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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000156 
 
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 01//10 
 
INDEX: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
 
Politics: 
3) Hirano's comment riles Okinawa  (Mainichi) 
4) Ozawa refers to his supervisory responsibility  (Yomiuri) 
5) Gov't to set up Okinawa panel  (Sankei) 
 
Defense & security: 
6) Japan, U.S. to hold talks on defense against cyber attack  (Tokyo 
Shimbun) 
7) Government to dispatch 300 SDF personnel to Haiti for PKO mission 
 (Asahi) 
 
Foreign relations: 
8) Japanese, Russian foreign vice ministers hold talks  (Nikkei) 
9) Japanese, Chinese press office heads confer in Beijing  (Nikkei) 
 
 
Economy & trade: 
10) JR East Japan to pitch Linear Motor Car, Shinkansen in U.S. 
(Asahi) 
11) Number of overseas visitors drops for first time in six years 
(Mainichi) 
12) Magazine sales down for 12th straight year  (Asahi) 
13) State debt likely reach 973 trillion yen at end of fiscal 2010: 
Per-capital debt comes to 7.63 million yen  (Nikkei) 
14) Finance Minister Kan's economic policy speech to call on BOJ for 
appropriate measures  (Nikkei) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi and Tokyo Shimbun: 
Government to send 300 SDF personnel to Haiti for PKO 
 
Mainichi: 
Hirano's remarks on Nago election and Futenma relocation stir anger 
in Okinawa 
 
Yomiuri: 
Ozawa admits supervisory responsibility for aides in connection with 
Rikuzan-kai case 
 
Nikkei: 
Government to tackle pension reform before Upper House election with 
eye on consumption tax hike 
 
Sankei: 
U.S. requested downgrading of joint statement on 50th anniversary of 
security treaty to bear only signatures of foreign and defense 
ministers 
 
Akahata: 
Before Lower House Budget Committee, JCP member Takahashi calls for 
amending Worker Dispatch Law to eliminate loopholes for protecting 
workers 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
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SUBJECT:  JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//10 
 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Financial regulations in U.S.: Banks must revive their 
public-spiritedness 
(2) ODA strategy needs a blueprint 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Present specific conditions for 25 percent greenhouse gas 
emission cut target 
(2) Use Ashikaga case tapes for improving investigations 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Yonekura must guide Japan Business Federation toward economic 
recovery 
(2) Long-term support essential for recovery of quake-hit Haiti 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Avoid confusion associated with prices linked to the gasoline 
excise 
(2) Government must present Yamba Dam alternative plan 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Summon Ozawa to testify before Diet 
(2) Worker Dispatch Law amendment might deprive people of 
opportunities to work 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Nago's decision clearly reflects its opposition to Futenma 
relocation within Okinawa 
(2) Conduct intensive deliberations early on question of politics 
and money 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Nago election expected to spur movement to eliminate bases 
 
3) Strong reaction to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano's remark on not 
taking Nago mayoral election result into account in determining 
Futenma relocation site 
 
MAINICHI (Top play) (Full) 
January 26, 2010 
 
Ai Yokota, Shinichiro Nishida, Teruhisa Mimori, Yoshichika Imoto 
 
The Japan-U.S. agreement to relocate the U.S. forces' Futenma Air 
Station (in Ginowan City, Okinawa) to the coastal area of Camp 
Schwab (in Henoko, Nago City) has become difficult to implement with 
the election of a mayor opposed to the relocation in the recent 
ballot. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano stated at a 
news conference on Jan. 25 that "there is no reason why (the 
election result) should be taken into account." While it is believed 
that this statement was out of consideration for the U.S. side, 
which is demanding the implementation of the agreement, there has 
been a backlash from Okinawa and within the ruling parties. No 
solution is yet in sight to the debate on Futenma's relocation out 
of Okinawa set off by the Hatoyama administration. 
 
Nago's mayor-elect Susumu Inamine expressed his displeasure with 
Hirano's remark on Jan. 25, saying: "I hope he understands that with 
the outcome of the mayoral election, the situation has changed. 
People who conduct politics ought to value the popular will." The 
citizens of Nago were made to take sides because the Hatoyama 
 
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SUBJECT:  JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//10 
 
administration could not decide on a policy. The government's 
attitude of giving little importance to this "popular will" and 
retaining the Henoko relocation plan as one of its options prompted 
Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who accepts the Henoko plan with minor 
modifications, to express his doubts: "(Relocation) will be 
difficult without the local leader's understanding and 
cooperation." 
 
Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People's New 
Party (PNP), riding on the momentum of the victory in the mayoral 
election, are pressing the government to withdraw the Henoko plan. 
SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima stressed to reporters on Jan. 25 that 
"this carries weight as the popular will." PNP policy chief Mikio 
Shimoji also said: "It is absurd to discuss this issue without 
giving importance to the popular will. We are no longer starting 
from scratch." 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan also feels that the fact that the 
government does not seem to welcome the victory of Inamine, whom the 
DPJ endorsed, and insists on not eliminating the Henoko plan as an 
option and "considering (the relocation site) from scratch" is an 
indication that the issue is at a stalemate. It is near impossible 
to find a new relocation site and obtain the approval from the local 
community and the U.S. by May, which is the deadline for a solution 
to this issue. Responding to queries from Mainichi Shimbun on Jan. 
25, the public affairs office of the U.S. Marines in Okinawa said, 
"We believe that the existing Henoko relocation plan will be 
adopted." 
 
Hirano chairs the Okinawa base issues examination committee of the 
government and the ruling parties. He was wary that if he showed an 
attitude of attaching great importance to the outcome of the Nago 
mayoral election, there might be an avalanche in favor of relocation 
out of Okinawa, which could disrupt relations with the U.S. He 
stressed again at his news conference on the afternoon of Jan. 25 
that the relocation issue will be approached from scratch, saying: 
"I can understand that (the election result) is a manifestation of 
popular will. But if we always take into account a city's saying 
'no,' then the question is 'where do we take (the replacement 
facility)?' " 
 
It is believed that Hirano wants to continue to have a free hand 
before identifying Futenma's relocation site at one fell swoop. 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who pledged Futenma's relocation out 
of Okinawa or out of Japan during the House of Representatives 
election, told reporters on the evening of Jan. 25: "I regard the 
choice made by the citizens of Nago as an expression of their will. 
We would like to consider this issue from scratch," repeating his 
ambiguous statement. 
 
4) Ozawa refers to his supervisory responsibility 
 
YOMIURI (Top play) (Excerpts) 
January 26, 2010 
 
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa held 
yesterday his first regular press conference since submitting to 
questioning by the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office in connection 
with a violation of the Political Funds Control Law by his fund 
management organization, Rikuzan-kai. Ozawa referred to his 
supervisory responsibility over his secretary and others who have 
been arrested in connection with the case. The DPJ kingpin stopped 
 
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SUBJECT:  JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//10 
 
short of mentioning exactly how he is going to take his 
responsibility. 
 
The press conference was held at DPJ headquarters. "It is a fact 
that I have left (the management of political funds) to those in 
charge," Ozawa said about his supervisory responsibility over his 
secretary and others, now under arrest. "If they made mistakes, then 
I naturally hold some responsibility as head (of the fund management 
organization)." 
 
5) Gov't to set up Okinawa panel 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
January 26, 2010 
 
The government held a cabinet ministerial meeting yesterday to 
discuss key policies, with relevant ministers attending. In the 
meeting, the cabinet ministers concurred on launching a panel at an 
early date for the government to hold consultations with officials 
from Okinawa Prefecture and its base-hosting municipalities on 
economic development measures for Okinawa. Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Hirofumi Hirano will study the panel's framework and its discussion 
topics, and then present them at a cabinet ministerial meeting. The 
government set up a similar consultative body with Okinawa's 
prefectural and municipal officials when the Abe cabinet came into 
office to discuss a package of economic development measures for the 
prefecture's northern districts hosting U.S. military bases. At the 
time, the government's implementation of those economic development 
measures for the prefecture's base-hosting localities was premised 
on their acceptance of the government's proposal to relocate the 
U.S. military's Futenma airfield facility from its current location 
in the prefecture's central city of Ginowan to the prefecture's 
northern coastal city of Nago. The government will revamp this panel 
as a new consultative body separate from the Futenma relocation 
issue and coordinate to discuss economic development measures for 
Okinawa as a whole. 
 
6) Japan, U.S. to step up cooperation against cyber attacks 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged) 
Eve., January 25, 2010 
 
The government decided today to step up Japan's cooperation with the 
United States in the area of policy planning to counter cyberattacks 
that have been spreading globally via the Internet to damage 
computer systems. In early February, Japan will host a cybersecurity 
meeting with the United States in Tokyo for the first time since the 
Hatoyama cabinet came into office to exchange information and 
discuss specific countermeasures. 
 
Recently, Google, the U.S. Internet search engine giant, is said to 
have come under cyber attack from China. This has developed into a 
diplomatic issue between the United States and China. The case is 
also expected to be discussed at the planned cybersecurity meeting. 
 
According to government sources, the intergovernmental meeting will 
be held with working-level officials from the Cabinet Secretariat of 
the Japanese government and the U.S. Department of Homeland 
Security. In the meeting, the Japanese and U.S. governments will 
discuss countermeasures against cyber attacks. In addition, the two 
governments are also expected to consult on such issues as 
cybersecurity awareness to prevent cyber attacks. 
 
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SUBJECT:  JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//10 
 
 
7) Government to dispatch 300 SDF personnel to Haiti for PKO 
mission 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpts) 
January 26, 2010 
 
The Hatoyama cabinet decided yesterday on a policy of dispatching 
Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel to quake-devastated Haiti for 
the purpose of humanitarian rehabilitation support based on the UN 
Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Cooperation Law. The government will 
send a Ground Self-Defense Force engineering unit comprising about 
300 personnel. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano revealed this 
at a press conference yesterday. 
 
Japan will dispatch SDF engineering personnel overseas for the first 
time since it withdrew from the UN Mission in East Timor (UNMIET) in 
¶2004. 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told the press corps yesterday 
evening: "There is work to be done in clearing rubble and building 
housing. We are considering sending engineers there." 
 
Following the UN Security Council resolution adopted Jan. 19 to 
increase the number of personnel for PKO by 3,500, the government 
has been looking into the possibility of dispatching SDF personnel 
to the region. The government's policy was approved yesterday by the 
cabinet committee on basic policy matters comprising representatives 
from the three ruling parties. After the policy was approved, 
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa ordered the SDF to prepare to join 
the UN mission. 
 
The SDF engineering units to be dispatched will join the UN 
Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which has been carrying 
out activities in Haiti since the country was hit by the earthquake. 
After discussing with the UN side such matters as the type of 
operations, regions, and the number of SDF personnel, the cabinet 
will decide on an implementation plan. The SDF engineering units 
will be dispatched in early February at the earliest. 
 
8) Japanese, Russian vice foreign ministers exchange views 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 26, 2010 
 
Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka and Russian 
First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Denisov yesterday held their 
7th round of strategic dialogue in Tokyo. The two diplomats 
exchanged views over the Northern Territories issue and North 
Korea's nuclear ambitions. In connection with the regular foreign 
ministerial talks on the territorial dispute held last December in 
Moscow, they apparently arranged to hold the second round of the 
talks during the first half of this year in Tokyo between Foreign 
Minister Katsuya Okada and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 
 
9) Japanese, Chinese governments agree to support media exchange 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
January 26, 2010 
 
The governments of Japan and China yesterday held in Beijing a 
meeting of their Foreign Ministry Press Bureau director generals. 
 
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SUBJECT:  JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//10 
 
According to a briefing by the Japanese side, the two governments 
agreed to positively support exchange between the Japanese and 
Chinese media. They also agreed to provide the media with timely and 
accurate information. Talks between press bureau directors general 
of the two countries began in 2006. Press Secretary Kazuo Kodama 
from the Japanese side and Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma 
Zhaoxu attended yesterday's session, the fourth meeting of this 
kind. 
 
10) Central Japan Railway to promote linear motor car and Shinkansen 
technologies in U.S. 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Slightly abridged) 
January 26, 2010 
 
Central Japan Railway Company revealed yesterday that it will 
promote its linear motor car and Shinkansen technologies for the 
U.S. market as part of its plan to export high-speed railway 
systems. The company is eyeing three routes for exporting linear 
motor-powered trains. The U.S. government has reportedly decided to 
invest 8 billion dollars in the nation's railway consolidation 
projects as economic stimulus measures. The company will make 
efforts to persuade the U.S. to adopt the Shinkansen technology for 
a route in Florida first. 
 
The Japanese railway operator plans to sell the linear motor 
technology to the U.S. for three routes: a route covering 65 
kilometers between Washington and Baltimore (Maryland), a route 
covering 200 kilometers between Chattanooga (Tennessee) and Atlanta 
(Georgia), and a route in Pennsylvania. The company is also eager to 
export the Shinkansen technology to the U.S. for a route covering 
530 kilometers from Tampa to Miami in Florida via Orlando; a route 
covering 440 kilometers between Las Vegas (Nevada) and Los Angeles 
(California); a route in Texas; and a route in the Midwest. 
 
In Japan, demand for high-speed rail services has reached a plateau, 
but the market overseas has been burgeoning in view of environmental 
protection and other reasons. Central Japan Railway has decided to 
export Japan's top-of-the-line linear motor car technology, in 
addition to its Shinkansen technology. The company has surveyed more 
than about 150 locations across the world, mainly in the U.S., since 
last August, in hopes of capitalizing on the surging market 
overseas. 
 
Central Japan Railway will promote the technologies to the U.S., in 
cooperation with U.S.-Japan High-Speed Rail Co., a company that 
markets its Shinkansen technologies exclusively, and another 
American firm. In a press conference yesterday, U.S. Japan 
High-Speed Rail Co. President Richard Lawless, a former senior U.S. 
government official, revealed that the company has already contacted 
concerned U.S. government officials on this matter, remarking: "I 
believe the goal will be attained." He said that Washington will 
soon announce several routes targeted for its investment. 
 
Central Japan Railway is aiming to export not only trains but its 
entire operation system, including signal technology. The company 
has offered technical assistance in the past, winning the contract 
for the Taiwan High Speed Rail service, which was launched in 2007. 
The vehicle for the high-speed railway service between Beijing and 
Tianjin in China, which was launched in 2008, was developed based on 
the Tohoku Shinkansen "Hayate." 
 
 
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11) Number of foreign tourists visiting Japan drops for first time 
in six years 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Exerpts) 
January 26, 2010 
 
Tsuyoshi Terada 
 
The number of foreign tourists who visited Japan in 2009 dropped 
1.56 million, or 18.7 percent, from the previous year to 6.79 
million, the first decrease in six years and the largest drop since 
the government began collecting data in 1964, the Japan National 
Tourism Organization said yesterday. The decrease is attributable to 
such factors as the global recession following the Lehman shock, the 
spread of the new strain of influenza, and the yen's appreciation. 
 
The figure marked a year-on-year drop every month for a record 15 
consecutive months between August 2008 and October 2009. The number 
fell more than 30 percent from May through June when the new flu 
infection spread. Exchange rates have been stable since November 
2009, and the number increased owing to an increase in the number of 
tourists from South Korea and Australia. 
 
The number of tourists from South Korea, the country topping the 
list of visitors to Japan, fell 33.4 percent, and Taiwan, ranked 
second, dropped 26.3 percent. All in all, the number of tourists 
fell 1.16 million. Meanwhile, China, to which Japan just started 
issuing tourist visas last July, ranked third with 1.006 million 
tourists. China is the only country among the major countries and 
areas that saw an increase in the number of people traveling to 
Japan. 
 
12) Magazine sales in 2009 fall for 12th consecutive year 
 
ASAHI (Page 12) (Excerpt) 
Evening, January 25, 2010 
 
The Research Institute for Publications, based in Tokyo, announced 
yesterday that the estimated sales amount of books and magazines 
recorded at distributors in 2009 was 1,935.6 billion yen, marking 
the first time in 21 years that the annual sales amount has fallen 
below 2 trillion yen. The sales amount is about 82 billion yen, or 
4.1 PERCENT , less than that in 2008. The sales of magazines, which 
accounted for nearly 60 PERCENT  of the total, have dropped for 12 
years in a row. The estimated sales volume of books also recorded 
its largest ever drop. The drop in sales has been compensated for by 
raising magazine prices. 
 
13) National debt likely to reach 973 trillion yen at end of fiscal 
2010: Per-capital debt comes to 7.63 million yen 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
January 26, 2010 
 
It seems likely that the total amount of the national debt will 
reach its highest-ever level of 973.1625 trillion yen at the end of 
fiscal 2010. This was revealed in budgetary reference data that the 
Finance Minister submitted to the Diet on Jan. 25. Per-capita debt 
will reach roughly 7.63 million yen, based on the estimate that the 
nation's population as of Jan. 1 is 127.47 million. 
 
The national debt constitutes the total amount of government debt 
 
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SUBJECT:  JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//10 
 
combining government bonds, borrowings and short-term government 
securities. It is expected to have exceeded the 900 trillion yen 
level for the first time at the end of fiscal 2009. The amount at 
the end of fiscal 2010 will further exceed that figure by 73.248 
trillion yen. 
 
The sharp increase in government debt is ascribable to the issuance 
of government bonds worth a record high of approximately 44.3 
trillion in the initial budget to finance a revenue shortage in the 
fiscal 2010 draft budget. In order to shore up the economy, the 
government has repeatedly engaged in major public spending requiring 
the issuance of government bonds. As a result, the national debt has 
continued to set new highs. 
 
14) Finance Minister Kan to make request to BOJ in economic speech 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
January 26, 2010 
 
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Naoto Kan on Jan. 25 
finalized a draft of an economic policy speech to be delivered on 
the 29th. He will stress a stance of making efforts to achieve 
fiscal health, noting that elevating fiscal discipline and securing 
trust in state finances will lead to ensuring the people's peace of 
mind with respect to the future and become a basis for a vigorous 
society and economy. In the speech, which he will deliver as the 
state minister for economic and fiscal policy, Kan will make an 
unprecedented request to the Bank of Japan (BOJ), noting that he 
will expect the BOJ to undergird the economy through appropriate and 
flexible management of financial policy. 
 
In the fiscal speech, with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 
mind, he will criticize the existing policy management, using such 
words as "dependence on public works" and "excessive market 
fundamentalism." He will come up with a policy stance of "using 
knowledge to find a third way to create jobs and demand." 
 
Concerning the fiscal 2010 draft budget, he will announce that 
although the government will issue government bonds worth a record 
44 trillion yen, it has secured fiscal resources without depending 
on an increase in the issuance of government bonds. For a tax code 
revision, the speech will incorporate a plan to look into a system 
of common numbers for tax payments and social security, referring to 
the need to reform expenditures and revenues as a package. 
 
He will explain in the economic policy speech that the present 
economic situation is still severe. Regarding the future of the 
economy, Kan will point out that there is the risk of pushing the 
economy downward, citing a further increase in unemployment, concern 
about downside risk factors in economic conditions abroad, and 
deflation. 
 
He will also announce that he will give priority to nominal economic 
indexes, which are directly connected with the people's livelihood, 
in economic and fiscal management. 
 
ROOS