Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:

(Abridged)

Q&As

• Reflection by the Chief Cabinet Secretary on what has been done for far under the Noda administration
• Preparation for planned power outages as a safety net

(Abridged)

REPORTER: This week, a new record will be set for the term of office of Chief Cabinet Secretary since the change to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)-controlled government. Initially upon assuming your post, you said that the emergence of the Noda administration alone is not sufficient and that you would like to support Prime Minister Noda in a background role. Approximately nine months have passed since then. What are your thoughts looking back?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: As I have repeatedly stated, the major themes are the priorities of Prime Minister Noda and the Noda administration: the recovery and reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake; the conclusion of the fight against the nuclear accident; and the rebirth of the Japanese economy. I personally very much feel that with respect to each of these themes, steady efforts have been made to tackle the issues and each has made progress. For example, first the Reconstruction Agency was established, and with the Reconstruction Agency now fulfilling a central role, the recovery and reconstruction initiatives are gradually speeding up. There is also the issue of the disposal of debris. And then there is compensation and decontamination. These initiatives are all now being finalized to a large extent. Gradually, the initiatives will continue to take further shape and be realized in the near future, along with the review of the communities. With regard to the rebirth of the economy, over the last two years, efforts have been made to realize the New Growth Strategy, including last year's extensive review of the growth strategy. While examining the respective bottlenecks and so on, a new strategy for realizing the New Growth Strategy will be set out in August - we had been saying by the middle of the year. Another issue we have been mentioning is the eradication of wasteful government spending and so forth. Specifically, with regard to the issue of the remuneration of national public servants - one of the issues of the public servant system - while it took a bit of time, progress was made in cutting down the personnel costs and so on, with the agreement of the ruling and opposition parties. In addition, a major issue which was added was the comprehensive reform of social security and taxation systems. Last year, this was a final draft during the time of Prime Minister Naoto Kan. After the Noda administration took over, the final draft became a draft plan and then an outline, and furthermore, the legislation (bill) was approved by the Cabinet and submitted to the Diet. Right now, specific deliberations are taking place. In this sense, I believe steady progress has been made. As for Japan's foreign policy centered on the Japan-U.S. alliance, while there is a question of whether Japanese media gives thorough coverage to foreign policy - maybe not very much - countries around the world have praised Prime Minister Noda to a certain extent. In particular, regarding Japan-U.S. relations, a summit meeting was recently held. In this sense, I believe steady progress has been made. Also, regarding the high-level economic partnership, a variety of discussions have taken place within the party, and I believe consultations toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are making progress or are moving forward. If I say too much, I am afraid it will take too much time. In this sense, during these two hundred sixty some odd days, during Prime Minister Noda's term of office, I feel that steady progress has been made with respect to the respective themes which I gave at the beginning of my remarks.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I have a question related to the planned power outages. According to some reports, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has decided that if four electric power companies, including Kansai Electric Power Company, were to implement planned power outages this summer, emergency medical facilities will not be subject to the power outages. Can you tell us whether ultimately this will be the policy?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: Preparations for planned power outages as a safety net have been included in the recently approved electricity supply-demand measures. In order to mitigate adverse effects on the lives of the people, the measures set out that, with regard to facilities that concern peoples' lives directly and in emergency situations, such as medical centers, as well as facilities which have grave importance to national security, the effects of power outages will be mitigated as much as possible by making improvements to the operation of electric power substations and so on, within the scope of what is technologically feasible. The contents and the specifics are now being reviewed and worked out among the relevant ministries and agencies. We intend to come up with some sort of conclusion by early July, when power-saving will begin to be requested.

(Abridged)