Press freedom: great step forward of DPJ Okada

Katsuya OKADA, Japan Foreign Affairs Minister of the new

DPJ administration greeted by 200 members of the Foreign

Correspondents' Club of Japan for his open door policy

of his ministry to the press ending the Kisha Club privilege.

A fluo green frog color Press Club's T Shirt was offered to

Minister OKADA with a 1 year Press Club Honorary

Membership.

Mainichi reporting, quotes:

"Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was true to his word; he

opened up press briefings at the Foreign Ministry to all

media outlets, domestic and foreign, as he had earlier

promised. About 30 foreign correspondents and other

reporters not belonging to press clubs were among those who

attended a press conference at the ministry on Sept 30

thanks to the new open-door policy. Prior to the briefing,

Okada announced that he decided to open press conferences at

the ministry to all media representatives in principle.

Although Okada had made a similar announcement on Sept. 18,

he had withheld the implementation of the new policy, saying

that he needed to consult with the ministry's press club.

"Since it has been a while (since the Sept. 18

announcement), I have decided to open (press briefings to all

media outlets) from now on," Okada said on Tuesday.

To this day, reporters eligible to attend the ministry's

briefings include members holders of the Foreign Press

registration Card delivered by Foreign Affairs Ministry, of

the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association; the

National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan; the

Japan Magazine Publishers Association; the Internet News

Association of Japan; and the Foreign Correspondents' Club of

Japan.

In addition, holders of the Foreign Press Registration Card

(the accredited press) and freelance journalists are also

allowed access to the ministry briefings. Reporters who wish

to attend the press conferences are required to sign up in

advance through the ministry's Web site."

✍ Other issues to come on this subject as foreign media often

suffer from refusal from some Japanese public or private

institutions and we hope to see an end to the preferential

practice of dissemination of news through the existence of

bodies that run contrary to the idea of the free flow of

information.

Eurocopter Awarded in Tokyo

Over 200 VIPs of Japan and French business, trade and

industries gathered at the Roppongi Hills for the French

Financial Agency Award who gave the palm of honor to

Eurocopter Corporation.

Before giving the prices to the four prizes winner, Trade

Minister Idrac recalled that France and Japan “share not only

many values on the economics but also agree on fundamental

questions such as the innovation, research, reasoned practice

of finance and environmental protection”. Idrac called for

the multiplication of the partnerships and alliances between

the companies of France and Japan.

The Japanese companies member elects of the prices of the

investment in France this year are OTSUKA Holdings Co., Ltd

and TORAY Industries, Inc. French companies preceded for

theirs investments in Japan are EUROCOPTER (Helicopters)

and FIVES (Engineering).

The ceremony was enclosed by a speech of Mr. Fukuhara,

honorary president of SHISEIDO, ex KEIDANREN Vice Chairman

of the Board of Councillors, and copresident of the club of

businesses France - Japan, who congratulated the four prizes

winner and carried a toast in their honor in the name of the

jury.

Eurocopter-Hermes designed helicopter

Eurocopter, the world's leading helicopter manufacturer

and a division of EADS, received the 2009 French-Japanese

Investment Award, presented by the French Agency for

International Investment (AFII) in Tokyo today.

The agency's mission is to promote Foreign Direct Investment

by targeting potential investors and assisting them in the

investment process.

Since 2004, the French-Japanese investment awards have been

attributed each year by the AFII to companies that have made

outstanding contributions to the economies of Japan or France

through Foreign Direct Investment. The 2009 ceremony was

attended by Mrs. Anne-Marie Idrac, French Secretary of State

for Foreign Trade.

Anne-Marie Idrac

Eurocopter has been present in Japan for forty years. The

Group has captured a 57% share of the Japanese civil and

parapublic helicopter market, with 360 Eurocopter helicopters

currently in service in the country. In April 2009, Eurocopter

decided to reinforce the activities of its local subsidiary,

Eurocopter Japan, by acquiring an additional 80% of the

shares in its former distributor, the Japanese Euroheli

Corporation, thereby increasing its total holding to 90%.

Eurocopter also acquired a 60% stake in the newly formed

maintenance company Eurocopter Japan T&E. The remaining 40%

is owned by the Group's Japanese partner All Nippon Airways

Maintenance (ANAM). These two acquisitions have

significantly increased the Group's industrial presence in

Japan. Through the two deals, which were negotiated in

complete transparency with the respective Japanese partners,

Eurocopter has become the first foreign manufacturer in the

aeronautics sector to possess its own industrial capacity in

Japan, and to receive this prestigious award.

Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota US forces

Eurocopter Japan (ECJ) has approximately one hundred and

sixty employees and is directly responsible for sales and

customer support activities for the full range of

Eurocopter's civil and military helicopters. The Group has

made considerable progress in both the civil and military

sectors on the Japanese market over the past few months.

Eurocopter 135

In the beginning of this year, the Japan Maritime

Self-Defense Forces decided to replace the training aircraft

for its pilots with a fleet of 15 EC135 helicopters. In the

civil sector, the commercial version of the EC135 is being

used to fly EMS (emergency medical services) missions,

commonly known as "Doctor Heli" in the country. Buyers have

also been found for the VIP Hermès version of the EC135 for

whom it is now performing shuttle flights between downtown

Tokyo and Narita International Airport

Philippe Harache, Executive Vice-President Customers in

Eurocopter : “Eurocopter is extremely honored to receive the

6th edition of the French investment award in Japan. For our

company, this award underlines the recognition of the efforts

we have made in the country for more than 40 years. By

significantly increasing the portfolio of our value-added

services locally, we are confident that we will better

improve customer satisfaction and ensure our continued

success.”

Eurocopter Super Puma EC225

About Eurocopter

Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter

Group is a Division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace,

defence and related services. The Eurocopter Group employs

approx. 15,600 people. In 2008, Eurocopter confirmed its

position as the world’s No. 1 helicopter manufacturer in the

civil and parapublic market, with a turnover of 4.5 billion

Euros, orders for 715 new helicopters, and a 53 percent

market share in the civil and parapublic sectors.

Overall, the Group’s products account for 30 percent of the

total world helicopter fleet. Its strong worldwide presence

is ensured by its 18 subsidiaries on five continents, along

with a dense network of distributors, certified agents and

maintenance centers. More than 10,000 Eurocopter helicopters

are currently in service with over 2,800 customers in more

than 140 countries. Eurocopter offers the largest civil and

military helicopter range in the world.

Could a scandal crush the reformer?

Crushing blow

The top-selling Yomiuri newspaper reported that Tokyo

prosecutors had started hearings with people on a donors'

list for Mr Hatoyama, who took office last month after his

party's crushing election victory.

Prosecutors have launched a probe into the fund-raising

activities of new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's office.

Hatoyama's lawyer, Mr Yoichi Ioroi: "An investigation into

the case of a (possible) violation of the political funds

control law has begun".

In June, Mr Hatoyama admitted keeping sloppy accounts for his

fund-raising association, which reported the donors' list

including the names of dead people and those who had denied

giving money.

Mr Hatoyama said his former accountant was solely responsible

for the problem. Amount involved? 21 million yen recorded

incorrectly since 2005.

Mr Hatoyama's government downplayed news of the

investigation. "Our prime minister has repeatedly made

apologies and explanations about what he knows," says Chief

Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano. Better wait for results

of investigation by prosecutors the new prime minister said.

His predecessor in breaking LDP rules early 90s also fell for

incorrect political funding. Time, 1994 April 18 :

http://tinyurl.com/y9cbaod

"A popular reformer who came to power last August pledging to

sweep out "money politics" was outrun by a scandal of his own

making... "Hosokawa confessed that his previous explanations

of a questionable 1982 loan had not been candid... The

suspect loan, worth $960,000, came from the Sagawa Kyubin

trucking company. Hosokawa claims that he repaid the money,

but critics say he kept it to fund his campaign to become

governor of Kumamoto prefecture the following year. When

pressed, the Prime Minister first asserted that he used the

cash to purchase an apartment in Tokyo and to repair the

roofed gate and plaster wall of an ancestral home. Opposition

legislators charge that he bought the apartment before he

received the loan. They tracked down the construction

workers and determined that they charged only $67,000 for the

repair -- and did the work a year after Hosokawa received the

loan... Despite his downfall, Hosokawa will be remembered

for his role in prying Japanese politics free from the

hammerlock of the L.D.P. But he leaves behind an awkward

governing coalition, which includes highly conservative

former L.D.P. barons widely viewed as corrupt, as well as

pacifist social democrats and disparate smaller parties."

End of quotes.

Nakagawa Shoichi, a cruel twist of fate

Shoichi Nakagawa at a press event at

Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

When fate strikes relentlessly...

Following his father Ichiro Nakagawa* in dramatic death,

Japan's former vice minister Shoichi Nakagawa was found dead

in a bed in his house in Tokyo, Japanese media reported on

Sunday, citing Tokyo Metropolitan Police. No external

injuries were found on his body, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa has been found dead

at his home in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, Nakagawa, 56, was lying

face down on a bed on the second floor of his home without

any apparent external wounds, according to the Tokyo police.

He was among the big Liberal Democratic Party members who

lost in the Aug. 30 House of Representatives election, in

which the Democratic Party of Japan clinched a landslide

victory over the LDP to oust it from power. Nakagawa, who

won his first lower house seat in 1983, stepped down as

finance minister and financial services minister in February

after appearing to be drunk at a press conference of a Group

of Seven financial leaders meeting in Rome.

He was a Japanese conservative politician in the Liberal

Democratic Party (LDP), who served as Minister of Finance

until February 17, 2009. Nakagawa was born in Tokyo and

attended Azabu High School, graduated from the law faculty of

the University of Tokyo in 1978 and entered the Industrial

Bank of Japan.

His father was prominent Hokkaido politician Ichiro Nakagawa.

Ichiro Nakagawa was the late director general of the Science

and Technology Agency, who mysteriously committed suicide in

a hotel in 1983 although he was to be assigned to a high

position at the LDP... Nakagawa was first elected in that

year as a House of Representatives member, succeeding his

father in a Hokkaido district. He served eighth terms.

Although Shoichi was born in Tokyo and had lived there his

whole life, he ran to replace his father and succeeded him.

At that time, he had a widely publicized conflict with his

father's secretary, Muneo Suzuki, who also ran for a seat in

a neighboring district. (Suzuki was forced to resign on

corruption charges in 2002.)

In 1998, he became Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

under Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, and in 2003, he became

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in the cabinet of

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He served as Agriculture

Minister from October 2005 to September 2006, when incoming

prime minister Shinzo Abe appointed Nakagawa as chairman of

the Policy Research Council of the LDP.

In December 2006, Kyodo News Agency quoted Nakagawa as having

said the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were

"truly unforgivable on humanitarian grounds" and reported the

politician's concerns over the possession of nuclear weapons

by North Korea.

Shoichi Nakagawa, was named chairman of the LDP's Policy

Research Council, he had a political stance close to LDP ex

party President Shinzo Abe, sharing his hawkishness on North

Korea and desire to revise the Constitution. But his

appointment to one of the party's three top posts to support

Abe invited jealousy from party colleagues, as he has served

in key party and Cabinet positions throughout the 5 years of

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi mandate.

Nakagawa and Abe had jointly led a group of lawmakers of

their generation promoting nationalist views on history

education, and were also on friendly terms with each other.

Nakagawa, like Abe, called for economic sanctions on North

Korea and a new Constitution to replace the one instituted

while Japan was under U.S. Occupation.

Serving as minister of economy, trade and industry and then

as agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, Nakagawa

promoted trade liberalization, taking advantage of his career

as a kingmaker in farm policy. As farm minister, however, he

did not budge in rejecting U.S. pressure to lift the beef

import ban imposed due to concerns over mad cow disease.

During the G7 meeting of finance ministers in Rome on

February 14, 2009, Nakagawa then minister of Finance was seen

to be slurring his words and exhibiting other odd behavior,

which some attributed to alcohol. However, he stated that

the reason for his drowsiness and slurred speech was that he

had taken too much cold medicine before the meeting.

Despite calls for his resignation by opposition parties at

the time, Nakagawa did not immediately resign. Prime

Minister Taro Aso supported him and called for him to

continue his duties as Finance Minister. However, on

February 17 Nakagawa announced that he had chosen to resign,

and his resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Aso.

(Shoichi Nakagawa interviewed by RTL , AFP, Le Monde at LDP Nagatacho Nov 2006, 27th arranged by Foreign Press Center Japan)

✍ As a journalist I knew Nakagawa Shoichi-san for years, since

he became a major VIP in LDP, we did not share the same views

on Japan politics but established trustful working

relationship and I knew he committed so much to his politics.

His father tragic death in the 80 s' were uncontrollable

stigmata of a relentless pain. In addition to his drinking

problem he also had a weak myocardial condition. Politics is

cruel and we must never forget it as media and I offer my

sincere condolences to his widow.

* Nakagawa Ichiro, "politician (1925-1983) born in Hokkaido.

Elected to the Diet in 1963, he created a secret

ultra-conservative group, the Seiran-kai -the Society of the

Blue Storm- (other members were Ishihara Shintaro, Watanabe

Michio, Fujio, Masayuki) in 1973, in an attempt to

destabilize the party in power, the Jiminto (LDP). Distraught

at not being able to take over the presidency of that party,

he committed suicide (by hanging)." In : Japanese

Encyclopedia by Louis Frederic and Kathe Roth Harvard

University Press 2005.

And this:

"In 1973, the first oil shock occurred, causing wholesale

prices to jump by 31.4 percent. At the same time, the dollar

was devalued. Reforms in the international monetary system

floated the yen and created a sudden influx of available

money that fueled real estate investment. This in turn

fueled a runaway inflation spiral that deeply hurt the

nation's salaried workers. Domestic affairs had been

considered Tanaka's greatest forté; ironically it turned out

to be his weakest ability. His public image took a severe

beating in 1973. Further upsetting the public tranquility in

this year was the right-wing, intra-party formation of

Seirankai (the Blue Storm Group). The thirty-one-member

group, which included such notable politicians as Michio

Watanabe, Ichiro Nakagawa, Masayuki Fujio and Shintaro

Ishihara, created a public sensation when they sealed a

written pledge of unity in Yakuza style, with their blood.

The group was staunchly anti-communist and deeply opposed to

Tanaka's opening of China. The existence of such a group

within the LDP was very frightening to the nation's union

members. The Seirankai success was followed in March of 1974

by the presentation of a bill that would have officially

sanctioned Yasukuni Shrine as a memorial to the war dead.

The Shrine seemed to symbolize, at least to a lot of

Japanese, a return to prewar policies. Insofar as the young

men who died for their country had little say in the

government logic that lead to their deaths, a shrine to them

wouldn't seem to be a horrible thing, but in Japan it was

still an emotionally charged issue that cost Tanaka a lot of

support, even though the bill was discarded before it reached

the House of Councilors." http://tinyurl.com/yby7oy3