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Viewing cable 06TOKYO1444, DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 03/17/06

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TOKYO1444 2006-03-17 07:59 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tokyo
VZCZCXRO2318
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1444/01 0760759
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170759Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9904
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 7826
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5193
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 8336
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 5218
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6378
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1194
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7383
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 9354
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 001444 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST 
DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 
ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
SUBJECT:  DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 03/17/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Editorial: US ambassador's inspection of abduction site - 
international cooperation should be strengthen to give pressure 
on North Korea 
 
(2) Interview with Lawless: US may continue Futenma talks beyond 
this month; 7.5-billion-dollar relocation cost reasonable 
 
(3) DFAA to punish officials who approved extra survey work off 
Nago worth 2 billion 
 
(4) US agriculture minister: Pieces of bone mixed into beef 
shipments "common" in world 
 
(5) LDP trying to mend relations with the Association of Special 
Postmasters with eye on elections after Prime Minister Koizumi 
steps down 
 
(6) China's diplomatic maneuvering toward Japan: Putting pressure 
in political area but enhancing friendship with private sector, 
aiming for practical gains in energy-saving and environmental 
areas 
 
(7) Review of small government argument: Eruption of 
contradictions of market economy 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Editorial: US ambassador's inspection of abduction site - 
international cooperation should be strengthen to give pressure 
on North Korea 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The visit by US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer to the site 
in Niigata City where North Korean agents had abducted 13-year- 
old Megumi Yokota is a strong expression by the United States 
that abductions by North Korea can never be tolerated. 
 
It was the ambassador's wish to inspect the abduction site. After 
touring the school route and the beach where Megumi was abducted 
with her parents as guides, Schieffer said: 
 
"(The Yokotas' story) is the saddest I have ever heard. I think 
anyone who has walked these streets as I have just done would be 
touched. I was able to feel first hand that a dreadful incident 
had happened here." 
 
We hope that Ambassador Schieffer's feelings will lead to an 
arousal of US public opinion through President George W. Bush, 
the ambassador's old friend. 
 
Megumi's mother, Sakie, and others will visit the United States 
in late April to testify on the abduction issue before a hearing 
of the House of Representatives. The liaison committee of the 
families of the missing abductees also have appealed to the UN 
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. It will be the first time 
for them to testify on the abduction issue before the US 
Congress. 
 
According to accounts by Charles Jenkins, the husband of Hitomi 
 
TOKYO 00001444  002 OF 010 
 
 
Soga, one of the repatriated abductees, North Korea has abducted 
people from 12 countries. Since Jenkins reveals in his book that 
Romanians were abducted in Italy, the Italian police will soon 
dispatch investigators to Japan. 
 
Lebanese women who managed to escaped from North Korea said that 
a total of 28 foreigners, including three French women, two Dutch 
women, and three Italian women, were going through agent 
training. Japan should strengthen cooperation also with these 
European countries by exchanging information. 
 
At a House of Councillors Budget Committee session on March 15, 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe stated: "Japan needs to 
express its determination to cherish even one person's life." 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso expressed displeasure with the 
increasing volume of trade between North Korean and China and 
between North and South Korea. He stated: "It seems to me that 
(the two countries) have helped the North. I cannot understand 
why they do so." 
 
Japan must continue tenaciously its diplomatic effort to urge 
Beijing and Seoul to cooperate with Japan, the US and Europe to 
resolve the abduction issue. 
 
The government's special team on the abduction issue plans to set 
up two sub-committees -- one on law-enforcement and the other on 
information-collection -- in an effort to step up pressure on the 
North. Ministries and agencies should strengthen cooperation and 
give considerable thought to how to settle the abduction issue. 
 
(2) Interview with Lawless: US may continue Futenma talks beyond 
this month; 7.5-billion-dollar relocation cost reasonable 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The following is a gist of US Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
Defense Lawless' remarks in the Asahi Shimbun's interview on 
March 15: 
 
Present situation, problems: 
 
There are three pending issues; 1) relocating Futenma airfield; 
2) moving Okinawa Marines to Guam; and 3) returning and 
realigning bases in Okinawa. We think it's possible to resolve 
all the issues if we are appropriately willing to do so. 
 
Regrettably, the problem is that their (Japanese) arguments will 
be narrowed down at once to the small concerns of base-hosting 
localities involved in relocation. We're concerned that many of 
our Japanese counterparts cannot focus properly on the strategic 
needs of our alliance. 
 
It might not be easy for the Japanese government to complete the 
process of local coordination as shown in our agreement 
(incorporated in the interim report) of October last year. But 
that's the Japanese government's responsibility. 
 
Changes to Futenma relocation plan: 
 
When we created the agreement in October last year, the Japanese 
government had strong confidence it could obtain local 
understanding. They said there was no problem. That's why we 
 
TOKYO 00001444  003 OF 010 
 
 
agreed. Of course, if the Japanese government asks us to show 
flexibility, we will respond then. We're ready to positively 
consider changes to the plan, if such changes do not sacrifice 
our military capability already agreed to. 
 
Time limit: 
 
We don't necessarily have only 15 days left (until the end of 
March). We will continue our consultations beyond the time limit, 
if we need to do so. However, there's no option of taking another 
5 or 10 years from now to resolve the problem. 
 
Guam relocation 
 
We plan to create an important hub in Guam consisting not only of 
the Marines, but also combining the Air Force and the Army. The 
relocation of the Marines from Okinawa is but one element in this 
process. 
 
The combined cost of relocating the Marines and building related 
infrastructure is estimated to be approximately $10 billion. The 
US will bear the cost of the entire redeployment, which will 
greatly exceed that amount. In addition, since the Marines are 
being transferred there at Japan's request, our asking Japan to 
cover approximately 75% of that cost is highly appropriate. 
 
US-Japan Security Consultative Committee (2 plus 2 meeting) 
 
We have received a request from Japan to convene a 2 plus 2 
meeting.  We are preparing to consider it based on the need for 
one. The US would like to make a judgment on that at the stage 
when we will be able to reach a comprehensive agreement regarding 
the entire realignment plan. For the US and Japan to try to reach 
a final agreement before coordination at Japan's local level is 
complete would not be an effective approach. 
 
Comprehensive agreement 
 
All aspects of the realignment plan are interrelated and 
interdependent. We must complete a comprehensive agreement that 
includes everything in the plan. If we make an agreement on only 
a part of the plan and put off the rest, such as leaving the 
Futenma relocation undecided, it would repeat the same mistake as 
that in the SACO agreement. 
 
Japan should regard as a priority matter accompanying the 
realignment the consolidation and realignment of the Marines who 
will remain in Okinawa, but in order to bring that process about, 
the final agreement needs to contain the Futenma relocation and 
the transfer to Guam of 8,000 Marines. 
 
What the realignment promotes are basic changes that will bring a 
higher level of confidence in the alliance, make it easier for 
localities to accept it, and be useful for generations to come. 
This will be the largest-scale revolution in the alliance since 
the reversion of Okinawa to Japan. For the American forces, this 
massive change rarely occurs even on a global scale. If we let 
this opportunity slip away for the moment, it will not be 
possible to carry it out. 
 
(3) DFAA to punish officials who approved extra survey work off 
Nago worth 2 billion 
 
 
TOKYO 00001444  004 OF 010 
 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) carried out a 
geographic survey until last October in connection with the 
construction of an offshore airport off the Henoko district in 
Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, as an alternative facility of the 
Marine Corps Futenma Air Station. In connection with this 
project, it was learned yesterday that although the contracts 
with three companies for the work totaled 840 million yen, the 
amount actually billed was approximately 2.8 billion yen. The 
DFAA has decided not to pay the overcharge of about 2 billion 
yen. The agency has started investigating officials at the Naha 
bureau suspected of having given unauthorized approval for the 
extra work. 
 
The three contractors are OYO Corporation, Pacific Consultants 
Co., and SUNCOH, all based in Tokyo. They were awarded contracts 
worth 840 million yen from the Naha Defense Facilities 
Administration Bureau (DFAB). 
 
Soon after starting the survey work, the companies faced protest 
sit-ins by residents who mounted the platform constructed for the 
purpose of doing the site survey. In part also because of the 
effects of typhoons, the work did not make headway as intended. 
In talks last October, Japan and the US decided to switch the 
construction site from waters near Henoko to an area on the 
coastline of Henoko. Following this, the survey was suspended. 
 
The DFAA notified the three contractors yesterday of the 
cancellation of the contracts. The agency will make payments by 
the end of this month based on the contracts. 
 
According to an informed source, the three firms have demanded a 
total of 2.8 billion yen, with the explanation that expenses 
piled up because of such services as taking their staff to an 
from the work site by boat everyday. The person said that one 
contractor is calling on the DFAA to pay the full amount, citing, 
"we continued to put workboats out to sea upon getting 
confirmation from DFAA officials," and "There were verbal 
requests." 
 
Senior officials of the Naha DFAA Construction Department are now 
suspected of having contacted the DFAA Construction Department 
and having given approval for continued work that was not 
included in the contracts. 
 
A senior DFAA official emphasized there was no need for the 
agency to pay the extra charges, saying: "We cannot pay for work 
that is not included in the contract documents. I wonder why they 
did not propose concluding a new contract before adding the extra 
work." 
 
A spokesman of OYO Corporation said: "I cannot make a comment." A 
Pacific Consultants spokesman said: "All the facts of the case 
have yet to be brought to light." 
 
(4) US agriculture minister: Pieces of bone mixed into beef 
shipments "common" in world 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
Evening, March 17, 2006 
 
 
TOKYO 00001444  005 OF 010 
 
 
Eiji Hirose, Washington 
 
Referring to the recent discovery of bones prohibited under a 
bilateral accord due to BSE risk included in a US beef shipment 
to Hong Kong, US Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns stated in 
a press conference in Washington on March 16: "It is common at 
any meat-processing plants across the world that pieces of bone 
are mixed into meat in the slaughtering process." He added: "The 
plant that shipped beef containing a banned part believes that 
the chips of bones included in the shipment was within 
tolerances." Asked about whether the case will affect Japan-US 
negotiations on Japan's resumption of US beef import, Johanns 
emphatically said: "I do not think the issue will affect the 
negotiations." 
 
In Japan, however, distrust is increasing in the United State's 
sloppy inspection system and procedures. The agriculture 
secretary's remark, under such a situation, defining the volume 
 
SIPDIS 
of mixed bones as being within a tolerable range is likely to 
have some effect on the Japan-US beef talks. 
 
The plant that shipped beef containing banned bones to Hong Kong 
- owned by Swift Beef Co - had cleared a Japanese government 
inspection last December to certify beef shipments to Japan. The 
inspection concluded that the process of removing specified risk 
materials there had been "properly carried out." 
 
(5) LDP trying to mend relations with the Association of Special 
Postmasters with eye on elections after Prime Minister Koizumi 
steps down 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
March 16, 2006 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) Party Organization 
Headquarters Chairman Yoshio Yatsu, a former agriculture 
minister, called on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at his 
office (Kantei) on Feb. 23, six months after the latest House of 
Representatives election. Yatsu told Koizumi, "I have something 
to tell you." 
 
Yatsu told the prime minister about the political maneuvering 
going on in seeking reconciliation with the Association of 
Special Postmasters. The relationship between the LDP and the 
association has deteriorated due to Koizumi's postal- 
privatization program. Koizumi branded the organization, which 
has been a strong support group for LDP, as "a force of 
resistance" since the group stubbornly opposed the privatization 
bills. 
 
Yachi said to Koizumi: 
 
"Our party needs the organization's support for next summer's 
House of Councillors elections. The organization's officials came 
to our party headquarters the other day, following my visit to 
them. We talked about various matters over dinner." 
 
Koizumi grinned widely and told Yatsu, "That's good. Mr. Yatsu, I 
will rely on you." He gave Yatsu the go-ahead to repair the 
deteriorated ties with the postal organization. 
 
A senior LDP lawmaker presumed Koizumi's mind this way: 
 
 
TOKYO 00001444  006 OF 010 
 
 
"The prime minister probably arrived at a conclusion that it 
would be better for the party to secure cooperation from special 
postmasters in order to get the postal-privatization process, 
which will start in October 2007, underway; and that since postal 
privatization has already been decided, he no longer needs to 
attack them." 
 
The LDP engaged in a deadly power struggle in last year's Lower 
House election. Koizumi fielded candidates against all anti- 
postal-privatization candidates. The postal association, which 
supported the anti-privatization candidates, suffered a complete 
defeat. 
 
The association summed up its relations with the LDP in its 
general meeting on Nov. 6 after the postal-privatization 
legislation cleared the Diet that it was unable to continue the 
relationship with the LDP. It did not invite any LDP Diet members 
to its regional general meetings held in February across the 
nation. 
 
Taiju, a political organization composed of retired special 
postmasters and their family members, also cut its ties with the 
LDP. Since 95% of the Taiju members did not pay party membership 
fees, the number of LDP members decreased to a mere 6,157 from 
the previous year's 114,905. 
 
The organization, however, is unable to work out strategies 
without the LDP's support. As if to see through the 
organization's weakness, LDP Upper House Caucus Secretary General 
Toranosuke Katayama sought to check the organization, saying: 
 
"I understand that the association cannot change its policy 
immediately. When it considers postal business and post offices 
in the future, it will receive no benefits if it makes an enemy 
of the LDP." 
 
Some LDP lawmakers have started to make efforts to restore ties 
with special postmasters. 
 
In the 1980 Upper House election, an LDP candidate, who was a 
postal bureaucrat, obtained 1.03 million votes of the postal 
association and Taiju. The number of votes obtained by LDP 
candidates decreased to about 480,000 votes in the 2001 Upper 
House election, and to 280,000 votes in 2004 Upper House 
election. 
 
The LDP needs such organizations as the postal association and 
Taiju, which work for the party without pay. 
 
Local assembly members also will need their support for the 
unified elections to be held in April next year. 
 
Given the circumstances, the LDP is now trying to mend its ties 
with the association with the unified elections, the Upper House 
election, and even the next Lower House election in mind. 
 
(6) China's diplomatic maneuvering toward Japan: Putting pressure 
in political area but enhancing friendship with private sector, 
aiming for practical gains in energy-saving and environmental 
areas 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 16, 2006 
 
TOKYO 00001444  007 OF 010 
 
 
 
By Tadashi Ito, Beijing 
 
Putting aside the hope for repairing the currently chilly 
relations with Japan on the political front, China appears to 
have decided to strengthen its approaches to the Japanese private 
sector. As part of this, China has invited leaders of seven pro- 
China organizations of Japan to visit China. They are scheduled 
to travel to China late this month. According to a source 
familiar with Japan-China relations, President Hu Jintao will 
meet them and emphasize the importance of Japan-China ties and 
the need for expansion of exchanges especially in economic and 
trade sectors. 
 
China has concluded that the current strains between Japan and 
China have been brought about mostly by Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi's continued visits to Yasukuni Shrine. But according to 
the source, China has analyzed from the words and deeds of Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Aso that 
the Yasukuni issue is likely to remain an open question after 
Koizumi steps down. 
 
China cannot yield on the Yasukuni issue that has become an 
international issue in that country. On March 7, Foreign Minister 
Li Zhaoxing during a press conference blasted at Koizumi for his 
shrine visits. On March 14, Premier Wen Jiabao made a direct 
reference to the Yasukuni issue unlike a press conference a year 
ago and stated that as long as the shrine visit continues, 
mending ties (with Japan) would not realize. 
 
There is a noticeable change in Wen's statements between this 
year and last year, the source said. At his press conference last 
year, Wen mentioned three principles for mending fences with 
Japan: 1) looking toward the future in learning lessons from 
history; 2) firmly maintaining the one-China principle; and 3) 
jointly progressing with increased cooperation. This year, Wen 
pointed out: 1) continuing strategic dialogue; 2) strengthening 
private-sector exchanges; and expanding economic and trade ties. 
 
Of these three, private-sector exchanges are worth noting as Wen 
explained that they "will facilitate mutual understanding and 
trust." The premier mentioned difficulties in repairing 
relations, but added, "The cause does not lie with the Japanese 
public," pointing a finger at the leader of Japan. 
 
According to the source, after much discussion since late last 
year until recently of Japan policy with temporarily recalled 
Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi, the Chinese government adopted the 
policy line of enlivening private-sector exchanges as well as 
enhancing measures for public opinion, including Japanese mass 
media. 
 
The first action in line with promotion of private-sector 
exchanges came in the way for the China-Japan Friendship 
Association to invite leaders of seven Japan-China friendship 
organizations in Japan to visit China. Reportedly, these leaders 
have been informally told that they would meet with President Hu 
Jintao. 
 
Leaders of those seven groups include former Prime Minister 
Ryutaro Hashimoto (chair of the Association for the Promotion of 
International Trade, Japan or JAPIT), former Foreign Minister 
Masahiko Komura (chair of the Japan-China Friendship 
 
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Parliamentary League and former Home Affairs Minister Takeshi 
Noda (chair of the Japan-China Association). They will arrive in 
Beijing by March 30 and are expected to meet with President Hu 
possibly on March 31. Hu as well as Wen is likely to insist on 
the importance of facilitation of private-sector exchanges. 
 
Before normalizing diplomatic ties with Japan, China adopted a 
similar approach of promoting private-sector exchanges but 
pressuring the government. The source explained that Japan's 
cooperation would be indispensable for China in achieving the 
targets mentioned in the new five-year plan that covers the 
period from 2006 through 2010, adopted at the recent National 
People's Congress meeting, for instance, to attain the goals in 
the areas of saving-energy and environmental preservation. 
 
According to the source, Japan Business Federation (Nippon 
Keidanren) Chairman Hiroshi Okuda met with President Hu and 
Premier Wen last September and referring to development of the 
western part of China, Okuda proposed cooperation between the 
government and private sectors in the environmental area. His 
proposal received high praises from China. With the facilitation 
of private-sector exchanges, China appears to aim to put pressure 
on Japan politically but at the same time to gain practical 
benefits. 
 
(7) Review of small government argument: Eruption of 
contradictions of market economy 
 
YOMIURI (Page 13) (Full) 
March 15, 2006 
 
By Takamitsu Sawa, professor at Kyoto University 
 
Egalitarian society 
 
There is nothing wrong about the structural reform of the Koizumi 
Cabinet aiming for a small government. However, when it comes to 
the question of whether everything will be all right if it is 
left to the private sector to work out, I am afraid that such is 
not the case. It is necessary to reset a demarcation line between 
what the government should do and what it should not do. 
 
In the 1958-1973 high growth period, even when fiscal outlays 
expanded, revenues and expenditures were in balance, because tax 
revenues made up for the expanded spending. However, since the 
oil crises (of the 1970s), the growth of the Japanese economy has 
slowed, but spending has kept growing, putting public finances 
into the red. Since the Heisei period (1990s) recession kicked 
in, the economy stopped growing or even moved into the negative 
territory, necessitating the elimination of wasteful government 
spending. The Koizumi cabinet was inaugurated in 2001 with such 
slogans as "small government" and "structural reforms." Such were 
relevant policy goals. 
 
However, Prime Minister Koizumi was a Margaret Thatcher (former 
British prime minister) who was 20 years too late. Under 
Thatcherism, many state-run companies were privatized in Britain. 
Deregulatory efforts were made unflinchingly. As a result, 
Britain conquered the so-called British disease and overcome its 
sluggish economy, but this policy has led to widened income 
disparity and the deterioration of public education and medical 
services. 
 
 
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After the collapse of international socialism, the idea of having 
a pure market economy became a utopian concept sought during the 
1980s and 1990s. There was an assumption at the time that 
creation of a free competition society characterized by market- 
based principles would benefit the poor, as well. This 
assumption, however, turned out to be mistaken. The pursuit of 
such a society has made the rich even richer and the poor even 
poorer. Problems with excessive Thatcherism are beginning to 
erupt in Japan, too. 
 
The 1990s in Japan was called the "lost decade." The nation lost 
much in this decade. The hardest blow was dealt to traditional 
virtues, such as diligence, perseverence, serious-mindedness and 
sincerity, which were all rejected. 
 
When the bubble economy was at its peak, stories of people making 
profits of tens of millions of yen just by buying and selling 
land on the phone, were talked about in an affirmative manner. 
Takafumi Horie, former president of Livedoor, was in his late 
'teens in the bubble economy period. He saw many of Japan's 
traditional virtues cast aside. In my view, the Livedoor incident 
has ushered in the final act of the negative legacy of the bubble 
economy. Since the Livedoor scandal, the press has begun to make 
an issue of the social divide and other negative aspects that 
accompany a free market economy. 
 
After the war, Japan rushed to rebuild its economy to become an 
industrialized society, culminating around 1990. Now it has 
reached the threshold of becoming a post-industrial society. In a 
post-industrial society, the manufacturing sector would 
restructure its management by introducing information and 
technology (IT), and the services sector, such as financial 
services, telecommunications and information services, would be 
where the key industries lie. The US maintained prosperity in the 
1990s, free from a recession, because it was the first to achieve 
a post-industrial society. In order for Japan to turn around its 
economy fully and maintain an annual growth rate at around 3%, it 
will have to follow the same path as the US did. 
 
However, a post-industrial society is not necessarily a good 
society. We see in the first decade of this century the 
contradictions and strains that such a society produces. Economic 
divides among states and individuals are widening swiftly. Risks 
and uncertainties are on the increase. Free competition produces 
only one winner. The quintessential case of this is Microsoft's 
Windows. 
 
Even if the government strengthens the Anti-Monopoly Law, it will 
not be able to stem the winner-takes-all trend. Usual methods, 
such as the redistribution of income by means of the income tax, 
are not sufficient in correcting income disparity among 
individual workers. An egalitarian society means a society that 
does not eliminate anybody. 
 
Jobless people mean people who have the desire to work but are 
excluded from the workforce. The US society is affluent, but it 
is said that 17% of Americans are not covered by any health 
insurance program. Those who work with large companies can 
subscribe to an insurance scheme at a lower cost, but self- 
employed persons have to pay higher premiums. In other words, 17% 
of American people are denied medical services. 
 
It is true that Japan's market economy has aspects that are not 
 
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free, clear or fair. It is necessary to reform the market economy 
to realize a free, transparent and fair mechanism. At the same 
time, reform efforts to create a third way of building an equal 
welfare society, where nobody is denied, must be promoted. 
 
As a feature of a post-industrial society, accounting fraud tends 
to become rampant, compared with a society based on goods 
manufacturing. False business transactions by Enron and WorldCom 
occurred, because distribution of goods is invisible in trade in 
electricity and information and telecommunications. Anything goes 
in such industries, if companies collude with accounting firms. 
The Livedoor incident is a sign of accounting fraud becoming 
rampant. 
 
Another important role for government to play is to scrupulously 
monitor whether rules of the market economy are being observed. 
Those who violate the rules must be punished. Otherwise, a sound 
market society cannot develop. 
 
Takamitsu Sawa: Born in 1942 in Wakayama Prefecture. Graduated 
from the Tokyo University Economics Department. Serving as a 
professor at Kyoto University since 1980, after serving as an 
associate professor at Illinois University. Kyoto University 
Economic Research Center since 1990. His works include: "End of 
Market Economy" and "Prevent Global Warming." 
 
(Interviewer: Economic News Section reporter Shigeki Kurokawa) 
 
SCHIEFFER