boldly. 
 
Ishiba: Demanding that the U.S. make a commitment to no-first-use of 
nuclear weapons will mean a serious decline in the United States' 
nuclear deterrence. 
 
Okada: I told U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that 
no-first-use of nuclear arms is the general direction for achieving 
a world without nuclear weapons, but this cannot be done immediately 
and that we would like to discuss in-depth what can be done right 
now. I did not demand an immediate commitment to no-first-use. 
 
ROOS