Press Conference

1. Announcements

None

2. Questions and Answers

Question:
It is said that you have received information from the U.S. side regarding the investigation results for the crash accident of the Osprey in Morocco. Can you tell us of your thoughts with regard to this? Also, do you perceive this content as being satisfactory for gaining the understanding of Okinawa? Please kindly answer both questions.

Minister:
Regarding this accident involving the Osprey that occurred in Morocco, We have been requesting to the U.S. side to inform us on the cause of this accident as soon as possible. I think the Division Director responsible for this has given an explanation this morning, and according to the aircraft accident safety investigations, the aforementioned aircraft had been functioning in accordance with the manual that the U.S. had decided on, so it is understood that no mechanical problems were exhibited by the aircraft. For accident investigations of this type, a separate investigation by the Judge Advocate will also be conducted, so it is hoped that the result for this investigation will come out sometime late this year. However, I also understand the worries and concerns held by the people in the local areas in Okinawa with regard to its safety aspects. Therefore, the government will make whatever efforts required to ensure that adequate safety has been guaranteed with regard to the safety of this aircraft type.

Question:
In response to your comments regarding the deployment of the Osprey, DPJ’s Okinawa prefectural chapter has issued a statement requesting your resignation. How do you feel about this?

Minister:
As I have explained just now, the deployment of the Osprey is a plan conceived by the U.S. However, we are going to do everything we can to take into account the considerations towards the worries and concerns held by the people in the local areas in Okinawa centering on the Futenma Air Station with regard to its safety aspects. Therefore, we would like to respond to this issue with utmost considerations for the concerns of the people of Okinawa.

Question:
Concerning the Osprey, an environmental review has already been sent from the U.S. side to the Japanese side during the time of your predecessor. Did you receive any explanation on this? Your predecessor also mentioned that its content is going to be disclosed. What is your outlook on when this is going to be disclosed?

Minister:
With regard to this, we have just received the environmental review, and are currently in the process of conducting the necessary analysis and evaluation. Therefore, we are now in a middle of an internal discussion on various things including the timing of its disclosure.

Question:
I have a question regarding the change in the deployment plan of the Osprey. The prefecture side has been requesting for clarification on the cause of the accident, but the cause is yet to be determined, and it is scheduled to come out late this year. Do you have any intention of requesting a change in plan to put the deployment on hold until late this year to the U.S. side?

Minister:
As it has been explained today by the Division Director in charge, we have currently been informed by the U.S. side of an accident safety investigation that says “The aircraft itself functioned in accordance with the manual, so it is not something that occurred due to mechanical failure.” However, the investigation to be conducted by the Judge Advocate normally focuses on the totally different legal aspects, which I think is rule laid out by the U.S. We are hoping that all the results will come out in the latter part of this year. Then again, this issue and the timing of the deployment of the Osprey has no specific relationship or correlation, but we are deeply aware of the concerns and reservations that the people in the local areas have on this, so we will do everything we can to give utmost consideration to these people, and to say what we need to say to the U.S. side if necessary.

Question:
Having received this report on the investigation outline, who and how is it going to explain this to the Okinawa side?

Minister:
We are currently considering how to explain this. We are considering various options on how we can explain the details as soon as we possibly can.

Question:
You have given the announcement today, so do you intend to relay this in some way within today?

Minister:
We intend to give an explanation on its details required by Okinawa at the earliest possible timing.

Question:
Do you intend to personally present the investigation result that the aircraft was not responsible for the cause of the accident involving the Osprey to Okinawa Governor Nakaima and the people in the local areas?

Minister:
We are aware that the report that we received from the U.S. side for this time is not exactly the final conclusion, and that the people of Okinawa are intensely interested in its details, so we are thinking of setting up a proper official channel in a businesslike manner, and to give an explanation using said channel.

Question:
You mentioned that you are not thinking of this as the final conclusion. If that is the case, is there going to be no changes in the plan to transport the Osprey into Okinawa and deploy it in Futenma by July?

Minister:
Since this is a plan laid out by the U.S., the specific timing of this is still under consideration by the U.S. side, and we have yet to receive any final notice of when and how it is going to be deployed. Thus, I would like to reiterate that we are aware that there is no firm correlation between the timing of the final conclusion of the investigation report and the timing of deployment.

Question:
This is going to be a reiteration, but are you saying that the timing of the deployment and the final result of the investigation report are not correlated?

Minister:
That is not so. As mentioned in the beginning, there is no doubt in that we have been requesting to the U.S. side to inform the Japanese side on the details of the accident when the cause of the accident has been clarified and that request still stands today. My understanding is that the U.S. is well aware of this.

Question:
This is for confirmation, but former Defense Minister Tanaka has indicated the policy to “disclose the result before deployment.” Can we assume that there is no change in this MOD policy?

Minister:
I don’t have the transcript of my predecessor before me at the moment, but at this point, I don’t think that this notification by the U.S. side given yesterday was included as a factor when my predecessor made the statement, so the situation that I mentioned at the beginning is the current standpoint of the MOD.

Question:
Having received the report that there were no problems with the aircraft itself, are you now assured that there are no problems with the timing and method in the U.S. plan? Are you going to approve the U.S. plan to go ahead with the deployment according to their plan without making any effort such as delaying its timing before giving the report?

Minister:
This is going to be a reiteration, but since we have not yet received any final notification on the timing that the U.S. intends to deploy the Osprey. Therefore, with regard to the investigation on the accident, we are requesting to the U.S. side to report on this at the earliest possible time. Regarding the timing of the deployment of the Osprey, I am not aware that a final decision for the timing and such has been made on this. As I have given in my explanation concerning the explanation to Okinawa, we have given relayed this to the prefecture side in a businesslike manner. However, with regard to how we are going to give a direct explanation to the prefecture side as you mentioned, we are thinking of considering this as soon as possible.

Question:
You mentioned that no decision has been made on when the U.S. side intends to bring it in. Does the Japanese government have no intention of requesting to delay the deployment until cause of the accident has been clarified, or is such a topic off the table?

Minister:
This is going to be a reiteration, but I do have a certain degree of experience and knowledge on what goes on in an investigation of an aircraft accident. When conducting an aircraft accident investigation, an investigation is made purely from the standpoint of its safety aspects, but at the same time a separate investigation involving legal experts from a legal point of view is also going to be conducted. This is going to be an independent investigation that will be conducted without including any other elements and I think this is also the same as what is being conducted in Japan as well. I don’t know how long this is actually going to take, but as I have mentioned in the beginning, we are hoping that the conclusion of the investigation by the Judge Advocate is going to come out sometime within the year. With regard to the timing of the deployment of the Osprey, we have not been informed of anything specific from the U.S. side for now, so we would like to wait until we receive notification from the U.S. side first, and then make a decision based on this.

Question:
You mentioned that you would like to wait for the notification before giving the decision. Does that mean that in a case where the deployment comes before the notification, you are going to make a request to the U.S. side to delay the deployment until the notification has been given? Is there a possibility of this happening?

Minister:
On that, I would first like to see the U.S. side’s thinking of the timing of deployment before considering this.

Question:
I have a question regarding FCLP. How do you evaluate the plan to relocate training to Mageshima Island? Also, how do you intend to coordinate things in the future with the landowner and the local municipality when promoting this plan? Can you give your thoughts on this?

Minister:
It is true that the government is currently considering Mageshima islands as a location for FCLP of carrier-based aircrafts. On the other hand, as you have explained, there is a landowner in Mageshima Island, so there is going to be a lot of things that needs to be considered in the future. However, the utmost consideration will be given to take into account the concerns and reservations that the people in the local areas would have when solving issue. This is going to be an important factor, since I understand that this issue cannot be resolved without the understanding and cooperation of the local areas. Therefore, we would like to give careful consideration on this point when making progress on this issue.

Question:
I remember that there was an agreement between Japan and the U.S. in that “if it is a major change in equipment, it is going to be a subject for pre-consultation before its deployment” when there is a change in its equipment. Do you perceive this Osprey as being something that is not considered as being a major equipment change?

Minister:
I think you will understand if you follow closely the details of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. Regarding the administration of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) under Article 6 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, I assume that you already know there is a pre-consultation system between Japan and the U.S. This pre-consultation is to be conducted to the U.S. side in the case of three conditions. The change of equipment in this case, as the government has traditionally explained is that, for example; if it becomes possible to change the equipment of the U.S. Forces in Japan such as bringing in nuclear weapons and such into Japan, then this system requires us to conduct a pre-consultation with the U.S. side. In the case of the Osprey for this time, I understand that it is not subject to this need for pre-consultation in the change of equipment.

Question:
Changing the subject, I believe the Okinawa prefectural assembly election is currently being held. Can we ask what sort of things are you interested in or focusing on for the prefectural assembly elections with regard to the future developments and for the Futenma issue?

Minister:
A prefectural assembly election is an election that the people within the prefecture will be participating in, so it is true that we are very concerned about the outcome of the election. The current Japan-U.S. relationship is going through some rough patches including the Futenma issue in Okinawa, so we will be watching with profound interest on how the people in the prefecture are going to make their intentions known through this prefectural assembly election.

Question:
When are you planning to visit Okinawa? Or do you have a particular time that you would like to go?

Minister:
I cannot foresee what the Diet schedule is going to be at this point. However, I would like to keep a close eye on the Diet schedule and discuss this thoroughly with the related Ministers and to go to Okinawa at the most optimal time without becoming too late as far as I am concerned and would like to have a candid discussion with the Governor on various issues. I cannot comment at this stage on when that will be.

(End)