Saturday, August 28, 2010

Saturday, August 28 - Kyodo Articles


LEAD: 69% of Japanese polled prefer Kan to Ozawa as DPJ leader+
Aug 28 04:53 AM US/Eastern
(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING DETAILS) A majority of Japanese people polled want Prime Minister Naoto Kan to stay on as leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, far surpassing those...

Hatoyama reiterates support for Ozawa+
Aug 27 10:29 PM US/Eastern
(Kyodo) _ Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated on Friday his support for Democratic Party of Japan heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa in the party's leadership election, saying in...

Blair encourages Kan to pursue reform+
Aug 27 11:19 AM US/Eastern
(Kyodo) _ Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed support for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan during a teleconference Friday, saying he is ready to provide advice to Kan on pursuing reform whenever he needs it. ...

Japan, U.S. to Cite 2 Runway Options in Futenma Report

    August 28, 2010

    Tokyo, Aug. 28 (Jiji Press) -- The Japanese and U.S. government will propose two runway options for a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture in a report to be announced Tuesday.

    In a meeting in Tokyo Saturday, a panel of experts from the two countries wrapped up its discussions on the details of the Futenma replacement facility, including the construction method.

    One of the two options calls for constructing two runways aligned in a V shape in the Henoko coastal area in Nago, Okinawa, in line with the original relocation plan worked out by the two countries in 2006.

    The other option is to construct a single runway at the same location in order to reduce the reclamation area.

    Before announcing the report, the Japanese government plans to explain the results of study by the experts' panel to senior officials of the Okinawa prefectural government as early as Monday, officials said.

    (2010/08/28-20:45)

Mainichi :: Saturday, August 28, 2010

Japan Times :: Saturday, August 28, 2010





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  • [NATIONAL NEWS]
    Execution chamber opened to reporters
    By MINORU MATSUTANI, Staff writer
    The Tokyo Detention House execution chamber is shown to the media, giving the public its first peek at the place where death-row inmates are hanged.
    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100828a1.html

  • [NATIONAL NEWS]
    Battle heats up between rival Kan, Ozawa camps
    Kyodo News
    Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers intensify their efforts to whip up support for the two contenders in the ruling party's presidential election, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and longtime kingpin Ichiro Ozawa.
    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100828a2.html

  • [NATIONAL NEWS]
    Q&A
    Shedding light on death penalty
    Japan part of a shrinking roster of nations with capital punishment
    By MINORU MATSUTANI, Staff writer
    Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, who will probably be replaced next month because she lost her Diet seat in the July 11 Upper House election, allowed journalists for the first time Friday to enter the Tokyo Detention House's execution chamber.
    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100828a3.html

  • [NATIONAL NEWS]
    Relax arms export ban so firms can profit: panel
    By MASAMI ITO, Staff writer
    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100828a5.html

  • [JT EDITORIAL]
    Mr. Ozawa back in the race
    Former secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, announced Thursday that he will run in the Sept. 14 election for the next DPJ chief against Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who had expressed his intention to run. The two must do their utmost to prevent their duel from becoming an internecine power struggle.
    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ed20100828a1.html

Asahi :: Saturday, August 28, 2010




Daily Yomiuri Online :: Saturday, August 28, 2010




FOCUS: S. Koreans call anew on Japan to repent on annexation anniversary

    August 28 2010 07:39

    SEOUL, Aug. 28 KYODO - The 100th anniversary of Japan's annexation of the Korean peninsula has prompted South Koreans to reiterate their call on Japan to truly repent for its past wrongdoings and put its apology into concrete action.

    In a statement issued on Aug. 10, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized for Japan's past colonial rule and expressed deep remorse, admitting Japanese rule was imposed against the will of the Korean people.

    ''Japan's apology is seen like a formality that comes out when the need arises,'' said Han Doo Kyung, who runs an oriental medicine shop in eastern Seoul.

    Any apology from Japan will be ''nothing but empty words'' without stopping ownership to the Dokdo islets in the Sea of Japan and making compensations for former ''comfort women,'' the 47-year-old Han said.

    Japan has come under fire for its claims over the islets, known as Takeshima in Japan, its refusal to offer compensation to women forced into sexual slavery in Japanese army brothels during World War II, and textbooks written by nationalist groups that critics say whitewash atrocities by the Japanese military during the war.

    As for a professor of German at a Seoul university, Japan's evasive attitude in putting an end to the past and opening a new era is ''totally different'' from what he experienced in Germany.

    ''Germans I talked to seemed to have had a deep feeling of pride about former Chancellor Willy Brandt's efforts to apologize for the past wrongdoings,'' said Cho Kuk Hyun, who studied in Germany for about 10 years and now teaches at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

    When he visited Warsaw in December 1970, Brandt dropped to his knees before the monument to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943. Many people in Poland and Germany were deeply moved by this famous gesture of repentance and apology.

    ''Willy Brandt's kneeling down before a monument commemorating Jewish victims was more eloquent than any apologetic words. By making such efforts, Germany was able to dispel its image as a Nazi country and become a respectable member of the international community,'' Cho said.

    Cho said it is regrettable that Kan's statement fell short of admitting the illegality of Japan's annexation treaty with Korea, which was signed on Aug. 22, 1910, and promulgated a week later.

    Cho said he welcomed the decision by Kan and all of his ministers not to visit Yasukuni Shrine on the Aug. 15 anniversary of the end of World War II, out of consideration for Asian victims of Japan's past militarism. It is a ''good sign'' that raises expectations among South Koreans for a better future with Japan, he said.

    ''Even if Prime Minister Kan's apology statement didn't fully meet expectations, I pin much higher hope on the (ruling) Democratic Party of Japan in establishing truly friendly ties with South Korea,'' Han at the oriental medicine shop said.

    Visits to the Shinto shrine in Tokyo by Japanese government officials have become a major diplomatic issue since the enshrinement of war criminals there in 1978.

    South Korea and China, both victims of Japan's military aggression, have protested the visits as unrepentant and hurtful, given that the shrine is symbolic of Japanese militarism and honors Class-A war criminals along with Japan's war dead.

    Hwang Ji Eun, a 23-year-old student in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, said Japan is a country that needs to match its words with actions.

    She said she doesn't harbor bad feelings toward Japanese people and is certain the days will come when South Koreans and Japanese become ''truly close neighboring countries.''

    South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan said in a recent article published by the Korea Herald that reconciliation must be made between the past and the present for South Korea and Japan to truly become ''close and ever closer neighbors.''

    ''This will only be achieved through the earnest efforts on the part of Japan to heal the wounds remaining in the hearts of the Korean people,'' Yu said.

    Hong Chan Shik, an editorial writer for the Dong-a Ilbo, a daily newspaper, said in his recent column, '''The day when Japan's annexation was promulgated 100 years ago is called the day of national shame to make Koreans stay awake not to experience the same shameful thing as happened that day.''

    ==Kyodo