Gov't to shun wasteful spending to cover 180 bil. yen tax shortage

Apr 30 09:19 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The government pledged Wednesday to chop wasteful spending for road building projects to cover tax revenue shortfalls worth an estimated 180 billion yen resulting from the loss of gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges for one month.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said at a press conference, "We should not waste even one yen of the people's tax money. We have decided to immediately stop inappropriate spending of road-related taxes and introduce competitive bidding."

Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga told a separate news conference that he expects the infrastructure ministry will "eliminate wasteful use of tax money and use financial resources efficiently" in implementing the nation's road construction plans.

Nukaga denied the possibility that the government will issue deficit- covering bonds right away to deal with the revenue shortage.

"We will consider that matter by examining the situation of tax revenues and the degree of budget implementation," he said.

The exact amount of lost road-related tax revenues will become clear around July, the finance minister said.

The road-related tax surcharges, comprising state and local levies on items such as gasoline and automobiles, were imposed in the 1970s on a provisional basis to expedite road development projects across Japan.

The government and the ruling parties proposed a tax bill to the Diet in January to extend the surcharges beyond their expiration date of March 31 to continue funding road-related projects. They also said abolishing the surcharges would create annual shortfalls of as much as 2.6 trillion yen in tax revenues.

The bill failed to pass the Diet by the end of March due to a political row between the ruling and opposition parties, leading to the abolishment of the surcharges at the beginning of April.

A tax code bill to reinstate gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges passed the Diet earlier in the day, paving the way for the restoration Thursday of a 25-yen per liter gas tax surcharge. The move limited tax revenue shortfalls to one month.

U.S. forces in Japan to conduct health-related behavior survey in May

Apr 30 08:57 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The U.S. military will conduct a survey of health-related behaviors at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture from May 19 to 30 as part of the U.S. Department of Defense's annual survey on about 20,000 active-duty service members at over 60 military installations worldwide, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan said Wednesday.

Master Sgt. Terence Peck, media relations chief at the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, denied a Kyodo News report released earlier in the day that the U.S. Navy will start conducting a survey on the life attitude and mental state of its military and civilian personnel in May as part of the soldier management program that has been implemented by the U.S. military as a crime prevention measure following a spate of crimes including the murder of a taxi driver allegedly by a Navy seaman in March.

"The survey will assess service members' lifestyle behaviors and provide an opportunity to the Department of Defense and each service to improve programs and policies, and to strengthen military personnel healthy lifestyle knowledge and choices," the spokesman said.

The survey has no connection with the recent incidents of U.S. military personnel misconduct, he said.

The U.S. Navy in Japan is now implementing a program aimed at reemphasizing the "zero tolerance" policy against violence and providing newly arrived sailors and those who are already in Japan with anti-violence prevention information, education and training, he said.

"After analyzing the effectiveness of the program, the U.S. Navy in Japan will make a proposal to the commander of U.S. Forces Japan to implement it USFJ-wide as a program for anti-violence awareness," the spokesman said. "The U.S. Navy values its relationship with Japan and continues to urge its sailors to behave in a responsible fashion."

Gas tax surcharge to be reinstated Thurs. with lower house revote

Apr 30 08:06 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - TOKYO, April 30 (Kyodo) — A tax code bill to reinstate gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges passed the Diet on Wednesday, with the ruling parties resorting to a revote on the bill in the House of Representatives which they control, despite resistance from the opposition parties.

Photo: DPJ boycotts Diet session for the re-vote on the gas tax surcharge.

The legislation, to take effect Thursday, includes restoring a 25-yen per liter gas tax surcharge that expired March 31. The reinstatement of the surcharge is expected to cause retail gas prices to spike and intensify the row between the ruling and opposition parties.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, struggling amid sluggish support ratings and his ruling party's defeat in Sunday's lower house by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture, said the revote was needed to resolve the "irresponsible situation" in which the state and local governments are facing revenue shortfalls day by day.

"I understand fully that there are voices against raising gasoline prices when prices are rising...it was a very painful decision (for me to resort to a revote)," Fukuda told a press conference after the bill passed the Diet.

Photo: Mr. Yohei Kono, Speaker of the House of Representatives, forces his way through protesting lawmakers to enter the chamber for the re-vote.

It is the first time in 56 years that a law has been enacted in line with constitutional provisions that allow the lower house to hold a revote because the House of Councillors had not voted on a bill within 60 days of receiving it.

The tax bill cleared the lower house at the end of February and was sent to the opposition-controlled upper house. But the government and the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party failed to extend the decades-old surcharges beyond their March 31 expiration amid resistance by the opposition parties.

Photo: Members protest the gas tax re-vote outside the lower house chamber.

In a bid to stop the revote, opposition party members holding signs staged protests in the Diet building and even tried to block lower house Speaker Yohei Kono from entering the chamber to start the procedure for the vote.

Naoto Kan, acting president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters later that "the lower house proved by raising the taxes that it is out of touch with the people's will" and urged Fukuda to dissolve the lower house and call for a general election.

The DPJ maintains that road tax revenue has been a hotbed of wasteful spending for vested interests and that the surcharges should be abolished. By making such arguments, the DPJ also defeated the LDP by a wide margin in Sunday's by-election, the first national-level election since the launch of the Fukuda administration last September.

The DPJ does not plan to submit a censure motion against Fukuda in the upper house immediately after Wednesday's revote, but Kan said the DPJ will consider whether to use the option "at the most effective time."

At the press conference, Fukuda shrugged off calls to dissolve the lower house, saying, "I'm not thinking about a dissolution at this moment."

Photo: lawmakers protest outside lower house chamber in the Diet.

Asked how he would deal with a possible submission of a nonbinding censure motion, Fukuda expressed hope that the opposition parties reach an agreement with the government and the ruling parties over the road tax issue, and added that he is "not thinking about things after that."

Fukuda said a total of 180 billion yen in revenue shortfalls have occurred in state and local governments in the one-month absence of the tax surcharges.

The road-related tax surcharges, comprising state and local levies on items such as gas and automobiles, were imposed on a provisional basis in the 1970s to expedite road development projects across Japan and were maintained through March this year.

The passage of the bill was welcomed by a number of governors who have been concerned about revenue shortfalls.

Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto told a regular press conference that he "is relieved." Hiroshima Gov. Yuzan Fujita said in a statement that he positively accepts the move "to a certain extent" but added that the state should "seriously accept the fact that it has caused major confusion" in local governments.

Under the Constitution, the more powerful lower house can hold a revote to pass a bill if the upper house rejects the bill or holds no vote within 60 days of receiving it because the lower house can determine that the upper house has rejected the bill.

Wednesday was the earliest possible date for the ruling parties to hold such a revote for the tax bill.

On Wednesday afternoon, the lower house approved by a majority vote during a plenary session the assumption that the upper house has "rejected" the bill.

The bill was then put to a revote and passed the Diet with the required two-thirds majority. The ruling parties hold a comfortable majority in the lower house.

The DPJ and two small opposition parties -- the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party -- refused to take part in the vote.

Following the passage of the bill, Japan's average retail price for regular gasoline is likely to top the record-high 155.50 yen per liter logged in December and could be around 160 yen in May, according to oil industry experts.

Economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota said it will take time to assess how the surcharges affect consumption.

It is the second time the ruling coalition has resorted to the revote scheme to pass bills it deems key since the opposition parties took control of the upper house following an election last July.

The previous revote was held in January to pass a bill to resume Japan's refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan after the upper house rejected the bill.

EDITORIAL: Opposition party's job

04/30/2008

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano recalls asking former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone a question about politics. "Sir, what is the job of an opposition party?" Yosano asked his political mentor.

"Well, it is to overthrow the government, no matter what it takes. Policy doesn't matter. Just unseating the government is the job of an opposition party," Nakasone answered.

This is an episode Yosano describes in his new book, "Dodotaru Seiji" (Dignified politics).

Defeated in the general election in 1993, the Liberal Democratic Party found itself in the opposition camp for the first time in its history after a coalition of other parties formed a government headed by Morihiro Hosokawa. Totally at a loss, Yosano posed the question to Nakasone, for whom he had once served as a secretary.

Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) is now trying to do "the job of an opposition party." Bent on forcing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, the main opposition party is awaiting a suitable moment to submit a censure motion against Fukuda to the Upper House.

Even if a censure motion passes, Fukuda has shown no intention of responding to it by calling an election or resigning along with other Cabinet ministers.

Unlike a no-confidence vote against the Cabinet passed by the Lower House, a censure resolution passed by the Upper House is not legally binding. With Cabinet approval ratings languishing below 30 percent, the ruling camp wants to delay the general election as long as possible.

The results of Sunday's Lower House by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture left no doubt that favorable political winds are blowing for Minshuto. It is natural for the party to carefully plan its next political move to box the Fukuda government into a corner.

But the political meaning of "overthrowing the government" has changed dramatically since the days of the so-called 1955 system, when the LDP had a solid lock on power. All that the opposition camp could hope for in attacking the government back then was the replacement of the prime minister by another LDP bigwig.

In contrast, the opposition bloc now has a reasonable chance of wresting power from the LDP-led ruling coalition through a general election.

What kind of role should the leading opposition party play today?

Nakasone's argument that the primary mission of an opposition party is to overthrow the government is still relevant today. Given the growing momentum of political reform to ensure more frequent power transfers in this nation, efforts to displace the ruling party from power have political implications that go beyond a simple power struggle.

In order to achieve this mission, an opposition party may have to use hard-ball tactics that seem to defy reasonable thinking, such as Minshuto's repeated rejections of the government's nominees for the Bank of Japan governor. Bringing forward a censure motion against the prime minister for the purpose of halting Diet deliberations altogether is another example of such tactics. Whether this kind of political maneuver succeeds depends on whether it is supported by the public.

At the same time, Minshuto needs to win the trust of the voting public as a party prepared to govern the nation. Otherwise, it cannot hope to pull off a victory in the next Lower House poll. In addition to offering viable policy alternatives, Minshuto needs to make tenacious and effective efforts to force the ruling camp to change its policies.

Even if it cannot easily compromise on the gasoline tax surcharges and other issues, Minshuto should continue pressing the government to cut wasteful expenditures on roads.

As for the newly introduced health insurance program for people aged 75 or older, which Minshuto criticizes as a raw deal for the elderly, the opposition party should do more than just call for the scrapping of the program. Minshuto should propose a system that is fairer and more sustainable.

It is by no means asking for too much to call on Minshuto to try to unseat the government while pursuing its policy goals. As the main opposition party with an ambition for ascension to power, Minshuto needs to deal with both challenges with convincing political prowess.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 29(IHT/Asahi: April 30,2008)

Chief justice met U.S. ambassador before declaring bases in Japan constitutional

April 30, 2008

The chief justice at the Supreme Court secretly met with the U.S. ambassador to Japan in 1959 shortly before the top court overturned a lower court ruling that had declared the U.S. forces' presence in Japan was unconstitutional, according to a diplomatic document.

Shoji Niihara, a 76-year-old international affairs researcher, has found the document -- a telegraph message that then Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II sent to the U.S. secretary of state on April 24, 1959 -- at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Niihara criticized the U.S. action. "A foreign government representative's contact with the chief justice who was in charge of the trial and who headed the judicial branch of Japan's government constitutes interference of Japan's domestic affairs and a violation of the independence of the three branches of government."

The message shows that MacArthur met with Kotaro Tanaka, then chief justice of the Supreme Court who presided over the trial of the so-called Sunagawa case, to ask him about the schedule of the trial at the Supreme Court.

It stated that the deadline for presenting documentation setting forth justification for the appeal of the lower court ruling was set for June 15, adding that Foreign Ministry officials said deliberations on the appeal by the Supreme Court grand bench would probably commence by mid-July.

However, it said it was impossible at that stage to estimate the timing of the ruling.

The message then read: "In private conversation Chief Justice Tanaka told ambassador that while case had been given priority, under Japanese procedures after deliberations begin it would take at least several months for decision to be reached."

The message came about a month after the Tokyo District Court ruling on the Sunagawa case on March 30, 1959.

In the case, seven people who were opposing the presence of U.S. forces in Japan were indicted for destroying a fence and illegally entering U.S. Tachikawa base in western Tokyo in July 1957 in a bid to obstruct a location survey in connection with the expansion of the base.

The Tokyo District Court acquitted all of them after declaring the presence of U.S. forces in Japan under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty constitutes a violation of war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.

Prosecutors appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court instead of the Tokyo High Court. The Code of Criminal Procedure allows prosecutors to appeal a district court ruling that declares legislation is unconstitutional directly to the top court.

In response to an appeal by prosecutors, the Supreme Court scrapped the ruling in December 1959, and ordered the district court to retry the case. The seven were subsequently slapped with fines of 2,000 yen each, and the conviction was later confirmed.

(Mainichi Japan) April 30, 2008

EDITORIAL :: DPJ victory in Yamaguchi

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The victory of a candidate of the Democratic Party of Japan over a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 constituency has raised a question mark over Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's political leadership. The DPJ candidate trounced the LDP candidate by a margin of about 22,000 votes in the first election for a Diet seat since the inauguration of the Fukuda administration seven months ago.

In additional to the ruling bloc's plan to resurrect the surcharge on the gasoline tax, which expired March 31, the newly inaugurated health insurance scheme for people aged 75 and over became a major electoral issue. The new health insurance scheme raised the ire of many voters. Some people did not get new health insurance certificates in time, and deductions of premiums from pension benefits to fund the new health insurance plan began the same day that the election campaign officially kicked off.

Mr. Fukuda and other ruling bloc officials failed to convince voters of the need to have a separate health insurance scheme for elderly people. A Kyodo News telephone poll of voters in the constituency shows that 78 percent of the polled want the government to change it. Many people also believe that the ruling bloc failed to show sincerity in devising and explaining the new health insurance plan. Mr. Fukuda and other ruling bloc leaders also need to realize that people still harbor feelings of distrust toward the government due to its mismanagement of some 50 million pension premium payment records.

Influenced by the outcome of the by-election, Mr. Fukuda is now poised to have the Cabinet officially approve his proposal to use revenue from road-related taxes for general purposes from fiscal 2009. Saying that the election result showed "the will of the people," the DPJ is likely to step up its attack on the government and ruling bloc. It should decide on a course of action after considering what would be the best for the nation under the current circumstances.

U.S. Navy to conduct background check among all members

Apr 29 01:08 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The U.S. Navy in Japan will start conducting a survey on the life attitude and mental state of about 20,000 of its military and civilian personnel in May, following a spate of crimes including the murder of a taxi driver allegedly by a Navy seaman in March, U.S. military sources said Tuesday.

Such a background check will be the first conducted by the U.S. military in Japan. After analyzing the effectiveness of the survey, the U.S. Forces Japan will examine the possibility of conducting similar surveys on members of the Air Force and Army as well as Marines, the sources said.

The move apparently reflects the U.S. Navy's bid to rein in public backlash that is expected to grow ahead of the planned deployment in August of the George Washington nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The survey is part of the soldier management program that has been implemented by the U.S. military as a crime prevention measure and aimed at sorting out those who misbehave or have violent personality traits.

Subject to the survey will be a total of 20,000 people -- all military and civilian personnel belonging to the U.S. Navy Forces Japan as well as those of the 7th Fleet who are stationed in Japan.

Any member perceived to have a problem will be obliged to undergo counseling and other special education programs. Should no improvement be made, the person will be transferred back to the United States.

A military official has expressed expectations that the survey will help eliminate the potential cause for violent crimes.

However, another official has said the effect will be limited since hundreds of military personnel are replaced every month under a rotation deployment system.

In the survey, the Navy members will be asked via a questionnaire about their associations with friends and others in and out of their own teams, off-duty lifestyles and drinking habits, as well as experiences of illegal drugs. Psychological tests will also be conducted to examine their personalities and satisfaction about their lives.

Some questions may violate the right to privacy, but the U.S. Navy has determined that the survey is necessary as an effective step to prevent a recurrence of serious crimes, according to the sources.

The move has come after Japanese prosecutors last Thursday indicted Olatunboson Ugbogu, a 22-year-old seaman on the 7th Fleet cruiser Cowpens, for fatally stabbing the taxi driver on March 19.

Article also printed as "U.S. sailors to undergo mental check" in Japan Times, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Spouse gets suspended sentence in drug case

By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — A U.S. civilian convicted of inhaling speed was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years.

Maunel Taitano, 42, husband of a civilian Marine base employee, nodded his head silently as Naha District Court Chief Judge Hiroyuki Yoshii delivered the sentence.

During a previous hearing, Taitano admitted he heated the illegal stimulant — phenylmethyl aminopropane — and inhaled the vapors March 1 at the Yomitan home of Satsuki Kawamura, the girlfriend of the supplier, Yuichi Mekaru, 29.

Yoshii said there were no extenuating circumstances for Taitano’s abuse of the substance. However, he suspended the sentence, stating that Taitano showed remorse and promised to stay away from illegal substances for the rest of his life. Taitano could have been sentenced to 18 months of hard labor in a Japanese prison.

Taitano had been under Japanese custody since his arrest, which came during a two-week period when all Americans connected to the U.S. military were restricted to their bases or off-base homes after a series of alleged crimes by Americans. Taitano still could face action by the Marine Base Inspector. In the past, U.S. civilians accused of drug use and possession in a Japanese court have been barred from Okinawa bases.

U.S. pressed Japan in 1959 on court ruling on U.S. military presence

Apr 29 10:41 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 29 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The then U.S. ambassador to Japan in 1959 pressured Japanese officials to overrule a lower court decision which decided that the U.S. military presence was unconstitutional, according to recently declassified documents made available Tuesday.

Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II, concerned about the ruling by the Tokyo District Court, pressed then Japanese Foreign Minister Aiichiro Fujiyama to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court, skipping a high court, and held backroom talks with Kotaro Tanaka, then chief justice of the Supreme Court over the matter, the documents showed.

MacArthur was a nephew of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the Allies' occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951.

At the center was a 1957 incident, known as the Sunakawa case, in which seven people were arrested in July of that year after demonstrating against an expansion construction of the U.S. military base in Tachikawa, Tokyo. On March 30, 1959, the district court ruled they were not guilty, while saying the U.S. military presence in Japan violates the nation's pacifist Constitution.

In a telegraph sent to the U.S. State Department the following day, MacArthur wrote that he met with Fujiyama earlier in the day and "stressed importance of GOJ (government of Japan) taking speedy action to rectify ruling by Tokyo District Court."

"I expressed view that ruling not only created complications for security treaty discussions to which Fujiyama attaches such importance but also may create confusion in minds of public" and urged the Japanese government to bring it directly to the Supreme Court, he wrote.

A telegraph from MacArthur to the department on April 24 that year also showed the chief justice of the Supreme Court had contacted the U.S. ambassador.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 16, 1959, dismissed the district court decision and sent the case back to a lower court. The arrested people were eventually found guilty.

The telegraph and other related documents were found by Shoji Niihara, an expert on Japan-U.S. relations, earlier this month at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

ANALYSIS :: By-election loss adds to Fukuda's troubles

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer

Pressure will mount to hold an unwanted snap vote

The Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in the Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday is yet another blow to the already reeling Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Faced with this emphatic sign of weakening popular support, the ruling coalition will now try to put off the general election as long as possible, political analysts say.

Photo: Much to ponder: Senior Liberal Democratic Party leaders (from left) Makoto Koga, head of the party's election committee; Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki; Toshihiro Nikai, chairman of the General Council; Sadakazu Tanigaki, chief of the Policy Research Council; and Hidehisa Otsuji, chairman of the party's Upper House caucus; attend a Monday session of the General Council.

On the other hand, the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, is expected to turn up the heat on Fukuda in a bid to pressure him into dissolving the Lower House for a snap election.

The by-election was the first national-level race since Fukuda took office in September.

The LDP-New Komeito ruling bloc, which has been struggling in the divided Diet since losing its Upper House majority in July, had been clinging to the hope that a victory in Sunday's election might turn the political tide.

But the outcome was once again a heavy loss for the ruling bloc.

The DPJ's Hideo Hiraoka, 54, won 116,348 votes — 22,000 more than the 94,404 cast for Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, of the LDP.

Analysts said the margin of victory was huge given that the district has traditionally been a conservative stronghold that has produced two prime ministers, Eisaku Sato and Nobusuke Kishi.

Kazuhisa Kawakami, a political science professor at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, said the by-election amounted to a thumbs down for Fukuda's leadership.

"Fukuda let the political situation grow worse without taking any action in the divided Diet," said Kawakami, who specializes in political psychology.

In the face of resistance in the opposition-controlled Upper House, Fukuda failed to extend the provisional extra rates on gasoline and other auto-related taxes — revenues used exclusively to finance road construction. The extra rates expired March 31, cutting gasoline prices by about ¥25 per liter this month.

Despite the by-election defeat, the ruling coalition reaffirmed on Monday that it would reinstate the gasoline and other road-related surcharges through an overriding vote Wednesday in the ruling bloc-dominated Lower House.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura denied the election outcome will affect the coalition's plans to reinstate the extra tax rates.

"We will continue to explain (to the public) about the need to raise (the tax rates) again," Machimura told a news conference Monday. "And we believe that we will gain the public's understanding."

Article 59 of the Constitution allows the Lower House to hold a second vote to approve a bill with a two-thirds majority if the Upper House does not vote on it within 60 days. The Lower House approved the tax bill Feb. 29 and, therefore, the lower chamber — in which the ruling bloc currently holds more than two-thirds of the seats — can hold a revote on the bill on or after Wednesday.

The DPJ has threatened to submit a censure motion against Fukuda in the Upper House if the ruling bloc decides to raise gasoline prices again.

Such a motion would not be legally binding, but the DPJ hopes to further damage Fukuda's Cabinet and force the prime minister to dissolve the lower chamber for a snap general election.

But Norihiko Narita, a political science professor at Surugadai University in Saitama Prefecture, advised against the DPJ taking such an action.

"Even if (the DPJ) submits a censure motion (and if it is endorsed in the opposition-controlled Upper House), all (the ruling bloc) has to do is ignore it," Narita said. "The DPJ, on the other hand, would have to boycott Diet deliberations (if such a motion is endorsed in the upper chamber), and could face public criticism for that."

Analysts also suggest that with the by-election loss, the next Lower House election will likely not be held for a while — and possibly not until the current Lower House members' four-year terms expire in September 2009. The right to dissolve the Lower House rests exclusively with the prime minister.

Various media surveys show that the Fukuda Cabinet is in critical condition with public approval ratings below 30 percent, and analysts say it is unlikely the LDP can win the next general election as things now stand.

"If there was a general election now, the DPJ would be stronger" than the LDP, Narita said.

Sunday's election also reflected public criticism of the ruling bloc over the new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older. The system, under which insurance premiums are deducted from pension payouts, has proved unpopular among elderly voters, who are generally considered a base of support for Fukuda.

The government and the ruling bloc "did not properly explain (the new health insurance system) to the elderly and (the ruling bloc) paid for that" with the by-election defeat, said Meiji Gakuin's Kawakami. Given that the new system was decided on two years ago under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the ruling bloc had plenty of time to make its case, he noted.

Machimura, also a veteran LDP lawmaker and head of the party's largest faction, repeatedly stressed before and after the election that the Yamaguchi by-election alone will not affect important national-level policies.

But Kawakami pointed out that ruling bloc lawmakers will begin clamoring for policy changes regarding the road-related taxes and health insurance in order to appeal to the public, despite the ruling bloc's efforts to reinstate the extra tax rates Wednesday.

"I think it is possible that (the ruling bloc) will make changes to its policies following the defeat," Kawakami said. Members of the ruling bloc know "that they won't be able to win the next general election under the current circumstances."

Surugadai University's Narita, who served as secretary to Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa when the LDP was forced out of power in 1993, also noted that Sunday's by-election was a rare instance of a key election being swayed by policy issues.

The LDP's defeat, Narita said, reminded him of the party's crushing loss in the 1989 Upper House election, which followed the introduction of the unpopular consumption tax.

"A by-election is an indicator of (voter sentiment for) the next general election," Narita said. "I feel that there are signs of a major political change and (the LDP's defeat) left a strong impression."
Insurance to blame

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda admitted Monday evening that the confusion over the new insurance system for the elderly was a major factor in the ruling bloc's huge defeat in Sunday's Yamaguchi No. 2 district by-election, but said he has no intention of changing the system.

"It was a crushing defeat," said Fukuda, who also heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. "There were many reasons, but the insurance system for the elderly was a major cause."

The new system for people aged 75 and older was introduced April 15, immediately drawing harsh criticism from the elderly, whose premiums are being deducted from pension benefits.

But despite acknowledging the problems regarding the new system, Fukuda said now is the time to examine how the system is actually working instead of thinking of scrapping it.

Fukuda also told reporters he would be willing to have his Cabinet officially endorse a plan in mid-May to free up revenue from road-related taxes, which has been solely used to fund road construction, starting in April 2009.

Fukuda met in the afternoon with Akihiro Ota, leader of New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, and came to an agreement to reinstate the provisionally added extra rates on gasoline and other auto-related taxes Wednesday.

This means that gasoline prices, which dropped by ¥25 per liter in April, will once again rise starting May 1.

"Day by day, the longer we wait, (the lack of tax revenue) is digging a hole in the income of the national and local governments," Fukuda said.

"Of course nobody is happy that (gasoline) prices will go up. . . . But we must make efforts to gain the public's understanding."

The LDP's candidate, Shigetaro Yamamoto, lost the by-election by a solid margin of 22,000 votes to Hideo Hiraoka of the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force.

EDITORIAL: LDP defeat in by-election

04/29/2008

For beleaguered Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the election defeat on Sunday couldn't have come at a worse time.

The candidate supported by his Liberal Democratic Party was beaten decisively by the contender backed by the main opposition party, Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), in the Lower House by-election for Yamaguchi Prefecture's No. 2 district.

The poll came three days before the expected Lower House vote on a bill to revive the expired gasoline tax surcharges. The outcome crushed any hope Fukuda might have had of gaining the political capital needed to break the legislative gridlock in the divided Diet and push through his policy initiatives.

Despite the electoral drubbing, however, the ruling coalition plans to use its two-thirds majority in the Lower House to ram the tax bill through. But the poll results must have made the ruling camp painfully aware of the strong voter discontent over the way the nation is governed.

The Fukuda Cabinet's approval ratings have plummeted below 30 percent. The voter verdict delivered Sunday will likely make the ruling camp strongly averse to facing an early general election.

For Minshuto, the electoral victory represents clear public support for the hard-line tactics it has adopted in its Diet battles with the ruling camp. In moves that created strains within the party, Minshuto repeatedly rejected the government's nominees for Bank of Japan governor. Coming after the bruising parliamentary fight, Sunday's win will do a lot to help Minshuto chief Ichiro Ozawa rebuild his damaged power base within the party.

The question for Minshuto is whether it should seize on this victory to submit a censure motion against Fukuda, setting the stage for an all-out parliamentary war with the ruling alliance. But will such a move really force Fukuda to dissolve the Lower House for a snap poll?

Minshuto faces a tough decision.

Exit polls and other information showed that many voters in Yamaguchi Prefecture were affected by national policy issues. That suggests there was strong disgruntlement among voters about the new health insurance program for people aged 75 or older, as well as about the gasoline surcharges.

The ruling camp campaigned on local issues, such as the proposal to make the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, available for civilian airline services. But this campaign strategy failed to win the hearts and minds of voters.

In this sense, the by-election gave voters an opportunity to show their evaluation of Fukuda's performance in his first seven months in office. Although it was a judgment made by voters in only one of the 300 single-seat constituencies around the nation, it delivered an unmistakable political message to the government and the ruling coalition.

For one thing, voters in Yamaguchi made clear their disapproval of the ruling camp's plan to use its overwhelming majority in the Lower House to pass the bill to put the gasoline levy back in place.

After a series of revelations showed wasteful and unjustifiable spending of the revenues devoted for building roads, many taxpayers are clearly unwilling to pay the surcharges of 25 yen per liter of gasoline as they used to.

The ruling coalition also plans to enact on May 12 a separate bill to maintain this road-funding scheme for 10 more years by using its majority in the Lower House again. Fukuda has promised to scrap the road-specific taxes at the end of fiscal 2008. Not surprisingly, however, many Japanese doubt whether the prime minister can deliver on his promise.

Another factor behind the ruling camp's electoral defeat was the newly introduced health insurance program for the elderly. Fukuda has said the new system is based on sound logic and thinking. Such remarks make us wonder whether he really understands the anger and anxiety of elderly people.

No system can work unless it is trusted by the public. The seriousness of the situation lies in the fact that public confidence in the health-care system has become shaky.

If the ruling coalition doesn't take the results of the by-election seriously and refuses to change its plans concerning the votes on these controversial pieces of legislation, calls for an early general election will grow louder among voters.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 28(IHT/Asahi: April 29,2008)

Tighter defense ties with Seoul eyed

04/29/2008
BY YOSHIHIRO MAKINO
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

SEOUL--Officials from Japan and South Korea are working on a memorandum designed to establish more systematic exchanges between the Self-Defense Forces and the South Korean military, sources said Monday.

While exchange of officers and cadets as well as joint training exercises have been held periodically since the 1990s, past attempts to improve the exchange program have often failed due to fallout over Japan's handling of issues related to the history between the two nations.

The two sides hope to sign a memorandum that would have some binding power in order to stabilize such exchanges in the future.

According to the sources, the memorandum would cover things like mutual visits of high-ranking officers from the two countries, exchanges between the National Defense Academy of Japan and the Korea Military Academy, as well as joint maritime rescue training exercises.

Officials from the two sides hope to have the memorandum completed for a signing ceremony in South Korea by Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and National Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee before the end of the year.

Exchanges between the SDF and the South Korean military became more active after the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 1994.

In 2001, however, a planned visit to South Korea by a Maritime SDF fleet and a joint maritime rescue training exercise were postponed due to concerns raised in Seoul about Japanese textbooks that were considered revisionist.

Meetings between the defense ministers of the two nations were later suspended for about 20 months after then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes not only Japan's war dead but also Class-A war criminals.

According to the sources, working-level discussions led to an agreement on the general outline of the memorandum last July.(IHT/Asahi: April 29,2008)

LDP catches a cold with poll loss / Adverse wind assails ruling bloc over new medical insurance system

Hirohide Hayashi, Kohei Kobayashi and Masaki Uchida / Yomiuri Shimbun

The easy victory of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a key by-election on Sunday shows how strongly the public deplores the newly introduced health insurance system for those aged 75 and older.

DPJ candidate Hideo Hiraoka won a House of Representatives seat in the Yamaguchi Constituency No. 2 by-election, defeating LDP candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto by a wide margin.

Under the leadership of its president, Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ is set to intensify its opposition against the government and the ruling parties, according to sources close to the party.

On the other hand, the election outcome made it clear that an adverse wind is still blowing against the administration led by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. Given this, an increasing number of members within the ruling coalition reject the possibility that the lower house be dissolved in the near future.

"This is the beginning of the end of LDP rule," DPJ Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka said at his residence in Tokyo on Sunday night. "The government and the ruling coalition should take the election outcome seriously and immediately scrap the new medical insurance system for the elderly."

Yamaoka also urged the government and the ruling parties to withdraw their plan to approve a tax code bill at the lower house for a second time to revive the provisional gasoline tax rate.

Another DPJ executive said the election result represents a motion of no-confidence against Fukuda, although that there was no need for the party to submit a censure against Fukuda at this stage, given that public criticism is focused on the Cabinet over the pension, gasoline tax and medical insurance issues.

What turned out to be the biggest issue in contention in the Yamaguchi by-election was the medical insurance system for the elderly.

Though it was initially projected that public interest would be focused on whether the provisional gasoline tax would be revived, the election campaign was increasingly affected by the new insurance system after automatic deduction of its premiums started on April 15.

The LDP decided to field Yamamoto, believing that he would be able to capture voters' support with his proposals on the promotion and revitalization of local economies by taking advantage of his previous career as the head of the Cabinet Secretariat's office on regional revitalization.

However, individual candidates' policies and characteristics as well as other points of contention were overshadowed by strong criticism of the medical insurance system.

===

Ozawa restores influence

The DPJ is unlikely to submit a censure motion against Fukuda immediately, even if the ruling bloc passes the tax code bill into law with a second vote at the lower house Wednesday.

But the party still intends to strongly oppose the ruling parties' taking a second vote on the bill. DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama plans to ask lower house Speaker Yohei Kono not to open the plenary session.

"We'll [try to] block the opening of the plenary session," a DPJ executive said.

The next opportunity to submit the censure motion is likely to come after May 12, when the ruling coalition is considering approving a bill for a second time to revise a special law on road-related taxes to exclusively allocate revenues from the gasoline tax for road construction and maintenance over the next 10 years, according to political observers.

Though the DPJ plans to soon submit to the upper house for approval a bill to abolish the controversial health insurance system, the government and the ruling bloc are expected to reject the DPJ demand to review the system, the observers said.

Therefore, an increasing number of DPJ members are calling on the party executive to submit a censure motion against Fukuda on that ground.

The main opposition party also is considering submitting a counterproposal against the bill to revise the special law on road-related taxes.

The DPJ plans to incorporate Fukuda's principle to allocate revenues from road-related taxes for general spending from fiscal 2009 in the party's proposal. The opposition bloc has been criticizing the bill proposed by the government and ruling coalition as it apparently contradicts Fukuda's proposal. Given this, the DPJ intends to put pressure on the ruling bloc.

Sunday's victory had an important meaning for Ozawa, whose tenure as party president will expire in September.

"President Ozawa significantly restored his influence [within the party]. He moved some steps toward winning reelection as president," Hatoyama said.

In contrast, the election outcome turned out to be extremely bitter for the government and the ruling bloc.

"We failed to give sufficient and appropriate explanations on the new medical insurance system for the elderly," LDP Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki told reporters Sunday night.

However, no one in the party has yet called Fukuda to account for the defeat because the introduction of the medical insurance system had been decided before Fukuda took office, according to party executives.

There are no demands within the ruling bloc for Fukuda's resignation because a dominant number of members in the bloc believe that the situation will be the same whoever takes the helm of the government as long as the DPJ sticks to a confrontational stance against the ruling parties based on the opposition's majority in the upper house.

With the Group of Eight summit meeting scheduled to open in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, in July, the lower house is unlikely to be dissolved anytime soon. This seems to have strengthened feelings within the ruling bloc that there is no need to replace the prime minister soon, the observers said.

(Apr. 29, 2008)

JGPO updates master plan - Recent articles

KUAM

JGPO updates master plan
http://www.kuam.com/news/27551.aspx
Thursday, April 24, 2008

download: http://www.kuam-media.com/news/pdf/jgpo_draftfinalmasterplan.pdf


Pacific News Center

Cong Bordallo, MajGen Bice, and Asst Navy Sec Penn about Military Buildup Draft Master Plan, Changing the Port Designation and HR1595
http://www.sorensenmediagroup.com/k57podcast/080425_073529.mp3
posted by Newstalk K57 at 7:46 AM

LtCol Cube and Annette Donner about Military Buildup Draft Master Plan
http://www.sorensenmediagroup.com/k57podcast/080425_081747.mp3
posted by Newstalk K57 at 9:23 AM


Pacific Daily News

Finegayan preferred site: Draft master plan would put Marine base in north
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS01/804250308/1002
April 25, 2008

download: http://www.guampdn.com/assets/pdf/M0106671425.PDF


Marianas Variety

Latest draft of buildup plan released; Preferred site still Finegayan
http://www.mvariety.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=10473&format=html
Thursday April 24 [sic], 2008


Saipan Tribune

Latest version of Guam's buildup master plan out
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=79316&cat=29
Friday, April 25, 2008

DPJ celebrates 1st decade, but still lacks unity

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Democratic Party of Japan may be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding as it presses ahead with its bid to take power by winning the next general election, but the party still remains unable to rise above the weaknesses stemming from its diverse composition.

As a result of its major victory in the House of Councillors election in July last year, the DPJ now has the largest share of seats in the upper chamber, making it plausible for the DPJ to declare its intention to take the reins of government by winning the next general election of the House of Representatives.

The DPJ, however, still lacks unity when it comes to forging a consensus among the disparate groups within the party, a problem the party has faced since its very conception.

DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa, speaking at a May Day-related meeting sponsored by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) at Tokyo's Yoyogi Park on Saturday, reiterated the party's "firm resolve" to wrest power from the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.

"To improve people's lives, a change of government is needed to carry out a major spring cleaning of Japanese politics," Ozawa said. "So let's join hands to accomplish this great task of changing the party in power."

Ozawa joined the DPJ in September 2003 after having the party he then headed, Jiyuto (Liberal Party), merged with the DPJ.

To achieve his long-cherished goal of taking power, Ozawa has set about strengthening ties with the nation's largest labor organization, Rengo, one of the biggest bodies supporting the DPJ.

At the meeting, two other DPJ leaders, Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and his predecessor Naoto Kan, who both played key roles in founding the party, stressed the importance of further beefing up the unity of the party.

"Under the leadership of Mr. Ozawa, the unity of our party has noticeably strengthened," Hatoyama said during a press conference Friday.

"We need to share the goal of bringing about a change of administration by returning to the original political ideals of our party to transform this country into one comprising truly autonomous local entities," he said.

For his part, Kan said at a separate press conference, "Although we had every intention to take the helm of government at an earlier stage, we fell short of achieving that goal."

"What's most important for our party is to learn to be patient when we need to be patient," he said.

The DPJ came into being in its current form on April 27, 1998, through a merger of four opposition parties: the previous DPJ, the Good Governance Party (Minseito), the Fraternity Party (Shinto-Yuai) and the Democratic Reform Party (Minshu-Kaikaku Rengo). Participating in the merger that led to the DPJ's creation were 131 lawmakers, 93 from the lower house and 38 from the upper house.

Following its establishment, the party saw its Diet strength expand in successive national elections.

In the general election in September 2005, however, the DPJ suffered a crushing defeat as the administration led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi swept to victory under the banner of Koizumi's initiative to privatize the postal services.

In April the following year, Ozawa took the post of DPJ head, giving full play to his clout in boosting party unity, leading the DPJ to the big win in the 2007 upper house election.

Ozawa's strength in leading the party lies in his reputation within the party for being a man who is "strong in elections."

But this also means that if the possibility of a dissolution of the lower house and a general election in the near future becomes slim, Ozawa will have to fret over how to maintain his leadership intact.

Indeed, voices of discontent over Ozawa's leadership style have been growing louder recently because of his unrelenting confrontational stance against the ruling coalition, as evidenced by the DPJ's rejection three times in a row of government-proposed appointments for the new Bank of Japan governor and vice governors.

(Apr. 28, 2008)

Beleaguered Japan PM in pinch after by-election loss

Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:40am EDT
By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Calls to replace Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda are emerging in his Liberal Democratic Party, an influential ruling party lawmaker said on Monday, after the ruling bloc suffered a bruising by-election defeat.

But former chief cabinet minister Kaoru Yosano, whose name has been floated as a possible successor to Fukuda, also said he thought the Japanese leader should soldier on and try to revive his support rates, now below 30 percent.

Photo: Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda meet for talks outside Moscow April 26, 2008.

In a vote widely seen as a referendum on Fukuda's struggling administration, former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Hideo Hiraoka defeated the LDP's Shigetaro Yamamoto in Yamaguchi, central Japan, in Sunday's contest for a lower house seat.

"I think we should continue this administration until as close as possible to the end of term in September next year and wait for the support rate to rise," Yosano told Reuters in an interview.

Fukuda's support rate fell to 25 percent in a recent survey due mainly to doubts about his leadership in the face of a divided parliament, where the opposition controls the upper house and can delay laws.

"Of course, it is true that the opinion has emerged inside the party that it is impossible to revive the administration's support rates, so if there is to be an election, it should be done under a new administration," the 69-year-old Yosano added.

"I don't know how far that view will spread."

The ruling bloc loss in Sunday's poll is all but certain to embolden opposition Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa to step up efforts to force an early general election.

No lower house election need be held until September 2009.

But some financial market players, frustrated with Japan's policy paralysis, would like to see an earlier poll in hopes it could help break the gridlock, perhaps by sparking a realignment of political allegiances among members of the two main parties.

ELECTION "SUICIDE"

Yosano, however, said calling an election any time soon would be suicidal for the long-ruling LDP, given Fukuda's sagging popularity and voter dissatisfaction with the party itself.

"An election in the current situation ... would invite the LDP's own death," he said.

Analysts said Fukuda might manage to hang on at least until after he hosts the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations' summit in July, but added that his political clout would likely wane.

Outspoken former foreign minister Taro Aso is viewed as the frontrunner to replace him, but former Defence Minister Yuriko Koike and Yosano have also been mentioned as possible contenders.

Despite the election loss, the ruling bloc plans to go ahead with a plan on Wednesday to use its two-thirds majority in the lower house to override the upper chamber and enact a law reviving a "temporary" 25 yen (23 cents) gasoline tax that expired on March 31.

The higher prices will start the next day, in the middle of Japan's holiday-studded Golden Week, timing that is unlikely to impress vacationing motorists.

"If this is put off, there will be a hole in national and local government revenues," Fukuda told reporters.

The Democrats argue the tax, which is earmarked for building roads and would bring in 2.6 trillion yen annual revenue, symbolizes the LDP's wasteful spending on vested interests.

The tax was a focus of the Yamaguchi election along with a new and unpopular health insurance scheme for those 75 and over and concerns over the pension system.

Democratic Party leaders have threatened to submit a non-binding but embarrassing censure motion against Fukuda in the upper house if the tax is revived. But the opposition is now seen more likely to wait until after May 12, when the ruling bloc plans to use its two-thirds majority again to pass another law outlining a 10-year plan for road construction.

Critics, including some in the LDP, say the bill contradicts Fukuda's own proposal to stop earmarking the gas tax for roads.

Asked about simmering talk that Japan's political scene was ripe for shake up that would help break the stalemate, Yosano said such moves could gather steam later this year. But he denied he would be a major player.

"I'm a silent observer," he said.

(Additional reporting by Yuko Yoshikawa and Yoko Kubota)

SKorea, Japan plan wider military cooperation

8 hours ago

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea and Japan plan to sign their first comprehensive agreement on military cooperation, the defence ministry said Monday, in another sign of warming ties between the two historic enemies.

The two countries "are pushing to sign a comprehensive agreement on military cooperation," a ministry spokesman told AFP.

Photo: South Korean tanks cross a river during a regular drill in Yeoncheon

"Bilateral military cooperation so far has been on a much smaller and irregular basis," the spokesman said.

"No details have yet been fixed and there is no concrete date yet for signing it."

Such an agreement would be the first since Japan's colonial rule over the Korean peninsula ended in 1945 after 35 years.

Yonhap news agency said it was likely to be signed during a visit by Japan's Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba sometime this year.

It quoted ministry officials as saying Tokyo proposed signing such a pact in 2005. But Seoul opposed the move, amid tensions over Tokyo's claim to disputed islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

Relations at the time also soured over what Seoul saw as Tokyo's attempts to whitewash its atrocities during its colonial rule.

Photo: Japanese Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba

Officials said the agreement outlines general rules on cooperation and personnel exchanges, along with regular joint search-and-rescue naval exercises.

South Korea's new President Lee Myung-Bak held a summit in Tokyo last week with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, at which Lee pledged to seek better ties untainted by bitter historical memories.

Any military cooperation deal would be eyed suspiciously by North Korea, which accuses Tokyo of still harbouring designs over the Korean peninsula.

Seoul seeks military cooperation agreement with Japan

Posted on : Apr.28,2008 12:52 KST

South Korea is considering signing an agreement on military cooperation with Japan for the first time since Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule over six decades ago, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

The formal agreement is likely to be signed during a visit here by Japan's Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, according to a spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

"It is true that both sides have felt the need for such an agreement and have been consulting with each other on the issue," the ministry spokesman, Kim Hyong-ki, told reporters, noting the official title or the nature of the envisioned agreement has yet to be finalized.

The spokesman said the Japanese defense minister will visit the country within the year for an annual meeting with his South Korean counterpart, though the exact date of the visit has yet to be set.

"What the agreement will look like or how it will come to be is up to additional negotiations between the sides," Kim added.

Ministry officials earlier said Tokyo had proposed signing such an agreement in 2005, but that Seoul had opposed the move amid tension over Japan's claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo in the East Sea and continued disputes over Japan's attempts to whitewash its atrocities during its colonial rule of Korea from 1910 through 1945.

"Because the sides had already composed the agreement in 2005, they really only need to sign the document at the upcoming meeting," a ministry official said, asking not to be identified.

The official said the agreement outlines what he called "general rules" on cooperation and personnel exchanges between the militaries of the two nations that also call for regular joint search-and-rescue exercises between their navies.

South Korea's naval forces nearly clashed with two of Japan's Coast Guard survey ships in 2006 as the Japanese vessels approached Dokdo to conduct research. Tokyo has called off the maritime research, but continues to claim sovereignty over the islets.

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap)

Japan PM suffers by-election blow

1 hour, 25 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) - A candidate backed by the main opposition party scored a large victory in a weekend Japanese by-election, official figures showed, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The by-election in a constituency in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi was the first vote for a parliament seat since Fukuda took power in September and was seen as a referendum on his cabinet amid tumbling support ratings.

Photo: A candidate backed by the main opposition party scored a large victory in a weekend Japanese by-election, official figures showed, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, seen here

Hideo Hiraoka, a 54-year-old former lawmaker backed by the Democratic Party, garnered 116,348 votes against 94,404 by Shigetaro Yamamoto, a 59-year-old former bureaucrat fielded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Democratic Party secretary-general Yukio Hatoyama said late Sunday the people "gave a hard blow to the Fukuda government."

"We made a leap towards the birth of Ozawa government," he said, referring to party leader Ichiro Ozawa.

Support ratings for Fukuda's cabinet have fallen to their lowest levels since he took over from the beleaguered Shinzo Abe.

The ruling party under Abe lost badly against the opposition Democratic Party in national elections in July last year, handing control of one house of parliament to the opposition camp.

The Democratic Party has pledged to create a true two-party system in Japan, where the Liberal Democrats have been in power for all but 10 months in a period stretching back more than half-a-century.

Support for the Fukuda government has taken a beating over corruption and other scandals, controversy over a petrol tax and the April start of a medical scheme which results in higher expenses for some of those aged 75 or older.

Japan has one of the world's most rapidly ageing populations, raising concerns about how the government will pay for rising medical costs and pension benefits.

Japan's refueling mission feared suspension

2008/04/28 10:43

Some Japanese government officials say Japan might not be able to continue its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean after a temporary law that allows the mission expires in January.

The Liberal Democratic Party has decided to put off introducing permanent legislation to deploy Self-Defense Forces overseas to the current session of the Diet.

This is because the main governing party failed to agree with its coalition partner, the New Komeito Party, on the issue.

Permanent legislation would have allowed the Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to continue refueling US-led coalition ships in the Indian Ocean even after the current anti-terrorism law expires next January.

Many government officials believe seeking an extension of the current law would also be difficult because the opposition parties, who are opposed to it, have a majority in the Upper House.

DPJ on way to victory in key election

Monday, April 28, 2008

YAMAGUCHI (Kyodo) The Democratic Party of Japan was poised to beat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a Lower House by-election Sunday in Yamaguchi Prefecture, according to exit polls.

The race was widely seen as a litmus test for the Yasuo Fukuda administration.

Photo: Projecting a win: Hideo Hiraoka of the Democratic Party of Japan celebrates Sunday in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, after exit polls showed he was set to take a Lower House by-election seen as a litmus test of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration.

The projected victory by Hideo Hiraoka in the first election for a Diet seat since Fukuda became prime minister seven months ago is expected to raise doubts about his leadership and embolden the DPJ to step up its attacks.

Their eyes set on the next general election, both the LDP and the DPJ threw full support behind their candidates during the campaign in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district. The next general election could take place later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

Hiraoka, 54, was also backed by the tiny opposition Social Democratic Party.

"This by-election is the latest demonstration of the public will. I want to see how the Fukuda administration deals with it," Hiraoka said.

The LDP candidate, Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat of the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, received additional support from the LDP's coalition partner, New Komeito.

With the projected loss, Fukuda, whose support ratings have fallen below the critical 30 percent line in recent media polls, may face criticism from within his party over his handling of the government.

The DPJ is expected to try to take the initiative in the Diet on the back of the "people's will" shown in Sunday's by-election and the House of Councilors election last July, in which the opposition camp won control of the Upper House.

The campaign was surrounded by crucial national issues, including the fierce battle over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges that expired March 31 due to resistance from the opposition parties.

Regardless of Sunday's outcome, the ruling parties plan to seek passage Wednesday of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the road surcharges by resorting to an overriding vote in the Lower House. Wednesday is the earliest date when such a vote is possible under the Constitution.

To counter such moves, the DPJ will make final arrangements on whether to submit a censure motion against Fukuda in the Upper House. Censure motions are nonbinding, but if passed it would nonetheless be another blow to the government.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that failure to pass the tax bill would cause serious revenue shortfalls for local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about ¥25 per liter of gasoline, could trigger a public backlash.

While calling for abolishment of the surcharges, the opposition camp has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 and older that took effect April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a key part of Fukuda's base, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

A sense of distrust over such government policies apparently helped the DPJ in the Yamaguchi race.

Issues that also attracted attention in the campaign included a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to a base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is in the No. 2 district, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Minshuto set to win in Yamaguchi race

04/28/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

IWAKUNI, Yamaguchi Prefecture--Hideo Hiraoka, the Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) candidate, celebrated as his victory appeared a sure thing in the Lower House by-election in Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday.

Early returns indicated Hiraoka, 54, had a strong lead over Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, the candidate fielded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito.


Photo: Minshuto candidate Hideo Hiraoka, second from right, celebrates his victory in Sunday's Lower House by-election with his supporters in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The race was the first national election since Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda took office in September, and both camps took the challenge seriously. Each sent senior party members to campaign across the electoral district in the most "unprecedented all-out battle" of recent years.

The by-election was held to fill a seat vacated by Yoshihiko Fukuda, an LDP lawmaker who resigned to run in the Iwakuni mayoral election in February.

For the prime minister, defeat for his party's candidate will further undermine his leadership in the Diet and within the LDP.

Eager voices within the LDP are likely to call for a change in leadership, hoping a new leader with greater popularity can revive the ruling party's fortunes with voters.

Minshuto, meanwhile, called the Yamaguchi contest a "must-win battle" needed to buoy its support in Diet debate over the coalition plan to reinstate later this week provisional gas and other road-related taxes that expired at the end of March.

Another factor that likely aided Hiraoka's victory was Minshuto's strong campaign against the government's recent implementation of health insurance premium deductions from pension benefits paid to people 75 or older, which came on top of the Social Insurance Agency debacle involving missing pension records.

Regardless of the outcome Sunday, the ruling coalition will forge ahead with plans to revive the gasoline surcharge of 25 yen per liter in a second vote Wednesday in the Lower House.

It also plans to ram through a bill on May 12 to use revenue from the gas tax exclusively for road construction over the next decade.

Still, an election defeat will sap Fukuda's leadership within his party, raising internal opposition against his efforts, especially among younger Diet members.

Much depends on Fukuda's statesmanship abilities during his upcoming May summit meeting with Chinese leader Hu Jintao and the Group of Eight summit meeting at Lake Toyako, Hokkaido, in July.

Minshuto, for its part, will bank on public support for its policies and become even more confrontational in the Diet to push for a general election as soon as possible.

Minshuto leaders, including President Ichiro Ozawa, are to meet Monday to discuss a censure motion against Fukuda.

The party plans to propose the motion in the Upper House if the ruling bloc rams through the gas-tax road construction bill on May 12.(IHT/Asahi: April 28,2008)

DPJ cruises to win in key by-election / Yamaguchi poll loss a blow to Fukuda, LDP

The Yomiuri Shimbun

YAMAGUCHI--Democratic Party of Japan candidate Hideo Hiraoka easily won a House of Representatives seat in the Yamaguchi Constituency No. 2 by-election Sunday, dealing a fresh blow to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Observers said the outcome of the first Diet election since Fukuda took office in September could be taken as a gauge of public sentiment toward Fukuda's performance.

Photo: Hideo Hiraoka, center, celebrates his win in Sunday's Yamaguchi by-election at his office in Iwakuni in the prefecture.

Hiraoka, 54, a former lower house member, defeated Liberal Democratic Party candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former official of the Construction and Transport Ministry, who also was backed by the LDP's coalition partner, New Komeito. Hiraoka was elected to the lower house for a fourth term.

"I achieved this result even though the ruling parties devoted all their energy to this election battle," Hiraoka said at his office in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. "I think we have a certain degree of support for a change in government."

Hiraoka picked up 116,348 votes, while Yamamoto gained 94,404 votes. Voter turnout was 69 percent, 3.45 percentage points lower than in the last lower house election in 2005.

According to political pundits, the widely unpopular health insurance system launched this month for people aged 75 or older might have been a key factor in tipping support toward the DPJ candidate.

Buoyed by Hiraoka's victory, the DPJ plans to soon submit a bill to the House of Councillors to abolish the controversial health insurance system, although it does not plan to immediately submit a censure motion against Fukuda to the Diet. The government and the ruling parties plan to stand by the health insurance system.

"We now have more options in hand to corner the Fukuda Cabinet without submitting a censure motion against him," DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said at a press conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo. "We'll think about the best time to resort to this measure [censure motion]."

Meanwhile, the government and the ruling parties plan to approve a tax-related bill to restore the provisional gasoline tax for a second time Wednesday at the lower house to enact it into law.

The move is certain to provoke the ire of the opposition parties, which are likely to play hardball in the Diet over the matter.

Fukuda is expected to face a bumpy road as he tries to steer the government through the stormy Diet sessions this week, particularly over the provisional gasoline tax rate.

The government is set to restore the higher gasoline tax rate Thursday by issuing an ordinance to this effect.

(Apr. 28, 2008)

Opposition candidate wins by-election

2008/04/28 01:18

Hideo Hiraoka of the main opposition Democratic Party has won the Lower House by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan.

Hiraoka on Sunday defeated Shigetaro Yamamoto of the main ruling Liberal Democratic party, who was also supported by the coalition New Komeito party.

The showdown in the prefecture's Number 2 constituency was the first national-level election under the 7-month-old Fukuda administration.

Both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party threw their full weight behind their candidates, apparently viewing a by-election win as crucial to their strategies in the Diet.

54-year-old Hiraoka, who had the backing of the opposition Social Democratic Party, campaigned with a call to abolish the provisional gasoline tax used to fund road construction. He also appealed for the scrapping of a new medical care system for the elderly.

He won votes not only from Democratic Party supporters, but also from supporters of the opposition Japanese Communist Party and voters not affiliated with any party.

Japanese Opposition Party Wins Race for Vacant Lower House Seat

By Sachiko Sakamaki and Takashi Hirokawa

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- The opposition Democratic Party of Japan won yesterday's race for a vacant seat in the lower house, the first parliamentary election since Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda began his term in September.

The DPJ's Hideo Hiraoka had 116,348 votes compared with 94,404 for Shigetaro Yamamoto, the candidate from Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party, according to the Yamaguchi prefecture election authority's Web site.

The by-election, which doesn't affect the ruling coalition's two-third majority in the lower house, is seen as a test of Fukuda's rule. The DPJ win is a sign Fukuda's falling popularity will hurt the LDP in general elections required by September 2009, said Masayuki Fukuoka, a professor of political science at Hakuoh University, north of Tokyo.

"I don't know whether the result will affect the government," Fukuda told reporters in Moscow April 26. "Our job is to avoid causing any difficulty for the government to operate."

The LDP stepped up its effort to win the contest last week, sending former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the western prefecture April 25 to campaign. Fukuda traveled to the prefecture the previous weekend.

Yamamoto, 59, worked in the government's land and infrastructure ministry. Hiraoka, 54, is a former lower house legislator.

Ozawa Victory

The win is also a victory for DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, whose party took control of parliament's upper house last July. Since then Ozawa has delayed budget legislation, blocked two appointments to the Bank of Japan and suspended naval refueling missions in the Indian Ocean.

The effort has nearly crippled Fukuda and sent his popularity falling to a record low in two Japanese newspaper surveys published April 21.

Fukuda's approval rating dropped to 25 percent in an Asahi newspaper poll, below Abe's when he stepped down. In a Nikkei newspaper survey, Fukuda's approval rating fell to 29 percent, down 2 percentage points.

Ozawa has tried to pressure Fukuda to hold early elections as a referendum on his leadership. So far, Fukuda hasn't said he would consider a snap contest and has questioned whether Ozawa's request reflects his party's stance.

"We aren't sure that is the unified opinion of the Democratic Party of Japan," Fukuda said in Moscow. "I heard there are many different opinions."

Cancelled Trip

Fukuda returned to Tokyo from Moscow yesterday to focus on his party's effort to pass tax bills the DPJ opposes. Fukuda had originally planned to visit Europe after Russia to highlight his role as host of the July Group of Eight summit.

On April 30 Fukuda's party will use its two-third majority in the lower house to reinstate gas and vehicle taxes that expired last month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said. The government relies on the tax bills for 2.6 trillion yen ($25 billion) in revenue a year.

Even though fighting for the taxes may further damage the LDP's popularity, the government must pass them to avoid a revenue shortfall, the LDP's deputy policy chief Hiroyuki Sonoda said in an April 16 interview. If approved, the taxes will raise the price of gasoline by 25 yen a liter.

The levies amount to "ritual suicide" for the LDP, Kenji Eda, an independent lower house lawmaker and a visiting professor at Toin University of Yokohama, said April 16.

To counter the LDP, the DPJ on April 15 proposed a 6 trillion yen economic stimulus package. The proposal, which is unlikely to become law as long as Fukuda's party controls the more powerful lower house, includes 2.6 trillion yen of gasoline and vehicle tax cuts and 3.5 trillion yen in aid for small farms and local governments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Moscow at thirokawa@bloomberg.net; Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 27, 2008 11:31 EDT

DPJ defeats LDP in 1st nat'l-level election under Fukuda

Apr 27 11:08 AM US/Eastern

YAMAGUCHI, Japan, April 28 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan defeated the ruling Liberal Democratic Party by a wide margin in Sunday's House of Representatives by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture against the backdrop of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's unpopular policies over road tax and elderly medical care issues.

The victory of Hideo Hiraoka, 54, in the first national-level election under the seven-month-old Fukuda administration is expected to raise doubts about the prime minister's leadership, while emboldening the DPJ to step up its pressure on Fukuda to call for an early general election.

"It's the beginning of the end of LDP rule," DPJ Diet affairs chief Kenji Yamaoka said. Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, an LDP member, said the outcome will not affect the government's plan to restore gasoline tax surcharges, which expired in March due to resistance by opposition parties.

In the prefecture's No. 2 constituency, the DPJ candidate, a former lower house member, garnered 116,348 votes, while LDP candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat in the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, took 94,404 votes.

Both the LDP and the DPJ threw full support to their candidates during the campaigning, with their eyes set on the next general election which may take place possibly later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

"I think this is a result of accepting (people's) calls (for me) to do something with various government policies," Hiraoka said. "This by- election is the latest public will. I would like to watch how the Fukuda administration will deal with it."

Hiraoka was also backed by the tiny opposition Social Democratic Party, while Yamamoto was supported by the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito party.

Following the election, Fukuda, whose support ratings have fallen below the "danger" line of 30 percent in recent media polls, may face criticism even from among ruling party members over his handling of the government. Fukuda doubles as LDP president.

Meanwhile, the DPJ is expected to seek taking the initiative in parliament on the back of the "people's will" shown in the latest by- election and the House of Councillors election last July. Opposition parties won control of the upper house in the July election.

Voter turnout was 69 percent, down 3.45 percentage points from the general election in 2005. But reflecting the high voter interest in the by-election, absentee ballots cast by Saturday stood at around 9,000 more than the comparable figure in the 2005 election.

The by-election comes at a time when the ruling and opposition parties are entering a crucial stage in their tug-of-war over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges.

The ruling parties plan to seek passage of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the surcharges by resorting to an overriding revote in the ruling coalition-controlled lower house on Wednesday.

The day is the earliest possible date when such a revote becomes possible under Constitutional provisions.

To counter such moves, the DPJ said it will consider the appropriate time to submit a censure motion against the prime minister in the upper house. The motion would be nonbinding, but if the upper house passed it, it would nonetheless be another blow to the government.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that the failure to pass the tax bill will cause serious revenue shortfalls for local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about 25 yen per liter of gasoline, could trigger a public backlash at a time when oil prices are already high.

According to Kyodo News exit polls on the road tax issue, 65.8 percent were against the government's policy of restoring the gasoline surcharges, while 34.2 percent supported the idea.

While calling for abolishing the surcharges, the DPJ side has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older inaugurated April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a support base for Fukuda, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

According to a Kyodo News analysis of voting behavior of people aged 70 or older based on exit polls, Yamamoto secured 53.2 percent of support from them. But he apparently failed to win votes from all the supporters of the ruling coalition because the figure falls short of the 55.4 percent who said they support the LDP and the 3.7 percent who said they support New Komeito.

A sense of distrust over such government policies has apparently led to the DPJ's victory.

The outcome also reflected voters' disappointment over Fukuda's perceived lack of leadership in handling the divided Diet, which has even resulted in a temporary leadership vacuum at the Bank of Japan.

Yamamoto, who had to explain the new health insurance system during the campaign, said, "I've been thinking that it can't become an issue in Yamaguchi. I wanted a little more time to have people understand it."

Issues that have also attracted attention in the election campaign include a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is part of the No. 2 constituency, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Yamamoto is a supporter of the relocation plan, while Hiraoka is against it.

The by-election was held to fill a lower house seat which became vacant after Yoshihiko Fukuda resigned to run in the February Iwakuni mayoral election, which he won.

Hiraoka was elected for the fourth time as a lower house member.

Hiraoka was a lower house member elected under a proportional representation system but he lost the seat when he filed his candidacy in Sunday's election.

Kyodo News picked 24 polling stations and sampled 1,007 voters for the exit polling.

DPJ on way to beating LDP in 1st nat'l-level election under Fukuda

Apr 27 09:03 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - YAMAGUCHI, Japan, April 27 (Kyodo) — The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is heading toward beating the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's House of Representatives by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture, in a sign of voter disappointment over Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's handling of road tax and elderly medical care issues, projections by Kyodo News showed.

The projected victory of Hideo Hiraoka, 54, in the first national- level election under the seven-month-old Fukuda administration is expected to raise doubts about the prime minister's leadership, while emboldening the DPJ to step up its attack against the government over road taxes and put pressure on Fukuda to call for an early general election.

Photo: Shigetaro Yamamoto, LDP candidate

In the prefecture's No. 2 constituency, the DPJ candidate, a former lower house member, is projected to win over LDP candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat in the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

Both the LDP and the DPJ threw full support to their candidates during the campaigning, with their eyes set on the next general election which may take place possibly later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

"I think this is a result of accepting (people's) calls (for me) to do something with various government policies," Hiraoka said. "This by- election is the latest public will. I would like to watch how the Fukuda administration will deal with it."

Hiraoka is also backed by the tiny opposition Social Democratic Party, while Yamamoto is supported by the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito party.

Following the election, Fukuda, whose support ratings have fallen below the "danger" line of 30 percent in recent media polls, may face criticism even from among ruling party members over his handling of the government. Fukuda doubles as LDP president.

Meanwhile, the DPJ is expected to seek taking the initiative in parliament on the back of the "people's will" shown in the latest by- election and the House of Councillors election last July. Opposition parties won control of the upper house in the July election.

Voting ended at 8 p.m. Ballot counting is expected to finish around late Sunday night.

Photo: Hideo Hiraoka, DPJ winner

As of 6 p.m., voter turnout was 50.52 percent, down 3.91 percentage points from the same time of day in the general election in 2005. But reflecting the high voter interest in the by-election, absentee ballots cast by Saturday stood at around 9,000 more than the comparable figure in the 2005 election.

The by-election comes at a time when the ruling and opposition parties are entering a crucial stage in their tug-of-war over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges, which expired March 31 due to resistance from the opposition parties.

Regardless of the election outcome, the ruling parties plan to seek passage of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the surcharges by resorting to an overriding revote in the ruling coalition-controlled lower house on Wednesday.

The day is the earliest possible date when such a revote becomes possible under Constitutional provisions.

To counter such moves, the DPJ will make final arrangements on whether to submit a censure motion against the prime minister in the upper house. The motion would be nonbinding, but if the upper house passed it, it would nonetheless be another blow to the government.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that the failure to pass the tax bill will cause serious revenue shortfalls for local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about 25 yen per liter of gasoline, could trigger a public backlash at a time when oil prices are already high.

According to Kyodo News exit polls on the road tax issue, 65.8 percent were against the government's policy of restoring the gasoline surcharges, while 34.2 percent supported the idea.

Photo: Hideo Hiraoka (middle) celebrates victory

While calling for abolishment of the surcharges, the DPJ side has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older inaugurated April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a support base for Fukuda, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

A sense of distrust over such government policies has apparently led to the DPJ's projected victory.

Yamamoto, who had to explain the new system during the campaign, said, "I've been thinking that it can't become an issue in Yamaguchi. I wanted a little more time to have people understand it."

Issues that have also attracted attention in the election campaign include a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is part of the No. 2 constituency, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Yamamoto is a supporter of the relocation plan, while Hiraoka is against it.

The by-election is being held to fill a lower house seat which became vacant after Yoshihiko Fukuda resigned to run in the February Iwakuni mayoral election, which he won.

Hiraoka is set to be elected for the fourth time as a lower house member.

Hiraoka was a lower house member elected under a proportional representation system but he lost the seat when he filed his candidacy in Sunday's election.

Voting under way in 1st national-level election under Fukuda

Apr 27 04:46 AM US/Eastern

YAMAGUCHI, Japan, April 27 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Voting in a House of Representatives by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture is under way Sunday, with the outcome expected to affect the fate of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration currently struggling in the divided Diet.

The first national-level election since Fukuda took office last September is being contested in the prefecture's No. 2 constituency between candidates respectively fielded by Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

A victory is greatly needed both for Fukuda and DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa to increase the strength of their leadership ahead of the next general election, which may take place possibly later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

The LDP candidate is Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat in the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry. He is also backed by the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito party.

The DPJ candidate is Hideo Hiraoka, 54, a former lower house member elected under the proportional representation system. The tiny opposition Social Democratic Party is also backing Hiraoka.

Voting will end at 8 p.m. and the outcome of the election is expected to become apparent by late Sunday.

As of 2 p.m., voter turnout was 38.06 percent, down 2.77 percentage points marked the same time of day during the general election in But reflecting the high voter interest in the by-election, absentee ballots cast by Saturday stood at around 9,000 more than the comparable figure in the 2005 election.

The election comes at a time when the ruling and opposition parties are entering a crucial stage in their tug-of-war over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges, which expired March 31 due to resistance from the opposition parties.

The ruling parties plan to seek passage of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the surcharges by resorting to an overriding revote in the ruling coalition-controlled lower house on Wednesday -- the earliest possible date when such a revote becomes possible under Constitutional provisions.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that the failure to pass the bill will cause serious revenue shortfalls for local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about 25 yen per liter of gasoline, could trigger a public backlash at a time when oil prices are already high.

Issues that have also attracted attention in the election campaign includes a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is part of the No. 2 constituency, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Yamamoto is a supporter of the relocation plan, while Hiraoka is against it.

The DPJ side has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older inaugurated April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a support base for Fukuda, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

Fukuda is facing increasing difficulty in managing the Diet, with the opposition parties controlling the House of Councillors. Rows between the ruling and opposition parties even resulted in a temporary leadership vacuum at the Bank of Japan.

The approval rating for the Fukuda Cabinet has fallen below the "danger" line of 30 percent in recent media polls.

The by-election is being held to fill a lower house seat which became vacant after Yoshihiko Fukuda resigned to run in the February Iwakuni mayoral election, which he won.

Japanese vote in closely watched by-election

1 hour, 37 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese voters Sunday took part in a by-election widely seen as a referendum on the struggling government of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The by-election in a constituency in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi is the first vote for a parliament seat since Fukuda took over from the beleaguered Shinzo Abe in September.

The candidate backed by the ruling party, 59-year-old former bureaucrat Shigetaro Yamamoto, was trailing in opinion polls but recently catching up with 54-year-old former lawmaker Hideo Hiraoka, fielded by the main opposition.

Fukuda needs victory for the ruling-party candidate all the more because support ratings for his cabinet have fallen to the lowest levels since he took power.

Voter turnout was 38 percent with six hours of polling left, the local election board said. Results are likely to be available by early Monday.

The ruling party lost badly against the main opposition Democratic Party in national elections in July last year, handing control of one house of parliament to the opposition camp.

The opposition Democratic Party has pledged to create a true two-party system in Japan, where the Liberal Democrats have been in power for all but 10 months in more than 50 years.

Support for the Fukuda government took a beating from corruption and other scandals, controversy over a petrol tax and the April start of a medical scheme which results in higher expenses for some of those aged 75 or older.

Voting starts in 1st national-level election under Fukuda

Apr 26 08:20 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 27 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Voting for a House of Representatives by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture started Sunday, with its outcome expected to affect the fate of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration currently struggling in the divided Diet.

The first national-level election since Fukuda took office last September is being contested in the prefecture's No. 2 constituency between candidates respectively fielded by Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

A victory is much needed both for Fukuda and DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa to secure leadership ahead of the next general election, which may take place possibly later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

The LDP candidate is Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat of the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry. He is also backed by the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito party.

The DPJ candidate is Hideo Hiraoka, 54, a former lower house member elected under the proportional representation system. The tiny opposition Social Democratic Party is also backing Hiraoka.

The election comes at a time when the ruling and opposition parties are entering a crucial stage in their tug-of-war over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges, which expired March 31 due to resistance from the opposition parties.

The ruling parties plan to seek the passage of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the surcharges by resorting to an overriding re-vote at the ruling coalition-controlled lower house on Wednesday -- the earliest possible date when such a re-vote becomes possible under Constitutional provisions.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that the failure to pass the bill would cause serious revenue shortfalls to local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about 25 yen per liter for gasoline, could trigger a public backlash at a time when oil prices are already high.

Issues that have also attracted attention in the election campaign includes a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to the city of Iwakuni, which is part of the No. 2 constituency, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Yamamoto is a supporter of the relocation plan, while Hiraoka is against it.

The DPJ side has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older inaugurated April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a support base for Fukuda, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

Fukuda is facing increasing difficulty in managing the Diet, with the opposition parties controlling the House of Councillors. Rows between the opposition parties have even resulted in a temporary leadership vacuum at the Bank of Japan.

The approval rating for the Fukuda Cabinet has fallen below the "danger" line of 30 percent in recent media polls.

The by-election is being held to fill a lower house seat which became vacant after Yoshihiko Fukuda resigned to run in the February Iwakuni mayoral election, which he won.

Divided Diet

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EDITORIAL :: Ruling restricts free speech

The Supreme Court's Second Petit Bench on April 11 found three antiwar activists guilty of trespassing when they entered a housing compound of the Self-Defense Forces in Tachikawa, Tokyo, in January and February 2004 to distribute leaflets urging SDF personnel and their family members to oppose the deployment of SDF units to Iraq. The three were fined a total of ¥500,000. Because the ruling will intimidate people planning to distribute leaflets, an important means of expressing one's opinion, it could restrict the freedoms of speech and expression, cornerstones of democratic society.

The three entered the partially fenced eight-building compound despite the presence of signs warning against entering without permission and placed the leaflets in the mailboxes of residential units. At that time, as now, public opinion was divided over the government's decision in December 2003 to dispatch SDF troops to Iraq. In January 2004, SDF members began arriving in Iraq. The investigative authorities' actions against the trio was unusual. After their arrest in February 2004, they were detained for 75 days. Amnesty International declared the three to be "prisoners of conscience."

Public prosecutors demanded six months' imprisonment for them for trespassing. In December 2004, the Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court acquitted the trio, saying that although their actions constituted trespass, the degree of infringement on the residents' privacy was small and their violation was not grave enough to merit punishment. The branch also pointed out that the distribution of the leaflets falls into the category of political expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

But in December 2005, the Tokyo High Court found the trio guilty of trespassing and fined two of them ¥200,000 each and another ¥100,000. It said that the trio had no right to enter the compound and ignore the will of the compound's manager. It also said that the trio repeatedly distributed leaflets despite protests by residents, and therefore the damage suffered by the residents was not light.

In a ruling supported by all three justices present, the Supreme Court's Second Petit Bench accepted that freedom of expression must be respected as an especially important right in a democratic society and that the defendants' acts of distributing political leaflets constituted exercise of the freedom of expression. But referring to Article 21, Section 1 of the Constitution, which says, "Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed," the petit bench said that it does not give an absolute and unlimited guarantee to the freedom of expression and instead allows necessary and rational restrictions on it for the sake of public welfare.

The petit bench said that entering the housing compound against the will of its manager infringes on the manager's right to manage the compound. It noted that since the compound had signs prohibiting entrance by non-residents and the manager submitted a damage report to the police every time the defendants entered the compound, it could not be said that the defendants' infringement on the legal interests of the residents was extremely light. The Supreme Court said that a means of expressing one's thought cannot be allowed if it unjustly infringes on others' rights. Thus it upheld the high court's guilty sentences.

The top court declared that the issue was not the constitutionality of punishing defendants in connection with what they express, but rather how they express it. What the court should realize, however, is that if it places stringent restrictions on methods of expression, the end result will be the suppression of expression itself. The justices should realize that residents who retrieve leaflets from their mailboxes do not have to meet the people who deliver them, and that if they do not like the leaflets they can simply throw them away.

The ruling also pointed out that the compound is not a place for ordinary citizens to enter freely and said that the defendants infringed on the peace of the manager and residents. But it did not say what concrete damage was suffered by the manager and residents as a result of the defendants' actions.

Although the ruling refers to the damage reports that the manager submitted to the police, it ignores the fact that the police assisted in preparing the reports. In fact, the police played an active role from the start. About two months before the arrest of the three, they reportedly asked the SDF to cooperate so that they could arrest those who delivered the leaflets on the spot. It is reported that the police later asked the SDF to submit damage reports and identify those who delivered the leaflets. According to the defendants, non-residents routinely enter the compound to deliver commercial leaflets, and the police have never taken action against them. It is therefore not unreasonable to believe that the police selectively targeted the activists. The Supreme Court regrettably chose to ignore this.

Government to ask islanders to track suspicious ships

The Yomiuri Shimbun

In an effort to boost Japan's territorial security, the government is considering creating a system under which residents who live on remote islands would cooperate in spotting and reporting suspicious-looking ships, sources said Saturday.

The government will ask residents on remote islands situated in the farthest reaches of Japan's territorial waters, such as those in the Sea of Japan or the East China Sea, to work together to locate unidentified ships or boats illegally fishing in Japan's waters as well as foreigners who are attempting to illegally come ashore on Japan's coast, according to the sources.

To ensure the continuous cooperation of island residents, the government will create a manual for residents to consult in connection with such incidents and will also compensate those whose work commitments are affected by their surveillance duties, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the government will conduct a survey on how residents have been dealing with poaching, foreigners attempting to illegally enter Japan by coming ashore and other past incidents. Based on the results of the survey, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Construction and Transport Ministry will draw up guidelines for the new system, according to the sources.

The new system was drafted in line with the basic marine development plan approved by the Cabinet in March under the Basic Law on Ocean Policy. The basic plan states that the cooperation of residents in coastal regions, including remote island areas, is essential to ensure the maritime security of the nation.

Currently, the Japan Coast Guard is responsible for maritime security. It provides a 118 emergency phone number service for people to report suspicious-looking ships. In 2003, Umimori, a national volunteer group that monitors oceans, was established to create a private-sector monitoring system.

However, as there is no end to the number of poaching boats and other suspicious looking vessels, the government has decided it is necessary to obtain the cooperation of residents living on remote islands, such as Tsushima island, Nagasaki Prefecture, or Haterumajima island, Okinawa Prefecture, the sources said.

(Apr. 27, 2008)

U.S.-Japan ties 'imperiled' by upper house vote

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Lawmakers from the ruling party and some in opposition parties have expressed concern about the state of the Japan-U.S. alliance and the role of the upper house following the rejection of a provision backing Japan's support for U.S. forces based here.

Friday's approval of a special agreement on host nation support for U.S. forces stationed in Japan was realized due to a constitutional provision that allowed its acceptance by the House of Representatives to override the House of Councillors' rejection of the provision earlier in the day.

It was the first time an international treaty or agreement has been rejected at the upper house under the current Constitution, a clear repercussion of the split Diet.

Liberal Democratic Party member Hidehisa Otsuji, head of the party's upper house caucus, said Friday he was afraid the opposition parties' attitude in the upper house could lead to the upper house being regularly bypassed.

Speaking at a press conference, Otsuji said: "Such a situation would raise fundamental questions about the two-chamber system. We should consider this possibility gravely."

"[The opposition's response to the agreement in the lower house] could reinforce the belief that we don't need the upper house," he said.

As in the case of votes on the budget, the Constitution stipulates that the lower house's decision shall be the decision of the Diet if both houses reach different decisions on approval of an international agreement.

This is because such decisions are directly related to the national interest and thus a quick decision is necessary.

Although this was the first time the lower house's superiority provision has been invoked, there have been 13 cases in which international treaties and agreements have been approved automatically after the upper house did not vote on them--mainly due to confrontations between ruling and opposition camps--including divisions on issues such as security and nuclear power.

At the time of the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in 1960, opposition parties prevented the upper house from voting while people protesting against the treaty swarmed into the Diet Building.

Then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi resigned to take responsibility for the disorder.

With the approval of the special treaty on host nation support, the vacuum created by the expiration of the former agreement on March 31 will last only for about one month as the new pact will take effect in early May.

During the one-month period, the United States shouldered the necessary expenses the Japanese government would otherwise have paid. There were no major problems reported.

However, many within the government and the ruling parties are worried about possible adverse effects the situation may have on the Japan-U.S. alliance.

"The situation caused considerable damage to the relationship of mutual trust we have fostered," said LDP member Katsuhito Asano, a former senior vice foreign minister.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer also expressed dissatisfaction Friday, saying it was very regrettable that the Democratic Party of Japan had opposed the special agreement.

The government has more financial bills to prepare regarding the U.S. forces in Japan, including the transfer of marines in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam and of the functions of Futenma Air Station.

Some lawmakers of the ruling parties have voiced concerns about reaching agreements on the issues with the DPJ.

The DPJ has previously voted for a similar special agreement on host nation support twice, in 2000 and 2006.

The party voted against the agreement this time based on the standpoint that a thorough review of the costs is necessary due to the current severe fiscal situation.

To minimize any negative impact regarding the approval of budgets relating to the payment of Japanese personnel working at U.S. bases, the DPJ on Friday agreed to take an early vote on the pact in the upper house, abandoning the tactic of delaying the deliberations.

DPJ lower house member Akihisa Nagashima criticized his party's policy of opposing the agreement.

"Considering Japan's security, it's not wise for the party to brush aside the agreement based on the reason 'it's a waste of money,' which is only one aspect out of many," Nagashima told reporters Friday.

(Apr. 27, 2008

Kadena airman indicted in assault of a cab driver

By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, April 27, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — An airman was indicted in a Japanese court Thursday for his alleged participation in the beating and robbery of an Okinawa cab driver March 16.

Airman 1st Class Darius Antowann Brunson, 22, assigned to the 18th Security Forces Squadron on Kadena Air Base, faces robbery and assault charges. He was transferred to Japanese police custody Thursday and is being held in the Naha Detention Center. No trial date has been set.

According to the charge, Brunson allegedly conspired with four teens, ages 15 to 19 and all sons of active-duty servicemembers, to rob a 55-year-old cab driver shortly after midnight in a popular entertainment district in Okinawa City.

They allegedly attacked the driver as he opened the trunk of his car and stole a coin box containing about 6,000 yen (about $60) and other items valued at 3,390 yen (about $34).

Okinawa police contend Brunson was at the scene and drove the getaway car. The teens told investigators that Brunson allowed them to hang out at his home on Kadena Air Base, where they allegedly planned the crime.

The driver suffered bruises on his head and thigh, according to the police report. According to earlier police statements, Brunson admitted that he was at the scene during the robbery took place, but denied playing a major role.

Meanwhile, Japanese prosecutors sent charges of assault and theft against a 19-year-old co-defendant to a family court. Charges against three other teens were not sought and they were handed over to military authorities, where they face action that could include being barred from military bases or sent back to the United States.


Charges recommended in alleged ’06 taxi robbery

OKINAWA CITY, Okinawa — Okinawa police Friday recommended to the Naha District Public Prosecutor’s Office that charges of robbery resulting in bodily injury be filed against two Marines in connection with a July 2006 taxi robbery, Okinawa police said.

Pvt. Edward L. Miller Jr., then 20, and another private who was 19 years old at the time, are accused of attacking a 64-year-old cab driver in his taxi and fleeing with about $730 in cash July 4, 2006, in Okinawa City.

The 19-year-old, who is now 21, was not named because he was considered a minor at the time the alleged crime took place, a police spokesman said.

In September 2006, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects involved.

It was not immediately known when the suspects were identified by military authorities.

The Okinawa police spokesman said that both admitted guilt. The Marines will remain in military custody until formal charges are filed by the Naha prosecutor’s office, he said.

From staff reports

Military charges Marine in alleged rape of 14-year-old

By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, April 27, 2008

Okinawa police dropped case at request of girl

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The Marine accused of raping a 14-year-old Okinawa girl in February now faces court-martial charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott, 38, faces multiple charges in connection with the Feb. 10 incident, according to a news release the Marine Corps issued Friday.

He has been in the brig on Camp Hansen since Feb. 28, when he was released from Japanese custody after prosecutors decided not seek a rape indictment.

If Hadnott is convicted, he faces punishment more severe than the maximum 15-year sentence he would have faced in Japanese court.

While he was being detained and questioned by Okinawa police he admitted to attempting to kiss and fondle the girl, but denied raping her, an Okinawa police spokesman said.

Japanese prosecutors released Hadnott to military custody after the girl dropped her criminal complaint.

Chief Prosecutor Yaichiro Yamashiki said the girl “just wanted to be left alone.”

Hadnott now faces two counts of violating Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, specifically raping a child under the age of 16 and abusive sexual contact with a child under the age of 16.

The first charge carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole; the second carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

In addition, he is charged with two violations of Article 134, specifically committing adultery and kidnapping. The adultery charge carries a maximum one-year prison sentence. The “kidnapping through inveigling” charge carries a maximum of life without parole.

Article 134 is a catch-all for unspecified crimes that harm good order and discipline and bring discredit to the armed forces.

Hadnott also is charged with one count of making a false official statement, which carries a maximum five-year prison term.

The charges against Hadnott were referred to court-martial on Monday by 3rd Marine Division commander Maj. Gen. Robert B. Neller, according to the release.

Hadnott waived his right to a preliminary hearing, said Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Judd Wilson in an e-mail response to Stripes.

A court date has not been determined.

According to Okinawa police, Hadnott met three girls at an ice cream parlor in Okinawa City on Feb. 10.

He allegedly took the 14-year-old to his off-base home.

While there he allegedly tried to force himself on her and she fled, but he caught up to her and talked her into accepting a ride home in his van, according to the police report.

Instead of taking her home, Okinawa police said Hadnott drove to a seaside park in Chatan and raped her.

Police found the girl sitting on a curb near the park.

Hadnott was arrested about 2 a.m. Feb. 11 in his van outside his home.

The incident generated several Japanese protests. It was the first in a series of crimes that led to new curfew and alcohol restrictions for people connected to the U.S. military on Okinawa and Marine bases in mainland Japan.

Hadnott is assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division on Camp Courtney as a radio chief, according to Marine officials.

News that he faces multiple military charges was welcomed by Shigeko Urasaki, an organizer for Okinawa Women’s Net, one of the groups that held protests.

“I hope that the court-martial will give him the punishment that he rightly deserves,” Urasaki said.

She said that in the Japanese justice system, a sexual assault case cannot go forward if the victim withdraws her complaint before indictment.

Okinawa police call for Kadena soldier to be charged with rape of Filipina

By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, April 27, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — Okinawa police recommended Friday that a soldier assigned to the Patriot missile battery on Kadena Air Base be charged with rape involving an injury.

An Okinawa police spokesman identified the soldier as Sgt. Ronald Edward Hopstock Jr., 25, attached to the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment. Hopstock is accused of raping a 21-year-old Philippine woman in an Okinawa City hotel Feb. 18.

Army officials could not be reached for comment as of late Friday.

Previously, however, they have confirmed that a soldier was being held at the brig on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, in connection with the case. Under the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, the soldier can remain in military custody until an indictment is filed in a Japanese court.

A police spokesman Friday said no request for Hopstock’s custody has been made to military authorities.

Police said Hopstock and the woman checked into the hotel at 3 a.m. At 8 a.m. the woman appeared in the lobby bleeding and in apparent need of medical assistance, according to police reports.

She told officers she had been raped. Police said the woman was hospitalized for a week and was treated as an outpatient for another two weeks after the alleged attack.

Okinawa police would not discuss details of the woman’s injuries.

The police spokesman said Hopstock denied raping the woman, stating that he met her at a club where she was a dancer and took her to the hotel with the understanding that if he paid the club for her company it was understood that sex was involved.

The woman, who at the time had been in Japan for three days under an entertainer’s visa, said she did not know about any such arrangement and no money was exchanged with her, according to the police report.

The case is being closely watched in the Philippines, where Manny Villar, the president of the Philippine Senate, called for the Philippine Consulate on Okinawa to follow the case and aid the woman.

The alleged victim is being cared for by an unnamed Philippine organization on Okinawa.

DPJ closer to taking over gov't, but political power in question

Apr 26, 2008

Having had its ups and downs since its launch 10 years ago, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is seen to have come closer than ever to taking over the government, buoyed by its victory in last year's House of Councillors election.

Now that the DPJ is the biggest group in the upper house and controls the chamber along with other opposition parties, it has been giving Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government a difficult time in advancing policies that need parliamentary approval.

But the party's political power remains in question as pundits note the lack of experience in party management and policymaking as well as a seeming division in the party with some members opposing the ideas of DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa.

Photo:
Ozawa Ichiro (right) of the DPJ greets party members at the 79th May Day conference on April 26th, Tokyo Yoyogi park.

The current DPJ was launched April 27, 1998 when the former Democratic Party of Japan, the Good Governance Party, the Amity Party and the Democratic Reform Party merged into a new party under the DPJ banner.

At the time, the new DPJ, led by current Acting President Naoto Kan, had a combined 131 seats in both houses of the Diet while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had 379. As of Jan. 22 this year, the DPJ's seats had grown to 221 seats as opposed to 387 for the LDP.

In the meantime, the DPJ, which initially had the image of being weak, merged in September 2003 with the Liberal Party, whose president, Ozawa, brought with him a stronger image to the body.

The DPJ made strides in the House of Representatives election held in November 2003 and in the upper house polls in July the following year.

But it was overwhelmed by the LDP in the September 2005 general election when then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi asked the people whether or not they supported his postal privatization plan, showing the DPJ had not taken root in regional areas.

After Ozawa, who places importance on local communities and often goes to stump in various parts of the country, took the helm of the party in April 2006, the DPJ's presence began to spread in outlying regions.

In the most recent national election held for half the seats in the upper house last July, the DPJ defeated the LDP and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, bringing about a ''contorted'' Diet in which different parties hold the biggest number of seats in the two chambers.

''We had some bumps along the way, but our experiences became the party's flesh and blood and we grew into a political party with a high level of solidarity under President Ichiro Ozawa,'' DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said.

''We are fully showing the ability to hold the reins of government based on Mr. Ozawa's line,'' Hatoyama told a press conference.

The DPJ has high hopes of winning the next lower house election so that it can take over the government with control of both houses.

Ozawa said last November that the next general election -- which must be held by September 2009 when the current term for lower house lawmakers expires -- will be his ''last-ditch fight'' and that he will put his political career at stake to make sure the DPJ wins.

But the largest opposition party appears to lack unity in some areas, with varying opinions often heard from DPJ lawmakers on matters such as security policy and whether to revise the Constitution.

Ozawa's term as head of the DPJ expires in September this year, and the names of former party presidents such as Katsuya Okada and Seiji Maehara have been floated as his possible successor. Ozawa, however, is widely expected to seek reelection to the post.

In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Kan said the DPJ needs to acquire patience in its quest for a change in government.

''One needs to attack in order to take power, but when that is not possible in a short period, it is a matter of how patient one can be,'' Kan said. ''We have changed quite a bit, but our perseverance is still scant.''

Diet passes payment accord for U.S. bases

Saturday, April 26, 2008
Kyodo News

The Diet on Friday approved a controversial Japanese-U.S. agreement that requires Japan to pay some ¥140 billion annually to help run U.S. military bases in Japan for three years through fiscal 2010.

The bilateral accord, already delayed, will take effect in early May, Foreign Ministry officials said.

The opposition-dominated House of Councilors rejected the deal at a plenary session earlier in the day as the opposition camp complained that some of the money was being used to hire employees at entertainment facilities, such as bars and bowling alleys.

But the accord, which cleared the House of Representatives earlier this month, went into effect because votes on treaties in the powerful Lower House, including the bilateral accord, take precedence under a constitutional provision.

It is the first time in Japan that a treaty has been approved using the special provision.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura suggested that the delay of the accord would not affect bilateral ties.

"I haven't heard any particular reactions from the U.S. side," he said.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer told reporters that the Democratic Party of Japan's opposition to the accord was "unfortunate."

"We have tried to work all the years to ensure that that agreement was above partisanship because we believe that a strong U.S.-Japan alliance was absolutely critical to the security interests of both Japan and the United States," Schieffer said.

The old agreement expired March 31 due to a lack of parliamentary approval for a government plan to extend it to fiscal 2008 from April 1. After it expired, the U.S. began covering the expenses.

U.S. to try Okinawa marine for rape

Saturday, April 26, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) The U.S. Marine arrested in February for allegedly raping a junior high school girl in Okinawa Prefecture will be court-martialed, the U.S. Marine Corps said Friday.

The marine, Tyrone Hadnott, 38, was released after the victim withdrew the accusation.

Hadnott has been charged with several violations of military law, including raping a child under 16 and kidnapping.

The date of the court-martial has not been set.

Okinawa Prefectural Police arrested Hadnott on Feb. 11. But the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office dropped the charges after the girl withdrew the accusation, and he was handed over to the U.S. military.

U.S. marine to face court-martial over rape

The Yomiuri Shimbun

NAHA--The U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa Prefecture on Friday announced it will court-martial a 38-year-old staff sergeant based at Camp Courtney in Uruma in the prefecture on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl in February.

Tyrone Hadnott was previously arrested by the Okinawa prefectural police in relation to the same case, but prosecutors later decided not to prosecute him after the girl dropped the charges.

Following an investigation by the U.S. marines, the commanding general of the 3rd Marine Division invoked steps to court-martial the staff sergeant on suspicion of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including the rape of a child under 16, the U.S. marines said.

The date for the court-martial has not yet been decided.

The U.S. marines released a statement that said, "The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial."

(Apr. 26, 2008)

Pentagon halts feeding of information to retired officers while issue is reviewed

By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, April 26, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Defense Department has temporarily stopped feeding information to retired military officers pending a review of the issue, said Robert Hastings, principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs.

The New York Times first reported on Sunday that the Defense Department was giving information to retired officers serving as pundits for various media organizations in order to garner favorable media coverage.

Some of these retired officers saw their access to key decision-makers as possible business opportunities for the defense contractors they represent, according to the newspaper. The story also alleged that the officers who did not repeat the Bush administration's official line were denied further access to information.

Hastings said he is concerned about allegations that the Defense Department's relationship with the retired military analysts was improper.

"Following the allegations, the story that is printed in the New York Times, I directed my staff to halt, to suspend the activities that may be ongoing with retired military analysts to give me time to review the situation," Hastings said in an interview with Stripes on Friday.

Hastings said he did not discuss the matter with Defense Secretary Robert Gates prior to making his decision. He could not say Friday how long this review might take.

"We'll take the time to do it right," he said.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said in a speech that he was angered by the allegations raised in the New York Times' story.

"There is nothing inherently wrong with providing information to the public and the press," Skelton said. "But there is a problem if the Pentagon is providing special access to retired officers and then basically using them as pawns to spout the administration's talking points of the day."

Skelton, who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was also disturbed by the ties between the military officers and defense firms.

"It hurts me to my core to think that there are those from the ranks of our retired officers who have decided to cash in and essentially prostitute themselves on the basis of their previous positions within the Department of Defense," he said.

Hastings, who had not seen Skelton's remarks before Friday's interview, said he is unaware of the Defense Department's past activities with retired military analysts. He took over his current post in March.

"I need a little time to kind of digest that and figure out what the path forward is," he said.

Staff sergeant charged with rape on Okinawa

Staff report
Posted : Friday Apr 25, 2008 14:19:29 EDT

The Corps has levied five criminal charges, including rape, against a staff sergeant in the alleged Feb. 10 assault of a 14-year-old Okinawan girl, Marine officials in Japan announced Thursday.

The case against Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott will be handled at a general court-martial, a decision made by Maj. Gen. Robert B. Neller, commander of the 3rd Marine Division, officials said in statement.

Hadnott, 38, is charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with the rape of a child under age 16, abusive sexual contact with a child under age 16, making a false official statement, adultery and kidnapping.

No date for the general court-martial has been scheduled.

Hadnott has been held in confinement since he was turned over by Japanese authorities, after local prosecutors investigating the allegations dropped their charges when the teenager withdrew her complaint.

The alleged incident inflamed some local opposition to the U.S. military presence on the island, and came amid stricter restrictions for off-base travel and liberty, as officials grappled with another prosecution of four Marines who allegedly raped a woman in October in Hiroshima.

U.S. troops in Japan: Protectors or trouble-makers?

Why can't U.S. soldiers who are stationed at American military bases in Japan represent their country honorably when they are overseas and just, well, you know, behave themselves? That's the question many Japanese have been asking for a long time. There are roughly 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan; the broader, American military-related population there totals some 96,000 people.

Okinawa, February 12, 2008: Local residents gathered near an American military base to protest the alleged rape by U.S. Marine Tyrone Hadnott of a 14-year-old Japanese girl

An Associated Press report from Japan published in the International Herald Tribune earlier this month noted: "Though crime involving...U.S. troops in Japan is going down, a recent spate of high-profile incidents has renewed an old debate about how to keep U.S. troops here in line. Or, for some, whether they should be here at all."

Now comes the news that Olatunbosun Ugbogu, a 22-year-old Nigerian national who has been serving in the U.S. Navy in Japan, has been charged by Japanese prosecutors "in the stabbing death of a taxi driver, one of a series of alleged crimes by American service members that has stirred anger in Japan." Ugbogu has been "charged with stabbing the driver to death near a U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on March 19," the Japanese court that charged the sailor indicated in a statement. "The Yokohama District Court said the sailor faces a maximum sentence of death by hanging if convicted." (AP in the Sydney Morning Herald)

The news of the alleged rape also provoked protests in Tokyo at the same time; here, demonstrators held placards symbolizing Article 9 of Japan's post-World War II constitution, which calls for Japan to be a pacifist, non-war-making country; such demonstrators often oppose the presence of American troops on Japanese soil

Ugbogu, "whose credit card was found in the taxi" of the driver who was murdered, had "admitted killing the cabby after being arrested" by U.S. Navy officials a few days after the incident took place. However, he "denied any intent to do so." Instead, the Nigerian in the employ of the U.S. military "told investigators that a mysterious 'voice' had] ordered him to murder the driver...." (Xinhua)

Meanwhile, "Japanese anger over the U.S. military presence has grown in recent months following an alleged rape in February of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine on Okinawa" in the Okinawan archipelago in the far south of Japan, where more than half of all the U.S. troops stationed in the country are based. (AP in the Sydney Morning Herald)

The Okinawa-based soldier, U.S. Marine Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott, now faces a court-martial "on charges of kidnapping and raping" the adolescent girl. The soldier's case "prompted thousands of Okinawan residents to rally last month to protest against crimes by U.S. troops and demand a smaller U.S. military presence on the island....The U.S. troops are stationed in Japan under a bilateral security treaty that is the pillar of Tokyo's post-war security policy, but those who live near the bases often complain about associated crime, noise and pollution....Hadnott has been charged under the U.S. military justice code with rape and abusive sexual contact with a child under 16 [years of age] and kidnapping through inveigling....Four other U.S. Marines from a base in southwest Japan also face court-martial[s] over the rape of a Japanese woman last year." For what it's worth, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Edward A. Rice, Jr., the commander of all U.S. armed forces in Japan "said earlier this month that he would demand high standards of behavior after the [recent,] high-profile allegations against U.S. servicemen, including the rapes and murder." (Reuters)

The early-April AP report in the IHT quoted "a housewife [in Okinawa] who joined roughly 6000 other protesters in a recent demonstration against the American presence" on the island; she said: "As long as there are [American] troops here, there will be a problem with crime." The news report added: "The taxi-driver murder...has brought the issue closer to home for many other Japanese.

U.S. Air Force Website

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Edward A. Rice, Jr., the head of all U.S. armed forces in Japan, has said he expects to see good behavior from the troops under his command

After the news of the incident involving the adolescent girl broke, U.S. military leaders in Okinawa "quickly ordered leadership and cultural-awareness training" for their troops. They "imposed a strict curfew and virtually banned non-essential, off-base activities for all...troops, civilian employees and their dependents." A senior spokesman for the U.S. Marines in Okinawa said: "We're guests here, so one crime is too many...." He "said the Marines believe the recent crimes are an anomaly," and stated: "We look at them as isolated incidents...The Japanese don't see it that way. They see it as a chain of incidents." (AP in IHT)

The Stars and Stripes, the newspaper of the U.S. armed forces, in an early-February news report, noted that, according to data from Japan's National Police Agency, "[c]rime statistics for recent years show that major crimes involving the U.S. military are in most cases stagnant or decreasing...." The newspaper also reported: "Overall, crimes - including some traffic offenses - went up slightly among the U.S. military community, from 363 incidents in 2003 to 371 in 2007, according to [U.S. Forces Japan]. The Japan[ese] police statistics show the only category that ticked up slightly was [that of] violent offenses, such as assaults....In 2006, 145 [U.S. military] servicemembers, civilians and [U.S. military] family members were arrested by Japanese police. That's lower than in the four previous years....Arrests involving thefts were down more, from 75 in 2002 to 45 in 2006. Drug charges have a similar slant, from 21 in 2002 to 10 in 2006."

Posted By: Edward M. Gomez (Email) | April 25 2008 at 08:26 AM

Okinawa Marine pleads guilty to forging, passing $20 bills

By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, April 26, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — A 20-year-old Marine assigned to 3rd Marine Logistics Group pleaded guilty Thursday in Japanese court to forging and passing counterfeit $20 bills.

Pfc. Phillip C. Scott admitted he scanned a $20 note on a computer and made 42 copies of it in his barracks room last November.

He told a three-judge panel that he conceived the idea to send money to his pregnant fiancee in the States and to buy a new uniform for a Marine Corps ball.

The fake money, however, was spent on off-base services, including taxi rides and bar tabs. A Japanese prosecutor demanded a three-year prison term with hard labor.

Scott’s lawyer, Yuji Fujita, asked the court to suspend the sentence. Fujita said his client voluntarily surrendered himself to military authorities four days after he made the forged money.

Scott had been restricted to Camp Kinser since November until he was indicted March 21, when he was transferred to the Naha Detention Center. Sentencing is set for May 15.

USS Cowpens sailor indicted in killing of taxi driver in Yokosuka

By Allison Batdorff and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, April 26, 2008

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — U.S. Navy Seaman Olatunbosun Ugbogu was charged Thursday with robbery-murder, which could bring the death penalty or life imprisonment in Japan if he’s found guilty.

The indictment contradicts the suspect’s contention that he is mentally ill. The 22-year-old said he killed taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi because of “overpowering voices” in his head, not to get out of paying a $195 fare.

But Ugbogu “stabbed the taxi driver” and “by doing so, he escaped from paying the taxi fare,” a Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office spokesman said Thursday. Ugbogu also was charged with illegally carrying a knife, the spokesman said.

The 61-year-old driver was found in his taxi in a quiet alley in Yokosuka’s Shioiri neighborhood, with his seat belt fastened and the motor running. In a court statement April 11, Ugbogu said voices, which he describes as “spirit friends,” told him to get into the cab in Tokyo, ride it to Yokosuka and stab Takahashi in the neck.

Ugbogu, a Nigerian citizen, was in deserter status from his command on the Yokosuka-based USS Cowpens at the time of the crime. His credit card was found in the taxi, and he later turned himself in to Navy authorities, who held him at Yokosuka until Japanese authorities arrested him April 3.

Ugbogu’s attorney, Yasutoshi Murakami, had not yet received a copy of the charges Thursday evening and declined to comment on the indictment. He previously had argued against the robbery motive, saying Ugbogu didn’t take any money from the taxi or the driver and had plenty of money with him.

The killing caused an international stir, prompting apology visits to Japanese leaders by the U.S. ambassador to Japan, the commander of the U.S. Navy in Japan and other military officials.

Yokosuka-based Americans underwent a mandated mourning period in the wake of the killing with a curfew and a ban on alcohol sales and consumption. Measures have since eased, but Navy leaders have vowed to continue to work on preventing violence from within their ranks.

U.S. Marine faces court-martial over Okinawa rape

Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:59am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine faces a court martial on charges of kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl on Japan's southern island of Okinawa in February, U.S. military officials said on Friday.

The case prompted thousands of Okinawan residents to rally last month to protest against crimes by U.S. troops and demand a smaller U.S. military presence on the island, host to about half the nearly 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.

The U.S. troops are stationed in Japan under a bilateral security treaty that is the pillar of Tokyo's post-war security policy, but those who live near the bases often complain about associated crime, noise and pollution.

U.S. Marine Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott was arrested by police in February on suspicion of raping the girl, but Japanese prosecutors dropped the case after she withdrew her complaints, a move some in Okinawa said was to escape the public spotlight.

Hadnott has been charged under the U.S. military justice code with rape and abusive sexual contact with a child under 16 and kidnapping through inveigling, the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa said in a statement.

"The above are merely accusations," the Marines said. "The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial."

No date has been set for the court-martial.

Four other U.S. Marines from a base in southwest Japan also face court martial over the rape of a Japanese woman last year.

LtGen. Edward Rice, the recently arrived commander of U.S. troops in Japan, said earlier this month that he would demand high standards of behavior after the high-profile allegations against U.S. servicemen, including the rapes and murder.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg)

US military to court-martial Marine in Okinawa rape

Apr 25 09:29 AM US/Eastern

The US military announced Friday that it was court-martialling a Marine accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Japan, a close American ally, in a case that triggered outrage here.

Staff Sergent Tyrone Hadnott, 38, was charged with rape of a minor and making false official statements, even though he was controversially released by Japanese prosecutors.

Under military law, the charges could carry the death penalty, although execution is very unlikely.

The Marine was accused of raping the girl in February in his car on the southern island of Okinawa, home to more than half of the 40,000 US troops based in Japan under a security treaty.

A US Marines statement said that commanders decided to send him to a general court martial for five violations of the military code "as a result of a Marine Corps investigation."

The statement said the charges were "merely accusations" and that the court martial dates have not yet been set.

"The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial," the statement said.

The five charges are rape of a child under 16, sexually abusing a child under 16, making a false official statement, adultery and "kidnapping through inveigling."

Hadnott, who lived off base, picked up the girl on a motorbike and drove her home. After she protested, he took her home and allegedly raped her in his car, according to Japanese police.

But Japanese prosecutors declined to indict him after the girl dropped the case, apparently because she did not want to be in the public glare.

The case outraged Japanese leaders who have called for stricter discipline on US troops.

Hadnott's court martial came one day after Japanese prosecutors indicted another US serviceman, a Nigerian national who deserted the US Navy, on charges of stabbing to death a taxi driver near Tokyo.

Four US Marines are also being court-martialled in western Japan on allegations of gang-raping a woman in Hiroshima.

Japan has been officially pacifist since its defeat in World War II and has stepped up military ties with Washington amid tension with nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea.

Okinawa, which was under US control from 1945 to 1972 and is strategically close to the Taiwan Strait, has often seen friction with US troops. In 1995, thousands took to the streets after three US servicemen gang-raped a 12-year-old girl.

US officials moved quickly to try to calm anger after Hadnott's arrest, while stressing the vast majority of US forces in Japan are law-abiding.

The US military took the rare measure of putting troops and their families under a round-the-clock curfew in Okinawa for nearly two weeks.

Japan has shouldered part of the costs of the US military, mainly by covering salaries for Japanese workers at the bases.

The main opposition Democratic Party on Friday used its control of the upper house to vote down the latest budget bill supporting US forces, saying some of the spending was wasteful.

But the 141.6 billion yen (1.36 billion-dollar) plan was approved later in the day as the ruling conservatives can use their power in the more powerful lower house.

Marine charged with violation of military code over alleged rape

Apr 25 09:06 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - NAHA, April 25 (Kyodo) — The U.S. Marine Corps said Friday it has charged a staff sergeant with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old Japanese junior high school girl in Okinawa in February.

"Charges have been referred against U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott, who has been charged with several violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in connection with the alleged rape of a 14- year-old Okinawan female on Feb. 10," the Marine Corps' public relations office said in a statement.

The statement said, "As a result of a Marine Corps investigation, 3rd Marine Division Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Robert B. Neller, referred charges against...Hadnott to a general court-martial on April 21, 2008."

"Hadnott has been charged with two violations of Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including rape of a child under 16 and abusive sexual contact with a child under the age of 16; one violation of Article 107, specifically making a false official statement; and two violations of Article 134, including adultery and kidnapping through inveigling," the statement said.

"Court-martial dates have not yet been determined," it said.

A general court-martial handles serious crimes, such as murder and rape. It can sentence a defendant to death or life imprisonment.

There are two other levels of courts-martial. Summary courts-martial can confine a defendant for up to 30 days, while special courts- martial can confine defendants for up to a year.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice requires the holding of a preliminary inquiry to decide whether a general court-martial should be convened.

Hadnott has given up the right to call for a preliminary inquiry, paving the way for the commanding general to file charges against him in a general court-martial, according to the Marine Corps.

Now that Hadnott has abandoned the right for a preliminary inquiry, he can strike a plea bargain with U.S. military authorities for a reduced sentence, legal experts said.

Japanese police arrested Hadnott on Feb. 11 on suspicion of raping the girl.

But Japanese prosecutors did not file criminal charges against the suspect after the girl withdrew her accusation against him. He was later handed over to the U.S. military.

Following Hadnott's release by Japanese authorities, U.S. military authorities conducted an investigation.

The increasing number of crimes involving U.S. military personnel has sparked an uproar in Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of the U.S. military presence in Japan, particularly since the alleged rape of the 14-year-old girl.

Panel backs plan to assign SDF aide to Fukuda

Friday, April 25, 2008
Kyodo News

A Liberal Democratic Party panel on Defense Ministry reforms endorsed a set of proposals Thursday that include the appointment of a Self-Defense Forces officer as an aide to the prime minister.

The move is viewed as an attempt to strengthen the power of military officers in the civilian-dominated ministry.

The subcommittee of the LDP's Research Commission on Security also proposed upgrading the status of the chief of the ministry's Joint Staff Office, and setting up a command center under the SDF chief so the JSO chief can directly operate an SDF unit without going through the chiefs of the three SDF branches.

The ministry's Operational Policy Bureau, a key section that consists of bureaucrats, should be scrapped and the JSO, which comprises uniformed officers, should include civilians, the subcommittee said.

Former vice defense chief Yasukazu Hamada, who heads the subcommittee, told a news conference the proposals are chiefly aimed at speeding up the decision-making process in emergencies.

He said the proposals should be included in the government's final plan to reform the ministry. A panel headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura is seeking to compile the plan around the end of June.

The subcommittee will present the proposals to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning final LDP approval, Hamada said, without elaborating on the timing.

Diet approves US base-hosting deal

2008/04/25 21:03

The Japanese Diet has approved a Japan-US agreement that requires Japan to subsidize the running of US military bases in Japan for 3 years through 2010.

The opposition-controlled Upper House had rejected the agreement at a plenary session on Friday, on the basis that some of the money has previously been used for entertainment of US personnel.

But the agreement was approved by the Lower House earlier this month. It went into effect after the vote in the lower chamber, which under a constitutional provision is more powerful than the Upper House.

Under the new accord, Japan will pay about 1.4-billion dollars annually to share the burden of maintaining US forces in Japan.

Marine charged with rape of 14-year-old girl in Japan

By JOSEPH COLEMAN
Associated Press Writer
Fri Apr 25, 6:16 AM ET

TOKYO - An American Marine will be court-martialed on charges of raping a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa, the military said Friday, in a case that has stirred anger against U.S. bases in Japan and triggered tight restrictions on troop movements.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott faces charges of rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual conduct, making a false official statement, adultery and "kidnapping through inveigling," or trickery, the Marines said in a statement.

No date was set for the court-martial. The charges were made Monday, but the military did not announce them until Friday.

The announcement followed an indictment Thursday in another high-profile case involving a U.S. serviceman. Olatunbosun Ugbogu, a 22-year-old Nigerian in the Navy, was charged with fatally stabbing a taxi driver south of Tokyo in March.

Japanese police initially detained Hadnott in the alleged Feb. 10 rape, but released him after the girl dropped charges. U.S. authorities then investigated the case under the military justice code.

Japanese police earlier said Hadnott had admitted to investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but denied raping her.

Hadnott's Feb. 11 arrest and a series of other damaging criminal accusations against American troops have inflamed long-simmering anger at the U.S. military presence, which is blamed for crime, pollution and crowding.

Japan hosts some 50,000 American troops under a security treaty. About half of them are based on the tiny, congested island of Okinawa.

The rape accusation prompted the U.S. military to severely restrict troop movements on Okinawa and elsewhere, and conduct a review of its anti-sexual assault education programs and guidelines.

US marine charged with Okinawa rape

9am BST

A US marine has been charged with raping a 14-year-old girl on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the US forces said today.

Military charges against Staff Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott include rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual conduct, making a false official statement, adultery and "kidnapping through inveigling [trickery]".

The incident in February and other alleged crimes committed by US troops prompted thousands of Okinawa residents to take to the streets demanding a reduced military presence on the island.

US military authorities on the island imposed a 24-hour lockdown on troops lasting two weeks and the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, publicly apologised for the alleged rape during a visit to Tokyo.

Photo: Some 300 women in Okinawa protest the alleged rape of a schoolgirl by a US marine.

Japanese police arrested Hadnott on February 11, the day after the alleged attack.

He was released after the girl decided not to press charges, but US authorities then investigated the case under the military justice code.

Japanese police earlier said Hadnott had admitted to investigators that he forced the girl down and kissed her but he denied raping her.

The charges were made on Monday, the US military said. No date has been set for the court martial.

Japan hosts nearly 50,000 US troops under a security treaty. About half of them are based on the tiny island of Okinawa, where their presence has been a festering issue, with residents complaining about crime, pollution and overcrowding associated with the military.

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Friday April 25 2008. It was last updated at 09:25 on April 25 2008.

U.S. military charges Marine in Okinawa rape case

2008-04-25 15:30:01
www.chinaview.cn

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A U.S. Marine released by Japanese authorities for allegedly raping a 14-year-old Okinawa girl will face a U.S. military court-martial, instead.

U.S. military charges against Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott include rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual conduct, making a false official statement, adultery and "kidnapping through inveigling," or trickery.

No date was set for the court-martial. The charges were made Monday, but the military did not announce them until Friday.

Japanese police initially apprehended Hadnott in the alleged Feb. 10 attack, but released him after the girl dropped charges. U.S. authorities then investigated the case under the strict military justice code.

Japanese police earlier said Hadnott had admitted to investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but that he denied raping her.

Japan hosts some 50,000 American troops under a security treaty. About half of them are based on the tiny island of Okinawa, where residents have complained for years about crime, pollution and crowding associated with the military.

The rape accusation prompted the U.S. military to severely restrict troop movements on Okinawa and elsewhere, and conduct an ongoing review of its anti-sexual assault education programs and guidelines.

(Agencies)
Editor: Gareth Dodd

LEAD: U.S. base-hosting deal clears parliament

Apr 25 02:33 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 25 (AP) - (Kyodo) — A controversial Japan-U.S. agreement was approved by the Diet on Friday that requires Japan to pay some 140 billion yen annually to help run U.S. military bases in Japan for three years through fiscal 2010.

The implementation of the accord, already delayed, will be in early May, according to Foreign Ministry officials.

The opposition-dominated House of Councillors rejected the deal at a plenary session earlier in the day, with the opposition camp complaining that some of the money to maintain U.S. military bases has been used to hire employees at entertainment facilities, such as bars and bowling alleys. It was the first time the upper house has rejected a treaty.

But the accord, which had already cleared the House of Representatives earlier this month, went into effect as a vote in the powerful lower house takes precedence under a constitutional provision.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura suggested that the delay in implementation of the deal will not affect bilateral ties, telling a press conference, "I haven't heard any particular reactions from the U.S. side."

The old agreement expired March 31 due to a lack of parliamentary approval for a government plan to extend it to fiscal 2008 from April 1. After the expiration, the United States covered the expenses, including utility and labor costs, until the new accord takes effect.

Under the new accord, Japan will earmark 141.6 billion yen for the budget to maintain U.S. bases in fiscal 2008, but reduce the utility fees it pays by 400 million yen in both fiscal 2009 and 2010.

US marine charged over Japan rape

Page last updated at 05:36 GMT,
Friday, 25 April 2008 06:36 UK

A US marine is to face court martial after being accused of raping a 14-year-old girl on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the US military says.

Staff Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott, 38, was first arrested for the offence by police in February.

He was released by Japanese prosecutors after the girl dropped the case.

Sgt Hadnott has been charged under the US military justice code "as a result of a Marine Corps investigation". No date was set for the hearing.

He is charged with rape, abusive sexual contact with a child under 16, and kidnapping through inveigling.

The case has already caused outrage in Japan, and led to calls for stricter discipline on US troops.

More than 40,000 American troops are stationed in Japan under a security treaty, about half of them on the southern island of Okinawa.

In a separate case, four other marines are facing a court martial over the alleged rape of a Japanese woman last year.

Soon after Sgt Hadnott's arrest on 11 February, Japanese police said he had admitted forcing the girl down and kissing her, but that he denied the rape.

U.S. Marine charged with rape in Japan

April 25, 2008 -- Updated 0509 GMT (1309 HKT)

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- The U.S. military in Japan has charged a Marine with rape and other violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the alleged sexual assault of 14-year old girl in Okinawa.

A civic group member protests against Hadnott near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on February 13.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, has been charged with the rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual contact with a child, making a false official statement, adultery and kidnapping, the Marines said Friday.

No dates for the court-martial have been set.

Photo: A civic group member protests against Hadnott near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on February 13.

In February, Japanese authorities released Hadnott after the girl dropped the allegations against him, but the Marine Corps conducted its own investigation to see if Hadnott violated codes of military justice. It held him at a Marine facility.

The rape accusation against Hadnott stirred memories of a brutal rape more than a decade ago and triggered outrage across Japan. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda deplored as "unforgivable" the allegations against Hadnott.

The incident also led to tight restrictions, for a time, for American troops and their families at the U.S. base on Okinawa.

The U.S. military in Japan also formed a sexual assault prevention task force after the incident.

More than 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, most of them on Okinawa. The troops were placed there under a security alliance after Japan was defeated in World War II and was renounced its right to a military.

The U.S. military presence has at times bred resentment among some Japanese, who have long complained about crime, noise and accidents. Anti-American sentiments boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen kidnapped and gang-raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl.

Two years ago, a U.S. civilian military employee was jailed for nine years for raping two women.

Marine charged in Japan rape case

UPDATED ON:
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008
6:18 MECCA TIME, 3:18 GMT

US military prosecutors in Japan have charged a US marine with the rape of a 14-year-old Japanese girl on the island of Okinawa.

The case, which first came to light earlier this year, has triggered widespread protests against the US military presence on the island.

Photo: Okinawans have demanded a smaller US military presence on the island

Staff Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott is charged with the rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual conduct, making a false official statement, adultery and "kidnapping through inveigling" or trickery, US officials said.

The military filed the charges early this week.

"The above are merely accusations," a military statement said on Friday. "The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial."

No date has been set for the court-martial.

Japanese police arrested Hadnott in February on suspicion of rape but the case was dropped after the girl withdrew her complaints.

Anger

US authorities continued investigating the allegations under the strict military justice code before initiating a court-martial.

Hadnott's arrest and a series of other damaging criminal accusations against US troops have inflamed popular anger at the US military presence on the island.

The rape accusation prompted the US military to severely restrict troop movements on Okinawa and elsewhere, and conduct an ongoing review of its anti-sexual assault education programs and guidelines.

Lieutenant General Edward Rice, the recently-appointed commander of US troops in Japan, demanded high standards of behaviour following the high-profile allegations against US servicemen, including the rapes and murder.

Last month a US sailor was indicted in the stabbing death of a taxi driver near the US naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.

Four other marines from a base in southwest Japan also face court-martial over the rape of a Japanese woman last year.

About half of the 50,000 US troops hosted by Japan under a security treaty are based on Okinawa, where residents have continuously complained about crime, pollution and crowding associated with the military.

Source: Agencies














Photo:

Teen boy, girl held in shoplifting case

Date Posted: 2008-04-25

A pair of military dependents are in Okinawa City Police custody, charged with shoplifting from a Kitamae supermarket in Chatan Town.

It was the second shoplifting incident in two consecutive weekends involving American Marine dependent teens, but Okinawa City Police say there was no interference this time by U.S. Military Police. The two18-year-olds were arrested hours after they were observed putting something in a bag at the supermarket, then leaving without paying.

The youngsters had disappeared by time police arrived, but store officials and police used videotape images from surveillance cameras to identify the pair and get their vehicle license number. Police say the two were observed stealing a body piercing kit about 5:50 p.m. Saturday by a store clerk, who notified security officials, who called Okinawa City Police. The kit was valued at ¥2,520.

Police patrolled the area, and spotted the car about four hours later at another supermarket nearby. They apprehended the two, along with five other youth, when they returned to the car. The girl, a high school student, and the unemployed boy, confessed when confronted. They told police the five other friends were not involved, and police released them.

The investigation is continuing, because police say there were many other stolen items, including T-shirts and shoes, in the car. There were no American MP’s responding to Saturday’s apprehension.

Okinawa City Police, meanwhile, continue to insist American Military Police acted wrongfully the previous weekend, when another pair of shoplifting teens were caught at the scene and taken into U.S. custody by MP’s who refused to cooperate with local police. A police spokesman disputes the Marine Corps provost marshal’s claim there was full cooperation, saying “we repeatedly asked both to talk to the two boys at the scene, and asked they be handed over to us.”

In the earlier shoplifting case, two boys ages 16 and 17 had shoplifted from a Mihama store, stealing T-shirts and jeans.

The MP’s, according to police and eyewitnesses, denied Japanese Police a chance to question the two, then took them to a U.S. base, where they were released. The boys have since been questioned by Okinawa City Police. The military has provided police an explanation for the MP’s actions, but neither the military or Okinawa City Police will reveal details.

Court decision due soon on dugong protection

Date Posted: 2008-04-25

Environmentalists are waiting with baited breath on a decision from a San Francisco court on whether Okinawa’s dugong will be protected from construction plans in the Henoko area.

The environmental group has sued the U.S. Department of Defense, charging the Pentagon failed to consider the safety of dugong living in the waters near Camp Schwab, where plans have been made to construct a new military airfield that extends into Oura Bay. A decision is due this week.

“The Pentagon can’t lie about this,” an environmentalist says, noting the Defense Department had never conducted research investigations into the negative effects building an airfield would have on the dugong. The U.S. referred queries to the Japanese government for information on inspections data. The lawsuit asks the court to block the construction because the Pentagon violated the National History Protection Act.

Environmentalists contend American plans to build a seawall, and use the coastline for military port purposes are illegal. They also oppose reports the Marines plan to deploy the Osprey airplane in the northern area of Okianwa.

Hawaii move planned for Okinawa’s 3rd Marines

By: Bill Charles
Date Posted: 2008-04-25

Political wrangling that has stalled the planned move of Okinawa-based Marines to Guam has the US Navy and Congress eyeing a shift instead to Hawaii.

Congressional funding to design new facilities to accommodate the 3rd Marine Division and 12th Marine Regiment was announced this week by Neil Abercrombie, one of Hawaii’s two members of the House of Representatives. “The Department of the Navy will begin the budgeting process for the construction,” said Abercrombie, “which will initially trigger spending on design funds to obtain architectural and engineering services for a variety of projects at Kaneohe Bay.

Abercrombie, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, and a senior member of the Seapower Subcommittee, which oversees the Navy and Marines, says $21.2 million has been allocated to design the construction of a multiple facilities at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe. He said “all of this construction strengthens Hawaii’s strategic role in the Pacific, as well as our local economy.”

The Marine Corps has declined comment, saying only that “it hasn’t been decided yet,” but Abercrombie indicates otherwise, announcing specific projects involving a number of units now based at Camps Hansen, Courtney and Schwab on Okinawa. “Funding for actual construction is expected in the future to build the necessary facilities related to the Department of Defense plan to increase active-duty strength in the Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 over five years,” the congressman said.

Some $6.8 million is earmarked for 3rd Marine Division facilities, supporting the 3rd Marine Division relocation from Okinawa, providing company and division headquarters, an armory, operational draining facilities, motor transport maintenance, electronics and communications maintenance, and supply. Abercrombie says $4.8 million is to design bachelor enlisted quarters, “providing 228 bachelor enlisted quarters modules to house 446 Marines to support the 3rd Marine Division relocation from Okinawa., while another $4.8 million will design another 200 Marine Corps bachelor enlisted quarters to house 400 Marines.

A $1.8 million line item is to design an Artillery Battery Complex comprised of a heavy gun shop, automotive shop, armory storage, company command post and general storage. A two-story command headquarters and single story communications and electrical maintenance shop for 3rd Radio Battalion will be designed using $1.5 million in funding. The 12th Marine Regiment Headquarters Facilities will be designed at a cost of $1.5 million to “support the 12th Marine Regiment relocation from Okinawa and provide company and division headquarters, an armory, operational training facilities, motor transport maintenance, electronics and communications maintenance and supply.

Abercrombie, who sponsored the legislation, says “the military housing also alleviates competition between military and civilian and civilian families for rental homes throughout the community, making affordable housing more accessible to local families.” The congressman praised military leaders, noting “This is part of the military’s ‘grow the force’ initiative which focuses, in part, on construction of barracks or operational facilities.” He says private-public partnerships “now in place will be responsible for billions of dollars worth of construction that will build, renovate and maintain thousands of military homes around Oahu over the next 50 years.”

The U.S. and Japan have agreed to move 8,000 Marines off Okinawa, relocating them to Guam with Japan picking up much of the financial tab, but the plan has stalled because of political interests. Shifting the Marines to Guam is linked to construction of a new military airfield in northern Okinawa to replace Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in densely populated Ginowan City, but Okinawa Prefecture and municipal leadership have been dragging their feet on granting necessary approvals.

Marine charged with violations of UCMJ, sent to General Court-Martial

Date Posted: 2008-04-25

Charges have been referred against U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott, who has been charged with several violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in connection with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old Okinawan female on Feb. 10.

As a result of a Marine Corps investigation, 3rd Marine Division Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Robert B. Neller, referred charges against Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott to a General Court-Martial on April 21, 2008.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott has been charged with two violations of Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including rape of a child under 16 and abusive sexual contact with a child under the age of 16; one violation of Article 107, specifically making a false official statement; and two violations of Article 134, including adultery and kidnapping through inveigling.

The above are merely accusations. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial.

Court-martial dates have not yet been determined.

US Marine charged with rape in Japan

By JOSEPH COLEMAN
Associated Press Writer
Thu Apr 24, 10:05 PM ET

TOKYO - U.S. forces in Japan have charged a Marine with raping a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa, the Marines said Friday, pressing ahead with a case that spurred protests against the American presence on the island.

U.S. military charges against Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott include rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual conduct, making a false official statement, adultery and "kidnapping through inveigling," or trickery.

No date was set for the court-martial. The charges were made Monday, but the military did not announce them until Friday.

Japanese police initially apprehended Hadnott in the alleged Feb. 10 attack, but released him after the girl dropped charges. U.S. authorities then investigated the case under the strict military justice code.

Japanese police earlier said Hadnott had admitted to investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but that he denied raping her.

Hadnott's Feb. 11 arrest — as well as a series of other damaging criminal accusations against American troops — inflamed popular anger at the U.S. military presence.

Japan hosts some 50,000 American troops under a security treaty. About half of them are based on the tiny island of Okinawa, where residents have complained for years about crime, pollution and crowding associated with the military.

The rape accusation prompted the U.S. military to severely restrict troop movements on Okinawa and elsewhere, and conduct an ongoing review of its anti-sexual assault education programs and guidelines.

The announcement of the charging of Hadnott followed the indictment of a U.S. sailor Thursday in the stabbing death of a taxi driver last month.

Olatunbosun Ugbogu, a 22-year-old Nigerian citizen serving in the U.S. Navy, was charged with stabbing the driver to death near a U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on March 19.

Marine to face court-martial for alleged rape in Okinawa

Apr 24 10:01 PM US/Eastern

NAHA, Japan, April 25 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The U.S. military has decided to court-martial a U.S. Marine, who was arrested by Japanese police in February for allegedly raping a junior high school girl in Okinawa Prefecture but was released after the victim withdrew the accusation, the U.S. Marine Corps said Friday.

Tyrone Hadnott, 38, has been charged with several violations of military justice, including raping a child under 16 and kidnapping.

He will be court-martialed, but the dates have not been set, according to the U.S. Marine.

The Okinawa prefectural police arrested Hadnott on Feb. 11. But the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office dropped the charges after the girl withdrew the accusation. He was handed over to the U.S. military.

The Status of Forces Agreement gives Japan primary jurisdiction for crimes committed by U.S. military personnel outside U.S. bases when they are not on duty. The latest move comes as the Japanese side did not exercise its right to jurisdiction.

Upper house nixes U.S. base-hosting deal, but Diet approval soon

Apr.25.2008 10:34

The opposition-dominated House of Councillors rejected a Japan-U.S. agreement Friday that requires Tokyo to pay some 140 billion yen annually to help run U.S. military bases in Japan for three years through fiscal 2010.

But the accord, which already cleared the House of Representatives, will go into effect later in the day as a vote in the powerful lower house takes precedence under a constitutional provision.

Photo: National Diet Chair Youhei Kono (right) signifies approval in the House of Representatives plenary assembly of the new special agreement regarding the Japanese side burden (consideration budget) of US Forces in Japan being stationed expense.

The implementation of the accord, already delayed, will be in early May if it is approved as expected, according to Foreign Ministry officials.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties voted against the bilateral deal, complaining that some of the money to maintain U.S. military bases has been used to hire employees at entertainment facilities, such as bars. It was the first time the upper house has rejected a treaty.

The old agreement expired March 31 due to parliamentary disapproval for a government plan to extend it for fiscal 2008, which began April 1.

Under the new accord, Japan will earmark 141.6 billion yen for the budget to maintain U.S. bases in fiscal 2008, but reduce the utility fees it pays by 400 million yen in both fiscal 2009 and 2010.

After the old agreement expired, the United States had to cover the expenses, including utility and labor costs, until the new accord takes effect.

US Navy sailor indicted over murder of taxi driver in Yokosuka

April 25, 2008

YOKOHAMA -- A U.S. Navy sailor has been indicted over the murder last month of Tokyo taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi in Yokosuka, prosecutors said.

The Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office charged Olatunbosun Ugbogu, 22, a Nigerian national serving as an able seaman with the U.S. Navy, with murder, burglary, and a violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law.

Ugbogu has denied that he had any intention to murder and rob the victim, telling Kanagawa Prefectural Police investigators, "A voice ordered me to stab him."

However, prosecutors determined that they can press charges against Ugbogu.


Related articles

* U.S. sailor says he didn't intend to kill taxi driver
* Police say unusuable credit card indicates U.S. sailor planned fatal stabbing
* U.S. sailor heard voice in head telling him to stab someone, lawyer says
* U.S. Navy able seaman arrested for taxi driver's murder

(Mainichi Japan) April 25, 2008

U.S. Marine faces court-martial over alleged rape in Okinawa

April 25, 2008

NAHA -- A 38-year-old U.S. Marine who was arrested by Okinawa Prefectural Police on suspicion of raping a junior high school girl but released after the girl withdrew her complaint faces a court-martial, U.S. forces in Okinawa said.

The U.S. Marine headquarters in Okinawa said Friday that the Marine would undergo a general court-marital. He is set to face charges over five military law violations including rape. The date for the court-martial remains undecided.

U.S. court-martials are divided into three types: summary, special and general. In cases involving serious crimes, preliminary hearings are often held before general court-martials, but such hearings were not referred to in the announcement.

The Marine was arrested by Okinawa Prefectural Police on Feb. 11 on suspicion of raping a junior high school girl in a vehicle in Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture, the previous evening. However, on Feb. 29 the student dropped her complaint, and the Marine was not charged by Japanese prosecutors. The Marine Corps subsequently took him into custody and had been conducting an investigation.

(Mainichi Japan) April 25, 2008

U.S. sailor indicted for slaying, robbing taxi driver in Yokosuka

Friday, April 25, 2008

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) Public prosecutors indicted 22-year-old U.S. Navy Seaman Olatunboson Ugbogu on Thursday for the murder-robbery of a taxi driver last month in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Ugbogu, a Nigerian national and crew member of the 7th Fleet cruiser Cowpens, is charged with fatally stabbing 61-year-old taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi with a kitchen knife on March 19 and fleeing without paying a cab fare of around ¥19,000.

The Justice Ministry has already notified the U.S. military in Japan that it will exercise its jurisdiction.

Ugbogu's trial will focus on his criminal responsibility because he has denied any intent to kill or rob the driver and has told investigators that he heard a "voice" ordering him to murder the man.

The incident occurred while the U.S. Navy in Japan was searching for Ugbogu as a suspected deserter. Ugbogu ran away from Yokosuka naval base in early March.

The Yokohama District Public Prosecutor's Office suspects that Ugbogu intended to rob the taxi driver because he needed money for his getaway, according to investigation sources.

Meanwhile, Japanese prosecutors said they filed an indictment against a U.S. military policeman in Okinawa Thursday on charges of inflicting injury and theft in connection with an assault on a Japanese taxi driver in March.

Japanese authorities took Darius Brunson into custody from U.S. military detention, the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office said.

Diet panel nixes U.S. base-fee pact

Friday, April 25, 2008
Kyodo News

An opposition-dominated House of Councilors committee voted down Thursday a bilateral agreement that requires Japan to pay some ¥140 billion a year until fiscal 2010 to help run U.S. military bases.

The accord is also expected to be rejected by the full Upper House on Friday, but the rejection will be overridden the same day because it already passed the House of Representatives. Lower House votes on treaties take precedence under a constitutional provision.

Implementation of the accord, already delayed, will be in early May, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The old agreement expired March 31 due to Diet disapproval for a government plan to extend it for fiscal 2008, which began April 1.

Under the new accord, Japan will earmark ¥141.6 billion to maintain U.S. bases in fiscal 2008 but reduce the utility fees it pays by ¥400 million in both fiscal 2009 and 2010.

After the old agreement expired, the United States had to cover the expenses, including utility and labor costs, until the new accord takes effect.

Ministry plans to set up new defense panel / Suits, uniforms to jointly advise minister

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Defense Ministry will set up a new decision-making council of senior officers and administrative ministry officials to discuss defense policy and better deal with emergencies, sources said Thursday.

It will be the first phase of reforms at the ministry in the wake of a series of scandals, including the collision between an Aegis-equipped destroyer and a fishing boat in February. By bringing together the so-called suits with the uniforms, the new council aims to establish a system to properly support the defense minister, the sources said.

To realize the organizational change, the ministry hopes to submit a bill to revise the law on the setting of the ministry to a planned extraordinary Diet session in autumn, according to the sources.

The new council will be headed by the defense minister and composed of the senior vice minister and senior civilian officials--including the administrative vice minister--as well as senior officers, including the chiefs of staff of the Joint Staff Office, the Ground Staff Office, Maritime Staff Office, Air Staff Office, and the chief of the intelligence headquarters.

Currently, the ministry has a council of director generals and chiefs of staff, which meets several times a year, as well as a defense council, which the defense minister calls whenever the ministry head sees fit. But because such councils are not based on a law but on memorandums, critics have said the councils do not have clear roles or power and exist only in name. Administrative officials have complained that their opinions tend to be ignored at the council of director generals and chiefs of staff, according to the sources.

The new council will replace these existing councils, and this new council's authorities and responsibilities will be stipulated in law. Along with the change, the ministry is considering the abolishment of the director general position--an administrative official who assists the defense minister--and the introduction of the position of assistant to the defense minister. In such a case, retired Self-Defense Forces officials or other civilians will be appointed to the position.

When the Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Atago collided with a fishing boat in February, the ministry drew fire for its initial reaction to the incident.

The new council would meet in such an emergency to discuss how to deal with the situation.

Administrative officials, who have power over budgeting and personnel management, and uniformed officers, who have experience in dealing with SDF activities, have long been at odds.

The ministry decided to set up the new council because it believes the barrier between the two sides should be eliminated and that they should work together to assist the defense minister, the sources said. If the new council successfully manages to get the two sides to talk to each other on a regular basis, it would mark a significant change in the ministry, they said.

(Apr. 25, 2008)

U.S. Marine charged with violations of UCMJ, sent to General Court-Martial

Release number: 08-008
April 25, 2008

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP S.D. BUTLER, OKINAWA, Japan - Charges have been referred against U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott, who has been charged with several violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in connection with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old Okinawan female on Feb. 10.

As a result of a Marine Corps investigation, 3rd Marine Division Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Robert B. Neller, referred charges against Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott to a General Court-Martial on April 21, 2008.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott has been charged with two violations of Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including rape of a child under 16 and abusive sexual contact with a child under the age of 16; one violation of Article 107, specifically making a false official statement; and two violations of Article 134, including adultery and kidnapping through inveigling.

The above are merely accusations. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial.

Court-martial dates have not yet been determined.

Japan's Diet to approve budget for US forces

2008/04/25 06:14

Japan's Diet is expected to approve an agreement on Friday concerning financial support for US forces in the country over the next 3 years.

The Lower House has passed the new bilateral agreement and sent it to the Upper House for deliberations. But the foreign affairs and defense committee of the opposition-controlled Upper House voted against the accord on Thursday.

Opposition parties oppose it, saying the financial burden of more than 1.3 billion dollars requested under the accord cannot gain public support amid the presently severe fiscal conditions.

The plenary session of the Upper House on Friday is expected to vote against the agreement.

The 2 chambers will then form a joint council as called for by the Constitution when their decisions are split.

But the council is likely to fail to reconcile differences, which will make the Lower House decision take precedence as stipulated by the Constitution.

Japan indicts US sailor in stabbing death of cab driver

By SHINO YUASA – 5 hours ago

TOKYO (AP) — Prosecutors charged a U.S. sailor Thursday in the stabbing death of a taxi driver, one of a series of alleged crimes by American service members that has stirred anger in Japan.

Olatunbosun Ugbogu, a Nigerian citizen serving in the U.S. Navy, was charged with fatally stabbing Masaaki Takahashi, 61, near a U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on March 19, Yokohama District Court officials said in a statement.

The sailor, who served on the USS Cowpens, faces charges of murder, robbery and illegal possession of a weapon. Japanese police have said he confessed to the crime.

Court officials said the sailor could face a death sentence if convicted.

Ugbogu, 22, was taken into U.S. custody March 22 after Navy authorities apprehended him in Tokyo on an earlier desertion charge. Navy and Japanese authorities first questioned him about the killing after a credit card in his name was allegedly found in the victim's car.

Ugbogu was handed over to Japanese authorities earlier this month under a bilateral security pact.

Separately Thursday, Japanese prosecutors filed an indictment against a U.S. military policeman on the southern island of Okinawa on charges of assault and theft in an attack on a taxi driver in March, Kyodo News agency reported. The U.S. military handed the officer to Japanese authorities in line with the Japan-U.S. Status of the Forces Agreement, Kyodo said.

Public anger over the American military presence in Japan has mounted over a series allegations against U.S. servicemen. In another case, a Marine was accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in February on the southern island of Okinawa.

Japanese prosecutors dropped charges against the Marine and released him after the girl withdrew her complaint, but the U.S. military is continuing its own investigation.

In Yokosuka, a Japanese court convicted a U.S. sailor of robbing and fatally beating a 56-year-old Japanese woman in 2006 and sentenced him to life in prison.

Some 50,000 American troops are based in Japan.

Marine wife had mom mail marijuana to her

By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, Arpil [sic] 25, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — A Marine spouse pleaded guilty in Japanese court Wednesday to having marijuana mailed to her at Camp Courtney.

Jessica M. Montgomery, 23, told the court she had her mother send 5.98 grams (about 0.21 ounces) of marijuana from Ohio to her APO address last May.

Japanese customs officials detected the marijuana concealed in a package addressed to Montgomery on May 24 at Camp Kinser before it could be delivered to her at Courtney, according to the indictment.

A Japanese prosecutor recommended a one-year prison term with hard labor, while Montgomery’s lawyer asked the court to suspend the sentence.

Before adjourning the one-hour hearing, Judge Hiroyuki Yoshii admonished Montgomery by saying that living in a foreign country means representing one’s nation. “Your action could not only damage yourself but disgrace your country,” he said.

U.S. military policeman indicted over Okinawa taxi holdup

Apr 24 06:34 AM US/Eastern

NAHA, Japan, April 24 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Public prosecutors indicted a 21-year-old U.S. military policeman Thursday on charges of assault and theft in connection with a taxi holdup in March.

A taxi driver was assaulted on March 16 in the city of Okinawa and was robbed of around 8,000 yen in cash.

Four sons of U.S. servicemen stationed in Okinawa have been arrested over the incident.

The military policeman, stationed at Kadena Air Base, is suspected of taking the four to a location near the crime scene, local police said earlier.

U.S. officials attend key Taiwan military exercise for the 1st time

Apr 24 02:41 AM US/Eastern

TAIPEI, April 24 (AP) - (Kyodo) — U.S. officials attended for the first time recent military exercises in Taiwan designed to test the island's preparedness in dealing with a full-blown attack by China, Taiwan's National Security Council announced Thursday.

The announcement in a press release issued by Taiwan's Office of the President followed media reports Thursday that Stephen Young, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in the absence of official U.S.-Taiwan ties, participated in an evacuation drill Tuesday as part of the exercises by riding in a Taiwanese armored personnel carrier.

The exercises reveal a plan of protection and evacuation for U.S. and Japanese officials stationed in Taiwan in the event of an attack, local media reports said.

Approached for comment Thursday, AIT spokesman Thomas Hodges did not deny the reports, but he declined to comment.

"For information on the Yu Shan exercise, we'd simply refer you to the Taiwan side," he said, referring to the annual exercises in which the president and other high officials, including the Cabinet, are spirited away to a command bunker by the military during a simulated attack.

This year marks the first time that U.S. officials have attended the exercises amid years of requests from Washington to Taipei to observe them, the press release said.

"For the sake of mutual benefit and strengthening bilateral exchanges...the council...agreed to limited participation by the U.S. in this year's exercises," the release said.

However, U.S. officials were not allowed to attend a "crisis response meeting" by top Taiwanese leaders, including President Chen Shui-bian, it added.

The United States and Japan, although not diplomatic allies of Taiwan, do include protecting the self-ruled island from rival China as part of their shared strategic goals.

Tuesday's participation by U.S. officials, reports said, reveal Taiwan's plan to protect both AIT and Japanese officials if China were to invade.

Asked for comment Thursday, Ryoji Takagaki, a spokesman for Japan's de facto embassy in Taiwan, the Interchange Association, said he had "not heard of such a plan."

Washington and Tokyo do not station military personnel in Taipei to protect their missions given the lack of official ties with the island.

However, AIT recently announced in an advertisement calling for contractors for its new headquarters in Taipei that it intends to construct "Marine Security Guards Quarters."

Posting a Marine Security Guard attachment in Taipei would be a small but politically significant development in the delicate U.S.-Taiwan relationship, suggesting a move toward more official ties, at least in form.

The U.S. State Department has denied it intends to post U.S. Marines in Taiwan.

Japanese prosecutors indict U.S. sailor over taxi driver's murder

Apr 24 05:31 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - YOKOHAMA, April 24 (Kyodo) — Public prosecutors indicted 22-year-old U.S. Navy Seaman Olatunboson Ugbogu on Thursday for murder-robbery in connection with the death of a taxi driver last month in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Ugbogu, a Nigerian national and crew member of the 7th Fleet cruiser Cowpens, is charged with fatally stabbing 61-year-old taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi with a kitchen knife on March 19 and running away without paying a cab fare of around 19,000 yen.

The Justice Ministry has already notified the U.S. military in Japan that it will exercise its jurisdiction.

Ugbogu's trial will focus on his criminal responsibility as he has denied any intent to kill or rob the driver and has told investigators that he heard a "voice" ordering him to murder the man.

The incident occurred while the U.S. Navy in Japan was searching for Ugbogu as a suspected deserter. Ugbogu ran away from the Yokosuka naval base in early March.

LDP eyeing fall submission of bill on permanent SDF dispatch law

Apr 24 05:04 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 24 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has given up on a plan to submit a bill during the current session of the Diet for a permanent law to authorize the overseas dispatch of defense troops but will aim to submit it in the next extraordinary session expected to convene this fall, a veteran LDP lawmaker said Thursday.

Taku Yamasaki, head of the LDP research committee on foreign policy, made the remarks during a meeting of an LDP project team that is seeking to enact the law to enable the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces troops overseas whenever necessary. Such dispatches are currently restricted under the war-renouncing Constitution.

Submission of the bill has apparently been postponed because of the likelihood of insufficient time for deliberations during the current session, amid intensifying wrangling between the ruling coalition -- composed of the LDP and the New Komeito party -- and the opposition camp over such contentious issues as the provisional tax rate on gasoline.

Referring to the expiration of a temporary law in January next year for the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, Yamasaki said, "In order to continue international peace cooperation activities by members of the SDF, we hope to enact the permanent law at least by the end of this year."

The temporary law authorizes Japan to provide fuel in the Indian Ocean to vessels from other countries engaged in U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.

Yamasaki mentioned a plan to compile an outline for the bill by the June 15 end of the current parliamentary session.

Japan has no permanent law authorizing SDF dispatches overseas apart from U.N. peacekeeping operations because of restrictions under the Constitution and has basically sent the SDF on international missions on the basis of temporary laws.

Report: Japan charges US sailor in taxi driver's death (AP)

Thursday, April 24, 2008 6:14 PM CST

TOKYO - The Kyodo News agency says Japanese prosecutors have charged a U.S. sailor in the stabbing death of a taxi driver near Tokyo.

Olatunbosun Ugbogu is a 22-year-old Nigerian citizen serving in the Navy.

The sailor is accused of killing the taxi driver near the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on March 19.

The Navy handed Ugbogu over to Japanese authorities earlier this month. The news agency reported the indictment on Thursday.

U.S. judge puts off decision on motion to invalidate Miura arrest

Apr 24 12:49 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - LOS ANGELES, April 24 (Kyodo) — A U.S. judge on Wednesday withheld making a decision on a motion to suppress an arrest warrant against Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura in connection with the shooting death of his wife in the early 1980s.

California Superior Court judge Steven Van Sicklen requested additional time to examine the legality surrounding the motion. "I don't want to rush into a ruling," he said during the proceeding held in downtown Los Angeles. "I'm going to do research on my own about this."

The next hearing is scheduled for May 9.

Miura's Los Angeles defense attorney Mark Geragos filed the motion on March 14 to quash the arrest warrant and dismiss the felony complaint to extradite Miura, 60, from Saipan, a U.S. territory, where he has been held since his arrest on Feb. 22 on murder and conspiracy in connection with the shooting of his wife, Kazumi, in November 1981.

Kazumi died a year later in Japan. Miura was later charged in Japan for Kazumi's death but was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2003.

Deliberations on Wednesday centered on whether Miura's presence is required in the California court.

"Mr. Miura has to appear in this jurisdiction where the crimes occurred in order to face charges for those crimes," Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson said in a conference held outside the courthouse after the proceedings.

Pointing to a California penal code that would allow for an immunity defense, defense attorney Geragos refuted the prosecution, saying, "Our argument is that you can decide it without Mr. Miura being here and I believe that is the issue now."

Geragos reiterated the warrant violates double jeopardy laws and is inherently unconstitutional, given Miura's acquittal in Japan. "The statue says you cannot institute a proceeding once you've been acquitted," Geragos told members of the media.

Judge Van Sicklen acknowledged that points brought up by the defense regarding two separate penal codes created issues that were "not previously anticipated" and invited both parties to submit supplemental documentation.

The defense attorney suggested the judge may first render a decision on whether Miura's presence is required in court before he decides on whether the arrest warrant should be invalidated.

Host nation support for U.S. bases rejected by upper house panel

Apr 23 11:27 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 24 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The opposition-dominated House of Councillors Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense voted down on Thursday a Japan-U.S. agreement that requires Tokyo to pay some 140 billion yen annually to help run U.S. military bases in Japan for three years until fiscal 2010.

Photo: House of Councillors Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense voted down on April 24 a Japan-U.S. agreement to help run U.S. military bases in Japan

The accord is also expected to be rejected at an upper house plenary session Friday, but the rejection will be overridden the same day because it already passed in the House of Representatives. A lower house vote on treaties, including the agreement in question, takes precedence under a constitutional provision.

The implementation of the accord, already delayed, will be in early May if the agreement is approved Friday as expected, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Photo: House of Councillors rejects the consideration budget

The old agreement expired March 31 due to parliamentary disapproval for a government plan to extend it for fiscal 2008, which began April 1.

Under the new accord, Japan will earmark 141.6 billion yen for the budget to maintain U.S. bases in fiscal 2008 but reduce the utility fees it pays by 400 million yen in both fiscal 2009 and 2010.

After the old agreement expired, the United States had to cover the expenses, including utility and labor costs, until the new accord takes effect.

LDP panel proposes SDF officer as aide to premier

Apr 23 09:43 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 24 (AP) - (Kyodo) — A governing party panel on Defense Ministry reforms endorsed a set of proposals Thursday featuring the idea of appointing a Self- Defense Forces officer as an aide to the prime minister in a bid to strengthen the power of uniformed officers in the ministry.

The subcommittee under the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security also proposed to upgrade the status of the chief of the ministry's Joint Staff Office and set up a command center under the SDF chief so the JSO chief can directly operate an SDF unit without going through the chiefs of the ground, maritime and air self- defense forces.

The ministry's Operational Policy Bureau, a key section that consists of bureaucrats, should be scrapped and the JSO, which currently comprises uniformed officers, should include civilian workers, the subcommittee said.

Former vice Defense Agency chief Yasukazu Hamada who heads the subcommittee told a press conference the set of proposals is chiefly aimed at speeding up the decision-making process in a possible emergency.

Hamada said, "I hope these proposals will be included" in a final government plan to reform the ministry which Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura's panel is trying to compile sometime around the end of June.

The subcommittee will present the proposals to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda as well as Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning final approval in the party, Hamada said, without elaborating on the timing.

The ministry is trying to present its own proposal for its reorganization to the governmental panel on the issue next month, ministry official said.

Hazardous Apology Duty - Lt. Gen. Rice

Click for Japan Times Editorial Cartoons

'Yasukuni' preview held by lawyers in Tokyo

Thursday, April 24, 2008
Kyodo News

A public preview of director Li Ying's controversial documentary "Yasukuni" was held Wednesday in Tokyo by lawyers associations who feared the city's populace might miss the chance to see the film because cinemas are canceling plans to screen it.

In Tokyo, four cinemas that originally planned to show the documentary earlier this month have canceled the screenings, while another cinema has announced that it will show the film starting May 3.

More than 20 movie theaters across Japan plan to screen the documentary in May or later, according to a distributor.

The screening Wednesday was given by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the Tokyo Bar Association and other attorney organizations.

Shigeoki Hatakeyama, 74, of Tokyo, said after the screening that he didn't understand the movie's message nor the theaters' reasons for backing away from it.

"There were some scenes that some people may find anti-Japanese, such as photos of heads decapitated by Japanese soldiers. Overall, I felt the message of the film is not clear. I think the director could have presented his message clearer," said Hatakeyama, who was among the 200 people selected from about 1,500 who applied to attend the preview.

"I don't understand why movie theaters backed out of showing this film."

Emiko Ikeda, a 53-year-old magazine editor from Yokohama, said the movie was even-handed in its treatment of Japan.

"It is a great documentary film calmly portraying Japan and Japanese people through Yasukuni Shrine," Ikeda said. "This film is neither anti-Japan nor anti-China. . . . I think this film should be watched by many Japanese people."

University of Tokyo professor Tetsuya Takahashi, who is well-versed in the issues surrounding Yasukuni Shrine, criticized the cinemas that shied away from the film by exercising "self-restraint" for putting their right to freedom of expression at risk.

Suspected U.S. chemical mortar shells from World War II found in Okinawa Prefecture

04/24/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Seventy-six unexploded U.S. mortar shells, including 22 that may contain chemical toxins, were found in a densely populated residential area in Okinawa Prefecture this month, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

Judging from their shape and other features, the shells could be from the Battle of Okinawa that erupted in the closing months of World War II in 1945.

The Ground Self-Defense Force has left the 22 shells at the spot where they were found in Urasoe and is asking the U.S. military to check them.

The shells are corroded but pose no risk of leakage, according to the officials.

The GSDF plans to place the 22 shells in airtight containers for transportation.

So far, there have been no confirmed cases of U.S. chemical weapons abandoned in Japan, the officials said.

According to the Defense Ministry, the shells were discovered on a privately owned plot of land in Urasoe, adjacent to the prefectural capital of Naha.

On April 7, Okinawa prefectural police requested the GSDF to remove the shells. Four days later, the GSDF found 76 shells of the U.S. military at the site.

The GSDF recovered 54 of the weapons but stopped short of collecting the remaining 22 because they seemed to contain a liquid substance.

The GSDF identified the weapons as M57 mortar shells. There are two types of M57 shells: one used for conventional smoke bombs and the other that can contain highly lethal chemicals.

There is no clear evidence that the U.S. military brought chemical weapons into the prefecture or used them during the Battle of Okinawa.

At the time of the Battle of Okinawa, the wartime use of chemical or biological weapons was prohibited under the Geneva Protocol signed in 1925. But their development and possession were allowed.

Before the United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972, the U.S. military stored chemical weapons at bases in Okinawa Prefecture, such as the Kadena Ammunition Depot, for use in the Vietnam War and elsewhere. (IHT/Asahi: April 24,2008)

Satellite images reveal China's underground nuclear submarine base

Rowan Callick
China correspondent
April 24, 2008

CHINA is building a large underground nuclear submarine base at its sub-tropical Hainan Island, says Jane's Information Group, specialists in military intelligence.

Jane's says it was first informed by Asian defence sources about the construction of the base five years ago, but has now been able to confirm this through high-resolution, newly commercially available satellite imagery.

The Chinese navy has rapidly acquired a blue-water capacity. It has 57 submarines, five of them nuclear-powered, with many of them equipped with Yingji-8 anti-ship cruise missiles that they can launch while still submerged.

It underlined this capacity 18 months ago when a 75m long Song S20 class vessel, built in the Wuhan shipyard, with unusually quiet German diesel engines, suddenly surfaced in the middle of an American battle fleet.

The submarine appeared within 8km of the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, in international waters not far from Japan's southern island of Okinawa.

The new Yulin submarine base is located near Sanya, a fast developing resort centre on the south of Hainan. It was at Sanya where Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and China's President Hu Jintao met 12 days ago.

The island, half the size of Tasmania, is best known for tourism and tropical fruit, and has also hosted most of the recent Miss World contests.

It is about 200km from the Vietnam coast. Jane's says the extent of construction revealed by the DigitalGlobe imagery indicates Yulin could become a key base for aircraft carriers and other large surface craft, as well as for submarines.

The first type 094 second-generation nuclear ballistic missile submarine was shifted there last December.

Jane's says such a base has implications "for China's control of the South China Sea and the strategically vital straits in the area, and underlines Beijing's desire to assert tighter control over this region".

Typically, China has offered no public explanation of this development, which has strategic implications for the hotly disputed Spratly Islands - believed to be oil-rich - within the South China Sea where China and Vietnam have the most extensive claims, as well as for the busy shipping lanes between Europe, Southeast Asia and North Asia, and for Taiwan, 900km north-east of Hainan.

And Jane's adds: "China's increasing dependence on imported petroleum and mineral resources has contributed to an intensified concern about defending its access to vital sea lanes, particularly to its south."

Taiwan's National Security Council recently reported that the number of tactical ballistic missiles deployed by China against it had reached more than 1400 at the start of this year, augmented by more than 190 cruise missiles.

The council said China's navy, with more than 1000 vessels and 250,000 personnel, was acquiring the capacity to blockade Taiwan.

Taiwan is itself set to spend $12.3billion on eight diesel-electric attack submarines that it would buy from the US, although selection of the prime contractor would probably take a further 15 months. A decision on that purchase is expected shortly after the May 20 inauguration of Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou.

Taiwan already has two Dutch-built Hai-lung (Sea Dragon) submarines, and two former US World War II-era submarines that are used only for training.

A report produced earlier this month by Asian Security Affairs specialist Shirley Kan for the US Congressional Research Service said: "The People's Liberation Army has continued to build up its forces that threaten Taiwan, raising the question of whether the military balance already has shifted to favour China."

If Mr Ma's Kuomintang party negotiates a withdrawal of the missiles targeting Taiwan, says the report, Taiwan's own "military deployments and missile programs could be subject to China's demands".

JGSDF soldier held in stabbing death of cabbie

By Travis J. Tritten and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, April 24, 2008

A 19-year-old member of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stabbing a taxi driver to death in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, prefecture police said.

The JGSDF member, whose name was withheld because he is a minor under Japanese law, told police he stabbed the driver early Tuesday morning in Aira, which about 20 minutes from Kagoshima city at the southern edge of Kyushu, a spokesman for Kagoshima Prefecture police said.

Saburo Kamizono, 58, was found bleeding in his taxi after a passer-by reported the vehicle idling at the side of a road, the spokesman said.

A knife was found near the taxi’s driver seat, according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

The suspect was arrested at about 4 a.m. after he called authorities from a nearby police box.

The suspect is assigned to Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Nerima in Tokyo, the spokesman said. He is originally from Sapporo city in Hokkaido and his parents had filed a missing person report to the prefecture police around March 22, Asahi reported.

The incident follows the high-profile case of U.S. sailor Olatunbosun Ugbogu, who admitted to stabbing a taxi driver to death near Yokosuka Naval Base last month and skipping out on a $195 fare.

The stabbing caused increased restrictions for U.S. personnel and a renewed debate over the presence of U.S. forces in Japan.

Local bartender says ex-Yokosuka civilian pushed man who died

By Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, April 24, 2008

TOKYO — A bartender testified at the Tokyo High Court on Tuesday in an appeals hearing of a former Yokosuka Naval Base civilian who was found guilty of causing the death of a Japanese man outside a Yokosuka bar.

Sayuri Ishii testified that she saw Robert Burns Nolan, 55, push Katsumi Nakagawa, 70, on the night of Nov. 2, 2006, but she doesn’t remember when the push occurred or how hard the push was.

Yokohama District Court in Yokosuka found Nolan guilty of “bodily injury resulting in death” in September and sentenced him to three years in prison, but suspended the sentence for five years.

The conviction stemmed from a confrontation between Nolan and Nakagawa, who was intoxicated at the time.

Both were at Live Bar Buzz, near Yokosuka Naval Base.

Witnesses said Nakagawa was rowdy and wouldn’t leave the bar. The judge said Nolan “pushed” Nakagawa out of the establishment and that Nakagawa tripped and fell on the pavement.

A passerby later called an ambulance, but Nakagawa died four days later at a Yokosuka hospital.

Nolan’s defense attorney, Shunji Miyake, contends Nolan “touched” Nakagawa while trying to exit the bar quickly to avoid trouble.

This discrepancy is one of the grounds for the appeal, Miyake told Stars and Stripes.

The other is to refute previous testimony that Nolan had any “ownership interest” in the bar, he said, explaining this speaks to Nolan not having an intention to kick Nakagawa out.

However, Ishii told the court that she thinks Nolan is the owner.

“The last owner said a new owner will be coming. I didn’t know who it was but it was Bob who came, so I assumed it was him,” Ishii said.

But she said she never received her pay from Nolan, but from another person whose name she did not know.

It is a violation of U.S. Forces Japan directives for status of forces agreement personnel to have any role in the sale or service of alcoholic beverages to the Japanese public.

Nolan was scheduled to testify on Tuesday, but since Ishii’s questioning took longer than scheduled, he will take the stand May 20 at 3:20 p.m.

The three-judge panel said it hoped to conclude the hearing on that day.

Nolan is a former GS-14 human resources director for Commander Naval Forces Japan.

Nolan’s SOFA status will continue until the appeal is resolved.

Stars and Stripes reporter Allison Batdorff contributed to this report.

Extra legal help eyed for Pinay rape victim in Okinawa

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:49:00 04/23/2008

A court-appointed lawyer is now representing the 21-year-old Filipino woman allegedly raped by an American soldier in Okinawa, Japan.

"The Department wishes to inform you that the Filipino woman is represented by court-appointed lawyer. However, if the service provided by the court-appointed lawyer is deemed inadequate, the Department is ready to provide legal assistance," DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. wrote Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza on Apr. 17 letter.

Taliño-Mendoza said, however, that she and other women in Congress would prefer that the DFA engage the services of a private lawyer to reinforce the court-appointed counsel.

"The suspect in the case -- the American serviceman -- is almost surely retaining his own private lawyer, and not merely relying on court-appointed counsel. Thus, the victim also deserves the extra legal help in pursuing her case against the suspect," Taliño-Mendoza said.

"The DFA says it is ready to extend legal aid if the service of the court-appointed lawyer is deemed insufficient. But who will deem the service satisfactory or not? And when will they decide whether the service is adequate or not?" Taliño-Mendoza asked.

"We would prefer that they make a judgment now, whether the service of the court-appointed counsel is enough or not. Rather than later, or only after the rape complaint gets held up, or worse, gets thrown out."

Conejos said in his letter that the Filipino woman "went to Japan to work as an entertainer at a club in Okinawa. On Feb. 17, 2008, she met an American serviceman who asked her to go out on 'bar fine.' Afterwards, she was allegedly raped by the serviceman at a hotel room.

"The suspect US serviceman is under investigation by Japanese authorities. The Philippine embassy in Tokyo is closely coordinating with Japanese authorities, particularly on the prosecution of the case. The Philippine government is prepared to cover the cost of legal representation, if necessary."

Conejos also said that the victim's father, together with Philippine embassy officials, recently visited her at a women's shelter in Okinawa. The DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration facilitated her father's travel to Japan.

In response to Taliño-Mendoza's query as to whether the victim was lawfully deployed or illegally recruited to Japan, Conejos said his office was still awaiting pertinent information from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

The House is keeping an eye on the rape victim's case. Taliño-Mendoza stressed that the 1995 Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act put in place broad measures that now enable Philippine foreign offices to deal effectively with cases such as the Okinawa incident.

This includes the creation of the Office of the Legal Assistant for Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos under the DFA, to provide prompt aid when Filipino citizens are victimized abroad, or when they come in conflict with the law in their host countries.

Americans demand Japan outlaw possession of child porn

April 23, 2008

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer has requested Japan to formally outlaw the possession of child pornography.

Schieffer made the request during a meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura at the Prime Minister's Official Residence.

Machimura said Japan is considering revisions to the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children.

"Japan is considering what legal steps to take," Machimura told Schieffer, indicating there are bipartisan moves to outlaw mere possession of the despicable materials that are currently not explicitly banned because of loopholes in the existing legislation.

Schieffer told reporters that child pornography is an international problem and that he believes Japan will do the correct thing in its approach to it.

(Mainichi Japan) April 23, 2008

GSDF member admits murder

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

FUKUOKA (KYODO) A 19-year-old member of the Ground Self-Defense Force was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stabbing to death a taxi driver in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, police said.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, is suspected of stabbing Saburo Kamizono, 58, in the neck with a knife at around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the police. He was quoted as telling the police that he was not after money but intended to kill someone.

"I just wanted to be sentenced to death by killing someone. My target could have been anybody," the youth was quoted as telling police.

They first received a call from a motorist who spotted a taxi that had run into an embankment. Officers from Kajiki Police Station found Kamizono dead inside the blood-soaked vehicle. A knife was found near the driver's seat.

The police station later received a call from a person who confessed to the crime, the police said. The call was made from a nearby unmanned police box. Officers sent to the police box found the man.

The suspect, a private first class in the 1st Infantry Regiment at Camp Nerima in Tokyo who hails from Sapporo, went missing March 21, and his family filed a missing person report with Hokkaido police.

It remains unknown why the suspect was in Kagoshima. He told investigators he went to the city of Kagoshima by train and got into a taxi at Kagoshima Chuo Station.

"I seriously apologize for the incident," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters. He said he would withhold further comment until he obtains details of the incident.

A U.S. serviceman was recently arrested for allegedly stabbing to death a taxi driver in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on March 19.

GSDF sergeants arrested for attempted gang rape

April 23, 2008

KUMAMOTO -- Two Ground Self-Defense Force sergeants who tried to gang rape a female acquaintance have been arrested, police said.

Toshiaki Maruyama, 34, and Shozo Yoshida, 35, the sergeants stationed in Kumamoto, were arrested for attempted gang rape.

Both admit to the allegations against them.

Police said that one morning late in December 2005 the pair tried to rape the 27-year-old employee of a restaurant where she worked after it had closed. Police said Maruyama ripped down her trousers and Yoshida pinned her down before they realized what they were doing and stopped.

The soldiers both knew the woman, but when Yoshida kept using obscenities around her after the incident, she pressed charges against him in March this year, police said.

(Mainichi Japan) April 23, 2008

GSDF member arrested in slaying of cabby

04/23/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

KAGOSHIMA--A 19-year-old Ground Self-Defense Force member, who told police he was determined to kill someone no matter who, was arrested Tuesday in the murder of a taxi driver near here earlier in the day.

The teenager, who holds the rank of private first class, admitted to stabbing taxi driver Saburo Kamizono, police said.

The incident occurred along a national highway in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, around 2:30 a.m.

The youth, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, had been on unauthorized leave from the GSDF's 1st Infantry Regiment at Camp Nerima in Tokyo since March 21.

Kamizono, 58, a resident of Kagoshima, was found slumped in his cab after a passer-by alerted police around 2:55 a.m. that a taxi "had hit an embankment" on Highway No. 10.

He was found with a wound to the neck. A knife was retrieved from the driver's seat.

The police received a call from the teen around 3:40 a.m., saying he had killed a taxi driver.

Police rushed to an unmanned police box about 1 kilometer away where the youth was waiting and arrested him.

Police said the boy told them he had traveled to JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station by train, where he hailed Kamizono's taxi.

"I had planned to kill someone," he was quoted as telling the police, adding that he had no particular individual in mind. He said he stabbed the driver from behind but did not steal any cash or valuables.

The teen was on leave from March 19 to 21, but had failed to return to the camp afterward, according to the GSDF's Eastern Army Headquarters.

"After correctly grasping the facts, we must extend an apology to the victim and make clear what was behind this incident," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference Tuesday.

The Kagoshima taxi company for which Kamizono worked said it had called on its drivers to take caution after the March 19 fatal stabbing of a cab driver in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

A 22-year-old U.S. Navy serviceman, who was absent from his ship without leave, was arrested in the case on April 3.(IHT/Asahi: April 23,2008)

POLITICAL PULSE / Are winds of dissolution blowing? / Koizumi, Koga fan speculation of early lower house election

By Koichi Akaza

In recent weeks, the air of Nagatacho, Tokyo--the nation's political nerve center--has been increasingly filled with speculation about whether the House of Representatives will be dissolved in the near future.

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose recent remarks and conduct have drawn a good deal of popular attention, was the first lawmaker to spark such speculation.

In his speech at a party organized by the Kanagawa prefectural chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party on April 7, Koizumi used a figure of speech referring to a possible lower house dissolution, saying, "I feel a certain wind is beginning to blow."

Any mention of "wind" can readily stir thoughts of a lower house dissolution and an ensuing general election. If one says, "A wind is beginning to blow," the insinuation is that the lower house could be dissolved anytime soon. When such a wind develops, each member of the lower house steps up preparations for an anticipated general election by returning to his or her home constituency.

Koizumi's "wind" remark may have given other legislators the impetus to act and speak by following in his footsteps. During the April 7 party, LDP Election Strategy Council Chairman Makoto Koga also surprised attendees when he declared: "Instead of saying, 'An election won't be held this year,' it's about time I started saying, '[A general election] could be held at any moment.'"

Following the LDP's massive defeat in last July's House of Councillors election that made the opposition Democratic Party of Japan the dominant force in the upper house, lawmakers' primary concern has been when the next lower house election will be held. This is main reason that remarks of this kind by prominent politicians such as Koizumi and Koga attract so much attention.

Spurred by its electoral victory, the DPJ has since been carried away by its own ambition to see the lower house dissolved and defeat the ruling coalition in a lower house election, thus taking over the reins of government.

This can be seen in DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa's aborted attempt to engineer a grand coalition between his party and the LDP-New Komeito alliance last autumn. Ozawa misjudged the sentiment prevailing among DPJ lawmakers. Faced with hard-core opposition from DPJ members over such a broad alliance, Ozawa eventually had to abandon his bid, despite reaching an accord with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda during a series of talks on establishing an expanded ruling coalition.

Meanwhile, many LDP members remain cautious about a hasty dissolution of the lower house. Admittedly, some party legislators insisted on setting an early date, reflecting higher-than-anticipated popular support for Fukuda following the establishment of his new government to replace then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet in September.

However, this fervor has since subsided with a rapid decline in popular support for the Fukuda Cabinet in recent months.

Instead, there have been growing calls to wait for current members of that chamber to serve out their terms, or until just before their terms expire.

The terms of the lower house members elected in a 2005 election will expire in September 2009. Today, the LDP-New Komeito coalition holds more than two-thirds of seats in the lower house--the result of an overwhelming LDP victory in a general election in which Koizumi mercilessly forced a number of LDP members who opposed his postal reform drive to quit the party.

It is a forgone conclusion that the ruling coalition will be unable to retain a two-thirds majority in the lower house in the next general election.

This prediction has aroused calls among some LDP members to wait until lower house members' terms expire or until immediately prior to the terms' expiration.

In fact, Koga had, until very recently, continued to insist on waiting for the lower house members to serve out their terms if a general election is called.

His call was echoed by a majority of LDP members who thought it impossible for the ruling parties to dissolve the lower house in light of the circumstances. They also were convinced the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority in the lower house would help make headway in deliberations on the fiscal 2009 budget during next year's ordinary Diet session.

However, Koizumi's "wind" remark has encouraged many LDP leaders to speak in a manner that suggests the party is ready for a general election.

These politicians include LDP Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki. In a lecture held in Nara Prefecture on Saturday, he said: "One option [for Fukuda] might be to dissolve the lower house by examining the optimum time to do so.

"If the ruling parties win a majority [in the lower house], it means the DPJ will be unable to take power. In that event, some DPJ members who don't favor party President Ozawa's approach may take actions [to split the opposition party]."

Another senior LDP member has commented on Ibuki's remark, saying: "Although the Cabinet's approval rating remains low, the LDP enjoys high popular support. If we work really hard, we'll be able to win a lower house election."

Among political circles, however, these remarks have not necessarily been taken at face value. Many lawmakers regard these seemingly aggressive comments as an attempt by the LDP's top cadre to pull party members together. The LDP leadership is believed to fear that the low approval rating for Fukuda's Cabinet may lead them to believe the lower house will not be dissolved in the immediate future, thus letting down their guard in the face of a possible general election.

All in all, it's not too clear whether Koizumi's "wind" is truly beginning to blow. This makes lawmakers extremely sensitive to the slightest change in the current political climate.

This has given rise to speculation that if winds presaging a lower house dissolution start to blow, Fukuda's administration may suffer a fate similar to that of former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet.

In light of its low approval rating, Mori's Cabinet had to resign prior to an upper house election in July 2001. Mori's decision to quit reflected growing concerns among LDP members that the party could not do well in the election if Mori stayed on as leader.

Mori was subsequently replaced by Koizumi as prime minister. Koizumi captured the hearts and minds of voters with what amounted to a "Koizumi boom." His exceedingly high popularity earned the LDP a massive win in the 2001 upper house election.

The present speculation surrounding the fate of the Fukuda government is based on reflections of these 2001 political events.

LDP members who fuel such speculation want Fukuda's Cabinet to step down if its low support rating continues. These members are hopeful of fighting the next lower house election under a new prime minister.

Speculation also is circulating that if Fukuda dissolves the lower house at his own initiative, he will have to notch up several diplomatic accomplishments, including a successful conclusion to the Group of Eight summit meeting in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, in July. This is absolutely essential if Fukuda's administration is to boost its popularity, according to some observers.

Each political leader harbors his own theory on how the current political situation will unfold.

How will the winds of lower house dissolution blow? This question likely will continue to make political observers watchful to see which direction the winds will take.

Akaza is political news editor of The Yomiuri Shimbun.

(Apr. 23, 2008)

Court leaves ASDF Iraq mission up in air / Ambiguous law blamed for legal confusion

Hidemichi Katsumata / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer

The recent ruling in the Nagoya High Court that labeled some of the Air Self-Defense Force's activities in Iraq as violating the Constitution raises questions as to whether the government has been transparent in its efforts to inform the public over the use of the ASDF in such missions.

"Now that it has come to this, we should sue the government for the mental anguish we've experienced after engaging in activities that are considered to be in violation of the Constitution," one SDF officer joked.

He was not a so-called antiwar SDF member, but a high-ranking officer.

The Nagoya High Court's ruling rejected the plaintiffs' demand that the mission be suspended as being unreasonable. But the ruling also added that the ASDF activities in Iraq had violated Article 9 of the Constitution.

As the government won the lawsuit, it now has no avenue to appeal the decision--and it also is unable to argue that the ASDF mission is not in violation of Article 9.

Though the SDF officer was kidding, he realized there is a little chance that the Nagoya High Court's labeling the activities as unconstitutional will be reexamined before the Supreme Court.

But the SDF officers believe that if they can file another lawsuit against the government, the Supreme Court or other lower court judges will almost certainly return a different judgment.

Even when the ruling was being handed down, ASDF forces were continuing missions in Iraq while trying to avoid the danger presented by antiaircraft missiles.

One senior ASDF officer has insisted that because the Self-Defense Forces' missions were highly dangerous, the public should be made fully aware of their activities and the reasoning behind them.

"The ASDF personnel in Iraq, and their family members at home, share mixed feelings about the high court ruling," the officer said.

The ASDF forces have been deployed in Iraq since 2004. In the summer of 2006, when a Ground Self-Defense Force unit withdrew from Samawah, the main purpose for the ASDF's activities changed from "providing the Iraqi people with humanitarian aid so they could rebuild their country" to "providing logistical support to ensure the safety of multinational forces."

Baghdad International Airport was added to the list of areas the ASDF covers. Its use of C-130 airplanes has shifted from providing transportation for humanitarian aid to assisting with the transportation of U.S. and other multinational forces, while also looking after U.N. officials.

The recent changes have forced the ASDF unit to undertake more dangerous missions, as its planes now fly over Baghdad and other nearby areas where multinational forces have been carrying out sweeps to target insurgents.

On one occasion, four mortar shells flew over the top of an ASDF plane that had landed and set down at Baghdad Airport.

The C-130 planes' missile warning systems have been busy. In June last year, the ASDF unit canceled 10 flights, the most it had ever canceled in one month, after receiving information warning of the danger the missions faced.

How much time has the government spent in trying to obtain public support while clearly detailing the nature of the ASDF's missions in Iraq and the justification for Japan to continue to provide support in Iraq as a member of the international community?

The Nagoya High Court ruled that Baghdad should be considered a combat zone as defined by laws outlining measures for the restoration of Iraq. The court also concluded that the ASDF unit's activities of transporting multinational forces to combat zones constituted "participation in the use of force," which is prohibited by the Constitution.

In previous Diet deliberations on legislation over whether SDF units would be used to assist in the use of force, the government presented definitions of "frontlines and areas that were considered to be safe" and "combat zones and noncombat zones" and explained that if the SDF units work in safe areas or noncombat zones, their actions would not be seen to be contributing to the use of force.

However, military experts have repeatedly stated that drawing a clear definition between the two, when the effective range of weaponry used is increasing year by year, is difficult and ambiguous.

In addition, even if SDF units have been used in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution, which outlines the rules and regulations of those involved in such missions, and regardless of where they are carrying out their activities, militants that are fighting against multinational forces are likely to see Japan in the same light, as the ASDF transports personnel and supplies used by the U.S.-led forces.

The Nagoya High Court's ruling can be seen to be taking advantage of the ambiguous nature of the government's explanations.

First of all, the Constitution is not designed to allow SDF units to be used in missions to assist in the peace and stabilization of other nations.

Thus even after the SDF was first sent overseas, the government and lawmakers have held repeated debates over issues concerning the use of SDF personnel and whether they should be allowed to engage in combat. However, they have avoided making any changes to the government's interpretation of the Constitution.

The government will likely have to quickly consider creating a law detailing the nature of when and how SDF forces can be used in future missions abroad.

But if the government continues to interpret the Constitution as it has in the past, there will be only more confusion over the role of SDF forces in overseas missions.

(Apr. 23, 2008)

Tokyo war tribute becomes low-key affair

By David Pilling in Tokyo

Published: April 22 2008 16:41 | Last updated: April 22 2008 16:41

Dozens of Japanese parliamentarians paid tribute at the controversial Yasukuni shrine on Tuesday, although no cabinet member attended – a sign the war memorial has temporarily lost its significance as a diplomatic flashpoint.

The visit by 62 lawmakers, according to the tally of local media, came a day after the visit of Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s new president, and a few weeks before Hu Jintao becomes the first Chinese president to come to Japan in a decade.

The low-key nature of the Yasukuni visit contrasts with the high-profile annual pilgrimage of Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister in the five years to 2006. Mr Koizumi’s visits, although cast by the then prime minister as a prayer for peace, produced anger throughout Asia and derailed relations with China and South Korea.

In contrast, Shinzo Abe, who succeeded Mr Koizumi, and Yasuo Fukuda, the current prime minister, who is considered a moderate, have refrained from visiting Yasukuni. The shrine, which honours 2.5m war dead, is controversial because it also commemorates the sacrifices made by some war criminals convicted by the Tokyo Tribunal.

Takao Toshikawa, a political analyst and editor of Inside Line, said: “For Japan, this is shrinking as an issue little by little.” He said that even Taro Aso, a right-leaning former foreign minister considered a strong candidate to be the next prime minister, favoured establishing a new, depoliticised memorial to commemorate Japan’s war dead.

Mr Toshikawa said that even a minor dispute over the screening of a film on Yasukuni, made by a Chinese director but funded with Japanese public money, had failed to reignite the controversy.

Some lawmakers have said the film, considered critical of the shrine, should not be screened. Rightwing groups have threatened cinemas planning to show the film, prompting several to cancel planned screenings. However, several cinemas in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan have recently said they will show the film, while most lawmakers have supported the position that the Japanese public should be free to see what it wants.

Yoshinobu Shimamura, a ruling Liberal Democratic party politician who led the group that visited Yasukuni, was reported by Kyodo newswire as saying: “The [film] was different from what I thought it should be, but there is no plan for our group to take action.” He said he could not comment on Mr Fukuda’s pledge to refrain from visiting Yasukuni, saying that this was a matter for a personal decision.

Some politicians in Japan argue that any country has the right to honour its own war dead without interference from other countries. Mr Abe said much the same before he became prime ­minister, after which he took a different tone in deference to better relations with China.

Japan’s Asian neighbours see visits to Yasukuni, which is closely bound up with the emperor cult in whose name Japan waged war across the continent, as indefensible.

Experts say pause won’t affect security but will strengthen countries’ alliance

By Ashley Rowland, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 23, 2008

SEOUL — Experts on Korean politics say the agreement to pause the drawdown of U.S. troops on the peninsula is a symbolic gesture that will have little effect on security because so few troops are involved.

“I think the new [South Korean] government is trying to make a political gesture by showing they are restoring the alliance” between the two countries,” said Kim Ki-jeong, an international relations professor at Yonsei University.

Kim said South Koreans were afraid the United States had “given up” on South Korea because of the sometimes-contentious relationship it encountered with former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

“It reconfirms and sends a strong message to the Korean people that the U.S. commitment to South Korea isn’t reduced,” he said.

The pause keeps about 3,000 U.S. troops in South Korea who otherwise were to be sent elsewhere by the end of the year to bring the total troop level in the country down to 25,000.

The action is more about fence mending than improving national security, said You Jin-seok, an international relations professor at Sookmyung Women’s University.

Lee wanted to send a signal that his administration wants to work with the U.S. and that it shares the same outlook for the military alliance between the two countries, You said.

“In the big picture,” said Michael Breen, author of “The Koreans” and a public relations firm president in Seoul, “I suspect that Lee Myung-bak is being given something to come home with as a very visible signal of the improvement of ties since he took office.”

Breen said the U.S. military presence hasn’t been vital to South Korea’s security for a long time, but it helps maintain the balance of power in the region.

“We all know that Koreans could take care of themselves from a security point of view,” he said. “The role of the U.S. is a deterrent one. It’s something the Koreans want, and I think it’s something people in the region want.”

Choi Jong-chul, a professor of military security for Korea National Defense University, said maintaining the current troop levels makes South Koreans feel more secure.

Choi said keeping the extra troops in the South Korea also benefits the U.S., because keeping troops here costs less than sending them back home.

U.S., South Korea agree to pause drawdown

By Ashley Rowland and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 23, 2008

American troop levels to be constant for ‘foreseeable future’

SEOUL — The United States will pause the drawdown of its troops in South Korea, military officials from both countries said Monday.

President Bush and new South Korean president Lee Myung-bak agreed to the pause during their Camp David visit Friday and Saturday.

It was the first meeting between the two leaders, and several political experts in Seoul see the agreement as a signal of improved relations between the two countries under Lee’s leadership.

Under the pause, the U.S. will maintain its current level of about 28,000 troops “for the foreseeable future,” U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Col. Franklin Childress said Monday. That number was scheduled to drop to 25,000 by the end of the year, when the drawdown was scheduled to end.

The U.S. and South Korea agreed to the drawdown in 2004, when the U.S. had 38,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

Childress said the agreement was made by the presidents, adding it would be “inappropriate” for him to speculate on which country asked for the pause.

He said details of the agreement would be coordinated by the top defense official of each country, but it would mean little change for the militaries, including cost sharing for stationing the U.S. troops in South Korea.

“There basically is no change to the current status of how we’re paying for the troops,” he said. “We’re not going out and getting extra money. It’s just maintaining what we have.”

Under an agreement between the two countries, the U.S. pays to bring its soldiers to South Korea and for their living expenses. South Korea pays about 41 percent of USFK’s upkeep, officials said last month.

A spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said the countries would decide jointly how long the pause will last, and who will pay the cost of maintaining the current troop level.

USFK commander Gen. B.B. Bell told Congress last month that Lee could ask for the pause during his visit to Washington, so the countries could study the future of the drawdown.

“If he does ask for that pause, I think it would be prudent for the United States to agree to sit down and discuss the issue and then potentially execute a pause based on those discussions,” Bell said in March.

South Korean arms status upgraded

President Bush and his South Korea counterpart, Lee Myung-bak, also agreed to upgrade South Korea’s Foreign Military Sales status, according to a press release both countries issued after the leaders’ summit concluded over the weekend.

The program determines who gets preferential treatment for the sale of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services and military training.

A South Korean Ministry of Defense official told Stars and Stripes last month that an upgrade in the country’s purchasing status “is very important” and could reduce costs because of the greater ability to buy in bulk in a shorter time frame.

— Ashley Rowland

Two teens held in Okinawa shoplifting case

By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 23, 2008

CHATAN, Okinawa — Two American teenagers remained in Okinawa police custody Monday following an alleged shoplifting incident Saturday.

The teens, a male and a female, both 18 years old and Marine dependents, were spotted at a Chatan store at about 5:50 p.m. by a clerk who allegedly saw them take and conceal a body-piercing kit from a shelf, an Okinawan police spokesman said Monday. The clerk alerted a security guard who called Okinawa prefectural police.

The case follows an incident the previous weekend when two teenage boys, ages 16 and 17 and also Marine dependents, were nabbed by store clerks for allegedly stealing jeans and T-shirts.

That case resulted in a protest by Okinawa police and prefectural officials, who complained that Marine MPs arriving at the scene before Okinawa police officers took the two into custody and refused to hand them over for questioning by the local police.

No MPs were present during Saturday’s incident.

The police spokesman said the suspects in Saturday’s case admitted they stole the piercing kit, valued at 2,520 Yen (about $25).

Their names were not released because they are considered minors under Japanese law. Marine officials were not available to comment on Saturday’s case.

The teens were apprehended about four hours after the alleged theft by officers who staked out their car parked in a nearby lot, the police spokesman said. The teens had been videotaped getting into the car following the alleged theft, he said.

“As police officers waited for the teens to return, they watched seven American teens get into the car, including the two suspects,” the police spokesman said. “We are investigating to see if they were involved in any other acts of shoplifting, since several other items stolen from other stores, including a pair of sneakers and T-shirts, were found in the car.”

Meanwhile, the police spokesman said his department received a reply from the Marines provost marshal’s office concerning the custody dispute in the earlier case. Okinawa police had earlier asked for an explanation for the refusal by the MPs to release the shoplifting suspects to the local police.

Okinawa police and Marine officials declined Monday to release the contents of the letter.

The base public affairs office told Stars and Stripes in an e-mail response to a query that the provost marshal’s office is cooperating with Japanese police in the investigation.

Asked whether the Marines are reviewing the policy on taking SOFA-status personnel into custody for alleged crimes committed off-base, spokesman Lt. Judd Wilson said “it would be inappropriate to speculate on future policy changes.”

Okinawa police continue to dispute the Marines’ contention that there was no requ