Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

REPORTER: I have a question about a matter which also came up this morning regarding the decision of the United States' (U.S.) Congress to freeze the funding for the relocation (of the U.S. Marine Corps) to Guam. At this morning's press conference, you said something to the effect that the Government of Japan would like to make an appropriate decision about the Japanese budget when the time is suitable. Is my understanding correct that there is also a possibility that the Government will freeze the Japanese budget?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: Was that not the decision that was made? In other words, my understanding is that there will continue to be a freeze on the execution of the Japanese budget for Guam as well. However, the Congress's...

REPORTER: Will there be any impact on the Japanese budget?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: You mean Japan's FY2012 budget?

REPORTER: Yes.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: That is entirely unrelated.

REPORTER: I have a related question. You have said that preparations are being made to submit the planned assessment report by the end of the year. What impact will the U.S. decision to cut all funding have on the timing of the report's submission? Do you have any intention to review the timing?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: There is no change with regard to the environmental impact statement. The U.S. remains committed to implementing the existing agreement between the Japanese and U.S. Governments on the realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan, including the relocation to Guam, and the Japanese Government, too, will take steps based on the existing Japan-U.S. agreement in order to reduce the burden on Okinawa while maintaining deterrence. There is no change to the fact that the Japanese Government is preparing to submit the environmental impact statement by the end of the year.

REPORTER: I would like to ask a question regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) team. If you know, can you tell us the members of the Steering Group (senior vice minister-level) which came up this morning?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I am afraid I do not have my notes with me. According to my memory, I believe the Steering Group will be chaired by the Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office and will be comprised of senior vice ministers from the government office and ministries concerned, the Special Advisors to the Prime Minister, and of course the Government Representative once this person is decided. I believe the Steering Group meeting will be held quite frequently and will be leading the discussions as a "control tower."

REPORTER: Will the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for administrative affairs be included as a member?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: The Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for administrative affairs will serve as the Secretary-General of the Ministerial Meeting Secretariat which will be under the Steering Group. Was the Secretary-General included? (The Chief Cabinet Secretary receives a material.) OK, let me repeat. The Group meeting will be chaired by the Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office and will be comprised of the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries for state affairs; the senior vice ministers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Special Advisors to the Prime Minister; other senior vice ministers concerned; and the Government Representative to be decided later. The Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for administrative affairs, as the Secretary-General, will be overseeing the entire Secretariat which will be set up under the Steering Group.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: A joint exercise for civil protection will be implemented in Nagasaki Prefecture in January of next year. I understand that this is the first such exercise to be conducted which assumes a terrorist attack occurring at an airport. Can you describe the exercise and explain its objective?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: A press release has been issued if I am not mistaken. I believe there was a press release which provides a simple overview. On January 29 of next year, an exercise for civil protection will be conducted in Nagasaki Prefecture jointly by the Japanese Government, Nagasaki Prefecture, and Omura City. The main highlights of this joint exercise are that it is the largest joint exercise for civil protection of this fiscal year, and it is the first exercise for civil protection that assumes a terrorist attack occurring at an airport. Furthermore, the exercise will include activities such as evacuation and rescue of airport users through the use of vessels and helicopters. The exercise aims to confirm the functions of relevant organizations and strengthen their coordination. Civil protection exercises are indispensable for increasing the capabilities of the Government, local governments, and relevant organizations for dealing with armed attacks and terrorism, and the Government intends to actively engage in the exercises. The current plan is that I will participate in the exercise via video conference from the Prime Minister's Office.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: At yesterday's press conference, you said that your unwavering resolve to pursue the comprehensive reform, including the consumption tax increase, remains unchanged. Can you once again explain how you intend to obtain the understanding of the people?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: As I have repeatedly stated, this is a matter of public relations and information dissemination. As we have also asked the party to pursue, I believe one approach is indeed to disseminate comprehensive information that is easy to understand in a variety of formats at as many places as possible across Japan about how we urgently and truly need to begin thinking about the automatic increase of Japan's social security costs of over 1 trillion yen annually, about Japan as the world's fastest aging society, and about Japan's declining birthrate. There is of course also television and the press. The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare has been appearing on TV quite often recently to discuss these matters, and I believe one of the things we need to do is to also further accelerate these activities.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: If I can confirm, the TPP negotiation team consists of three teams. Who is the head of each team?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: The general decision being made right now is that the Country Consultation Team will be headed by the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary for foreign affairs, the Domestic Coordination and Liaison Team will be headed by the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary for internal affairs, and the Domestic Public Relations and Information Provision Team will be headed by a deputy director general.

(Abridged)