Window Treaty Talks: Hinokuni Delegation Finalized — Ministry Official to Lead, Tokei Precision Optics Executive as Technical Adviser

At its regular briefing on the 27th, the Foreign Ministry announced the composition of the Hinokuni delegation for the government-to-government talks on the Window Treaty, to be held in early November in Helvetia's capital, seat of the International Dimensional Boundary Organization (IDBO). The delegation will be led by Yuichi Amamiya, 55, the International Cooperation Bureau director previously reported in these pages, who has handled the file since the interim agreement (reported on the 15th) and the announcement of talks (reported on the 21st). He will be accompanied by four Foreign Ministry staff and one official from the TDA Dimensional Survey Division. In addition, an international-business executive from Tokei Precision Optics — which, as previously reported on the 24th, finalized its main supply contract — will join the delegation for the first time as a technical adviser to explain the private-sector realities of window-machine technology. A ministry source said, "We want to be able to explain how the treaty lands on the factory floor, not only in government language but in corporate language too."

■ Full Disclosure of the Memorandum Remains the Last Issue Standing

As previously reported on the 15th, the provision explicitly banning military diversion of window machines and stable-window ancillary technology is already under interim agreement. In the coming talks, whether to fully disclose the memorandum covering Amelia's demand for priority supply to allied nations will carry over as the biggest sticking point, outweighing even the treaty text itself. Amamiya said on the 27th, "We've cleared the practical hurdle from interim agreement to a settled text, but on the memorandum there's still distance between the parties' positions. As a delegation, we intend to keep pressing patiently, within the limits of our goal of signing before year's end."

The ruling-coalition group "Circle to Open the Window" (convener Sota Miyake) welcomed the delegation's makeup, calling it "progress in bringing the field's voice into the delegation." Diet member Tetsuo Munakata, 58, aligned with the sovereignty camp and previously reported, again urged caution: "If industry's interests enter the negotiation wholesale under the name of a technical adviser, that could itself become a kind of memorandum." On the previously reported (11th) suspicion of a "secret annex," the ministry repeated on the 27th that "no such document exists."

■ Tokei Precision Optics' Reasons for Joining

Tokei Precision Optics, which as previously reported on the 24th finalized its main contract with Yingchuang Technology for window-machine precision lens components, commented on the 27th: "This is a separate matter from the main contract, but it's unsettling for us on the ground to keep moving toward mass production while the memorandum's treatment remains undecided. We hope that joining as an adviser can shrink, even a little, the time we spend without a clear view ahead." For the company's international-business team, which is also pursuing cost estimates for equipment bound for the Hekikai Isles (previously reported on the 18th), this marks its first participation in government-to-government talks. In the stock market on the 27th, the company's shares rose a modest 0.2% from the previous day, a fairly calm reaction.

■ What Comes Next

The delegation plans to hold a final round of coordination on outstanding issues as early as next week, ahead of its early-November trip. The ministry maintained its previously reported goal of a signing ceremony as early as early December, while also acknowledging, "There is a real possibility that whether to fully disclose the memorandum won't be settled until the very end." Both the truth behind the annex suspicion and the treatment of the memorandum's full text remain unexplained, left to stand.