Press Conference by Tatsuya Ito, Minister for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

October 18, 2005

Q.

Prime Minister Koizumi paid his visit to Yasukuni shrine yesterday. He stated that he did so as an individual and not in his capacity as the Prime Minister. Reactions to his visit, especially those overseas, seem to deem the visit as ''regrettable'' for various reasons. Would you please give us your view on this, and tell us if you have any plans to pay a visit to the shrine in the future?

A.

The Prime Minister's visit to the shrine was made as a private individual and not as the Prime Minister, as you pointed out just now. I am also certain that he gave careful consideration to the matter before making his decision. I personally do not have any plan to pay a visit to the shrine.

Q.

I believe that non-life insurance companies submitted reports to the Financial Services Agency at the end of last week regarding their payment omissions. I understand that the reports are under scrutiny at the moment. I would appreciate you letting us know, to the extent possible, if there were any specific items that needed especially close examination. Also, we would like to know the approximate timing of when the results will be released.

A.

We just received reports from 48 non-life insurance companies on October 14. Currently, we are carefully examining and verifying these reports. As we are still in the process, we have not reached a stage where we can discuss report items. One thing that is certain is that we plan to proceed promptly with our scrutiny and verification work, and release the results in one form or another.

(End)