Japan to resume whaling shortly: Yomiuri reports

MARK COLVIN: Reports of the end of the Japanese whaling program appear to have been premature.

The Yomiuri newspaper in Tokyo says the government will announce the resumption of whaling very shortly.

Yomiuri says the centre-left government has decided that giving in to the militant Sea Shepherd organisation would be against the national interest.

That means this year's hunt will go ahead, and we can expect another round of confrontations in the ocean south of Australia.

Last season Sea Shepherd's harassing tactics saw the Japanese fleet retreat with just a fifth of its quota.

But this year the Japanese Government will boost the budget of the whaling program to protect crew members.

Our correspondent Mark Willacy joins me from Tokyo.

Mark, Japan's gone through a pretty awful year financially, economically, it seems like a strange time to spend a lot of money on whaling?

MARK WILLACY: That's right. We've had the triple disasters of the earthquake, the tsunami, then the nuclear meltdowns and that has added some very big bottom lines to Japan's deficit and its public debt.

So we've got a situation where, across the board, the Japanese government is trying to cut programs but now we're hearing from the Yomiuri Shimbun, the biggest newspaper, the biggest selling newspaper, in Japan, that the program will continue, that it will go ahead. And basically, as you alluded to in the introduction, this is about national pride.

The Japanese do not want to give in to Sea Shepherd, they don't want to bow to the threats and the obstruction they've seen on the high seas, they're going to keep face and they're going to ensure that whaling will survive.

MARK COLVIN: How much is it going to cost to send the whaling fleet out?

MARK WILLACY: That's a very good question. It's often treated as a bit of a state secret. We've been told all sorts of figures but we believe roughly around $40 million a year. And what we're hearing out of the Yomiuri newspaper today is that they're going to beef up safety measures for the whaling crews, and to do that they're going to inject 2 billion yen, or about $AU27 million into the whaling program.

What we also know is that the Japanese coastguard, though, has turned down a request to protect the whaling fleet. Apparently it doesn't think it can do that adequately and with enough authority in international waters. But, you know, if this report is right, we are going to see yet again more clashes this year in the Antarctic between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese whalers.

MARK COLVIN: Well the coastguard probably only has a jurisdiction within Japanese waters, what about the Japanese navy itself?

MARK WILLACY: There has been absolutely no mention of that all. Obviously Japan has a passivist constitution which restricts what its military does and where it goes and the activities it can engage in, so no mention at all about the navy. As I said, the coastguard was requested to go down and shadow the whaling fleet. It's running a mile from that; it's saying no we can't do it with any great effect, so it will not happen.

MARK COLVIN: Well they're spending millions on it, do they get much back?

MARK WILLACY: Look, according to some of the people who were involved in a review of the whaling program this year, no they don't.

I spoke a couple of months ago to one of the panel members who was reviewing this process her name was Hisa Anan. And she said, look, it's time to scrap this so-called scientific whaling program for a number of reasons. One, if we want to keep researching whales there are non-lethal ways of doing it, we don't have to kill them.

She also pointed out to me that there are growing stockpiles of whale meat, tonnes and tonnes of it sitting unwanted in industrial freezers around the country. No-one's eating it. Whale restaurants are popular with a certain demographic, generally older Japanese, but young people they won't touch it with a barge pole.

MARK COLVIN: Well if this is about saving face or national pride - whatever you want to call it - is it a popular move do you think?

MARK WILLACY: Look I think most Japanese don't engage in this debate at all. But one thing, given the disasters that have befallen Japan this year, with the tsunami, the nuclear meltdown, and the cost that is now being thrust upon the Japanese public, there could very well be a section of the population who thinks this is just over the top.

This is a program Japan doesn't need in a time of financial crisis when there are people without homes, there are communities that have been totally wiped out. That money, that whaling money could possibly be better spent on those sorts of programs.

That is probably what the Japanese government is going to now face, that sort of opposition to whaling.

MARK COLVIN: Thank you very much Mark.

Mark Willacy is our Tokyo correspondent.

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Reports: Japan airport worker posts Obama flight (AP)

TOKYO – An air traffic controller at Tokyo's Haneda Airport faces possible punishment after posting confidential information on his blog, including the flight plan for President Barack Obama's visit to Japan last year, news reports said Saturday.

The controller, identified only as a man in his 50s, uploaded a dozen photos he took of flight plans and radar screens onto his personal blog, according to public broadcaster NHK. A post about Air Force One included its route as well as takeoff and landing details which are normally kept secret for security reasons.

Obama traveled to Japan in November to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama.

The controller also posted the flight plan for an unmanned American reconnaissance aircraft that was dispatched to gather radiation data from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, Kyodo News agency said. All the images have since been deleted.

The transport ministry is investigating and considering disciplinary action, Kyodo and NHK said. Calls to the ministry were not answered Saturday.

Kyodo said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who took office eight days ago, will explain the findings of the investigation to Obama when he travels to Washington later this month.

Noda has said he wants to strengthen ties between the countries and has expressed strong support for the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

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China seeks Japan tech in rare earth deals: reports - Reuters

TOKYO | Wed Sep 7, 2011 1:20am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - China told Japanese business leaders that it hoped their companies would bring technology to develop rare-earth products to China, while standing by its controversial decision to limit the metals' exports, Japanese media reported.

China produces more than 95 percent of the world's rare earth metals and its efforts to bring the sector under greater control, citing resource depletion and environmental degradation, have alarmed its overseas customers.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met on Tuesday in Beijing with Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Japan's biggest business lobby, Nippon Keidanren, and Toyota Motor Corp Chairman Fujio Cho, both of whom head the Japan-China Economic Association.

In the meeting, Cho appealed for a reevaluation of Beijing's policy on rare earth exports but Li defended the steps as necessary to protect the environment, Japanese national broadcaster NHK said.

Li, who is widely expected to replace Wen Jiabao as China's next premier, added that he hoped Japanese companies would bring the technology to develop products using rare earths to China, according to NHK.

"Japan has advanced technology to develop and use rare earths," Japan's Jiji news agency cited Li as saying. "I hope that both countries' companies can promote cooperation in this field," he was quoted as saying.

In a move that could raise tensions further, Chinese state media said on Tuesday it would halt production of rare earths at three major mines.

Demand for rare earths -- a group of 17 elements used for catalytic converters, battery cells and motors for hybrid cars, among others -- is expected to double in the next five years. Toyota, for one, has said it plans to offer a hybrid option on all of its vehicle models by 2020.

Toyota said in April it plans to develop and produce energy-efficient cars and components in China, though it has given few specifics.

The World Trade Organization ruled in July that China broke international law when it curbed exports of raw materials, in a landmark case that threatened Beijing's legal defense for similar export brakes on rare earths. Beijing has appealed the decision.

Japan accounts for a third of global rare earth demand and has been stung badly by China's export curbs.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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Japan PM picks fiscal hawk Okada as finmin: reports (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has picked a like-minded fiscal conservative as finance minister and a close ally as his No. 2 minister in his cabinet to be launched on Friday, Japanese media reported.

Private broadcasters TBS and Fuji TV said on Thursday that former ruling party secretary general Katsuya Okada, 58, will take the finance portfolio as Japan's economy grapples with the yen's sharp rise and public debt that is twice the size of its $5 trillion economy.

"Okada was probably the best choice available. He fits the bill for a finance minister: he is well known, knows his financial policies and is trusted by Noda," said Katsutoshi Inadome, fixed income strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Okada has also served as foreign minister.

Noda, 54, who was finance minister in the previous administration, was voted in by parliament this week as the nation's sixth leader in five years.

Noda's new government, faces a mountain of challenges: forging a new energy policy while ending a radiation crisis at a crippled nuclear plant, rebuilding Japan's tsunami-devastated northeast and finding funds to pay for that and vast costs of social welfare in an aging society.

"Okada is likely to maintain Noda's fiscal reform drive including the plan to raise the sales tax," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities in Tokyo.

Noda -- who must unite warring factions in his fractious Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) while reaching out to the opposition in a divided parliament -- also tapped close ally Osamu Fujmura for the key post of chief cabinet secretary.

Fujimura, 61, will become de facto No.2 in the cabinet, combining the role of top government spokesman with responsibility for liaising with ruling and opposition parties as well as different ministries.

In an effort to win opposition support, Noda on Thursday suggested to the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its former partner, the New Komeito party, the creation of joint task forces with the Democrats to discuss reconstruction, tax reforms, and economic stimulus measures including steps to cope with a strong yen.

Noda's Democrats and a tiny coalition partner lack a majority in parliaments upper house, where the opposition can block legislation.

Noda's immediate challenge is to draft and enact a third emergency budget to finance reconstruction spending.

The LDP has said would cooperate with the government on reconstruction policies, but wants Noda to call a snap general election once necessary rebuilding steps have been taken. No election for parliament's powerful lower house need be held until 2013.

On Wednesday, Noda filled top party posts with a mix of allies and rivals in an effort to unite party after a divisive leadership contest.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Writing by Rie Ishiguro and Linda Sieg; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Tomasz Janowski)

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