Japanese Newspapers :: Monday, December 22, 2008

Daily Yomiuri Online  Click

• Sato told U.S. to use nukes if Japan hit / Johnson urged to retaliate in event of 'war'
  (Daily Yomiuri Online) (Dec. 22, 2008)
  In 1965, then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato asked the United States to immediately use nuclear weapons if Japan was attacked with nuclear arms, according to Japanese diplomatic documents disclosed by the Foreign Ministry on Monday. continued ...


• China antipiracy move leaves Japan all at sea
  (Daily Yomiuri Online) (Dec. 22, 2008)
  The government is reportedly extremely frustrated following China's announcement that it plans to dispatch naval ships to the seas off Somalia to back U.N.-led efforts to fight piracy. continued ...


• Govt breaks taboo to prop up economy /Use of 'buried treasure' to fund extraordinary FY09 budget a dangerous development
  (Daily Yomiuri Online) (Dec. 22, 2008)
  Hiroshi Arimitsu and Makoto Miyazaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
  The draft state budget for fiscal 2009 released by the Finance Ministry on Saturday is the largest on record in terms of government expenditure and gives priority to propping up the deteriorating economy. continued ...

The Asahi Shimbun  Click

• Dam projects look set for scrapheap
  (The Asahi Shimbun) (IHT/Asahi: December 22, 2008)
  BY ATSUSHI MATSUKAWA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
  Facing strong opposition from prefectural governors and local residents, two major dam projects look set to be scrapped after the Finance Ministry did not allocate funds for their construction in its draft fiscal 2009 budget. continued ...

The Japan Times  Click

• Sato wanted U.S. ready to nuke China
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  Later went on to win Nobel Peace Prize
  (Kyodo News) Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, who won the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize for working out Japan's three-point nonnuclear policy, asked the United States in 1965 to use its nuclear weapons against China in immediate retaliation should a war break about between that country and Japan, according to newly declassified Japanese diplomatic documents. continued ...


• No-nuke policy ruled out years before declaration
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  (Kyodo News) The Foreign Ministry compiled a document in 1959 warning that making a declaration of not going nuclear could hamper Japan's flexibility in pursuing national security, eight years before the country declared its three nonnuclear principles, according to documents that were part of a series of diplomatic papers officially declassified Monday by the Foreign Ministry. continued ...


• Japan refused to promise NPT passage in '73 statement with U.S.
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  (Kyodo News) Japan rejected a U.S. proposal to include Tokyo's desire to quickly ratify the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in a joint statement issued in 1973 by Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and President Richard Nixon. continued ...


• Sukarno asked Japan to monitor '64 ceasefire
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  (Kyodo News) Indonesian President Sukarno asked Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda in 1964 to send a mission to monitor a ceasefire between Indonesia and Malaysia. continued ...


• Dewi Sukarno was Japan's conduit
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  (Kyodo News) Dewi Sukarno, the widow of former Indonesian President Sukarno and now a TV celebrity in Japan, played the role of mediator in the 1960s between Sukarno and Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda. continued ...


• Last cargo planes back from Kuwait
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  NAGOYA (Kyodo) The last two Air Self-Defense Force C-130H cargo planes involved in the airlift mission in Iraq returned to Japan on Sunday with 27 troops aboard. continued ...


• EDITORIAL: What did the ASDF do there?
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  A unit of the Air-Self Defense Force has withdrawn from Iraq after completing its five-year-long transportation mission. Fortunately the ASDF unit suffered no casualties despite constant danger. Still, the Diet should examine whether the ASDF's activities in Iraq were proper from the viewpoint of the nation's basic defense policy and the war-renouncing Constitution. The government insists that its decision to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was correct. The United States had invaded to pre-empt Iraq's use of weapons of mass destruction. As no such weapons were found in the country, the government owes a convincing explanation. continued ...


• Deal with the reparations
  (The Japan Times) Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
  By KIROKU HANAI
  This month marks the 67th anniversary of Japan's declaration of war against the United States and Britain. This long span of time is one reason the Japanese people have grown oblivious to the lessons learned from defeat in war. continued ...

The Mainichi Daily News  Click

• Documents suggest ex-PM Sato agreed to port calls by U.S. nuclear-armed vessels in '60s
  (Mainichi Japan) (Mainichi Japan) December 22, 2008
  Former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato made comments in a January 1965 meeting with former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara that suggested he accepted port calls by U.S. nuclear-armed vessels, declassified documents have shown. continued ...