Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have several items to report. First, I would like to begin with an overview of the Cabinet meeting that took place today. The meeting approved 22 general and other measures, including the promulgation of legislation, the issuance of draft legislation, the issuance of Cabinet orders, and personnel decisions. There were a number of statements by ministers in the meeting. Minister Renho made a statement concerning the FY2010 Food Education Promotion Policy and the Food Education Month, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries made a statement concerning the FY2010 White Paper on Fisheries, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications made a statement concerning the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and I, as the acting Prime Minister at the meeting, made a statement concerning my role as acting Prime Minister while the Prime Minister is away for his overseas visit.

At the informal gathering of ministers after the Cabinet meeting, I made a statement about securing volunteers in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. I would like to say a few words about this. Ever since the earthquake, volunteers have fulfilled very significant roles in supporting the livelihoods of the people in the disaster-affected areas, including by removing dirt and preparing food. I would like to express my deep appreciation for their actions. Moving forward, the scope of the activities in the affected areas is expected to further expand and diversify. This will extend to even providing psychological support to the people living in evacuation centers and temporary housing, as well as drawing up town development plans for reconstruction. We are hearing from the affected areas that the help of the volunteers will be really appreciated in the coming weeks and months. The Government will take the necessary measures to enhance arrangements for the acceptance of volunteers and to create an environment which facilitates their participation, among other measures. At the same time, we will make efforts to secure volunteers for the affected areas, for example, by urging relevant parties to volunteer and by providing information on this. At the informal gathering of ministers after the Cabinet meeting, I asked each minister to first urge the staff of government agencies to proactively participate in volunteer activities using the volunteer holiday scheme and so on. I also asked the ministers to make similar requests to the organizations, industries, and so on that are relevant to their respective ministries, agencies, and offices. In addition, through Government's PR efforts, we will step up efforts to ask for the peoples' cooperation on the volunteer activities.

Next, I would like to report on the 8th meeting of the Headquarters for Ocean Policy that took place before the Cabinet meeting. At today's meeting, with regards to the Basic Plan for the Preservation of the Low Tide Line which was approved by the Cabinet in July 2010, the Headquarters approved the FY2010 progress report and the items to be implemented in FY2011 - specifically, the designation of low tide line preservation areas, the start of the port facility construction in remote islands, and so forth. The Headquarters also approved the establishment of some protected marine environments. Moving forward, the relevant offices and ministries will continue to work in close partnership with each other in order for Japan to appropriately manage and effectively use the vast area of sea within our borders. For further details of the meeting, the Secretariat of the Headquarters for Ocean Policy under the Cabinet Secretariat will be holding a press briefing today from 1:30pm.

Q&As

REPORTER: The explanation that the halting of the injection of seawater at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station following the earthquake never happened is now being criticized by some members of the opposition parties, and I think that it will soon be taken up in the Diet. How do you intend to gain the understanding on the opposition parties on the point that you gave an explanation to the Diet based on false information?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: It is true that some of the supposed facts that we understood and reported to the Diet have turned out to differ from reality. I find this extremely unfortunate. On the other hand though, we have never hidden any information that we have acquired. We have been acting with the basic stance that any information we receive should be reported to the public and the Diet. And of course we have been thoroughly checking to make sure that the information we have is correct. I think that everyone sufficiently understands the importance of this. However, while we understand all this, there was some information that we could not verify, and actually I think that not reporting information even though we could not really verify it would only sow distrust among the people. In light of all this, we will work to strike a balance between greater efforts to quickly check the accuracy of the information we receive on the one hand, and the wish to make that information available to the public as quickly as possible on the other. I think we need to work harder on both of these points.

REPORTER: Connected to that, today both the Cabinet meeting and gathering of ministers that followed seemed long. Did you explain the background of this issue or discuss it in any way? Also, if any of the ministers expressed opinions on the issue, would you please tell us what they said?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The basic policy of the Cabinet is to not discuss the content of Cabinet meetings or any other gatherings of ministers. But I can say that Minister Kaieda explained the background of the seawater injection operations and shared information on the issue with each of the ministers.

REPORTER: Changing the subject, tomorrow, May 28, marks exactly one year since the signing of the Japan-US Agreement, in which the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) agreed that the functions of Futenma Air Station would be moved to Henoko. It seems like it has been a year with absolutely no sign of any progress toward this on the horizon. How do you view the past year? Do you think that you will continue to seek a way to make progress on this issue in the future?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Concerning the Japan-US Agreement, as far as our relationship with the United States is concerned, while I on the one hand think it would be deplorable to proceed forward as fast as we can with each activity we have planned based on that agreement, on the other hand, particularly because we have caused various inconveniences to the people of Okinawa on this issue, I think that we need to have a certain amount of time for processes to carefully gain their understanding of our plans. With the understanding that this is absolutely not a simple matter, we have worked over the past year to seek their understanding while. It takes time.

REPORTER: Related to that, it was confirmed at the Japan-US Summit Meeting held yesterday that the next 2+2 meeting will be held in the latter part of June. You spoke with Minister of Defense Toshimi Kitazawa after the Cabinet meeting - did you discuss this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I think that I actually spoke with Minister Kitazawa before the Summit Meeting took place. He consulted me about arrangements for him to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue - a ministerial-level meeting related to security issues.

REPORTER: Excuse me. If the 2+2 meting is being held at the end of June, would it be correct to understand that the Government is of the mind to uphold the Japan-US Agreement?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The agreement was reached between the two countries through a lot of history to be considered. Our policy of undertaking action while thoroughly taking into consideration all the related circumstances and information has not changed.

REPORTER: I have one more question, although it's on a slightly different issue. It has been confirmed at a meeting between the leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito Party that the two will submit a no confidence motion against the Kan administration to the Diet as soon as the next week. There is now talk that some in the ruling parties are ready to approve such a move. What kind of response does the Government intend to make to this proposal?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Each Diet member has the right and privilege to submit a call for a vote of no confidence to the Diet. This of course applies to members of the opposition parties as well. All I can say is that under what circumstances they make such a proposal and within what timeframe is up to the opposition parties. I don't have any intention of saying that the Kan Cabinet has responded to the disaster in a way that has satisfied those affected by it, particularly when it comes to those directly affected by the incident at the nuclear power station. However, we are exerting every possible effort for recovery and reconstruction in the disaster-affected regions as well as work to bring the nuclear incident under control and work to provide support and compensation to the people affected by the disaster. Our efforts are moving forward day by day, and as they do, we will continue to do everything in our power to fulfill the roles we have been given.

REPORTER: Returning to the Futenma issue, you said a while ago that a certain amount of time is needed in order to gain the understanding of the people of Okinawa. How long do you expect this certain amount of time to take? Given that Mayor of Nago City Susumu Inamine and Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Hirokazu Nakaima are both clearly opposed to the current proposal, it seems that it will be difficult to move forward with this issue during their terms of office. Are you considering matters like this, such as when their terms will expire?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I had no specific time in my mind when I said that a certain amount of time is needed. This is not the kind of issue for which we can gain the understanding of the public just by providing a single explanation. This is what I meant when I said that a certain amount of time is needed.

REPORTER: Concerning the aforementioned vote of no confidence, do you think the earthquake has had any effect on the Prime Minister's power to dissolve the Diet?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I don't think the earthquake has any effect on that at all.

REPORTER: Excuse me, but I want to confirm one thing concerning the explanation that the operation to inject seawater was continued based on the judgment of the local TEPCO team leader in Fukushima, Masao Yoshida. Some point out that there is no sufficient objective data to show that the operation was in fact continued.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: This relates to the very first question today as well - unfortunately, we are not in position to completely track and examine all pieces of information obtained by the Government. For example, the recently disputed likelihood that the fuel rods in the reactors have entirely melted is also just expert analysis or speculation. Nevertheless, as this issue pertains to human health and is a matter of life and death, it is of great importance and interest to the people. Our position therefore is to thoroughly disclose or explain to the people each piece of information obtained as long as a certain amount of accuracy can be verified, unless it seems extremely dubious or unlikely. That, I think, is our responsibility. Conversely, not disclosing information due to a lack of evidence may be taken as concealment. In that sense, the Government will have to be even more careful in confirming the accuracy of information. That said, as to whether the reports about the operation are true, given that TEPCO conducted interviews with Mr. Yoshida and others before preparing their report on this issue, I think we can say that it is at least verifiable enough to be released to the public.