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Viewing cable 06TOKYO6492, DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 11/13/06-2

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TOKYO6492 2006-11-13 07:42 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tokyo
VZCZCXRO5884
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #6492/01 3170742
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130742Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8237
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 1283
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 8772
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 2177
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 8417
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 9822
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4846
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0956
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2480
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 006492 
 
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 11/13/06-2 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(17) Schieffer: (Rumsfeld's departure) will not affect US force 
realignment 
 
(18) Japan-US relations: US will lose interest in Asia policy due to 
Democratic victory in midterm elections 
 
(19) Framework for Asian partnership: APEC to take up FTA proposed 
by US; Washington aims to block Japan 
 
(20) US military aircraft's touch-and-go training to be relocated to 
site outside 180 kilometers of Iwakuni; Gov't rejects US request 
 
(21) Minshuto to partially embrace right to collective defense 
 
(22) Editorial: Deliberations on raising JDA to ministry status - 
National defense must take priority over party interests 
 
(23) Questions for town meetings on educational reform found to have 
been "prearranged"; Another trick behind "Koizumi theater" 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(17) Schieffer: (Rumsfeld's departure) will not affect US force 
realignment 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) 
November 10, 2006 
 
US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer gave an interview to an 
Asahi Shimbun reporter at his official residence on Nov. 9. 
Regarding former CIA chief Robert Gates, nominated by President 
George W. Bush to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 
Schieffer said: "He understands the importance of Japan in US 
diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region, and he will contribute to 
US-Japan relations." The exit of Rumsfeld will also not change the 
planned realignment of US forces in Japan or the ongoing deployment 
of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) ground-to-air missile 
defense system in Okinawa and mainland Japan against North Korean 
ballistic missiles, the ambassador said. 
 
Schieffer explained Tuesday's US midterm elections, in which the 
Democrats gained control of Congress: "In the United States, it has 
been rare for the same party to control the administration and 
Congress at the same time. If the Democrats and Republicans have to 
reach out to each other, that's not necessarily a bad thing." 
 
The ambassador also expressed hope for the new defense secretary to 
come up with a new approach to Iraq policy, the major issue in the 
campaign. He indicated that the election results would not lead to 
an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, saying, "I don't think either the 
Democrats or the Republicans want to leave Iraq in a mess." 
 
Concerning North Korea, Schieffer indicated that calls in Congress 
for a direct dialogue with North Korea have dwindled with 
Pyongyang's announcement that it would return to the six-party 
talks. He also said, "I don't think the election results will bring 
about any change," adding, "North Korea will not be allowed to drive 
a wedge between the United States and its allies." The ambassador 
also indicated that the governments of the United States and Japan 
would continue working closely in the field of missile defense, 
stating: "The great majority of the Japanese people are hoping to 
 
TOKYO 00006492  002 OF 009 
 
 
see PAC-3 missiles deployed not only in Okinawa but also mainland 
Japan, as well. They will bring greater security to Japan." 
 
Touching on the nuclear debate in Japan, the ambassador said: "The 
answer to this question is not whether Japan needs to go nuclear but 
how to strengthen the US-Japan alliance." He thus stressed that the 
bilateral security treaty obliges the United States to defend Japan 
under its nuclear umbrella. 
 
(18) Japan-US relations: US will lose interest in Asia policy due to 
Democratic victory in midterm elections 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Full) 
November 10, 2006 
 
US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was dismissed. A huge 
aftershock of the US midterm congressional elections, in which the 
Democratic Party scored big gains, has already come to the 
relationship between Japan and the United States. 
 
In response to the will of voters, the Bush administration has 
finally taken action to revise its Iraq policy led by Rumsfeld. 
President Bush's seeming admission of a failure in his Iraq policy 
will give a major blow to the Japanese government, which has 
completely supported the US Iraq policy by dispatching Self-Defense 
Forces troops to Iraq. 
 
Moreover, the resignation of Rumsfeld, who led bilateral 
negotiations on the realignment of US forces in Japan, will give 
great concern to the Japanese government. Especially the costs for 
the realignment plan, regarding which Japan reportedly will bear 26 
billion dollars, "There is a possibility that the US Congress, in 
which the Democratic Party has power, will demand that Japan incur 
more costs," said James Schoff, associate director of the 
Asia-Pacific Studies of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis 
(IFPA), a US think-tank. 
 
The rising power of the Democratic Party in the United States will 
gradually come down hard on the Bush administration regarding its 
North Korea policy. During the midterm election campaign, the 
Democratic Party criticized the administration, saying that North 
Korea conducted a nuclear test because the US had refused to hold a 
direct dialogue with it. The Democrats urged a policy shift. If the 
Bush administration assumes a flexible policy stance, the Japanese 
government will lose its strong backer. 
 
The rumor has been floated in the US that Ambassador to the United 
Nations Bolton, who supported Japan's bid to impose sanctions on 
North Korea, may be replaced. 
 
There is also growing concern that if the Bush administration begins 
a review of its Iraq policy, it will have little energy to spend for 
security in Northeast Asia. A source familiar with the Japanese 
government asserted, "There will be no big change in the US Asia 
policy as long as the Bush administration continues." But for Japan 
it is a serious issue if the United States loses interest in North 
Korea. 
 
A ranking Japanese official grumbled: "We will have a difficult time 
in dealing with various matters because we have negotiated only with 
the Bush administration for a long time." 
 
The question is how the Japanese government, which has tilted toward 
 
TOKYO 00006492  003 OF 009 
 
 
the Bush administration and the Republican Party, will be able to 
cooperate with the US in which the Democratic Party has power. The 
ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is unfamiliar with the US 
Democratic Party, which is more sensitive about the issue of 
visiting Yasukuni Shrine than the Republican Party. 
 
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold his first meeting with President 
Bush in Hanoi next weekend. Abe hopes to discuss North Korea policy 
and USFJ realignment with Bush. However, it will be difficult for 
the two leaders to reach a consensus, since there appear to be gaps 
between them. 
 
(19) Framework for Asian partnership: APEC to take up FTA proposed 
by US; Washington aims to block Japan 
 
MAINICHI (Page 9) (Full) 
November 13, 2006 
 
Prospects have now become stronger that the feasibility of a free 
trade agreement (FTA) involving the entire Asia-Pacific region 
consisting of 21 countries and territories will be discussed for the 
first time at ministerial and summit meetings at the Asia-Pacific 
Economic Cooperation Conference (APEC) forum. The US is strongly 
calling for such a debate. The realization of the US proposal would 
mean the formation of a huge economic bloc that would account for 
approximately 60%  of the world's gross domestic product (GDP). 
However, there is little chance of such a framework materializing 
anytime soon. The proposal was made in large part to block the East 
Asia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) proposed by Japan. A 
struggle for leadership of the fast-growing East Asian region is 
about to start. 
 
According to an informed source, the US has used such occasions as 
the preparatory APEC meeting in September to propose looking into 
the feasibility of an Asia-Pacific FTA. Following the US proposal, 
participating countries are now undertaking final coordination of 
views with the possibility of mentioning in a summit declaration and 
a ministerial statement that consideration will be given to the US 
proposal. 
 
However, the feasibility of the US proposal is doubtful. APEC is 
characterized as having diversity with its membership including 
industrialized and developing countries. The sizes of the economies 
of member nations and the degree of their development differ. Under 
the Bogor Declaration, the deadline set for industrialized countries 
to achieve the target of liberalizing trade and investment is 2010 
and that for developing countries is 2020. The initiative proposed 
by the US, which targets economic liberalization in a wider region, 
is taken as an issue to be tackled in the distant future, as a 
senior official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry put 
it. 
 
Nevertheless, the US has proposed this initiative out of wariness 
about economic bloc initiatives involving East Asia proposed by 
Japan and China. China has proposed an economic bloc under the 
framework of ASEAN+3. In rivalry with China, Japan has come up with 
an East Asia EPA involving 16 countries - ASEAN+3 plus India, 
Australia, and New Zealand. The plan is to launch concrete studies 
on its feasibility with concerned countries starting next year. 
 
With trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization 
(WTO) stalemated, strengthening relations with East Asian countries, 
which are achieving high growth, has become a major goal for leading 
 
TOKYO 00006492  004 OF 009 
 
 
countries. The US has expressed strong dissatisfaction with those 
two plans that do not involve US participation, saying that they 
would draw a demarcation line between East and West right in the 
middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is now trying to drive a wedge 
between Japan and other countries by revealing at APEC, its only 
stepping stone into East Asia, its own economic bloc initiative that 
includes Washington. Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Akira 
Amari hopes to dodge the US move, noting, "I support the US plan as 
one direction, but the East Asia EPA consisting of 16 countries is 
necessary as a base for such an initiative." 
 
However, since the US proposal as a major power carries weight, it 
will be taken up at APEC as a future agenda item. 
 
(20) US military aircraft's touch-and-go training to be relocated to 
site outside 180 kilometers of Iwakuni; Gov't rejects US request 
 
YOMIURI (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 12, 2006 
 
Japan and the United States have agreed to redeploy carrier-borne 
fighter jets from the US Navy's Atsugi Air Facility in Kanagawa 
Prefecture to the US Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi 
Prefecture in line with the realignment of US forces in Japan. On 
this issue, the government decided yesterday to select a permanent 
site over 180 kilometers of the Iwakuni base for their night landing 
practice (NLP). The government has concluded that there is no 
suitable place in the Inland Sea or in the northeastern part of 
Kyushu. The government will present its new plan to the United 
States soon and will come up with several candidate sites over a 
wide area, including the southern part of Kyushu, by the end of 
March next year. 
 
Atsugi-based US carrier-borne fighter jets are currently conducting 
NLP and other drills on Iwo Jima. However, Iwo Jima is far from the 
Atsugi base. Moreover, there is no place for US fighter jets to make 
emergency landings on their way to that island if and when there is 
something wrong with them. The US government has therefore asked 
Japan to set up a permanent training site. 
 
In May, Tokyo and Washington finalized a report on US force 
realignment, specifying their agreement to redeploy the Atsugi-based 
wing of carrier-borne fighter jets by 2014. Meanwhile, the two 
governments have gone no further than to say they will select a 
training facility by July 2009 or at the earliest possible date 
thereafter. 
 
The United States, before releasing the final report, proposed 
conducting NLP at the Iwakuni base. However, Japan rejected the 
proposal due in part to local opposition. The United States has 
therefore asked to pick a site within about 100 nautical miles-or 
180 kilometers-of the Iwakuni base. 
 
Normally, in case a carrier-borne jet refueled enough to fly for 
about an hour and 30 minutes takes off from a base, it can return to 
that base after carrying out touch-and-go-training more than 10 
times at a training site located within about 180 kilometers. As it 
stands, an area of up to about 180 kilometers is an efficient 
distance for training, according to a staff officer of the 
Self-Defense Forces. 
 
The government has so far looked into the feasibility of some 
candidate sites situated within 180 kilometers of Iwakuni base, 
 
TOKYO 00006492  005 OF 009 
 
 
including Okurokamijima, an uninhabited island in Hiroshima 
Prefecture, and the Air Self-Defense Force's Tsuiki base in Fukuoka 
Prefecture. In 2003, Okurokamijima once surfaced under its local 
mayor's initiative. However, the government, factoring in local 
opposition and geographical constraints, concluded that neither 
Okurokamijima nor the Tsuiki base would be appropriate for the 
touch-and-go training of US carrier-borne fighter jets. 
 
The government plans to select a candidate site over a wider area. 
In selecting a candidate site, the government is required to 
consider preconditions, such as: 1) there are no surrounding 
precipitous mountains; 2) neighboring local residents will not have 
to suffer great amounts of noise; and 3) the weather is 
comparatively stable throughout the year. The government will face 
rough going in the process of selecting a candidate site. 
 
(21) Minshuto to partially embrace right to collective defense 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
November 10, 2006 
 
An outline of a basic policy on security, now under study by the 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) administration and policy 
committee, was unveiled on Nov. 9. The outline calls for rejecting 
the conventional idea of distinguishing collective and individual 
self-defense. Based on the new idea of exercising the right of 
self-defense per se, the largest opposition party has come up with a 
position that it is possible for Japan to fight back by exercising 
its right to self-defense in the event a US naval vessel came under 
an armed attack by a third country during Japan-US joint operations 
in the Sea of Japan. The committee's basic policy embracing some 
actions the government has identified as constituting collective 
self-defense is likely to affect debate in the Abe administration, 
as well. 
 
Running in the Minshuto presidential race in September, President 
Ichiro Ozawa unveiled what was called the "Ozawa vision" allowing 
Japan to exercise the right of collective or individual self-defense 
when facing the imminent danger of being attacked. The committee has 
been studying the matter in line of this policy course. 
 
The committee has confirmed the policy direction to deal with the 
idea of self-defense instead of drawing a line between individual 
and collective self-defense. A senior Minshuto lawmaker has 
described the committee's view as a commonsense interpretation of 
the right of self-defense. A Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel's 
assistance for a US ship attacked by North Korea during a 
contingency on the Korean Peninsula constitutes an exercise of the 
right of collective self-defense, according to the government's 
interpretation. Minshuto's view is intended to interpret the same 
step simply as an act of self-defense. 
 
There are concerns in the government that blanket approval of the 
right of collective self-defense would end up prodding Japan to 
extend assistance to US forces even on the other side of the globe. 
Minshuto's view is also aimed at dispelling such concerns by 
eliminating the existing conception of collective self-defense. 
 
Minshuto's basic policy is expected to incorporate the phrase 
"actively take part in peace-building activities centering on the 
United Nations." 
 
The basic policy also specifies that joining enforcement measures 
 
TOKYO 00006492  006 OF 009 
 
 
under UN Charter Article 41 stipulating economic sanctions and 
Article 42 specifying military sanctions is consistent with the 
constitutional principle of playing an active international role. 
"Such an act is distinct from exercising the right of self-defense 
of a sovereign state," a government official explained. 
 
The committee plans to obtain approval at a meeting of all Minshuto 
lawmakers before the end of this year. 
 
Once the policy is approved, the party plans to include it in its 
manifesto (campaign pledges) for the Upper House election next 
summer. 
 
Government's study made little progress 
 
Prime Minister Abe intends to have his administration study the 
right of collective self-defense, which the country possesses but is 
not allowed to exercise, according to the government's 
interpretation of the Constitution. But the government has yet to 
make any specific moves. In the meantime, discussion on the matter 
has been gathering momentum reflecting drastic changes in the 
environment surrounding East Asia, evidenced by North Korea's 
ballistic missile launches and nuclear test. 
 
In the wake of the UN Security Council's adoption of a sanctions 
resolution, including cargo inspections, against North Korea, the 
government has been studying support activities, such as refueling 
US vessels at sea under the Regional Contingency Law. Although the 
law requires Self-Defense Force troops to halt their activities in a 
state of war, can they really withdraw while leaving US troops 
behind? The answer depends on the government's view on the right of 
collective self-defense. 
 
Abe asked in the Diet, "In the event a US vessel navigating on the 
high seas alongside a Japanese ship was attacked, can't Japan assist 
it?" Defense Agency Director General Fumio Kyuma said: "During 
refueling activities, it's hard to determine which vessel - Japanese 
or US - was attacked. In reality, Japan must fight back under an 
arms protection provision in the SDF Law." But what if US forces 
were clearly targeted? Questions still remain. 
 
The government's standpoint on the right of collective self-defense 
is also a bottleneck to the operation of a missile defense system 
against North Korean ballistic missiles. 
 
The SDF might not be allowed to intercept a ballistic missile headed 
for the United States. 
 
"The United States would be obligated to knock down a missile 
whether it was headed for Japan or the US, but Japan does not 
necessarily have the same obligation to America," US Ambassador to 
Japan Thomas Schieffer said in a speech in Tokyo in October, urging 
the Japanese government to reexamine its view. 
 
Abe, who thinks the Japan-US alliance must function effectively as a 
deterrent in East Asia, delivered a policy speech in September in 
which he said: "We will thoroughly study individual, specific cases 
to identify what kind of case falls under the exercise of the right 
of collective self-defense, which is forbidden under the 
Constitution." But the government's study has not made headway. 
 
(22) Editorial: Deliberations on raising JDA to ministry status - 
National defense must take priority over party interests 
 
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YOMIURI (Page 3) (Full) 
November 10, 2006 
 
Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), in addition to the Social 
Democratic Party (SDP), has resorted to a strategy of boycotting 
deliberations over a package of legislative measures that will 
affect Japan's national defense. 
 
The House of Representatives Security Council finally started 
substantive deliberations on bills related to elevating the Defense 
Agency (JDA) to ministry status yesterday. But Minshuto and the SDP 
both boycotted the meeting, claiming that the bid-rigging scandal 
involving the Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) has 
not been fully discussed. 
 
Two weeks have already passed since an explanation of the bills was 
given in a Lower House plenary session. 
 
Minshuto demanded intensive deliberations on the DFAA scandal as a 
precondition for discussing the bills. In response, the Security 
Council conducted intensive deliberations on the bid-rigging case 
for 12 hours over three days. Holding the deliberations contributed 
to delaying the start of discussion on the bills. 
 
Whether to elevate the JDA status and the DFAA scandal are two 
separate matters. 
 
Minshuto President Ozawa has repeatedly expressed approval of the 
idea of raising the JDA to ministry status. As seen from the 
presence of a parliamentary league in Minshuto supporting just that, 
a number of party members are in favor of the JDA-upgrade idea. 
 
Despite this, Minshuto has yet to determine its stance over the 
bills. It is strange for the primary opposition party, which aims to 
take power, to remain undecided on its stance toward such key 
bills. 
 
Minshuto and other opposition parties have fielded a united 
candidate for the upcoming Okinawa gubernatorial election. The party 
apparently deems it necessary to take joint steps with the Japanese 
Communist Party and the SDP, both of which are against the bills, 
through Nov. 19, the voting date for the election. 
 
Such a stance is similar to that taken by the Japan Socialist Party 
(JSP) under the so-called 1955 setup, when the Liberal Democratic 
Party was in power and the JSP was the perennial opposition party, 
one that was not at all responsible. 
 
Under the JDA, the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces 
protect the peace and safety of Japan. The agency is also 
responsible for mapping out security policy. 
 
The JDA is now an external agency of the Cabinet Office, so the JDA 
director general has no authority to call for a cabinet meeting to 
adopt key defense issues or to present the finance minister with a 
budgetary request. 
 
In all other countries, including Japan's neighbors, a ministry is 
responsible for national defense. Japan is the only exception. 
 
The environment surrounding Japan's national security has been 
greatly undermined due to the North Korean nuclear threat. It is 
 
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necessary for Japan to clarify who holds responsibility and 
authority by raising the JDA to ministry status and to arrange a 
system to enable a quick response to national emergencies, as well 
as to any changes in the security environment. 
 
It is important to discuss the bills in a sincere manner from the 
viewpoint not of party interests but national interests. We expect 
Ozawa to demonstrate leadership in unifying views in the party to 
support the bills. 
 
(23) Questions for town meetings on educational reform found to have 
been "prearranged"; Another trick behind "Koizumi theater" 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Almost full) 
November 10, 2006 
 
Hideharu Hiramoto 
 
It was discovered just recently that government officials had 
prearranged questions for town-hall meetings on educational reform 
initiated by the government. This discovery has forced the 
government to investigate all 174 such meetings held to date, but 
the repercussions seem likely to expand even further in the weeks 
ahead. The town-meeting system was adopted by the former Koizumi 
administration as a forum for direct dialogue between the government 
and the public and served as a stage for "theater politics" (led by 
former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi). But prearranging 
questioners and questions in line with the government's reform 
policy appears to be information manipulation. In other words, one 
aspect of Koizumi politics is being brought into the open. The 
government is desperate to restore public trust in the town-meeting 
system, but no prospects for a restart are in sight, putting its 
future in doubt. 
 
"Participants must be very displeased, and there will inevitably be 
criticism that the system lacks transparency," Administrative Vice 
Minister Shunichi Uchida of the Cabinet Office said at a press 
conference on Nov. 9, wholly admitting the government's inept 
behavior and offering an apology. 
 
The government's investigations conducted through Nov. 9 revealed 
that five town meetings had involved prearranged questions. One such 
question prepared by government officials for the town meeting in 
Ehime Prefecture's Matsuyama City in May 2004 was, "The Basic 
Education Law needs to be revised so as to meet the new era." 
Another question prepared for the town meeting in Wakayama 
Prefecture's Wakayama City in October of the same year was, "The 
concern is that if the fiscal resources for compulsory education are 
transferred to local governments, regional disparities in education 
could emerge." These questions reflected the wishes of the Ministry 
of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In some cases 
such notes as "use your own words as much as you can" or "please do 
not mention 'by request,'" were attached. 
 
The town meeting was one of the pledges made by Koizumi when he 
assumed office as prime minister. A total of 174 town meetings were 
held from June 2001 through September 2006. It was a showcase of the 
Koizumi administration, and 11 million yen on average was spent for 
each town meeting last year, but the meetings are now suspected of 
having been staged PR events for government policy. 
 
The government intends to refrain from holding town meetings until 
the results of the investigation come out. Chief Cabinet Secretary 
 
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Yasuhisa Shiozaki, when asked about when they would resume, went no 
further than to say: "Please give us a little more time." After 
drastically reviewing the present town-meeting system, the 
government plans to restart it, but it still remains unable to find 
a way to regain the public's confidence. 
 
SCHIEFFER