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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 002944 
 
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 12/30/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Futenma issue: 
4) Ozawa expresses reluctance to accept existing Futenma plan 
(Yomiuri) 
5) Okada says existing plan for Futenma facility relocation 
acceptable in the absence of better alternative  (Nikkei) 
6) Ozawa considers Shimoji Island as candidate for Futenma 
replacement facility  (Sankei) 
 
Defense & security: 
7) Hit-and-run case involving U.S. service member to be referred to 
prosecutor's office after the turn of the year  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
Secret accords: 
8) Blue-ribbon panel confirms existence of 3 secret accords  (Tokyo 
Shimbun) 
9) Okada says blue-ribbon panel's report on secret accords may 
appear after January  (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
Politics: 
10) New Komeito shifts toward Ozawa  (Mainichi) 
 
Foreign relations: 
11) Japanese, Indian leaders agree to strengthen bilateral security 
cooperation  (Nikkei) 
 
Economy: 
12) Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan proposes 
JAL legal liquidation plan; rejected by banks  (Yomiuri) 
 
Opinion: 
13) Yomiuri poll: 20 governors give child allowances low marks 
(Yomiuri) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Pension records of 4,727 South Koreans verified by Social Insurance 
Agency 
 
Mainichi: 
Record 44,000 civil cases filed with Tokyo District Court in 2009 
 
Yomiuri: 
Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan proposes JAL 
legal liquidation plan; rejected by banks 
 
Nikkei: 
Government debts reaching limit of reliance on household savings 
 
Sankei: 
Rikuzan-kai paid Ozawa 400 million yen in 2007 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Lower House member Ishikawa explains "loan" of 380 million yen from 
 
TOKYO 00002944  002 OF 007 
 
 
Ozawa in land deal 
 
Akahata: 
Surplus profits of major manufacturers twice that of the bubble 
period 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Attempted terrorist attack on U.S. plane: How to prevent a 
repeat of the nightmare 
(2) 30,000 suicides: Give more support to the bereaved families 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Japan-India summit: Cooperate also on global issues 
(2) Do not forget Middle East peace 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Looking back on 2009, international affairs: The world moved 
with the advent of the Obama administration 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Japan-India relationship has potential for dramatic expansion 
(2) Strategies of oil producing countries changing with global 
warming 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Looking back on 2009: Do not take "old things" lightly; hidden 
errors in good impression of "new things" 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Thoughts at the end of 2009: Futenma and bonds between Japan and 
the U.S. 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Emissions goal: Hatoyama administration should persist in 25 
PERCENT  reduction 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 30, 2009 
 
December 28 
 
(Local time) 
Night Stayed overnight at Oberoi Hotel. 
 
December 29 
 
Night Offered flowers at Raj Ghat in Delhi. Held summit talks with 
Prime Minister Singh at the Hyderabad House. 
Noon Signed a joint statement. Afterward held a joint press 
conference and attended a luncheon party hosted by Prime Minister 
Singh and his wife. 
Afternoon Left Palam Air Base in the city on a government plane. 
 
December 30 
 
(Japan time) 
 
TOKYO 00002944  003 OF 007 
 
 
00:35 Arrived at Haneda Airport. 
01:11 Arrived at his official residential quarters 
 
4) Ozawa expresses reluctance to accept existing Futenma plan 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
December 30, 2009 
 
The secretaries general and the Diet Affairs Committee chairmen of 
the three ruling parties - the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the 
Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the People's New Party (PNP) - 
held an end-of-the-year party at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo last 
night and had pleasant talks for over two hours. According to an 
attendee, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa expressed his intention 
to cooperate with the SDP and the PNP in conducting election 
campaigns in next summer's Upper House election. Ozawa also voiced 
his wish to continue the three-party alliance even after the Upper 
House election, saying, "Let's get together like this in the summer 
and at the end of next year as well." The attendee also indicated 
that Ozawa expressed his reluctance to go along with the existing 
plan to relocate Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, saying that 
"beautiful waters should not be reclaimed." 
 
5) FM Okada: If there are no good proposals for Futenma relocation, 
current plan continues to be valid 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
December 30, 2009 
 
At a news conference on Dec. 29, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada 
commented on the relocation of the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station 
in Okinawa. He said: "If a better proposal comes up, we should go 
ahead with it; otherwise, the current plan continues to be valid." 
This statement reflects Okada's view that if the panel of the 
government and the ruling parties fails to find a new relocation 
site, it is possible that a solution based on the existing plan to 
relocate the Futenma base to the coastal area of Camp Schwab as 
agreed between Japan and the U.S. may be adopted. 
 
6) Ozawa: Futenma base should be moved to Iejima or Shimojishima 
island 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
December 30, 2009 
 
Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of 
Japan, has told ruling party lawmakers that he would consider an 
outlying island of Okinawa Prefecture as a new relocation site for 
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa 
Prefecture, sources revealed yesterday. Ozawa is positive about 
building an alternative facility at the U.S. military's Iejima 
island airfield in the Okinawa prefectural village of Ieson, or 
alternatively at Shimojishima airport in the Okinawa prefectural 
city of Miyakojima. 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has also hinted at the relocation of 
Futenma airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. The DPJ will propose 
relocating Futenma airfield to either of the two outlying islands 
when the government and the ruling coalition hold a consultative 
meeting. Meanwhile, the DPJ will exclude the current plan to 
relocate Futenma airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab, a U.S. 
military facility located in the Henoko area of the island 
 
TOKYO 00002944  004 OF 007 
 
 
prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago, from its listing of 
feasible options for the Futenma relocation. 
 
"We must respect the voices of people in Okinawa Prefecture," Ozawa 
told Muneo Suzuki, president of the New Party Daichi, indicating his 
negative view of the current plan. He added, "Is it acceptable to 
pollute the beautiful sea?" 
 
According to ruling party lawmakers, Ozawa told them on Dec. 15 
about his idea of relocating the heliport functions of Futenma 
airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. "There may be a site that can be 
used in an area that is not being used (by the U.S. military)," 
Ozawa was quoted as saying. He also indicated that the government 
should look into the possibility of relocating Futenma airfield to 
Iejima island or Shimojishima island. He referred to Shimojishima 
airport when he met with ruling party executives yesterday. 
 
7) U.S. Army staff sergeant, suspect in hit-and-run incident in 
Yomitan, Okinawa, to be indicted in early January 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 27) (Excerpts) 
December 30, 2009 
 
In the hit-and-run incident in Yomitan Village, Okinawa, in November 
that resulted in the death of a 66-year-old man, the Okinawa 
Prefectural Police decided on Dec. 29 to send the indictment papers 
charging a 27-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant from the Torii 
Communications Station with negligent driving resulting in death to 
the public prosecutor's office as soon as Jan. 4. The police will 
continue investigations to build a case of violation of the Road 
Traffic Law (hit-and-run) against him. The staff sergeant was 
interrogated on a voluntary basis by the police for a few times at 
first, but refused to make himself available for questioning 
subsequently. He is currently being detained by the U.S. Army inside 
Torii Station. 
 
8) MOFA committee confirms existence of three Japan-U.S. secret 
agreements 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Abridged) 
December 30, 2009 
 
The experts' committee (chaired by Tokyo University Professor 
Shinichi Kitaoka) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on four 
secret Japan-U.S. agreements pertaining to security confirmed as of 
Dec. 29 the existence of three secret agreements through the 
discovery of related documents. Previous MOFA internal 
investigations had been unsuccessful in positively substantiating 
the existence of one of them -- the secret agreement allowing the 
introduction of nuclear arms during a contingency on the Korean 
peninsula. With regard to the fourth secret agreement on Japan's 
payment of the cost of restoring land to its original state at the 
time of Okinawa's reversion to Japanese administration, the 
committee intends to expand its investigation to former officials of 
the Ministry of Finance. 
 
9) FM Okada says MOFA experts' committee's report on four secret 
Japan-U.S. agreements may be delayed 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full) 
December 30, 2009 
 
 
TOKYO 00002944  005 OF 007 
 
 
At a news conference on Dec. 29, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada 
commented on the submission of the report by the experts' committee 
on four secret Japan-U.S. agreements. He said: "The committee is 
deepening its deliberations. There is an opinion that the process 
will take a bit more time." He pointed out that the report may be 
delayed beyond January 2010, when it had been originally scheduled 
to appear. 
 
10) New Komeito shifting weight to Ozawa 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
December 30, 2009 
 
Ryuko Tadokoro 
 
The New Komeito has begun clearly shifting weight to Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, trying to woo 
him. Ozawa's power is indispensable for realizing the New Komeito's 
long-cherished wish of granting local voting rights to permanent 
foreign residents. The shift also alludes to the party's plan to 
cooperate with the DPJ in the future. 
 
After becoming an opposition party, the New Komeito has moved closer 
to the DPJ, moving away from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), its 
former coalition partner. In fact, the party did not join the LDP's 
continued boycott of deliberations in the previous extra Diet 
session. But the New Komeito is still overshadowed by the gigantic 
ruling party, the DPJ. 
 
The New Komeito shifted to a critical stance toward the DPJ after 
the issue of "politics and money" involving Prime Minister Yukio 
Hatoyama and Ozawa came to light. But the party has made a 
distinction in response to the two. On Dec. 24, the day the Prime 
Minister's former secretary was indicted for falsifying donations, 
New Komeito Representative Natsuo Yamaguchi called for the early 
resignation of the Prime Minister. But after the first hearing of 
the trial of Ozawa's first state-paid secretary, Yamaguchi released 
a statement that simply called for an effort to uncover the truth 
about the incident. 
 
There have been more cases illustrating the New Komeito's 
consideration for Ozawa. In contrast to the LDP's lashing out at 
Ozawa over the government's involvement in the Emperor's special 
audience with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, Yamaguchi defended 
Ozawa, who had touched on the resignation of the Imperial Household 
Agency grand steward. 
 
Ozawa has expressed a plan to submit to the next regular Diet 
session a local suffrage bill as government-sponsored legislation. 
The New Komeito pins great hopes on Ozawa over the matter, long 
shelved under the previous LDP-New Komeito administration. "In our 
party there is an emotional resistance to Mr. Ozawa," a senior New 
Komeito lawmaker said, "but after all he is the person who is 
controlling the DPJ," 
 
11) Japanese, Indian PMs agree to strengthen bilateral security 
cooperation 
 
NIKKEI SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Abridged) 
December 30, 2009 
 
New Delhi 
 
TOKYO 00002944  006 OF 007 
 
 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met with Indian Prime Minister Singh 
at the state guest house in New Delhi in the morning of Dec. 29 (the 
afternoon of the same day in Japan). The two leaders signed an 
action plan for strengthening cooperation in security and agreed to 
accelerate negotiations for the conclusion of an economic 
partnership agreement (EPA). Prime Minister Hatoyama requested India 
sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at an early date. 
Prime Minister Singh responded that "if the U.S. and China signed 
the treaty, there would be a new situation." 
 
The action plan includes strengthening cooperation through holding 
annual talks at the level of foreign affairs and defense vice 
ministers (two plus two), establishing a "maritime security forum" 
for defending Indian Ocean sea lanes, and conducting anti-piracy 
measures in the Somalia offing. The action plan is based on the 
Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation signed by former Prime 
Minister Taro Aso and Prime Minister Singh. 
 
12) Legal liquidation of JAL presented 
 
YOMIURI (Top play) (Excerpt) 
December 30, 2009 
 
The presidents of Japan Airlines' main creditor banks, executives of 
the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC), 
and Land and Transport Minister Seiji Maehara met in Tokyo yesterday 
to discuss the carrier's rehabilitation. Although the ETIC presented 
options that combine financial aid from the body and the legal 
liquidation of JAL, the group of banks rejected them, citing a 
possible expansion of their losses and adverse effects on flight 
operations. They have decided to re-discuss the matter early next 
year. Meanwhile, five relevant cabinet ministers are scheduled to 
hold talks today. Efforts to coordinate views among the concerned 
parties on methods to revive the carrier are gaining momentum. 
 
13) Poll: 20 governors disapprove of child allowance plan 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
December 30, 2009 
 
The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a spot questionnaire survey of the 
nation's 47 governors over the government's budget for fiscal 2010. 
In the survey, a total of 20 governors gave negative answers when 
asked about the government's plan to provide child allowances. The 
government plans to have local public entities partially shoulder 
the burden of payouts for the child allowances. However, the survey 
reveals that there is deep-seated opposition to the plan among the 
governors, with the governor of Ibaraki Prefecture saying the plan 
is "finagling." 
 
Prime Minister Hatoyama had initially indicated that the government 
would fund the child allowance payout plan. Meanwhile, the nation's 
local governments are currently shouldering the burden of 
approximately 570 billion yen to make up for the state-budgeted slot 
for the current payout of childcare benefits. Eventually, the 
government decided to retain this budget slot and add to it for the 
newly planned payout of child allowances. 
 
The government's child allowance plan has incurred criticism from 
local governors. "It's a makeshift approach with no concept of role 
sharing between the central and local governments," said the 
 
TOKYO 00002944  007 OF 007 
 
 
governor of Aichi Prefecture. There were also opinions voicing 
concerns about what will become of the child allowance scheme in the 
future. "The government unilaterally decided to impose the burden on 
us without accounting for the payout plan, and we will have more 
administrative work," said the governor of Gumma Prefecture. "It is 
completely unclear how the program will be funded in fiscal 2011 and 
beyond," the Tokyo governor said. 
 
In the meantime, there were affirmative answers from seven 
governors, with the governor of Niigata Prefecture saying the 
government has come up with a future course of action for child 
rearing in society and avoided setting an income limit. However, 
most governors called for the government to fund the child allowance 
payout plan in its entirety in and after fiscal 2011, with the 
governor of Shiga Prefecture insisting that the child allowance plan 
should be funded by state coffers. 
 
ROOS