Press Conference 23 July 2004

1. Expansion of areas in the People's Republic of China eligible to participate in group sightseeing tours to Japan
2. Visit to Japan by Iraq's national Judo team for the 2004 Athens Olympics
3. Follow-up question concerning visit by Iraq's national judo team
4. Question concerning reorganization within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. Expansion of areas in the People's Republic of China eligible to participate in group sightseeing tours to Japan

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you for coming to the briefing. Today, I have two announcements to make.

   The first one is about the group tours to Japan from the People's Republic of China.

   The Government of Japan today decided to expand the areas in China where the residence are allowed to participate in group tours to Japan for sightseeing. Currently the residence of three areas in China, namely Beijing City, Shanghai City and Guangdong Province, are allowed to take part in group sightseeing tours to Japan under the agreement between the Governments of Japan and China to promote tourism in Japan.

   This time, five areas will be added to the list of designated areas for this program. They are Tianjin City, Jiangsu Province, Shejiang Province, Shangdong Province and Liaoning Province. This new addition will become effective as of 15 September 2004.

   The Government of Japan hopes that this expansion will further promote tourism in Japan as well as the mutual understanding and friendly relations between Japan and China.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
2. Visit to Japan by Iraq's national judo team for the 2004 Athens Olympics

   Mr. Takashima: The second announcement is about the visit of the Iraqi national judo team.

   As part of the assistance for Iraq's participation in international games, the Government of Japan will invite from 25 July to 7 August, members of Iraq's national judo team for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

   They are Mr. Hadir Lazame, an athlete participating in the Super 100 Judo Match, and the coach, Mr. Radi Radi. During their stay in Japan, the group will undergo an intensive training and preparation for the Olympics in cooperation with the All Japan Judo Federation. After their stay in Japan, the team will move to Athens and join the main Iraqi Olympic team.

   For your information, on 26 July, they will hold a press conference and undergo an exhibition training match at Kodokan Arena in Tokyo.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan by the Iraq's National Judo Team for the 2004 Athens Olympics)
   
3. Follow-up question concerning visit by Iraq's national judo team

   Q: Are the Iraqi judo athlete and his coach going to meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi or any other governmental officials?

   Mr. Takashima: They are expected to meet officials of the Government of Japan on a courtesy call, but nothing in detail has been decided yet.

4. Question concerning reorganization within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

   Q: I have a small question about today's announcement about the reorganization in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Intelligence and Analysis Bureau being dissolved and a new Director General to be appointed. What is the reason behind this dissolution of the Bureau at this time?

   Mr. Takashima: The reason we changed the structure of the Intelligence and Analysis Bureau is to make the activities of the Foreign Ministry on intelligence gathering and analysis become more effective, timely and more mobile. In order to do so, we thought that the administrative structure currently being applied to this organization had to be scrutinized and had to be made more of an action-oriented nature. This is the reason we decided to designate the Director of Intelligence and Analysis Service instead of a type of setting in which there is a Director General of a Bureau.

   We hope that this structural change will further promote the better coordination not only within the Bureau in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs vis-à-vis intelligence-oriented issues, but also with other governmental agencies which are also in charge of intelligence gathering and analysis.

   Q: Would that, for example, be the National Police Agency? Or, what are those agencies?

   Mr. Takashima: It would include the Defense Agency, its Internal Intelligence Gathering Bureau and the Public Security Intelligence Agency. These are part of what we call the intelligence community in Japan.