Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

Q&As

REPORTER: My question concerns the meeting between Defense Minister Kitazawa and Foreign Minister Matsumoto, which you previously referred to as a "simple information exchange." It is being reported that they decided on the V-shape for the runway of the new Futenma Air Station location. Is this true?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The meeting that you are referring to was not one for making decisions.

REPORTER: I understand that you are holding discussions with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and the New Komeito Party over the first supplementary budget. If discussions go well, are you thinking about attaching a supplementary resolution or something similar to the first supplementary budget bill?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Supplementary resolutions are purely the business of the Diet. We are leaving it up to the Diet based on a feeling of trust that agreement that is inconsistent with Cabinet policies will not be reached.

REPORTER: I would like to ask about making highways in the Tohoku region toll-free. Of course, the final decision on this will be based on an agreement among each political party, but I would like to know what you think the significance is in making the highways toll-free?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Discussion on this was actually conducted in the Diet today. Working towards recovery and reconstruction in the Tohoku region, firstly, a variety of different supplies must be transported to the region in a direct fashion. In that respect, making the expressways toll-free would reduce the cost of reconstruction in many ways. Furthermore, it is likely that toll-free expressways would be the incentive needed to prevent a permanent economic slowdown in the areas affected by the disaster. Considering this, I believe that this is an issue that we should pursue very aggressively.

REPORTER: Are you only considering the toll-free system for Tohoku highways? In the Tohoku region the Tohoku Expressway is the main highway; however, there are other highways in the region as well. Are you only thinking about Tohoku region Expressway?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We are considering all possibilities. There are various different ways of going about this. As you know, for instance, this is a very easy issue for areas where ETC can be used. But what should we do in other areas? The method will change based on the differing factors, and from a very early stage I instructed various considerations to be made including what I have just mentioned. We are considering every aspect of this.

REPORTER: My question is also in relation to making the Tohoku Expressway toll-free. After hearing your answer, personally I get the impression that you are not going to make other roads than the Tohoku Expressway toll-free. Currently, there are even efforts being made to reduce the side of the supplementary budget as well. Do you mean that this is something that will be pursued in the future?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: This has nothing to do with the issues of the manifesto. It has no relation and exists on a completely separate dimension as one strong proposal for assistance measures to aid the Tohoku region in recovery and reconstruction.

REPORTER: Nevertheless, even if we are only talking about the Tohoku Expressway, some level of financial burden is of course going to be incurred. How much do you forecast this burden to be? How do you fundamentally think about the financial burden itself?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: That is why I said just now that this would have a range of effects that would help the region and noted that the issue has a correlative relationship with the level of financial resources necessary for reconstruction. At the same time, if we are going to need financial resources, and even if we disregard the need for direct and prompt budgetary measures for the sake of discussion, without widespread and consistent understanding in the Diet, it will not be possible for the Government or ruling party to make such a decision alone.

REPORTER: The Central Disaster Prevention Council has decided to establish an expert panel to review earthquake and tsunami countermeasures. Will the conclusion reached by the panel inform the decision on whether to restart Unit 3 of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We will see exactly what kind of response we will receive from the panel. I presume it will make a variety of considerations in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami. Obviously, we will refer to them if they include useful information, and will not if otherwise. The other factor is that, with regards to the issue you just mentioned, it is also a matter of approximately when the Central Disaster Prevention Council's expert panel comes out with its review findings. At the very least, our intention is not to wait for the findings to come out in order to take any action. Rather, I believe any action will be premised on the opinions of the local community members and other various scientific knowledge and analyses. If the Central Disaster Prevention Council has compiled its opinions by then and they contain relevant information, obviously we will refer to them.

REPORTER: Regarding funding sources for reconstruction, I believe yesterday the Prime Minister noted the separate management of new bonds. Can you tell us the status of the considerations being made and what it means to manage new bonds separately?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I have always been saying, funding sources are something to be worked out in detail after reconstruction plans are finalized. I believe the Prime Minister was suggesting as a major and likely possibility. Although Japan's finances are overall in a severe situation, funding sources for reconstruction are at the very least needed for only a fixed period - they do not need to be permanent. In that respect, I believe the separate management of new bonds is not a matter of political judgment. I believe it is premised on the shared understanding that Japan is in a situation to be able to do this from an objective standpoint.

REPORTER: I have a related question on funding sources for the reconstruction. Regarding funding sources for the reconstruction, yesterday, Minister Koichiro Gemba expressed his wish to once again review the special accounts. I believe last year, as one of the reviewers at the third round of the review of government programs, you have once dealt with the special accounts. With regards to nuclear power, I believe there is the energy special account, among other special accounts. Mr. Edano, what is your view now concerning the review of special accounts?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: For last year's review of government programs, I conducted a very detailed analysis and review - not just during the review of government programs but also including the preparations leading up to it. Based on this analysis and review, we were in the process of trying to advance drastic reforms of the special account system over the course of some period of time. Meanwhile, in the wake of the earthquake disaster, I believe we have a more urgent need to find funding sources. Furthermore, as I said earlier, funding sources for the reconstruction do not need to be permanent funding sources. As for the issue of the energy special account which was just noted, the energy policy as a whole needs to be reviewed from scratch. As we prepare to draw up the second supplementary budget in particular, I believe we will need to make considerable efforts to identify funding sources, including addressing the issues I have just mentioned, from the standpoints of the national strategy and the finding of funding resources at the Ministry of Finance.

REPORTER: Then, in terms of obtaining financing, do you think the Government will continue to conduct the review of government programs regardless of this issue?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As someone who was involved in the first review of government programs, I have always maintained that we are not aiming to directly secure substantial amounts of financing by means of the review of government programs per se; rather, I have noted that it is important to start with a review, to reveal what kinds of waste exists and in which areas, and furthermore, to do so in a cross-sectional manner - this is total government reform in which we acknowledge at all times, such as when formulating each of the regular budgets or executing these budget, the problems pointed at the review of government programs. With this in mind, we have undertaken a review of government programs three times, and accordingly, I believe the Minister in charge, Renho has spoken about the process and other factors involved, namely, the need to stop at some point of time and organize these reviews appropriately. Reviews of government programs require a considerable amount of energy, and given the extremely urgent challenge of financing the post-earthquake reconstruction, I hope the question of whether it will be effective to expend such a great deal of energy will be examined, by Minister Renho primarily.

REPORTER: There seem to be a few people who have said that the coordination between the main body of the Reconstruction Design Council and the discussion group established for it, such as the division of roles, is not necessarily working well. Some are also of the opinion that the study group should be temporarily suspended. Is such a thing possible? Also, please allow me to ask what you think you heard with regard to the separation of the discussion themes of these two groups in the beginning.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I have read page 5 of the Asahi Shimbun both yesterday and today, I have felt that there seems to be a variety of opinions being expressed based on a variety of understandings. In terms of the current relationship between the discussion group and the Reconstruction Design Council, I think that there may have been somewhat of a lack of sufficient knowledge about the division of roles between the two parties among their respective members. However, I also feel that this is gradually becoming better understood, and furthermore, as Dr. Makoto Iokibe has said, I personally think that the positions of specialist committees as bodies created for the creation of various parts and tools, and the positions of the Reconstruction Design Council as an organization intended to draw up a full plan for reconstruction that incorporates these parts and tools, are gradually being shared more and more between each other.

REPORTER: The Golden Week holiday period starts from today. Do you have any plans over Golden Week to observe the areas in Tohoku hit by the recent earthquake? If you do, please tell us about them.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Although it is fairly difficult for me to leave Tokyo in my position as Chief Cabinet Secretary, if two people will remain in Tokyo, namely the Prime Minister and someone such as the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and when there are no Diet meetings or other meetings scheduled, I think, in many ways, that it would be useful for me to experience first-hand and as much as possible the situation in the region. My trip to Fukushima a while back taught me more than I could ever learn from the reports I receive here in Tokyo or through the television, newspapers and so on. Accordingly, if possible, I would like to visit the affected areas, particularly sometime after the budget bill has been passed. This is currently being arranged. These arrangements have reached a point where I expect to be able to report on this tomorrow or sometime soon.

REPORTER: Concerning the local municipalities in these areas, the Government is currently in explanatory talks with municipalities in Fukushima. What kind of explanations are being made? In particular, what is the outlook regarding allowing people to temporarily visit their homes? Please tell us about the current state of this issue.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We are consulting with each of the municipalities respectively. They are each progressing at their own pace, and thus, if I use my position to report uniformly that "The situation is such", then there will be trouble. Communications will worsen, as there would be reactions like "That's not the case for us!" Therefore, if possible, I would appreciate it if you would interview those in each town, city and village in Fukushima for information about that.