Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I have one item to report regarding today's Cabinet Meeting. The meeting approved 24 general and other items, as well as personnel decisions. The Minister of Justice spoke about a Diet report based on laws related to the interception of communication as part of criminal investigations, Minister Kawabata spoke about Northern Territories Day, and the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications spoke about the result of administrative evaluation  and supervision related to the update and sustainable management of social capital.

Next is about the regional symposiums for national debate on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In light of it being pointed out that the explanations and information provided to the public on the TPP has been insufficient, the Government will implement further measures to explain and provide information on the matter. From this perspective, the Government will take part in regional symposiums for national debate on the TPP hosted by the National Regional Newspaper Liaison Council and other organizations. At these symposiums, we will attempt to provide easy-to-understand and correct information on the TPP through debates with  local experts and question and answer sessions featuring the participation of local audiences. The first symposium will be held on Sunday, February 19, in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Minister for National Policy Furukawa will participate in the symposium. After this first event, nine other symposiums will be held one after the other in other areas of the country, and it is planned that in addition to Minister Furukawa, other ministers, senior vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries from relevant ministries will also participate. Furthermore, depending on the need, we will dispatch personnel (Division Director -level members of the Cabinet Secretariat) from the national government to each prefecture and they will provide information related to the TPP. There are now plans for Minister of National Policy Furukawa to hold a press conference on this issue.

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Changing the subject a bit, it has been reported that the Government of Japan is planning on becoming a party to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage. Please tell us the truth of this matter.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: There is no truth to the statement that we have decided to become a party to the Convention. We have so far held discussion from a variety of angles on the need for, and issues related to, an international agreement for compensation related to nuclear damage. We are now at the stage of discussing the merits and demerits of this matter from a variety of perspectives, including on such issues as problems of jurisdiction concentration. We must have a sufficiently thorough consideration of this. I think we will need to make a decision after doing so.

(Abridged)