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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 002690 
 
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 11/24/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Economy 
4) Government says economy in deflation  (Nikkei) 
 
Environment 
5) Draft plan for global-warming countermeasures calls for aid to 
developing countries in two stages  (Nikkei) 
 
Secret nuclear accord: 
6) Foreign Minister admits existence of secret nuclear accord 
(Mainichi) 
7) Foreign Minister says results of investigation of secret nuclear 
accord to be released in January  (Asahi) 
8) Foreign Ministry bureau chief turned over secret-nuclear-accord 
file to his successor  (Yomiuri) 
9) Existence of secret accord could spark review of three 
non-nuclear principles  (Yomiuri) 
 
Futenma issue: 
10) Prime Minister indicates intention of reaching Futenma decision 
this year  (Mainichi) 
11) Prime Minister says no deadline for Futenma decision  (Yomiuri) 
 
12) Diet members from Okinawa call for establishment of panel to 
examine relocating Futenma facility out of prefecture  (Yomiuri) 
13) SDP calls for coalition partners to establish new forum for 
discussion of Futenma relocation issue  (Nikkei) 
14) Cabinet still divided over Futenma issue  (Nikkei) 
15) LDP's Okinawa chapter to call for relocating Futenma out of 
Okinawa  (Yomiuri) 
 
Politics: 
16) LDP and Komeito introduce child pornography draft bill 
(Yomiuri) 
17) "Sympathy budget" to undergo review by budget screening 
committee  (Nikkei) 
18) Japan to accept Myanmar refugees  (Yomiuri) 
19) Decision on super computer pending review  (Nikkei) 
 
Foreign relations: 
20) Hatoyama watches American football telecast with U.S. Ambassador 
 (Sankei) 
21) Prime Minister says he barely discussed Futenma issue with 
Ambassador  (Nikkei) 
 
Defense & security: 
22) Aso administration lobbied for maintaining credibility of U.S.'s 
"nuclear umbrella  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
Polls: 
23) Sankei/FNN poll: Cabinet maintains plus-60 PERCENT  support 
rating  (Sankei) 
24) Mainichi poll: Cabinet support rating drops 8 points to 64 
PERCENT   (Mainichi) 
25) Mainichi poll: 50 PERCENT  of nation wants Futenma facility 
relocated outside Okinawa or Japan  (Mainichi) 
 
 
TOKYO 00002690  002 OF 011 
 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Prosecutors to build case against former secretary of Prime Minister 
Hatoyama over political donations 
 
Mainichi: 
Opinion poll: Cabinet support rate stands at 64 PERCENT 
 
Yomiuri: 
JAL proposes 30 PERCENT  pension cut for retirees 
 
Nikkei: 
Hitachi to sign British high-speed railway project possibly within 
current fiscal year 
 
Sankei: 
Mizutani Construction Co. handed 100 million yen to Ozawa's office 
before receiving order for dam project 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Higher-than-usual rate of side effects from new H1N1 influenza 
vaccine reported in Canada 
 
Akahata: 
Welfare Ministry intervenes in screening, aiming to lower levels in 
care requirement assessment 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) 150th anniversary of evolutionary theory: Let's consider the 
future of human beings 
(2) Government urged to establish rules to enable withdrawal from 
public works projects 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Income compensation for farmers: Measures to improve 
productivity needed first 
(2) Abduction and nuclear weapons: Japan needs to review its 
strategies 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Hatoyama promises to boost aid to developing countries while 
cutting support for internal organizations 
(2) Election of EU president: Can Europe increase its influence? 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) How to achieve goal of 25 PERCENT  cut in greenhouse gas 
emissions: Japan should present original idea for creating 
international system 
 
Sankei: 
(1) COP15 and Japan: Lower Japan's midterm target to practical rate 
(2) Afghan President Karzai urged to improve public order by 
eliminating corruption 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Greater ingenuity needed to continue enjoying bluefin tuna 
despite fishing restrictions 
 
TOKYO 00002690  003 OF 011 
 
 
(2) Support from people around offenders needed to prevent second 
offenses 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Large cut in military spending unavoidable 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, November 23 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 24, 2009 
 
Morning Spent at official residential quarters 
17:36 Attended Niinamesai ceremony for Labor Thanksgiving Day at 
Shinkaden Hall of Imperial Palace 
20:38 Arrived at official residential quarters 
 
4) Government in report recognizes economy has entered mild 
deflationary phase 
 
NIKKEI (Top Play) (Lead paragraph) 
November 21, 2009 
 
The government in its November monthly economic report declared that 
the Japanese economy has entered a "mild deflationary phase." It is 
the first time in three years and five months, since June 2006, that 
the government said Japan is beset by a persistent decline in price 
levels. Although the domestic economy has begun picking up, falling 
prices could push down corporate profits and exacerbate 
unemployment. Worried about such possibilities, the government has 
decided to quickly draft a second supplementary budget bill focusing 
on employment measures. Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan, speaking to 
the press, said, "We would like the Bank of Japan to also cooperate 
in overcoming deflation. 
 
5) Measures to curb global warming: Gist of Hatoyama initiative 
two-step assistance to developing countries 
 
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
November 24, 2009 
 
The government is looking into a Hatoyama initiative for assisting 
developing countries as part of measures to curb global warming. The 
gist of the initiative has now been disclosed. According to the 
disclosure, the envisaged assistance would be provided in two stages 
- a period up to 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires, and a period 
after the adoption of an international framework in 2013. Numerous 
funds for assistance for developing countries would be consolidated 
into three and the establishment of an advisory organization 
designed to promote efficient usage of funds would be proposed. 
 
Post-Kyoto Protocol framework talks have almost unanimously reached 
an agreement at UN taskforce meetings held until now with the aim of 
reaching a political accord at the 15th session of the UN Climate 
Change Conference (COP15) to be held in December. However, 
industrialized countries and developing countries are at odds over a 
goal to cut greenhouse gases and assistance to developing countries. 
Japan wants to back the talks through the Hatoyama initiative. 
 
For assistance to be provided until 2012, a target period from 
October 2009 through the end of 2012 would be set. Former Prime 
 
TOKYO 00002690  004 OF 011 
 
 
Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cool Earth Partnership, under which Japan 
would provide 10 billion dollars or roughly 890 billion yen, would 
be transformed into a mechanism, which would facilitate the 
funneling of private funds. The amount of funds would also be 
boosted. 
 
For a period after 2013, a mechanism designed to maximize the 
effects of assistance would be proposed, based on the analysis that 
massive amounts of financial assistance to developing countries 
would be needed. For example, the European Union (EU) stresses that 
developing countries would require 100 billion euro (roughly 13.3 
trillion yen). 
 
6) Foreign minister to officially admit existence of nuclear secret 
pact, make related documents public in January 
 
MAINICHI (Top Play) (Lead paragraph) 
November 22, 2009 
 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada decided yesterday to officially admit 
the existence of a Japan-U.S. secret pact that allows U.S. warships 
carrying nuclear weapons to make port calls in Japan. Okada made the 
decision as the Foreign Ministry's investigation into a secret 
nuclear weapons pact conducted under his instruction is almost 
complete, and the ministry has confirmed the existence of related 
documents. Okada will set up a third-party panel of external experts 
possibly today and make the results public in January after 
examining related documents. With this decision, the position taken 
by the Japanese government up until now of denying the existence of 
a secret pact will be changed. 
 
7) Okada to release results of investigation into secret nuclear 
pact in January 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 22, 2009 
 
Delivering a speech in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, yesterday, 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada indicated that the government will 
set up a new third-party expert committee tasked with examining 
documents related to Japan-U.S. secret agreements that were found in 
a ministry investigation, and announce the results of the 
examination in January. The agreements include one allowing the U.S. 
military to bring nuclear weapons into Japan. Speaking before 
reporters after the speech, Okada said the ministry's investigation 
has almost ended and revealed plans to establish the new panel by 
the end of this month. 
 
Although successive Japanese governments have denied the existence 
of secret nuclear weapons accords, Okada said in the speech: "The 
third-party committee will now begin to examine related documents. 
The results of the examination will be released at the appropriate 
time in January (of next year). I think this will clarify whether 
the secret agreements existed or not." 
 
8) Former MOFA bureau director general: "I passed five volumes of 
documents on a secret nuclear pact on to my successor" 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 23, 2009 
 
Documents related to secret accords on brining nuclear weapons into 
 
TOKYO 00002690  005 OF 011 
 
 
Japan made at a time when Japan and the U.S. revised their Security 
Treaty have been found as a result of an internal investigation 
carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). In connection 
with this, former head of the ministry's Treaties Bureau Kazuhiko 
Togo during a TV Asahi talk show on Nov. 22 noted, "I compiled five 
volumes of documents related to a secret Japan-U.S. nuclear pact and 
passed them on to my successor." 
 
Togo stopped short of clarifying the details of the documents. 
However, he said, "The government should come clean with the public 
about the matter by explaining the details." Togo served as the 
director general of the Treaties Bureau from July 1998 through 
August 1999. In interviews with the Yomiuri Shimbun, he revealed 
that several volumes of documents related to secret nuclear 
agreements existed. 
 
Togo said that he was ready to cooperate with an investigative 
committee including experts to be set up shortly as well as Diet 
hearings. 
 
9) Existence of secret nuclear accord to call into question Japan's 
three non-nuclear principles 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 22, 2009 
 
If the government admits the existence of the secret agreement 
between Japan and the U.S. on bringing nuclear weapons into Japan, 
the consistency of this agreement with the three non-nuclear 
principles upheld by Japan is certain to be questioned severely. 
 
When the Japan-U.S. security treaty was revised in 1960, it was 
stipulated that the introduction of nuclear arms by U.S. Forces 
Japan would require prior consultations with the Japanese 
government. Past Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) governments used to 
assert that since there had been no prior consultations, U.S. 
vessels or aircraft carrying nuclear weapons had not called on 
Japanese ports or landed in Japan, and that the three non-nuclear 
principles of not possessing, not producing, and not introducing 
nuclear arms had been observed. If the secret agreement actually 
exists, this would mean that no prior consultations took place even 
when ships carrying nuclear arms called on Japanese ports, which 
contradicts the claim that the three principles had been observed. 
 
In light of this, whether ships and aircraft with nuclear arms on 
board had actually come to Japan based on this secret agreement will 
become an issue. A debate on whether the three principles should be 
reviewed to align them with reality or whether they should be made 
stricter is certain to emerge. 
 
The Japan-U.S. relationship will be affected if the debate turns to 
the United States' nuclear umbrella. When U.S. Secretary of Defense 
Robert Gates came to Japan in October, he asked the Japanese side to 
make sure that the investigation on the secret agreement "will not 
have an adverse effect on the Japan-U.S. relationship." Foreign 
Minister Katsuya Okada also stressed at that time that "it will be 
conducted in a manner that will not give rise to friction with the 
U.S. government." 
 
Furthermore, the LDP administrations and the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, which have stubbornly denied the existence of the secret 
agreement, will face strong criticism. The government's admission of 
 
TOKYO 00002690  006 OF 011 
 
 
the existence of the secret accord is likely to cause a major 
controversy. 
 
10) Premier to reach conclusion by year's end on Futenma relocation 
 
MAINICHI (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 21, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama decided yesterday to clarify his 
decision by the end of the year to review the planned relocation of 
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa 
Prefecture, in time to earmark the estimated cost of Futenma 
relocation in the fiscal 2010 budget. Hatoyama is making adjustments 
in order to announce his intention to consider modifying the 
government's current plan to relocate Futenma airfield to a coastal 
area of Camp Schwab in the island prefecture's northern coastal city 
of Nago. In campaigning for this summer's election for the House of 
Representatives, Hatoyama called for Futenma airfield to be moved 
out of Okinawa Prefecture or Japan. In Okinawa Prefecture, there are 
growing expectations for his advocacy of Futenma relocation outside 
Okinawa or abroad. With this in mind, Hatoyama would like to 
continue exploring other options beyond the end of the year. 
 
11) Premier will not set time limit on Futenma issue 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
November 22, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Hatoyama reiterated yesterday that he will not insist 
on reaching a conclusion by the end of the year for the pending 
issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in 
Okinawa Prefecture. "If a time limit is set at the outset, it will 
be extremely difficult to negotiate," Hatoyama said in response to a 
question from reporters in Tokyo. "We can't negotiate if a deadline 
is set from the start," he added. 
 
12) Okinawan ruling party Diet members demand new panel on Futenma 
relocation 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 24, 2009 
 
In connection with the question of the relocation of the U.S. 
forces' Futenma Air Station, the "Uru no Kai," a group made up of 
ruling party Diet members elected from Okinawa, will ask Prime 
Minister Yukio Hatoyama to create a "council for the examination of 
Futenma relocation" (tentative name) to look into the possibility of 
relocating the Futenma base out of Okinawa or out of Japan. The 
envisioned panel will consist of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi 
Hirano and other concerned cabinet members, who will examine whether 
there are other possible relocation sites. 
 
13) SDP proposes launching Futenma panel 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 21, 2009 
 
The Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, both allied 
with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, held a regular meeting of 
their secretaries general and policy chiefs yesterday. In the 
meeting, the SDP proposed calling on the government and the DPJ to 
set up a new consultative body of the three ruling parties to 
 
TOKYO 00002690  007 OF 011 
 
 
discuss the pending issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' 
Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture. 
 
14) Cabinet still inconsistent on Futenma relocation 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
November 22, 2009 
 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has indicated that he will aim to 
reach a conclusion by the end of the year on the pending issue of 
relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa 
Prefecture. "Considering things like the timeframe for making budget 
requests before the year is out, we will have to reach a conclusion 
by the end of December," Okada said yesterday in Yokkaiichi, Mie 
Prefecture. However, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters 
that evening that it will not be possible to reach a settlement by 
the end of the year under the current situation. Their remarks show 
that there are still inconsistencies within the Hatoyama cabinet 
over the Futenma issue. 
 
15) LDP's Okinawa chapter to call for Futenma relocation outside 
Okinawa 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
November 21, 2009 
 
On the pending issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma 
Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, the Liberal Democratic Party's 
Okinawa prefectural chapter began coordination yesterday to change 
its basic stance from accepting the currently planned relocation of 
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station to a coastal area of Camp 
Schwab in the island prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago to 
calling for Futenma airfield to be moved out of Okinawa Prefecture. 
The LDP Okinawa chapter will shortly make a final decision on this 
changeover. In Okinawa Prefecture, the local organizations of the 
LDP and the New Komeito have accepted the current plan to relocate 
Futenma airfield to Nago. However, the LDP, which is the largest of 
all parties in the Okinawa prefectural assembly, holding 16 of its 
48 seats, is now about to change its stance to demanding Futenma 
relocation outside Okinawa Prefecture, so Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu 
Nakaima, who has accepted the planned relocation of Futenma airfield 
to Nago, is likely to be driven into a difficult position. It will 
also likely affect how the government handles the Futenma issue. 
 
16) LDP, New Komeito jointly submit bill banning "simple possession" 
of child pornography 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 21, 2009 
 
On Nov. 20 the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito 
jointly submitted to the House of Representatives a bill amending 
the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution or Child 
Pornography. The bill aims to ban "simple possession" of child 
pornography 
 
17) Second half of government project screening starts today, 
"sympathy budget," government share in compulsory education. etc. up 
for screening 
 
NIKKEI (Page 3) (Abridged) 
November 24, 2009 
 
TOKYO 00002690  008 OF 011 
 
 
 
The Government Revitalization Unit (GRU; chaired by Prime Minister 
Yukio Hatoyama) will begin the second half of its work and conduct 
another four days of project screening aimed at weeding out wasteful 
spending in the FY2010 budget requests. This time the focus is on 
areas which have so far been treated as "sacred cows," including 
Japan's share in the expenditures of U.S. Forces Japan (the 
so-called omoiyari yosan or sympathy budget), the government's share 
in funding compulsory education, and grants-in-aid in official 
development assistance (ODA). 
 
Under the sympathy budget, the labor cost for Japanese employees 
working on U.S. military bases (budget request for FY10 is 116.4 
billion yen) will be examined. Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa 
objects to the GRU's screening of this expense because this is 
something that has been agreed upon with the U.S. Yukio Edano, 
former Democratic Party of Japan Policy Research Committee chairman 
who presides over the project screening working groups, has 
indicated that no decision affecting the foundation of the system 
that would have a significant impact on the Japan-U.S. alliance will 
be made. 
 
18) Government to accept Myanmar refugees, starting next fall 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 24, 2009 
 
The government has decided to accept Myanmarese (Burmese) refugees 
from Thailand starting from the fall of 2010. The refugees would be 
accepted as a trial implementation of a program of accepting 
third-nation refugees  refugees who are temporarily protected in 
other countries. 
 
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is calling on various 
countries to adopt the system as a measure to definitively resolve 
the refugee issue. With an eye on full-fledged implementation of the 
system in the future, the government plans to accept 30 refugees 
from Myanmar per year for three years, totaling 90. It will 
interview candidates, based on a list provided by the UNHCR around 
next February, to decide the first group of refugees to be 
accepted. 
 
Refugees accepted will undergo training in the Japanese language and 
customs for three to four weeks before leaving for Japan. Once they 
enter Japan, they will undergo a 180-day resettlement program, 
including job-referral services, assistance for receiving school 
education, and instruction in Japanese. Assistance by consultants 
will be provided after that as well. 
 
19) Decision on whether to freeze development of supercomputer 
technology up to future review 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 24, 2009 
 
Referring to the government decision to basically freeze a project 
to develop supercomputer technology that was reached in the process 
of screening project programs to identify wasteful spending from 
among budget requests for fiscal 2010, State Minister for Government 
Revitalization Yoshito Sengoku on Nov. 23 said, "Whether the project 
will be abolished as planned will be up to a future review." He made 
this comment in response to a question from the press corps in 
 
TOKYO 00002690  009 OF 011 
 
 
Okinoshima Town, Shimane Prefecture. Regarding this issue, Deputy 
Prime Minister and State Minister for National Policy Naoto Kan 
noted on the 22nd: "We will take a second look at (the result of the 
screening for) science and technology." 
 
Sengoku said, "In the screening process, the government has proposed 
that it should take a second look at the project from the viewpoint 
of whether it is possible to raise the level of technology using the 
current approach. Now the issue will be considered from an expert's 
viewpoint." Concerning the issue of introducing an environment tax, 
he pointed out: "It is an issue which we should address as soon as 
possible." 
 
20) Prime minister, U.S. ambassador watch American football game on 
TV 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
November 23, 2009 
 
On the morning of Nov. 22, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited the 
U.S. Embassy in Akasaka, Tokyo, and held talks with Ambassador John 
Roos. It is unusual for a Japanese prime minister to call on an 
ambassador at a foreign embassy in Tokyo. The Prime Minister and the 
Ambassador are alumni of Stanford University. They watched an 
American football game, in which their alma mater participated. They 
seem to have exchanged views on the pending issue of the relocation 
of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan City, 
Okinawa Prefecture). 
 
21) Prime Minister Hatoyama: I did not talk about Futenma issue with 
U.S. Ambassador Roos 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 23, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. Ambassador John Roos on No. 
22 watched on TV an American football game with Stanford University, 
their alma mater, at the ambassador's official residence in Akasaka, 
Tokyo, at a time when the discord between Japan and the United 
States has been drawing attention over the issue of relocating the 
U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa. When asked by 
reporters about whether he talked about the Futenma issue with the 
Ambassador, the Prime Minister said, "I hardly talked (about the 
issue) with Mr. Roos. We did not discuss it at all." 
 
22) Aso administration found to have lobbied U.S. Congressional 
Commission on Strategic Posture to maintain nuclear umbrella 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Abridged) 
November 24, 2009 
 
It was learned on Nov. 23 that under the Aso administration, the 
Japanese government had lobbied the U.S. Congressional Commission on 
the Strategic Posture of the United States for the purpose of 
maintaining the nuclear umbrella. The Japanese government asserted 
that the U.S. should possess small nuclear bunker-busters, which it 
currently does not have, and asked that Japan be consulted on the 
decommissioning of short-range missiles. The above was revealed by a 
number of sources related to the Commission. 
 
Japan, which was apprehensive about the threat of Chinese and North 
Korean nuclear weapons, was concerned that the unilateral reduction 
 
TOKYO 00002690  010 OF 011 
 
 
of U.S. nuclear weapons might weaken the nuclear umbrella. With the 
ascension to power of the Obama administration, which is keen on 
nuclear disarmament, Japan engaged in diplomatic lobbying to ensure 
the reliability of the nuclear umbrella. 
 
Since the above action is incompatible with the basic stance of the 
Hatoyama administration, which has agreed with the call for a "world 
without nuclear weapons," the current administration faces a 
challenge in responding. 
 
23) Poll: Cabinet support rate over 60 PERCENT 
 
SANKEI (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 24, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Hatoyama and his cabinet maintained their high 
popularity rating of over 60 PERCENT  in a public opinion survey 
jointly conducted by the Sankei Shimbun and Fuji News Network (FNN) 
on Nov. 21-22, with a support rate of 62.5 PERCENT , up 1.6 
percentage points from the last survey conducted Oct. 17-18. Public 
support for Hatoyama's three predecessors from Prime Minister Shinzo 
Abe's cabinet through Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet tended to 
decline after their inauguration. However, the Hatoyama cabinet's 
support rate has stopped falling and rebounded. In the survey, 
nearly 90 PERCENT  of respondents approved of the Government 
Revitalization Unit's screening of budget requests from government 
ministries and agencies to cut wasteful spending. As seen from this 
figure, the survey results show the public's approval of the 
Hatoyama cabinet's efforts. However, the Hatoyama cabinet's 
nonsupport rate also rose 2.2 points. 
 
In the breakdown of public support for political parties, the ruling 
Democratic Party of Japan stood at 39.7 PERCENT , down 0.9 points 
from the last survey. However, its support rate remained at nearly 
40 PERCENT , much higher than the leading opposition Liberal 
Democratic Party's 17.3 PERCENT . The Social Democratic Party and 
the People's New Party, both allied with the DPJ, were low, with the 
SDP at 3.0 PERCENT  and the PNP at 0.9 PERCENT . The New Komeito 
stood at 4.5 PERCENT , and the Japanese Communist Party at 3.2 
PERCENT . 
 
24) Poll: Cabinet support at 64 PERCENT 
 
MAINICHI (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 24, 2009 
 
The Mainichi Shimbun conducted a nationwide public opinion survey on 
Nov. 21-22. The rate of public support for Prime Minister Yukio 
Hatoyama and his cabinet was 64 PERCENT , down 8 percentage points 
from the last survey, conducted Oct. 17-18. The figure is down 13 
points from the survey conducted before last on Sept. 16-17, right 
after the Hatoyama cabinet's inauguration, in which the Hatoyama 
cabinet's popularity rating marked 77 PERCENT , the second highest 
ever. In the survey, a total of 74 PERCENT  gave affirmative answers 
when asked if they approved of the Hatoyama cabinet's budget 
screening to retrench the budget for the next fiscal year. Among 
reasons given for supporting the Hatoyama cabinet, "because the 
nature of politics is likely to change" accounted for 78 PERCENT . 
It may safely be said that the Hatoyama cabinet's high popularity 
derives from its reformist image. 
 
In the survey, respondents were asked what they thought Hatoyama 
 
TOKYO 00002690  011 OF 011 
 
 
should do about the pending issue of relocating the U.S. Marine 
Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture. To this 
question, 50 PERCENT  answered that Hatoyama should negotiate with 
the United States to relocate Futenma airfield outside Okinawa 
Prefecture or Japan, with only 22 PERCENT  saying Hatoyama should 
accept the current plan to relocate Futenma airfield to the Henoko 
area of Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture. The figures shows that the 
public is strongly in favor of Hatoyama's public pledge he made in 
campaigning for this summer's election for the House of 
Representatives to move Futenma airfield out of Okinawa Prefecture 
or abroad. 
 
25) Poll: 50 PERCENT  favor Futenma relocation outside Okinawa or 
Japan 
 
Mainichi (Page 3) (Full) 
November 24, 2009 
 
In the months ahead, the public approval rating for Prime Minister 
Yukio Hatoyama's cabinet will likely be affected by the pending 
issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in 
Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture. The Mainichi Shimbun and the Ryukyu 
Shimpo jointly conducted a public opinion survey in Okinawa 
Prefecture on Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, in which 70 PERCENT  answered 
"yes" when asked if they thought Japan should negotiate with the 
United States to move Futenma airfield out of Okinawa Prefecture or 
Japan. In the latest nationwide survey as well, those who gave the 
same answer accounted for 50 PERCENT , indicating the public's 
growing expectations for Hatoyama's stance of relocating Futenma 
airfield outside Okinawa or abroad. 
 
Among those who support the Hatoyama cabinet, the proportion of 
those in favor of relocating Futenma airfield outside Okinawa 
Prefecture or Japan was 54 PERCENT . Among those who do not support 
the Hatoyama cabinet, however, public opinion was split over this 
issue, as affirmative answers for Futenma relocation outside Okinawa 
Prefecture or Japan added up to 39 PERCENT , while 31 PERCENT 
answered that Hatoyama should accept the current plan to relocate 
Futenma airfield to the Henoko area of Nago City in Okinawa 
Prefecture. Hatoyama will probably fall short of his supporters' 
expectations if he makes a decision like simply accepting the 
current plan. 
 
ROOS