Filipinos get first crack at Guam’s 10,000 jobs

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Written by Max V. de Leon / Reporter
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:48

THE governor of Guam practically promised that Filipino workers will be among the favored workers to be hired for the estimated 10,000 jobs that will be opened with the infrastructure buildup for the transfer of the American base there from Okinawa in 2014.

Gov. Felix Camacho, in a press conference at the sidelines of the Guam Trade Mission on Tuesday at the New World Renaissance Hotel in Makati, said the Filipinos are high on the list next to the locals and those from other US territories nearby, because of their English-speaking capability, skills level and experience in working overseas.

Aside from this, Camacho said there is already a familiarity between the Philippines and Guam since Filipinos were recruited for Guam’s reconstruction after World War 2.

It has been reported that the number of jobs for the base transfer could not be filled by local labor alone, availability for which was reported to be way below that required.

“It is not exclusive but the likelihood is that most will be from the Philippines,” said Camacho.

He said Filipinos need not worry about fighting it out with Chinese workers for the military bases-related projects because for security purposes, the US government had decided the Chinese will not be included in the hiring.

Their estimate is that Guam would need up to 15,000 construction workers for various infrastructure projects valued at about $15 billion over five years, he added.

He said Guam and the nearby territories will only be able to fill in about 5,000 of the required number of workers.

David Tydingco, senior vice president of Guam-based contractor Younex, said Filipino workers will only be shelling out minimal expenses if they are recruited because the contractors will shoulder most of the costs.

He said a construction worker will earn from $12 to $25 an hour in the base construction depending on his skills.

Camacho said aside from construction, there are also opportunities in health care, especially with the federal government exempting Guam from the national quota rule for the recruitment of foreign workers. The suspension of the quota restriction for Guam will start on November 28.

Although there are career opportunities as federal workers in Guam, the construction workers will be required to go back home after their projects are completed, a provision that will be in their contracts.

Tydingco said based on their projections, all the necessary infrastructure such as the roads, expansion of the seaport and airport, utilities and power, as well as the horizontal and vertical developments, will probably take up to 2016 to complete.

Recruitment of workers, Camacho said, will start probably early next year.

Guam and the Philippines will also set up a business chamber that will facilitate prospective partnerships between their private sectors.

Aso may reshuffle key LDP posts, Cabinet on Thursday

Jun 30 07:31 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, June 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Prime Minister Taro Aso suggested Tuesday he is considering reshuffling key posts in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and his Cabinet ahead of a general election to be held by October.

The reshuffles could be conducted as early as Thursday in an effort to give the LDP a boost amid slumping popularity for the Aso Cabinet, with the premier eyeing holding the House of Representatives election in early August, according to senior party lawmakers.

Although strong opposition to any reshuffles just before the lower house dissolution and a general election remains within the LDP, Aso told reporters Tuesday, "I will decide on personnel matters. I have considered (appointing) appropriate persons at an appropriate time."

Aso is likely to make a final decision after checking the situation within the LDP, the lawmakers said.

Among four top LDP posts, Aso plans to replace Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda and Policy Research Council Chairman Kosuke Hori, the lawmakers said, with speculation growing that former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura will replace Hosoda.

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe and Yoshihide Suga, deputy chairman of the party's Election Strategy Council, are also candidates for the LDP's No. 2 post, they said.

Aso is considering appointing Hosoda or Hori as finance minister, while keeping General Council Chairman Takashi Sasagawa and Election Strategy Council Chairman Makoto Koga in their posts, the lawmakers said.

As for Policy Research Council chairman, the names of Masuzoe, agriculture minister Shigeru Ishiba and Hiroyuki Sonoda, acting chairman of the Policy Research Council, have been floated, they said.

Aso is also considering terminating multiple assignments for two ministers -- Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano who concurrently serves as economy and fiscal policy minister, and National Public Safety Commission chief Tsutomu Sato who also serves as internal affairs and communications minister.

The expected reshuffles will be finalized after the government has compiled the guidelines for budget appropriation requests for fiscal 2010 on Wednesday, the lawmakers said.

But they are most likely to take place Thursday if Aso goes ahead with the plan, as he is expected to meet U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Wednesday evening, they said.

Meanwhile, Aso shrugged off moves by elements within the LDP to replace him before the House of Representatives election and called for unity in the party, which has trailed the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan in support ratings in recent opinion polls.

"It is time for us to unite," he said.

Japan Opposition Leader Sorry For Sloppy Donations Records

06-30-090634ET

TOKYO (AFP)--Japan's opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama on Tuesday apologized for the sloppy accounting records of his fund-raising body, the latest blow to his party in an election year.

Media had questioned the accounting records of the group that manages political donations to Hatoyama, saying the donors' list included names of dead people and those who had denied giving money.

"I apologize with all my heart that my fund-raising group caused concern and disturbed the public," Hatoyama told a hurriedly organized press conference.

"I have found that what has been pointed out by the media was basically correct. I also found other erroneous items."

He said a total of Y21 million ($220,000) had been recorded incorrectly since 2005.

Hatoyama said he immediately sacked an accountant responsible for the problem but wouldn't resign his leadership of the Democratic Party of Japan, or DPJ.

Hatoyama became the latest political heavyweight to draw criticism over donations irregularities in the past few months.

His predecessor Ichiro Ozawa resigned in May after being accused of accepting illegal donations in return for public works contracts.

The DPJ hopes to topple Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan almost without break for more than half a century.

Last week finance minister Kaoru Yosano was also accused of taking illegal donations, which he denied.

Japan PM allies seek to rein in party ahead of poll

Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:36am EDT

By Linda Sieg and Yoko Nishikawa

* PM Aso's allies seek unity in fractious party

* Aso critics may try oust him before election

* Local elections could hold key to premier's fate

TOKYO, June 30 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's allies called for unity in the fractious ruling party on Tuesday in an effort to head off moves to oust the unpopular leader ahead of a general election the ruling bloc looks set to lose.

Polls show the opposition Democratic Party leading Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the run-up to a parliamentary election that must be held by October, boosting the chance for an end to more than five decades of almost unbroken rule by the business-friendly ruling party.

It was unclear, however, whether LDP critics of Aso, whose support among voters has fallen below 20 percent in some polls, would gain enough momentum to replace him before an election that many expect in August.

A Democratic win would increase the likelihood of a breakthrough in a parliamentary stalemate that has foiled policy implementation as Japan struggles with recession.

"They are in panic mode," said Gerry Curtis, a political science professor at New York's Columbia University, noting that recent internal LDP surveys suggest the party might only win 165 seats in parliament's 480-member lower house.

The party now holds 303 seats and its junior partner has 31, giving them a two-thirds majority that allows them to enact laws rejected by the opposition-controlled upper chamber, although doing so is time-consuming.

"What's hurting the LDP's support rating are moves showing how lawmakers in the party are wavering," said a close Aso ally, Akira Amari, the minister for administrative reform. "We need to make clear the LDP will overcome difficulties and do politics for the Japanese poeple by being united," he told a news conference.

Senior LDP executive Takashi Sasagawa rejected calls to pick a new party leader soon. "There is no time and this would merely cause mistrust," he told reporters.

Japan has had three premiers since Junichiro Koizumi led the LDP to a huge election victory in 2005, with Aso's two predecessors both quitting after a year in the face of the deadlocked parliament and sinking support rates.

The ruling party infighting comes as Japan struggles to emerge from its worst recession in 60 years. The jobless rate hit a 5-1/2-year high in May and job availability sank to record low.

PREPARE FOR THE WORST

NHK public TV reported that Aso, 68, was considering changing the top party leadership line-up and some cabinet members on July 2, a move aimed at boosting the LDP's ratings, but Sasagawa said there was no such plan.

Growing fears of a big defeat are giving added impetus to oust-Aso moves. At least two groups of LDP lawmakers critical of the prime minister met on Monday evening.

"We should move forward the party leadership race and the winner should be the 'face' (of the LDP)," former chief cabinet secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters after a meeting of younger lawmakers at a central Tokyo restaurant.

Calls for Aso to step down were echoed at a separate meeting of around 20 lawmakers including Koizumi, who was quoted by media as saying the LDP should prepare for possible defeat.

"The long reign of an LDP government is unprecedented in a democracy," the Sankei newspaper quoted him as saying.

"It would be OK if we became an opposition party."

A ruling bloc loss in a closely watched election for the governor of Shizuoka in central Japan in Sunday would likely boost calls for Aso to quit, but many say a Tokyo Metropolitan Assemble election on July 12 holds the real key to his fate.

If the LDP manages to hold its losses to a minimum in Tokyo, Aso may be able to hang on and call an election for August.

If the LDP does poorly, moves to oust him will intensify. But there is no guarantee that doing so would rescue the LDP.

"A lot of people are quietly angry," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano. "They have no expectation that the Democrats will do tremendously well, but at the same time, they have had enough of the LDP."

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Okinawa school marks 50th year of US fighter crash

Naha (Japan), June 30: A memorial service was held on Tuesday at a public elementary school in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, on the 50th anniversary of a US fighter jet crash that killed 11 students and six others in the neighborhood.

On June 30, 1959, an F-100 jet on a test flight from the US Kadena Air Base in then US-occupied Okinawa developed an engine fire and crashed into Miyamori Elementary School and houses nearby at lunchtime.

In addition to the 17 fatalities, 210 people were injured including 156 pupils. The pilot was unhurt after parachuting out.

The accident prompted fresh ill feelings toward the US military in Okinawa, where a fierce battle was fought during World War II, and led to mounting calls for reversion to Japan, which was realized in 1972.

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, former pupils of the school at the time of the crash, and the victims' bereaved families were among the roughly 800 participants in the service.

"The Okinawa people of the time were deeply saddened by the accident in which the lives of children having dreams and hopes for the future were lost," Nakaima said in his address.

Current student representatives laid flowers and paper cranes at a stone statue built in 1965, a "peace bell" was rung and the participants offered a silent prayer.

Bureau Report

House Would Sharply Raise Cost of Guam Project

By Walter Pincus
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A little-publicized provision in the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill approved by the House last week would double the $10 billion cost of construction on Guam as part of the realignment of U.S. military forces in the Pacific.

The planned move of 8,000 U.S. Marines and about 3,600 other U.S. military troops and their dependents from Okinawa and mainland Japan to Guam over the next five years was originally expected to cost about $15 billion.

Of that total, $10 billion would be in construction of facilities, family housing and public utilities.

But a provision in last week's House bill would require that construction companies pay their employees working on Guam's realignment construction projects wages equivalent to rates in Hawaii, which are 250 percent higher than those on Guam, according to the Joint Guam Program Office.

The Congressional Budget Office report attached to the House bill estimates the growth in labor costs from this provision alone "would increase the need for discretionary appropriations by about $10 billion over the 2010-2014 period."

The provision was authored by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), the fourth-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Another amendment Abercrombie added to the bill would limit to 30 percent the proportion of foreign workers that would be allowed to work on these projects.

"At a time when a depressed economy has dealt a body blow to our construction industry, the Department of Defense should not even consider turning over badly needed jobs to foreign workers at questionable wages," Abercrombie told his constituents.

"This is a huge opportunity to put Americans to work, in an American territory, building an American military base. My amendments provide clear guidelines to manage the buildup while ensuring quality work for our service members and their families," he added.
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Another provision would require the secretary of labor to report to the House and Senate Armed Services committees by June 30, 2010, "on efforts to expand the recruitment of construction workers in the United States to support this effort; on the ability of labor markets to support the Guam realignment."

Not everyone agreed with Abercrombie's proposals. Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), also an Armed Services Committee member, said during debate on the bill, "This provision will lead to inflated wages in Guam, while taking American jobs from construction projects in Texas, Maryland and Virginia."

The realignment, first agreed to in 2006 by the Bush administration and Japanese government, was designed to reduce tensions caused by a large, unwanted American military presence on Okinawa. In February, during her trip to Japan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton restated the U.S commitment "to modernize our military posture in the Pacific."

The government of Japan is expected to contribute about $2.8 billion to pay for the move. The U.S. government is to contribute $4.2 billion, and an additional $3.2 billion worth of family housing construction will be financed by third parties, who would then take a fee for managing those properties.

The Congressional Budget Office said it "does not expect the Japanese government to increase its share," thus leaving Washington to pick up the additional costs for construction projects if the provision remains in the bill.

A Government Accountability Office report in April raised questions about whether the U.S. government and the military had made adequate preparations on Guam. The GAO pointed out that military members and their families would create roughly a 14 percent increase in Guam's current population of 171,000, which would "substantially impact Guam's community and infrastructure."

There also would be a need for an estimated 22,000 additional construction workers, at least temporarily.

The GAO suggested that Guam's two major highways would need upgrading to carry the increased traffic. In addition, the island's major port would have to double its capacity.

Its electric capacity would need a major buildup, as would its water and wastewater systems, which the GAO said are near capacity already. The estimate was that the latter would have to be increased by 25 percent.

One question was who would fund the additional demands on Guam's roads, schools and public utilities. In last week's bill, the House expressed its "sense of the Congress that utility improvements on Guam should incorporate military and civilian utilities on Guam into a unified [electric] grid."

Japan LDP dump Aso move grows

Japan LDP dump Aso move grows en Yahoo! Video

U.S. mustn't take Japan alliance for granted

Updated Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:20 am TWN,
By Michael Schiffer,
Special to The Yomiuri Shimbun/ Asia News Network

North Korea's recent nuclear test and missile launch and its continued reckless and defiant behavior is a vivid reminder that many of the world's most pressing challenges — stopping proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, strengthening the global economy, tackling climate change, and responding to global pandemics — are impossible to address without Asian partnership, participation and leadership.

The U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific region and the point of origin for reinvigorating robust and enduring U.S. engagement in Asia. As the world's two wealthiest democracies, the United States and Japan have shared interests — resting on a bedrock of shared values including democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and free markets — in promoting security and prosperity in Asia and around the world. Over the past decade, with broad bipartisan support in the United States, the U.S.-Japan alliance has been elevated and transformed. It is hard to imagine two other countries in today's world which rely on each other in such deep and fundamental ways.

The deep, genuine and enduring regional and global security partnership we continue to forge must include meaningful interoperability at all levels, with complementary capabilities and an alliance force structure and posture calibrated to the challenges that characterize the new security environment.

North Korea's current provocative behavior highlights the benefits of clearly defined alliance roles, missions, and capabilities. Our successful preparation for and response to the April Taepodong-2 launch was made possible by our investments in missile defense systems, robust information sharing, and full coordination on response options — and the foundation of an unshakable U.S. commitment to provide the full range of capabilities necessary to ensure Japan's defense.

Closer cooperation between the United States and Japan and our partners in the region can lay the groundwork for ensuring North Korea adheres to its commitments to complete and verifiable denuclearization, returns to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards, and, as part of any final [settlement] and peace regime, sincerely addresses the abductee issue.

The revitalization of the alliance to meet the challenges of the next 50 years must also include the full and complete implementation of U.S. and Japanese force posture realignment, most notably on Guam and Okinawa Prefecture. The United States is fully committed to moving forward with the 2006 “Roadmap for Realignment”# and the Guam International Agreement, which together contribute to a more flexible and capable alliance better able to assure regional partners, strengthen the long-term forward presence of U.S. forces in the region, and deter potential aggressors.

Over the next year both the United States and Japan will undertake significant strategic reviews, including the Quadrennial Defense Review, Nuclear Posture Review, and Ballistic Missile Defense Review by the United States, and the National Defense Policy Guidelines by Japan. Close communication will help assure that a more strategic approach are fully integrated into our respective final recommendations, as well as shared perspectives on such vital issues as extended deterrence.

Japan has shown that it is not only playing a responsible leadership role in its own region, but globally as well, including in peacekeeping operations and response to humanitarian crises and natural disasters around the globe. The United States deeply appreciates the support that Japan's Self-Defense Forces have provided to coalition operations in Afghanistan, and the leadership role Japan has played in seeking development funds to rebuild vital infrastructure in that country and in convening the recent Pakistan Donors Conference. Japan's participation in international antipiracy operations off the Horn of Africa further highlights Japan's leadership and partnership in confronting transnational threats.

The 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security next year offers an opportunity to both celebrate the achievements of the alliance and to cement our progress toward a transformed and truly global alliance. By creatively pursuing an ambitious — but achievable — alliance agenda, we can help shape the strategic environment of the Asia-Pacific region, underscore the U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan, and continue to develop mutually reinforcing alliance capabilities. A strong, unified, and vital alliance will remain the heart of effective deterrence, and help assure regional peace, stability, and prosperity for the decades to come.

Given the new regional and global realities facing the alliance, the United States cannot and should not take managing the U.S.-Japan alliance for granted. The United States, and indeed the world, benefits greatly from a close and productive partnership with a Japan that is confident about its future and willing and able to play a leading role in creating a peaceful and prosperous Asia. The United States must rededicate itself to a U.S.-Japan partnership that is global in nature and in action, with the same spirit that has governed our relations for more than half a century.

Schiffer is deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia in the Office of the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

Michael Schiffer

	Michael Schiffer Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs, East Asia

Michael Schiffer is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. Mr. Schiffer came to the Office of the Secretary of Defense in April of 2009 from the Stanley Foundation where he was a program officer in Policy Analysis and Dialogue responsible for the foundation's Asia programs as well as a range of other US national and global security issues from 2006-2009. From 2004-2005 he was a Council on Foreign Relations Hitachi International Affairs Fellow in Japan.

From 1995-2004, Schiffer worked on the staff of US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), where he was her senior national security adviser and legislative director. Prior to that, he was director of International Security Programs at New York University's Center for War, Peace, and the News Media and also managed a bed and breakfast inn in Hawaii.

Schiffer is a Center for Asia and Pacific Studies Fellow at the University of Iowa and has published widely on a range of international security, political and media issues. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and New York University.

http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=207

LDP intra-party movements to oust PM Aso gain momentum

June 30, 2009

A number of groups of ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) legislators critical of Prime Minister Taro Aso held meetings Monday night as moves to force him to resign gain momentum.

Former LDP secretaries general, Hidenao Nakagawa and Tsutomu Takebe, met with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and 21 so-called "Koizumi children," or LDP members of the House of Representatives who are serving their first term.

"I've been engaged in political activities for about 40 years, but now is the toughest time for our party. But Japan is a democratic country, and it would be acceptable if we became an opposition party," Koizumi was quoted as saying.

However, Nakagawa voiced opposition to the idea and reiterated his demand that Aso resign: "We shouldn't commit mass suicide."

Calls urging that the party presidential election be brought forward are growing louder within the LDP as legislators become increasingly worried about campaigning in a general election under the deeply unpopular Aso administration.

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, House of Councillors member Hiroshige Seko and their allies agreed in a meeting on Monday that the LDP leadership election, currently scheduled for September, should be brought ahead. They are joined by Lower House members Taku Yamamoto and Yukari Sato, another of the Koizumi children, who started a petition to that effect earlier this month.

As part of the bid to force Aso to resign, younger LDP legislators, mainly Koizumi children, are demanding that a joint plenary meeting of party members from both houses of the Diet be convened. Such a meeting can be convened if demanded by at least a third of the LDP legislators, while the party leadership race cannot be brought forward unless requested by at least 216, or a majority of the 431 LDP legislators and heads of its 47 prefectural chapters.

Even though Aso cannot be immediately forced to resign at a joint plenary meeting of party members of both houses, it can be an opportunity for LDP legislators to directly protest to the prime minister over the way he leads the government.

Younger legislators hope that if the prime minister comes under harsh criticism, it will be a good opportunity to force him to step down.

(Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2009

Aso abandons reshuffling LDP leadership

June 30, 2009

Prime Minister Taro Aso has abandoned reshuffling the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), bowing to stiff opposition from legislators belonging to the party.

"I'm not thinking about it now," Aso, who leads the LDP, told reporters on Monday when asked if he intended to replace top LDP officials.

The decision will likely cause his influence on the party to further decline.

However, Aso is still considering appointing additional legislators to his Cabinet to relieve Cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, who hold multiple posts.

With the general election for the House of Representatives drawing near, Prime Minister Aso began to consider replacing LDP Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda and LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Kosuke Hori, who have been criticized for lacking the ability to appeal to voters.

He intended to appoint personable legislators who can appeal to the public through their public speeches and TV debates and can be the "faces" of the LDP during the election campaign.

Aso hinted that he was considering reshuffling the leaders of the LDP during a news conference held at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo last Thursday. "Various people say various things. I carefully listen to what they say," he commented.

Shortly after the news conference, close aides to Aso remarked that the prime minister will replace top LDP officials and appoint additional Cabinet members to relieve ministers who hold multiple posts. Rumors about the reshuffle rapidly spread among LDP legislators.

Influential LDP members have voiced stiff opposition to personnel changes after sensing that Aso was aiming to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election at an early date.

"A reshuffle will only be disadvantageous to us," said Shuzen Tanigawa, secretary-general of the General Assembly of the LDP Members of the House of Councillors.

Moreover, former LDP Secretary-General Hidenao Nakagawa went on to demand that Aso step down, throwing the party into chaos.

In particular, a majority of the intraparty faction of which LDP Secretary-General Hosoda is a member are opposed to a reshuffle.

If Aso carried out the reshuffle under these circumstances, he might lose a grip on his administration, LDP insiders say.

(Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2009

Ex-defense bigwig fired for WWII 'aggressor nation' comments to give speech in Hiroshima

June 30, 2009

Former Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami, who was fired last year after claiming that Japan was not the aggressor nation during World War II, will be giving a lecture on the anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima titled "Doubting Hiroshima's Peace" -- raising ire from local residents.

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba wrote to Tamogami and the Hiroshima branch of the nationalist group Nippon Kaigi, the organizer of the lecture, to protest the plan on Monday.

"I'd like you to reconsider your timing in deference to the feelings of our residents who suffered during the bombings," the letter partly reads.

The lecture is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. on Aug. 6 at Mielparque Hiroshima in the city's Naka Ward, and will discuss the necessity of a standing army and strategies for avoiding conflict, according to the organizer's Web site. In the past, Tamogami has given speeches and interviews on the topic of a nuclear-armed Japan.

In his letter, while recognizing the right to freedom of speech, Akiba writes: "The significance of Aug. 6 is as important as freedom of expression in Hiroshima.

"This is a unique day to pray for the souls of the dead, and pray for eternal peace in the world," he continues, adding that the lecture could increase the suffering of the victims and bereaved.

However, Tamogami's office has told the Mainichi Shimbun that it will not be rescheduling the lecture without a request from the organizer.

"The abolition of nuclear weapons is our goal, too," said Nobuyoshi Isaka, a member of Nippon Kaigi Hiroshima. "Even though we share the same ideals, there are many schools of thought, and saying we should not debate them is suppression of free speech."

(Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2009

LDP may place popular governor in top roster spot for election

June 30, 2009

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) may offer to place popular Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru in the top roster spot of its candidates in a proportional representation bloc for the upcoming House of Representatives race, party officials said.

LDP Election Strategy Council Chairman Makoto Koga visited Miyazaki Prefectural Government headquarters on June 23 and asked Higashikokubaru to run in the Lower House race on an LDP ticket.

Higashikokubaru responded that he will comply on condition that he be named as an LDP presidential candidate and that the National Governors' Association request on the decentralization of power to local governments be incorporated in the LDP's manifesto during the upcoming general election.

Koga told Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura on Monday that he feels that Higashikokubaru is enthusiastic about running for a Diet seat. Kawamura conveyed the information to Prime Minister Taro Aso later in the day.

In a bid to encourage Higashikokubaru to make up his mind to run in the general election at an early date, LDP election strategists are considering placing him in one of the top spots, including the No. 1 seat in its roster of candidates in the Tokyo proportional representation bloc.

The LDP is hoping that the popular comedian-turned governor will make campaign speeches for the party's candidates in the July 5 Shizuoka gubernatorial election and the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election as both candidates are reportedly facing an uphill battle. The LDP will urge Higashikokubaru to make an early decision before the Shizuoka race this weekend.

(Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2009

Editorial :: Japan should acknowledge secret pact with U.S. over port calls by ships carrying nukes

June 30, 2009

Former Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Ryohei Murata has admitted that there was a secret Japan-U.S. agreement over port calls by U.S. vessels carrying nuclear weapons at the time of the 1960 revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. His remarks, made during a recent interview with the Mainichi Shimbun, were the first for a former administrative vice minister to attest that the pact was passed down among Foreign Ministry officials in the form of documents.

It bears a grave significance that a former top administrative official with the Foreign Ministry has made such a testimony based on his own experience. The government should immediately acknowledge the existence of the pact, and make the facts clear to the public.

The secret pact that Murata has attested to includes records of a meeting between then Foreign Minister Aiichiro Fujiyama and then U.S. Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur II in Tokyo in January 1960, at the time of the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. Tokyo and Washington had agreed to hold prior consultations when the U.S. military instituted major changes to their equipment at U.S. bases in Japan. At the meeting, it was confirmed that port calls and passage through Japan's territorial waters by U.S. vessels carrying nuclear weapons would not be subject to prior consultations.

Murata told the Mainichi that he received a document on the pact from his predecessor when he assumed the post of administrative vice foreign minister in July 1987, and that he passed it down to his successor after using it to explain about the pact to foreign ministers during his two-year tenure. This is a significant testimony that implies the Foreign Ministry had systematically administered the secret pact.

The secret pact first surfaced when the Mainichi Shimbun reported in 1981 the remarks by former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Edwin Oldfather Reischauer, who admitted that U.S. military vessels carrying nuclear arms called at Japanese ports under a bilateral accord. His accounts were later underscored by official documents on the part of the U.S. However, the Japanese government has adamantly denied that there was a secret pact. This time around, the government showed no sign of change, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura saying, "There was no secret pact," and, "There are no grounds for doubt over there being no entry of nuclear weapons (into Japanese territories) since there were no prior consultations over the issue."

What is inapprehensible is that the Japanese government has never admitted to the secret pact, after all the revelations by testimonies and official documents here and abroad. It is understandable that the government can not make everything public concerning foreign affairs and security policies in consideration of national interests and the other countries concerned. However, as far as the issue of entry of nuclear weapons into Japanese territories is concerned, almost half a century has passed since the 1960 revision to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, and it's been nearly 30 years since Reischauer's testimony. While the U.S. government has already publicized the pact and a former top Japanese government official has attested to it, Tokyo's denial is beyond our comprehension.

It has also been revealed that there was a secret pact in connection with the U.S. return of Okinawa to Japan. "If we were to take the reins of government, we will make sure to disclose information to the public, including the secret pact concerning Okinawa," said Katsuya Okada, secretary general of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. If the government is to maintain secrecy over an issue that deeply concerns the country's security policy, it will only adversely affect the government in its attempt to gain the public's trust in Japan's foreign diplomacy.

The Liberal Democratic Party, which has almost consistently served as the nation's ruling party since the revision to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, should clearly recognize that it can no longer get away with its distortion of the issue by saying, "There was no entry of nuclear weapons because there were no prior consultations."

(Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2009

Mainichi :: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• LDP intra-party movements to oust PM Aso gain momentum ★
  A number of groups of ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) legislators critical of Prime Minister Taro Aso held meetings Monday night as moves to force him to resign gain momentum. continued ...


• Aso abandons reshuffling LDP leadership ★
  Prime Minister Taro Aso has abandoned reshuffling the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), bowing to stiff opposition from legislators belonging to the party. continued ...


• Ex-defense bigwig fired for WWII 'aggressor nation' comments to give speech in Hiroshima ★
  Former Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami, who was fired last year after claiming that Japan was not the aggressor nation during World War II, will be giving a lecture on the anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima titled "Doubting Hiroshima's Peace" -- raising ire from local residents. continued ...


• LDP may place popular governor in top roster spot for election ★
  The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) may offer to place popular Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru in the top roster spot of its candidates in a proportional representation bloc for the upcoming House of Representatives race, party officials said. continued ...


• Japan should acknowledge secret pact with U.S. over port calls by ships carrying nukes ★
  Former Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Ryohei Murata has admitted that there was a secret Japan-U.S. agreement over port calls by U.S. vessels carrying nuclear weapons at the time of the 1960 revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. His remarks, made during a recent interview with the Mainichi Shimbun, were the first for a former administrative vice minister to attest that the pact was passed down among Foreign Ministry officials in the form of documents. continued ...

Japan ruling party in deep disarray ahead of poll

Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:25pm EDT

TOKYO, June 30 (Reuters) - Disarray deepened on Tuesday in Japan's long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ahead of a looming election the ruling bloc looks likely to lose, after moves intensified to oust unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso.

But it was unclear whether LDP critics of Aso, whose support rates have fallen to under 20 percent in some recent polls, would gain enough momentum to replace him before an election that many expect in August and that must be held by October. [ID:nT311439]

Surveys show the opposition Democratic Party ahead of the LDP in the run-up to the election for parliament's powerful lower house, boosting the chances of an end to more than five decades of almost unbroken rule by the business-friendly ruling party.

NHK public TV reported on Tuesday that Aso, 68, was considering changing the top party leadership line-up and some cabinet members on July 2, a move aimed at boosting the unpopular LDP's ratings ahead of an August election. But other media said he had abandoned the plan, which he himself denied in Monday.

At least two groups of anti-Aso LDP lawmakers met on Monday evening. "We should move forward the party leadership race and the winner should be the 'face' (of the LDP)," former chief cabinet secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters after a meeting of younger lawmakers at a central Tokyo restaurant.

Aso's term as LDP leader expires in September, but moves are afoot to hold a leadership poll before the general election.

De facto calls for Aso to step down were echoed at a separate meeting of around 20 members of parliament including popular former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, who was quoted by media as saying the LDP should prepare for possible defeat. (Reporting by Linda Sieg and Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Michael Watson)

Japan Times :: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• 22. NATIONAL NEWS
  Tent village residents still out of work
  June 30, 2009
  Kyodo News
  A tent village for laid-off temporary workers set up in Tokyo's Hibiya Park over the New Year's holidays was officially declared closed Sunday at a symposium to discuss unemployment issues, but many of those who stayed in the village remain jobless. continued ...


• 27. NATIONAL NEWS
  Ex-bureaucrat details secret U.S. nuke pact
  June 30, 2009
  Duty was to tell foreign ministers
  Kyodo News
  Vice foreign ministers had a "secret duty" to inform their foreign ministers of the clandestine Tokyo-Washington accord that has covered the handling of nuclear arms in Japan since 1960, a former vice foreign minister said Monday. continued ...


• 29. NEWS BUSINESS
  Japan Post reappoints scandal-hit Nishikawa
  June 30, 2009
  Kyodo News
  As expected, shareholders agreed Monday to keep Yoshifumi Nishikawa at the helm of Japan Post Holdings Co., whose attempt to sell its Kampo no Yado resort inns for a fraction of their value was blocked by Kunio Hatoyama. continued ...


• 37. NATIONAL NEWS
  Koizumi's candidate knocked out as mayor
  June 30, 2009
  Doubts emerge over son's plan to land Diet seat
  
  YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. (Kyodo) A 33-year-old newcomer beat the incumbent backed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the Yokosuka mayoral election Sunday — a result seen as a blow to the prospects for Koizumi's son in the upcoming national election. continued ...

Asahi :: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• Nishikawa returned as Japan Post head (6/30)
  The brouhaha over the president of Japan Post Holdings Co. that led to the resignation of a Cabinet minister ended in typical conservative Japanese business fashion Monday when the re-appointment of Yoshifumi Nishikawa was approved at a shareholders' meeting.
  
  Prime Minister Taro Aso's decision to endorse Nishikawa despite a series of scandals, including an aborted attempt to sell the Kampo no Yado inn network, caused considerable fallout for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
  
  Earlier in the month, Kunio Hatoyama resigned as minister of internal affairs and communications in protest over the endorsement.
  
  The re-appointment of eight other directors was also approved at the Monday morning shareholders' meeting.
  
  An ensuing board of directors meeting sanctioned the re-appointment of Nishikawa as president and Shokichi Takagi as deputy president.
  
  Tsutomu Sato, Hatoyama's successor, approved Nishikawa's re-appointment later in the day.
  
  Although Nishikawa's term runs for one year, his future is anything but secure. The main opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) has pledged to pursue his resignation if it wins control of government in the Lower House election that must be called by September.
  
  The deputy director-general of the Finance Ministry's Financial Bureau, Akio Nakamura, attended the shareholders' meeting for the central government, which is the sole shareholder of Japan Post.
  
  The government approved the group's financial statements for the fiscal year that ended in March, but Nakamura warned: "To regain public trust, we hope you conduct talks with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and act accordingly."
  
  In a plan to improve operations submitted to the communications ministry last Wednesday, the group suggested appointing an outsider as chairman to oversee Nishikawa. The proposal was not discussed Monday.
  
  Japan Post plans to seek the approval of shareholders for the new chairman within three months.
  
  Nishikawa and other executives have offered to take pay cuts as a gesture of atonement for the failed plan to sell the Kampo no Yado network.(IHT/Asahi: June 30,2009)
  


• Tent village organizers close up shop (6/30)
  Having shamed the government into doing more for jobless and homeless people, the organizing committee of a tent village set up just across the street from the welfare ministry late last year disbands today.
  
  The move comes despite increasing joblessness.
  
  There is also growing concern over a much-feared "June crisis" as hundreds of people who sought help at the temp workers' village are still struggling to find work even as their low-rent public housing contracts and unemployment allowances are expiring.
  
  Toshikoshi Haken Mura (dispatch workers' year-end and New Year village) opened in Tokyo's Hibiya Park in late December to provide meals and shelter to jobless and homeless people during the New Year holidays.
  
  As the recession hit last fall, tens of thousands of nonregular workers lost their jobs, many having their contracts cut midway. Those who lived in company dormitories lost housing, too.
  
  The publicity over hundreds of homeless people inundating the temporary village prodded the government into action.
  
  "Haken Mura revealed the deterioration in Japan's labor market and the frailty of its safety net," said village "mayor" Makoto Yuasa at a symposium in Tokyo Sunday. "We are pulling down our signboard, but we will continue to work together."
  
  The organizing committee decided to dissolve, and its members to return to their respective support groups, because most former "villagers" have at least found places to live.
  
  But the symposium heard people express concerns and fears about the worsening job market.
  
  "No matter how many people we help, more come to consult us," said a member of the group Anti-Poverty-Network-Hiroshima, which advises jobless people.
  
  One man who lives in a shelter that he found with the help of the network said he was "filled with anxiety."
  
  "My unemployment benefits will last only 22 more days," the man said. "I have no relatives and no one to serve as a guarantor to rent an apartment."
  
  While the government said the economy had reached bottom, that has not been felt in the job market.
  
  Between October and this June, 216,000 nonregular workers were dismissed or had their contracts terminated. Of them, 135,000, or more than 60 percent, were dispatch workers.
  
  The peaks of dismissals came in December and again in March, when the fiscal year ended.
  
  The ratio of job offers to job seekers in April was a record low 0.46, meaning there is one job or fewer for every two job seekers.
  
  A man aged 29 who lost his dispatch work at a TV assembly plant in Mie Prefecture last December sought help from Haken Mura. He now lives on welfare. He has applied for 20 jobs, to no avail.
  
  He thought of taking job training in computer skills, but a welfare worker would not allow that, saying he must focus on his job hunt and get off welfare.
  
  About 600 people stayed at the village, but the organizing committee found in a survey that only 13 of the 108 who responded had since found jobs. Only five had found full-time positions.
  
  The survey also underscored their mental tensions and physical problems.
  
  "I feel uneasy every day and can't sleep," wrote one.
  
  "I know I have to do something, but my body and mind won't respond," said another.(IHT/Asahi: June 30,2009)
  

Japan Post reappoints Nishikawa

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Yoshifumi Nishikawa was reappointed as president of Japan Post Holdings Co. on Monday.

A personnel proposal to reappoint all nine directors of Japan Post, including Nishikawa, was approved at a general meeting of shareholders held at the company's head office in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, on Monday morning. Japan Post then held a board of directors meeting and chose Nishikawa as the company's president.

The personnel issue was finalized after Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato approved the personnel proposal.

When approving the personnel proposal at the general meeting of shareholders, the government, which owns all Japan Post's stock, reminded the company to steadily implement the business improvement plan drawn up in connection with the envisaged sales of its Kampo no Yado resort facilities.

Nishikawa and other directors will serve a one-year term. However, Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama said earlier this month he would fire Nishikawa if his party takes power.

The debate over whether Nishikawa should retain his post as the Japan Post president may reignite if the DPJ wins the House of Representatives election.

Akio Nakamura, deputy director general of the Finance Ministry's Financial Bureau, attended the general meeting of stockholders held from 10 a.m as a representative of the government.

Japan Post reported to Nakamura that the company had drawn up a plan to improve its business, with a pledge to increase the transparency of real estate transactions as its centerpiece, based on lessons learned from the Kampo no Yado issue.

"To restore public trust, I want to urge Japan Post to steadily implement the business improvement plan as the company discussed with the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry," Nakamura reportedly said.

The meeting was finished in about 20 minutes after the plan to reappoint Nishikawa and eight other directors and the fiscal 2008 financial results of the company were approved without objection.

Japan Post is planning to newly create a post of chairman and invite a person from outside the company to assume the post to strengthen its management oversight system.

However, a personnel proposal to realize this plan was not submitted at Monday's general meeting of stockholders.

The company plans to hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting within three months and choose a new external director on the assumption that he or she will take the post of chairman.

(Jun. 30, 2009)

Ex-top official: Japan, U.S. had nuke deal

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A former Foreign Ministry administrative vice minister told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday that Japan and the United States had a secret deal to tacitly allow U.S. forces to bring nuclear weapons into the nation.

Ryohei Murata, who served in the position from July 1987 to August 1989, said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun he believes such a deal existed.

"There were documents of this nature," Murata, 79, said referring to speculation that Japanese and U.S. governments have had a secret accord whereby Japan would tacitly approve port calls and passage through Japanese territorial waters by U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons.

The accord is said to have been reached in 1960, when the two countries renewed the bilateral security treaty.

Although the Japanese government has continued to officially deny the existence of such an accord, the latest revelation marks the first time a former administrative vice foreign minister has gone on record as saying such a deal has existed.

During the negotiations over the bilateral treaty, Japan and the United States agreed to discuss in advance if U.S. forces would be bringing nuclear weapons into Japanese territory as a matter of "important changes in equipment."

But the two governments are believed to have agreed to a secret accord so that U.S. warships' port calls and passage through Japanese territorial waters would be exempt from prior consultation in the event of a military emergency in the Far East.

The existence of the secret accord was revealed by a U.S. government official document, known as NSSM5, which was obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun in 1997, and by the testimony of sources on the U.S. side.

Speaking with the Yomiuri, Murata said, "My predecessor told me to convey the contents [of the secret accord] to a minister in my capacity as the administrative vice minister."

Murata said he discussed the contents with the foreign minister at the time.

Murata also said the territorial waters of five major straits had been limited to three nautical miles from land to prevent passage of U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons there from becoming a political flashpoint.

Although the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea allows a nation to set a range for its territorial waters of 12 nautical miles, the figure in the Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi straits and, Tsushima Straits' Higashi-suido and Nishi-suido channels is set at three nautical miles.

Murata said: "This is how I understand this point. And even though it wasn't me who decided this, I think it's clear it was just a wily stopgap measure."

Because part of the waters off the five straits are international waters, warships from China and some other countries frequently pass through them.

However, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone denied the existence of such a deal at the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on June 10.

"Prime ministers and foreign ministers in the past clearly denied the existence of such a secret accord," he said.

Foreign Vice Minister Mitoji Yabunaka, meanwhile, said at a press conference on June 1, "There's no secret accord--that's all I know about the issue."

(Jun. 30, 2009)

Can local govt heads form alliance? / Major players seem keen but lack of unity could sink boat before it leaves harbor

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Some local government heads, including Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru and Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto, are indicating a willingness to have some kind of involvement in the next House of Representatives election.

However, prefectural governors and mayors aiming to form an alliance of local government heads are not necessarily firmly united.

In a TV Asahi news program aired Sunday, Higashikokubaru said, "I've been engaged in local administrative work for three years and now feel some limitations as a governor."

Asked why he intends to become a Diet member, Higashikokubaru said, "I've been bound hand and foot by central government ministries and agencies."

He later delivered a speech in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, in which he said, "Even if the National Governors' Association submits demands or proposals to the central government, nothing has transpired. We've got to take political action."

Higashikokubaru alluded to his recent remarks in which he demanded the Liberal Democratic Party include the association's proposals about decentralizing power in its campaign manifesto and have him stand as a candidate for the party presidency as conditions for him running in the next general election on an LDP ticket.

"The point is whether the LDP accepts [these conditions] or not. This is the first time in history that Miyazaki Prefecture has provoked [the central government] into a quarrel," an upbeat Higashikokubaru said.

Apparently inspired by Higashikokubaru, Hashimoto and Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada have proposed forming an alliance of local government heads.

Matsuyama Mayor Tokihiro Nakamura and Mayor Junichi Tsuyuki of Kaiseimachi, Kanagawa Prefecture, have joined the movement, holding meetings in Tokyo on June 3 and 24 to exchange opinions about the decentralization of power.

The attendees quickly agreed to ask the leading political parties about the decentralization of power, as well as holding discussions and examining the issue in depth.

Hashimoto went one step further, saying, "I propose we decide which party to support based on how seriously each party treats the decentralization issue in their respective policies."

But Nakamura questioned the plan, saying, "It's difficult for all local government heads to make moves in that direction." Nakada also seemed reticent about the idea, saying, "[The issue] isn't quite that simple."

Hashimoto and Tsuyuki added that if local government heads act politically, it would be irrational for them not to aim at forming a new political party.

But Nakada and Nakamura, both of whom have served as lower house members, were cautious, saying it was too early to consider such an option.

The meetings indicated split views over issues as how to realize the goal--even among the leading proponents of the alliance of local government heads.

===

DPJ cautious about group

The move among governors and mayors to try to actively convey their message in the arena of national politics is an unusual development. Until now local leaders have typically been reluctant to raise their voices to the government and the ruling parties because of their entangled dealings with them over public works projects and other matters.

Sensing a window of opportunity, Hashimoto said, "If we miss this opportunity to push ahead with decentralization, we won't get another chance."

With the possibility of a change of government and a political realignment--depending on the outcome of the next lower house election--central government lawmakers want to get the governors and mayors on their sides from a standpoint of their own survival.

If a political reorganization is set to take place, some governors and mayors want to see reform of Kasumigaseki and decentralization of power as its main slogans. By capitalizing on the strength of Hashimoto and others in terms of name recognition and popularity at a time of growing distrust in the Aso administration and in the established political parties, the governors and mayors apparently want to seize the moment for bringing in sweeping decentralization reforms.

Concerned over the deteriorating approval rating of the Aso administration, Makoto Koga, chairman of the LDP's Election Strategy Council, has actually asked Hashimoto and Higashikokubaru to support the party in the election.

In return for running in the lower house election on the LDP ticket as requested by Koga, Higashikokubaru demanded a shot as candidate for the LDP presidency. Subsequently, Higashikokubaru said the internal affairs and communications minister was a position of responsibility when it came to decentralization. Some politicians view this remark as an indication that Higashikokubaru was lowering the "hurdle" he was setting for running for the LDP by intimating he would settle for the post of internal affairs minister instead of the prime ministership.

Over in the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, while some members are insisting the party should seek ways to form an alliance with the governors, others in the party have warned against such an approach, insisting that the alliance of governors and mayors will eventually fall in step with the LDP.

On a Fuji TV program Sunday, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada criticized the overtures to bring Higashikokubaru into the LDP fold, by saying, "Even though [Higashikokubaru] initially said he would choose between the DPJ and LDP by studying their policies on decentralization, before we know it he's now trying to strike a deal over conditions for running in the election for the LDP."

Speaking on a different program, however, Okada referred to Hashimoto, saying there was some scope for teaming up with him if he wanted to cooperate with a party enthusiastic about carrying out decentralization.

===

Hashimoto seeks mayors' support

Hashimoto, who is aiming to create a political group comprising local government leaders to promote decentralization, will urge the heads of cities, towns and villages in Osaka Prefecture to join the group at a meeting to be held Wednesday in Osaka.

On Friday, Hashimoto sent a letter asking the mayors of all 43 municipalities in the prefecture to attend the meeting. The Osaka governor's aim is to obtain support for his idea first from municipalities within the prefecture and then build support across the nation prior to the next lower house election.

In the letter, Hashimoto said, "I will hold a meeting to share my idea on promoting from Osaka [Prefecture] reforms for decentralization."
(Jun. 30, 2009)

Nishikawa's return subject to conditions

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Will the reappointment of Japan Post Holdings' incumbent directors improve the corporate culture of the scandal-tainted company?

The government, as the company's sole stockholder, approved the reappointment of all of Japan Post Holdings' nine directors, including Yoshifumi Nishikawa as president, at a general meeting of shareholders held at its head office in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, on Monday. The decision on personnel was then finalized with the approval of Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato, who is responsible for overseeing Japan's postal system.

The government decided to let the current management continue to operate Japan Post after it examined and accepted the company's responses to its business improvement order--imposed after the envisaged sale of Kampo no Yado hotels and resort facilities at unreasonably low prices came to light--and the company's punitive actions against the employees involved, including pay cuts for Nishikawa and the other directors.

However, a majority of the public are very critical of Nishikawa's reappointment, according to several opinion polls. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan said that it would fire Nishikawa if the party wins the upcoming House of Representatives election and takes power. Nishikawa should run the company in a humble manner, considering his reappointment as Japan Post president is subject to conditions.

The bidding on the Kampo no Yado hotels was handled in a very suspicious way with higher bids not chosen and no record kept of the negotiation process.

===

Staff held accountable

Four of the company's senior officials, who came from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and were known as "Team Nishikawa," have been held responsible for that and will be dismissed soon to return to the bank. But, Nishikawa, too, bears heavy responsibility for letting his staff get out of control.

According to the company's business improvement plan, Japan Post will establish a new management advisory committee to monitor its problem-plagued management system. The company will also create a new post of chairman and appoint one of the external board members to the post. The chairman will double as head of the committee. To accomplish the improvement plan's aims, the current external board members who overlooked the scandals should not stay, but should be replaced with new members invited from outside the company.

According to Japan Post's plan, the Kampo no Yado enterprise, which is the original cause of the whole problem, posted a deficit of 5.4 billion yen in fiscal 2008 but should move into the black in fiscal 2011.

The turnaround is intended to allow Japan Post to sell the resort facilities at higher prices, but can Japan Post end the hotels' chronic deficits through only such conventional measures as developing a new customer base and reducing labor costs?

===

Deadline looming

The Kampo no Yado hotels are required to be either sold or shut down and liquidated by autumn 2012. If business conditions remain tough, such as lingering doldrums in real estate prices, Japan Post should consider the option of disposing of those facilities with huge deficits first, but waiting for better circumstances to sell the others.

In the privatization of postal services, it is necessary to both promote efficiency and and preserve the universality of services such as mail delivery. We must closely monitor the postal service privatization to prevent it from focusing exclusively on efficiency and make it an instance of privatization the public can consider a success as the internal affairs and communication minister said.

Both Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance will be fully privatized by October 2017.

But, the two companies will be criticized for "oppressing private companies" if they try to expand their businesses to seek sufficient revenues in preparation for full privatization. It is essential for them to sufficiently explain their actions to win the public's understanding.

However, Nishikawa seems to be insincere at times as he refused to hold press conferences on some important occasions, such as when he gave the final business improvement report to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. We would like to ask him to be fully accountable as president of Japan Post Holdings.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 30, 2009)
(Jun. 30, 2009)

Daily Yomiuri Online :: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• Japan Post reappoints Nishikawa (Jun.30) ★
  Yoshifumi Nishikawa was reappointed as president of Japan Post Holdings Co. on Monday. continued ...


• Ex-top official: Japan, U.S. had nuke deal (Jun.30) ★
  A former Foreign Ministry administrative vice minister told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday that Japan and the United States had a secret deal to tacitly allow U.S. forces to bring nuclear weapons into the nation. continued ...


• Can local govt heads form alliance? / Major players seem keen but lack of unity could sink boat before it leaves harbor (Jun.30) ★
  Some local government heads, including Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru and Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto, are indicating a willingness to have some kind of involvement in the next House of Representatives election. continued ...


• Nishikawa's return subject to conditions (Jun.30) ★
  Will the reappointment of Japan Post Holdings' incumbent directors improve the corporate culture of the scandal-tainted company? continued ...

Japan Gears Up for Election

By Akiko Fujita
Tokyo
30 June 2009

A new political party could take the reins in Japan for the first time in than more than a decade. The Democratic Party, known as the DPJ, is likely to dominate the general election, expected to be held in September. A DPJ victory would oust the Liberal Democratic Party, which has led the government for most of the past 60 years. But there is little expectation of big policy shifts.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso came to power last September with dismal approval ratings for his Liberal Democratic Party. Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda had just resigned after support for his Cabinet fell below 30 percent.

The LDP hoped a change in leadership would change the numbers. Yet nine months on, polls show Mr. Aso's support below 20 percent.

Chuo University Professor Stephen Reed says that is no surprise.

"They've [the LDP] basically been holding on all this time," Reed said. "They started with a huge majority and they've slowly been hanging on since. They basically ran out of tricks. It's no longer working."

DJP could score big victory

Reed says that will be shown in the Lower House Election, expected to be held in September. All 480 seats are up for grabs. Reed predicts a big win for the opposition Democratic Party or DPJ, and he is not alone.

The latest polls conducted by Japan's top newspapers show a majority support a DPJ-led government.

"There's a lot of people who are ready to say 'okay, I don't know if the Democrats can govern or not but I know the LDP cannot,'" Reed noted.

The conservative LDP has dominated Japanese politics for more than half a century now. Since the early 1950s, only three prime ministers have come from opposition parties, all leading brief coalition governments in the mid-1990s, the last ending in 1996.

Scandals plague LDP

But the LDP has faced one scandal after another since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left office three years ago.

His successor, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned in September 2007 following revelations that the government lost millions of pension files. And his successor, Mr. Fukuda, lasted only about a year.

Mr. Aso's Cabinet has had its share of scandals. In February Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa resigned after he appeared drunk at a G7 meeting news conference. His successor, Kaoru Yosano, now faces allegations he received illegal campaign donations.

Party dominance frustrates voters

This voter says there is something wrong with one party being in power for 50 years. He says he wants want to know what will change if voters put a different party in power.

But the DPJ has had its share of scandals as well. Last month, party leader Ichiro Ozawa resigned after one of his close aides was charged with accepting illegal campaign donations.

The scandals involving both the DPJ and the LDP cause voters like Kei Takikawa to question whether the two parties are any different.

He says LDP or DPJ, it does not matter. Both sides are just about accepting a lot of money and living the good life.

Reed says there are some differences.

Campaign promises

DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama vows to cut bureaucratic waste and refuses to commit to a sales tax increase in the near future to fund social security programs. Mr. Aso favors sales tax increase over the next two years, when he expects the economy to recover. Hatoyama says he wants to stimulate the economy through tax breaks instead of the large infrastructure projects promoted by the LDP.

And he is pushing for reforms to the political process, vowing to eliminate corporation donations. He also wants to limit the widespread practice of inheriting political seats from family members.

Polls show voters are not impressed with either leader. Nearly half said neither Mr. Aso nor Hatoyama would make a good prime minister.

"The number of people who have high expectations for a Democratic [DPJ] government are almost zero," Reed said. "There just aren't that many people who think the Democratic government is going to do a good job. They just know that the LDP is going to do a bad job."

An attitude the DPJ is willing to accept, so long as it drives the party to victory.

LDP's Nakagawa reiterates demand for Aso to step down before election

Jun 29 10:03 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, June 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Hidenao Nakagawa, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Monday repeated his demand for Prime Minister Taro Aso to step down amid moves within the party to replace the unpopular Aso before an upcoming general election.

"In order to improve the current situation, it is best that the prime minister step down," Nakagawa was quoted as telling a meeting of around 20 LDP lawmakers who are critical of Aso, lawmakers who attended the meeting said.

Another former LDP security general, Tsutomu Takebe, also called at the meeting for Aso, who doubles as party president, to be replaced with a new leader after an LDP presidential election ahead of the House of Representatives election, which must be held by October, the lawmakers said.

Aso told reporters on Monday evening that he has no intention of holding an LDP presidential election before the general election, adding that he will decide on the timing for the dissolution of the lower house and the election.

The LDP meeting was attended by so-called "Koizumi children" who first entered the lower house after the 2005 election on the overwhelming popularity of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Koizumi, who also attended the meeting, said that the upcoming election will be "unprecedentedly difficult for the LDP," the participants said.

A group of around 10 LDP lawmakers who maintain a distance from Aso, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, held a separate meeting in Tokyo.

Some LDP members also expressed caution about the prime minister reshuffling the LDP leadership in a bid to regain popularity.

On whether he is considering reshuffling the LDP leadership or his Cabinet, Aso said, "I am not thinking about it at this point."

Japan denies pact allowing nuke-armed US warships

41 mins ago

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's government has denied a report that Tokyo had secretly agreed with Washington during the cold war to allow US warships carrying nuclear weapons to make port calls in the country.

"Such speculation has gone on for decades, but the government of Japan has said there is no such secret agreement," said a foreign ministry official.

The Mainichi Shimbun national daily on Monday published a report saying that such a secret document existed, quoting Ryohei Murata, a former vice foreign minister who served in the late 1980s.

The issue is sensitive in Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear weapon attacks when bombed by the United States towards the end of World War II.

Since then it has heavily relied on its alliance with the United States for its defence, including nuclear deterrence.

Japan in 1968 adopted a "three non-nuclear principles" policy of not possessing or producing nuclear weapons or allowing them on its territory, and it regularly speaks out in favour of a nuclear-weapons-free world.

The newspaper said the accord was reached when Japan and the United States revised their security treaty in 1960 to give more equal footing to Japan, which was rebuilding itself from the devastation of World War II.

Murata -- who served as vice minister for about two years from 1987 -- reportedly said that when he took his post, his predecessor gave him a document in an envelope, asking him to "brief the minister on its content."

"I had heard that there was a secret agreement, but I saw the Japanese side's paper for the first time when I became vice minister," Murata said according to the report.

When Washington and Tokyo revised their treaty, they agreed that the United States must consult with Japan before making any major changes to its deployment of equipment or troops in Japan.

The foreign ministry official, who declined to be named, told AFP: "Such a prior consultation has never taken place. Therefore there has been no case of us letting nuclear weapons in."

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone last week denied a media report that the government had also demarcated its territorial waters so as to avoid disputes over the movement of US warships carrying nuclear weapons.

Deputies had 'secret duty' to tell boss of covert Japan-U.S. nuke pact

Jun 29 01:24 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - TOKYO, June 29 (Kyodo)—It was a "secret duty" of vice ministers to inform foreign ministers of a secret accord between Japan and the United States that has outlined the handling of nuclear weapons since 1960, a former vice foreign minister said Monday.

Ryohei Murata unveiled the yet-unknown details about the clandestine accord during a telephone interview with Kyodo News in which he agreed to break the anonymity he had initially requested in speaking about the pact, on which Kyodo reported last month.

Serving in the ministry's top bureaucratic post from 1987 to 1989, Murata, 79, is one of the four former vice ministers cited in the May 31 report that the accord has been controlled by top Foreign Ministry officials and only a handful of prime ministers and foreign ministers were informed of it.

He also indicated his readiness to disclose the truth about the pact if summoned by parliament, although he said, "I maintain positive feelings about the Foreign Ministry...so I would like to decline" to testify before the Diet if not compelled to do so.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is considering summoning witnesses concerning the secret deal, the very existence of which has been denied by the Japanese government although shown by U.S. diplomatic documents declassified in the late 1990s.

Under the deal, which the two countries agreed on in revising the Japan-U.S. security treaty in 1960, Tokyo would give tacit approval on the stopover of U.S. military aircraft or vessels carrying nuclear weapons, although the treaty stipulates the need for Washington to hold a prior consultation with Tokyo to bring nuclear weapons into Japan.

In a press conference Monday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura reiterated the government's view that such a secret pact "does not exist" and that no nuclear weapons must have been brought into Japan because prior consultations have never been held.

Murata agreed to reveal his name as one of Kyodo's sources after the Fukuoka-based Nishinippon Shimbun and other media from Sunday attributed reports on the matter to him.

In the March 18 interview with Kyodo in the city of Kyoto, he elaborated on condition of anonymity how successive vice foreign ministers have taken over the secret.

Revealing that a document recording it exists within the Foreign Ministry, Murata said, "I heard from my predecessor at the time of takeover as vice minister that (an unpublicized) understanding exists between Japan and the United States concerning nuclear weapons, and turned it over to the next vice minister."

"It was a great secret. The Japanese government has been lying to its people," Murata also said.

In Monday's interview, he said when he was vice minister, he notified foreign ministers of the time -- Tadashi Kuranari and Sosuke Uno -- about the pact, but not the prime ministers by himself.

Through the series of interviews before May 31, it was learned that only a limited number of prime ministers and foreign ministers were informed of the pact, including Ryutaro Hashimoto and Keizo Obuchi, whom one former vice minister said the ministry saw as trustworthy.

Murata had until March not unveiled details on how the secret was handed down within the ministry, while confirming its existence in his memoir published last year.

Born in Kyoto, Murata entered the Foreign Ministry in 1952 after graduating the Kyoto University Faculty of Law, served as vice foreign minister from 1987 until becoming ambassador to the United States in and retired from the ministry in 1994.

Since 2008, he has worked as vice chairman of the International Friendship Exchange Council, a nonprofit international exchange organization set up in 1981.