Cablegate: Daily Summary of Japanese Press 05/14/07

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FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR;
CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA.

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TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 05/14/07

INDEX:

(1) US beef imports: Japan-US to start bargaining over easing of
import conditions: Japan to start inspections of 28 meatpackers
starting May 13

(2) Abe, Bush at cross-purposes

(3) Mike Mochizuki: "No one has been convinced" about comfort women
issue; Lambastes Abe's "apology"

(4) Comfort women: Private brokers responsible for recruiting,
according to investigation by US Army: Former Japanese Imperial Army
did not benefit

(5) Defense Ministry to develop UUV, USV to prevent spies,
terrorists from entering nation

(6) Minshuto President Ozawa: Prime Minister Abe has no basic
philosophy

(7) LDP's Koga faction splits in two: Some seeking cooperation with
Tanigaki faction, others feeling out possibility of leaving the
faction

(8) Pursuing the network of business, government and academic
connected to Middle East assistance; Stream of delegations to the
region

ARTICLES:

(1) US beef imports: Japan-US to start bargaining over easing of
import conditions: Japan to start inspections of 28 meatpackers
starting May 13

YOMIURI (Page 8) (Slightly abridged)
May 12, 2007

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the
Ministry of Health, Labor a Welfare (MLIT) yesterday announced a
plan to conduct inspections of US meat-processing plants in
connection with whether to ease conditions for importing Japanese,
starting from May 13 through 28. If the inspections find no
problems, bargaining for easing import conditions will move into
full swing.

Verification

The planned inspections will target 28 US meat-processing plants
among 36 (including one that has applied for authorization) that are
authorized to export products to Japan, excluding those that
underwent inspections last year. Three teams consisting of
inspectors from MAFF and MLIT will conduct inspections.

Verification is part of the work to confirm whether the US side is
observing conditions for exporting US beef to Japan. Since the US
had rejected accepting inspection, the work has been under
suspension since last December.

Japan and the US will evaluate the results of the inspections. If
they find no problems, the inspection will end possibly in early
June. Japan will also end the practice of opening all boxes
containing imported beef products.

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Tokyo and Washington will enter talks to revise import conditions
and set new conditions. The government will then consult the Food
Safety Commission under the Cabinet Office, which is responsible for
judging BSE infection risk.

OIE

However, the US has asked Japan to scrap import restrictions as soon
as the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which is
responsible for setting safety standards for livestock, ends its
plenary session to be held in Paris from May 20 through 25. The two
countries remain wide apart over when to start revision talks and
subjects for discussion.

The OIE has this year decided to categorize beef producing countries
into three -- safe countries, semi-safe countries and countries with
unknown risks -- in terms of BSE infection risk. If a country is
categorized as a safe country, no export conditions would be imposed
to its beef products. Countries categorized as semi-safe countries
will also be basically free from export conditions. The removal of
specified risk materials (SRM) will be mandated only for cattle aged
30 months or older.

If the OIE Science Committee categorizes the US as a semi-safe
country and formally recognizes as such at its plenary session this
May, it means the US is authorized to export its beef without age
limit.

Sources of dispute

Japan has adopted import conditions, including limiting beef
eligible for exports to cattle aged 20 months or younger and
mandating the removal of SRM, which are stricter than the
international standards. This is due to the facts that BSE infection
was identified in a cow aged 21 months and another aged 23 months in
2003.

However, MLIT's research team has compiled an interim report noting
that the injection of brain fluid extracted from those cows did not
infect other animals. There is the possibility of this report
invalidating the major grounds for Japan's limiting beef eligible
for exports to cattle aged 20 months or younger.

The US meat production cost has reportedly worsened with its beef
importers, including Japan, seeking different import conditions from
it. As such, the US will aim at having its trade partners simplify
their import conditions on the strength of the new OIE criteria.

South Korea has pledged to further ease import conditions imposed on
US beef after the OIE plenary session. The US is bound to toughen
its pressure on Japan.

(2) Abe, Bush at cross-purposes

SANKEI (Page 15) (Full)
May 10, 2007

Hiroshi Nakanishi, professor at Kyoto University

During April 26-27, Prime Minister Abe visited the United States,
where he held a summit meeting with President Bush. It was the first
US trip since Abe became prime minister six months before. Abe was

TOKYO 00002158 003 OF 009

criticized for the tardiness in visiting Washington, but it does not
matter much. Today, there are many opportunities for the leaders of
countries to meet. Actually, Abe and Bush met in Hanoi in November
last year when they attended a summit meeting of Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum members. Abe therefore did not
have to be in a hurry to make a formal visit to the United States.

The Abe-Bush summit meeting, however, cannot be called substantial.
Indeed, everything was all diplomatically arranged for their meeting
ahead of time. The two leaders held a long discussion and sought to
build a relationship of mutual trust. Their wives also were able to
meet, as well. Abe expressed his feeling of regret for the
comfort-women issue, and Bush accepted the apology to quiet down the
row. Abe also met with congressional leaders. In addition, Abe
visited a naval hospital, where wounded soldiers from Iraq are being
treated, and he also visited a memorial for Japanese Americans. In
this way, Abe effectively covered much ground in a short time. After
his US trip, Abe flew to the Middle East. This served to complement
the United States' Middle East policy and gave the impression that
Japan and Middle East countries have built relationships that go
beyond oil. In that sense, Abe appears to have tried to show the
global nature of the Japan-US alliance.

Undoubtedly, Abe's visit to the United States resulted in
reconfirming the Japan-US alliance and its importance. Bush called
the alliance a global alliance that is based on commonly held
values, such as respect for freedom and democracy, and he hailed the
bilateral alliance as unprecedentedly rocksolid. Abe also told
reporters in Egypt that the Japan-US alliance is irreplaceable and
that he has agreed with Bush to deepen and broaden it. In fact, Abe
and Bush adopted a joint statement on bilateral challenges, such as
trade, energy, and the environment. This can be appreciated from a
long-term perspective.

The Abe-Bush meeting, however, has left an odd impression about
foreign and security policies for the present. The oddest aspect was
the holding of the two-plus-two foreign and defense ministerial
meeting (of the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee) right
after the prime minister's US visit. Such a meeting should be held
before the two countries' top leaders meet. Based on its results, a
summit meeting is usually held. The two-plus-two ministerial this
time was also to have taken place earlier this year. However, it is
believed to have been delayed until this point by Defense Minister
Kyuma's remarks on the Iraq war which reportedly upset Bush
administration officials. That may be true in a way.

However, that does not seem to be the biggest reason. The Prime
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei), the Defense Ministry, and
the Foreign Ministry seemed to have failed to coordinate
sufficiently over how to carry out the planned realignment of US
forces in Japan. In addition, there was a gubernatorial election in
Okinawa in November last year, and there were by-elections last
month. The political schedule was important for the ruling parties,
so they probably did not want to stir up base issues at the Japan-US
meeting. The joint statement, released at the two-plus-two
ministerial, took up intelligence protection and other issues.
However, it went no further than to reconfirm a bilateral agreement
reached under the Koizumi government to realign the alliance. In my
impression, there was a failure in coordination between Japan and
the United States.

What next came out of the Abe-Bush meeting was discussion of the
North Korea problem. On February 13, North Korea agreed on the

TOKYO 00002158 004 OF 009

initial steps to dismantle its nuclear facilities. However, it has
yet to carry them out. Bush said there was a limit to his patience.
In his press remarks, however, Bush played up his intention to go
for a diplomatic solution, and he did not specify what he would do
should North Korea fail to follow through with its commitment. On
the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea, Bush said
he was deeply moved when he met with Sakie Yokota. However, he did
not referred to any political action on behalf of the abductees.
There were also news reports that linked the abduction issue to
delisting North Korea as a terrorist sponsor. However, Secretary of
State Rice and Assistant Secretary of State Hill are giving top
priority to the policy of stopping North Korea's nuclear development
within the framework of six-party talks. For now, President Bush
appears to back this policy course. The two leaders undeniably
differ in that respect since Abe suggested the possibility of taking
tougher actions against the North under the Japan-US alliance.

In an televised scene of their press conference, Bush called the
prime minister "Shinzo" but seemed to look absent-minded as he
spoke. Abe also called the president "George" but his words lacked
spontaneity. Bush probably was more concerned about the issue of
Iraq and the Democratic Party now in control of the Congress. Abe
also seemed to be unable to measure up how to get along with the
outgoing Bush administration.

Under the Koizumi government, the Japan-US alliance certainly grew
closer. It is desirable for Japan to keep up the momentum in that
direction. However, the environment surrounding the alliance is
certainly becoming even more complicated. The Abe-Bush summit
meeting this time made me foresee a possible need for minutely
detailed foreign-policy management between Japan and the US in the
years ahead.

(3) Mike Mochizuki: "No one has been convinced" about comfort women
issue; Lambastes Abe's "apology"

OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Full)
May 12, 2007

George Washington University Associate Professor Mike Mochizuki, a
Japan expert who is now in Japan, on May 11 harshly criticized Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe for his recent "apology" to President Bush for
the wartime "comfort women" issue while Abe was visiting Washington.
Mochizuki noted, "It is black humor, for the president is not a
comfort woman," indicating that except for the president and a
handful of pro-Japanese officials, no one has been convinced.

Mochizuki made the comment during a lecture hosted by the Tokyo
American Center in Tokyo. His comments reflected the mood in
Washington, which sees Abe's apology as being insufficient and may
add momentum to deliberations on the US House of Representatives
resolution calling on the Japanese government to apologize for the
comfort-women issue.

Mochizuki, noting the increasing number of joint sponsors of the
resolution, which now tops 100, stated, "(Unlike past years), the
resolution now might be adopted." He criticized as a "big political
blunder" Abe's denial that there was "coercion in the narrow sense"
in the recruitment of wartime comfort women

(4) Comfort women: Private brokers responsible for recruiting,
according to investigation by US Army: Former Japanese Imperial Army
did not benefit

TOKYO 00002158 005 OF 009

SANKEI (Page 3) (Slightly abridged)
May 12, 2007

Washington, Yoshihisa Komori

In connection with the issue of comfort women during World War II
and the former Japanese Imperial Army, it has been revealed by a US
Army report that Japan's private brokers on the Japanese side did
the recruiting of comfort women by first making payment to the
families of prospective candidates. The report noted that such
brokers were directly involved in recruiting comfort women in Korea,
the aim being to make profits on a commercial basis. The report has
clarified the situation at the time, which is quite different from
the claim by certain groups in the US that the former Imperial
Japanese Army coercively recruited women in an organized way.

The United States Office of War Information (OWI) Psychological
Warfare Team attached to the U.S. Army in September 1944 issued the
report, titled "Japanese Army brothels in frontline areas." The
report mainly records the interrogation of a Japanese man (41 years
old at the time) who ran a comfort station, who was picked up and
held in custody by the US Army in Northern Burma, now Myanmar, that
August.

The US Army held the man in custody, along with his Japanese wife
(38) and 20 Korean women. Another existing report contains the
results of the questioning of the women. It has been referred to by
both Japanese and US researchers, but there have been few occasions
in which the report on the operator of the comfort station was
openly examined.

According to the report, the man and his wife had opened a
restaurant in Seoul and earned a reasonable amount of money.
However, when his business declined, he obtained approval from the
Japanese Army Command to bring comfort women to Burma as a chance to
earn more income. His proposal was reportedly transmitted by the
military to Japanese businessmen residing in Korea.

Regarding the recruiting of comfort women by this man, the report
noted that he paid the families of 22 Korean women 300 yen to 1,000
yen per person, depending on their character, appearance and age.
The age of the 22 women ranged from 19 to 31. They became the
property of that individual. The Japanese Army did not share in the
profits from this venture. It issued a letter addressed to each
command of the Japanese Army ordering them to give the individual
necessary assistance, such as transportation, rations and medical
services.

The report also noted that in the process of recruiting comfort
women, the Japanese Army was involved in the form of granting
approval or proposing doing so. It also mentioned that in recruiting
comfort women, the man first made payment to all individual
applicants. It thus noted that the situation was totally different
from the interpretation of the incident by the US Congress and the
wording its resolution adopted: "The Japanese Army coercively
recruited women in an organized manner and used them as sex
slaves."

According to the report, this Japanese operator left Pusan with his
wife and the 22 Korean women on July 10, 1942, by ship and arrived
in Rangoon (now Yangon), the capital of Burma, on August 20 via
Taiwan and Singapore.

TOKYO 00002158 006 OF 009

The women were then reportedly sent to a comfort station for the
114th regiment of the Japanese Army infantry in the Myitkyina area
in the Northern part of Burma.

(5) Defense Ministry to develop UUV, USV to prevent spies,
terrorists from entering nation

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
May 14, 2007

The Defense Ministry will soon launch technical research to develop
an unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) and an unmanned surface vehicle
(USV) in an effort to prevent spies from entering Japan from the sea
and suicide bombing by terrorists of naval vessels. The ministry
plans to earmark approximately 2.6 billion yen for the research in
its budget request for FY2008. The research project will last for
six years and cost an estimated 6 billion yen.

The ministry would like to make use of the planned UUV and USV, by
networking them, to pursue armed spy ships, search and remove mines,
explore the seabed, as well as to monitor guerillas attacking remote
islands or spies intruding into the nation at harbors or in coastal
areas. By introducing an unmanned system, the ministry aims to avoid
personnel risk and perform duties more effectively.

The Defense Ministry intends to develop technologies related to
underwater telecommunications and self-contained navigation. It
plans to complete the demonstration tests of such technologies by
FY2012 and then deploy the new equipment under the Maritime
Self-Defense Force (MSDF).

The MSDF has installed the S-7 remote-control marine-disposal
equipment on its unmanned undersea vessels. In the planned research,
the ministry expects to significantly upgrade the equipment to make
it capable of automatic underwater navigation and of recognizing the
purpose, making a judgment, and launching an attack by using various
censors, like a robot.

(6) Minshuto President Ozawa: Prime Minister Abe has no basic
philosophy

MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
May 14, 2007

Appearing on a TV Asahi talk show yesterday, Ichiro Ozawa, president
of the main opposition party Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan),
criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political stance, saying:

"I don't see that he has reached any conclusions on any issue,
including the constitutional issue, based on his own principles and
philosophy. He lacks a basic philosophy about how he would rebuild
the country or how he would like it to be."

Ozawa also pointed out:

"(The prime minister thinks that) the Constitution isn't any good
because it was made under the Occupation and that the exercise of
the right of collective self-defense is necessary in order to
cooperate with the United States. It is problem when a person like
this is given the task of governing a country."

(7) LDP's Koga faction splits in two: Some seeking cooperation with

TOKYO 00002158 007 OF 009

Tanigaki faction, others feeling out possibility of leaving the
faction

MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
May 14, 2007

Many in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have become
increasingly interested in the notion of a merger between the Koga
faction (a membership of 51) and the Tanigaki faction (16 members).
Since the notion has a ring of the rallying together of "anti-Abe
forces" in the Koga faction, LDP General Council Chairman Yuya Niwa
and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, who were given
important posts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are strongly against
the merger plan. The faction headed by Foreign Minister Taro Aso has
been excluded from the merger. Chances are that the realignment of
factions in the LDP will occur after the House of Councillors in
July, parting company with Abe.

Completely smash the notion

In a meeting on the night of May 11 with Niwa, Aso expressed
unhappiness with the moves between the Koga and Tanigaki factions
toward merge, and he stated: "Though these are not significant
moves, they should be completely smashed." He also revealed that Abe
was aware of the notion of a factional merger. Shiozaki also
reportedly took part in the meeting.

Niwa, Shiozaki and Yoshihide Suga, minister of internal affairs and
communications, belong to the Koga faction. All the more because the
three got key posts as individuals instead of for their support for
Abe in the party's presidential election last year, they have strong
personal loyalty to the prime minister. Aso aims to become a
candidate in the race to succeed Abe by supporting him.

After his meeting with Aso, Niwa came into contact with Isao Iijima,
secretary to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Iijima

SIPDIS
reportedly told Niwa: "With the Upper House drawing closer, should
the LDP carry out a strategic alliance of its factions, it will
decrease the number of its Upper House seats." In his speech in
Niigata Prefecture on May 12, Niwa blasted former LDP Secretary
General Koga, noting, "It is extremely regrettable that the merger
notion came up before the Upper House election. As one of the three
top LDP officials, I find it a great inconvenience."

With eye on an Abe faction

Shiozaki, who serves as government spokesman, has made no statement
as Niwa has done. Last October when the Niwa-Koga faction was
changed the name to the Koga faction, the distance between Niwa and
Koga reportedly widened. Suga is the main member of the
Parliamentary League to Support Second Chance. He stands at the
center of the Abe government.

Therefore, there is a view in the LDP if the Koga and Tanigaki
factions merge, some Koga faction members will leave the faction to
join the Aso faction. The outlook is that the Aso Machimura factions
will move to form an Abe government.

In a wedding ceremony yesterday for the oldest son of Koga, former
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who is concerned about turmoil in the
LDP, sought to constrain the merger of Koga and Tanigaki factions,
saying, "I have no intention to mediate a merger between Mr. Koga
and other group."

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(8) Pursuing the network of business, government and academic
connected to Middle East assistance; Stream of delegations to the
region

NIHON KEIZAI (Page 21) (Full)
April 23, 2007

The relationship between Japan and the Middle East is now entering a
new phase. Japan's new aid plan to the Palestinian Authority is
about to start. When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tours five Middle
Eastern countries in May, a delegation of over 170 business leaders
will accompany him. This newspaper focuses on the key figures in
various circles involved with implementing effective aid measures
for the Middle East, taking advantage of Japan historically not
having been part of that region's conflicts

In mid-March, cabinet ministers of Israel, the Palestinian
Authority, and Jordan came to Japan to attend quadrilateral talks
hosted by Foreign Minister Taro Aso. The representatives of the four
parties agreed to promote agricultural projects, based on the
initiative of the Corridor for Peace and Prosperity. Before reaching
the agreement, there were steady efforts by government envoy Tatsuo
Arima, 73, and other officials.

Arima served as ambassador to Germany. He has his own communication
channels to the United States. He has been actively involved in
Middle East affairs at each juncture since 1973, when the first oil
crisis occurred. He was dispatched there as a special envoy of the
government of then Prime Minister Takeo Miki to help Japan ensure a
crude oil supply. Since 2002, he has had contacts with Israeli and
Palestinian leaders, concurrently serving as government envoy for
the Middle East peace process.

In the four-party talks arranged by Arima, the Foreign Ministry's
Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Director General Norihiro
Okuda, 54, and other working-level officials were able to persuade
Israel, which had been reluctant to join the talks, by embroiling
Jordan, which is one of the few Arab countries to have diplomatic
ties with Israel. Looking back on his experiences, Okuda said: "The
situation took a change for the better after we asked Jordan's King
Abdallah II for his support during his Japan visit."

Junichiro Koizumi proposed the concept of the Corridor for Peace and
Prosperity when he visited the Middle East last summer as prime
minister. The concept included the construction of an
agricultural-products processing facility in Jericho on the west
side of the Jordan River, as well as a water-quality management
plan.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) actually
implements the program. Juro Chikaraishi, 55, head of the JICA's
Middle East and Europe Department, whom President Sadako Ogata
trusts, said: "Since we have built our network of contacts over the
last several years, we have now found it easier to do our business."
He pins his hopes on efforts by Takeshi Naruse, 54, who heads the
JICA Office in Gaza, which is responsible for building up the
organization's networks of connections in Israel and the Palestinian
community.

Prime Minister Abe will visit in May such oil producing countries
as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar.
He aims at securing stable energy supplies in return for economic

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assistance and cooperation. He will be accompanied by an economic
mission led by Japan Business Federation Chairman Fujio Mitarai, 71.
NYK Line Honorary Chairman Jiro Nemoto, 78, will also join the
mission.

Nemoto stressed: "Regarding assistance to the Middle East, Japan
should push forward with both development of human resources and
economic aid." The Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East
(JCCME), which Nemoto chairs, has placed recently priority on
cooperation in the education area.

Yukiko Hirai, president of Selfwing Company, an educational contents
provider for children, is one of those taking part in aid projects
to the Middle East. Hirai has been teaching Saudi Arabian high
school students since February about starting businesses and methods
of commercial transactions.

In academic circles, University of Tokyo professors Masayuki
Yamauchi, 59, and Shin'ichi Kitaoka, 59, and New National Theater
Tokyo President Atsuko Toyama, a former education minister, will
visit the Middle East in June as the first delegation. Yamauchi has
led so far three delegations to the Middle East. He has asserted
that Japan should actively fulfill a role in consideration of the
Japan-US alliance, by taking advantage of communication channels to
Syria and Iran that the United States does not have.

Naoki Tanaka, 61, president of the Center for International Public
Policy Studies (CIPPS), which was set up in March, has the same view
with Yamauchi in viewpoint of thinking about the Middle East in
consideration of the relationship with the United States. The CIPPS
founded by Toyota Motors looks for measures to contribute to the
Middle East in order to help stability in East Asia. The
organization underscores that there is enough room for Japan, which
has no experience in involvement in Middle East disputes, unlike
Europe and the United States, to contribute to the region in the
form of supporting the US.

Tanaka picked former Prime Minister Koizumi, advocator of the
Corridor for Peace and Prosperity initiative, as advisor to the
CIPPS. The organization will propose measures for the Middle East
peace process and Iraq issue, while being supported by Koizumi, who
enjoyed international reputation.

In the Middle East, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have begun
summit diplomacy and an international conference to stabilize Iraq
has been started under the lead of the United States. These moves
are aimed to prevent the chaos from expanding. The capabilities of
the joint support system of Japan's business, government, and
academia will now be put to the test.

DONOVAN

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