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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000170 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR E, EEB AND EAP/J 
NSC FOR LOI, RUSSELL 
USTR FOR AUSTR CUTLER, BEEMAN, LEE, AND HOLLOWAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN PGOV JA
SUBJECT: POSTAL REFORM:  MIC MINISTER HARAGUCHI WELCOMES 
OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR U.S. INDUSTRY VIEWS 
 
REF: A. 09STATE 129118 
     ¶B. 09TOKYO 2921 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  CONTAINS BUSINESS SENSITIVE 
INFORMATION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Minister for Internal Affairs and 
Communications (MIC) Kazuhiro Haraguchi said he was aware of 
USG and industry concerns regarding postal reform in response 
to DCM's delivery of RefA points on January 27.  Minister 
Haraguchi also offered to meet with U.S. industry 
representatives to hear their views.  He cautioned, however, 
that the government's goal is to make the postal system work 
for all Japanese citizens, in particular the rural elderly, 
and therefore he is unable to guarantee the outcome of postal 
reform will satisfy everyone completely.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The DCM delivered points in reftel to MIC Minister 
Kazuhiro Haraguchi on January 27.  Also present at the 
meeting were Senior Vice Minister Masamitsu Naito and 
Parliamentary Secretary Kensei Hasegawa.  Both Haraguchi and 
Naito are from the majority Democratic Party of Japan, while 
Hasegawa hails from the minor coalition partner People's New 
Party (PNP), which was founded to oppose the postal reforms 
of the Koizumi Administration.  All three MIC officials were 
open and friendly, and appeared well-briefed on the issue. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The DCM emphasized the need for a level playing 
field and asked that USG and U.S. industry views be given a 
fair hearing as the GOJ goes forward with its review of 
postal services and crafts the legislation to enact reform. 
The DCM also presented Haraguchi with a copy of the USG 
comment submitted to the Postal Reform Promotion Office on 
January 20 as part of its solicitation of views.  Haraguchi 
appeared to have seen the USG comments already.  Naito also 
mentioned being aware of American Chamber of Commerce in 
Japan (ACCJ) views. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Haraguchi assured the DCM postal services would not 
be re-nationalized.  He claimed that even Postal Reform 
Minister Shizuka Kamei of the PNP agrees on this point.  The 
goal, said Haraguchi, is to improve social protection by 
improving postal services, especially for the elderly in 
rural areas who do not have easy access to private financial 
service providers.  Naito said the Koizumi-Takenaka reforms 
of postal services had disregarded completely the concerns of 
rural inhabitants.  Haraguchi added that Japan Post Group 
companies have been losing a lot of money for a long time, 
and something must be done to halt losses.  He further 
emphasized the need to improve the corporate governance of 
Japan Post Group companies. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Haraguchi noted the bill to reform postal services 
is still being worked on and probably will not be ready for 
another three weeks or so.  It has been delayed because of 
other government business.  Legislators are still considering 
many questions, such as how much stock the government should 
hold in the Japan Post Group companies.  Going forward, 
Haraguchi said they would look at creative ways for postal 
companies to partner with private sector companies.  In this 
regard, Hasegawa pointed out that Aflac insurance products 
are distributed via some post offices. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Haraguchi acknowledged the importance of working 
with private industry to ensure "an equal footing."  In that 
regard, he said he welcomes the opportunity to meet with 
representatives from the ACCJ to hear their views.  (NOTE: 
Minister Kamei plans to meet ACCJ representatives on January 
¶29.  END NOTE.)  Haraguchi closed by saying that although he 
can not guarantee everyone will be completely satisfied with 
decisions made regarding postal reform, he wants to conduct 
 
TOKYO 00000170  002 OF 002 
 
 
an open and transparent process. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Econoff has conveyed to ACCJ 
representatives Haraguchi's interest in hearing their views. 
Embassy Tokyo continues to raise level playing field and 
transparency points related to postal reform with GOJ at 
every opportunity.  The press has begun carrying more stories 
and comments from Japanese industry groups opposing the 
lifting of deposit and insurance caps for Japan Post Bank and 
Japan Post Insurance (issues we and U.S. industry continue to 
raise with the GOJ) as well as statements emphasizing the 
importance of a level playing field.  END COMMENT. 
ROOS