ニュース 2009/10/29 Hirano explains response to JAL issue and Japan-US agreement On October 29, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano held a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office. That same day, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC) had received a request for support from Japan Airlines, and Hirano explained the current situation regarding the administration’s response to this issue, saying, “Currently, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Maehara has received the taskforce’s report, and the Ministry is now considering how to respond to this issue.” He went on to comment on the actual response toward the revitalisation of JAL, saying that the establishment of a strategy headquarters was being considered, and indicated that a decision on the response to be made should be taken as soon as possible. Furthermore, Hirano commented on Prime Minister Hatoyama’s comment in the plenary session of the House of Councillors held that same day, that “I would like to undertake a comprehensive review of the Japan-US alliance.” Asked for the details regarding this, Hirano expressed the basic view that “We must consider the various issues surrounding the US bases in Okinawa and the Futenma airbase, including the agreement signed between Japan and the United States, agreements between the governments of the two countries, the policy agreement signed between the three coalition parties, and the DPJ Manifesto.” He went on to explain, “This doesn’t mean that we intend to go back and review the overall concept of the Japan-US alliance itself, but that in order to avoid mistakes when making fresh political decisions, we feel we must review the various agreements made by past administrations, and so rather than considering each past agreement that has been made individually, we would like to carry out a comprehensive review of the entire process up until the present day.”