Help Pledged for U.S. ‘Confusion’ : Japan: Opening a new session of Parliament, Prime Minister Miyazawa says every effort should be made to cooperate with America.

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa opened a new session of Parliament on Friday with a pledge to help the United States overcome what he called “not a little confusion” in its economy and to transform Japan, the economic giant, into a nation that is also a “living-standard giant.”

Miyazawa--beleaguered by parliamentary setbacks and past and present scandals affecting both him and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and facing upper house elections in July--devoted most of a 43-minute policy address to the topic of creating a better life for Japanese at home.

But he took care to reiterate, through an emotional appeal to repay America for its post-World War II help to Japan, promises that he made during a visit here Jan. 7-10 by President Bush.

“Japan could not have achieved its postwar prosperity had it not been for the good-hearted support of the United States,” he declared. “The United States also has made great sacrifices to preserve postwar peace. Yet, today, the United States faces not a little confusion of its own, and it behooves Japan to make every effort to cooperate with the United States as it works to overcome those painful difficulties.”

The official English translation of his remarks watered down “not a little confusion” to read “some problems.” It also translated “painful difficulties” as simply “troubles.”

It was the second time this month that Miyazawa has made an emotional appeal to the Japanese people to help out Americans. Before Bush arrived, he urged “compassion” to assist the U.S. auto industry.

Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe, who delivered a separate foreign policy address, also appealed for cooperation with the United States to overcome “points of friction and confrontation” and to strengthen the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. That pact, he said, not only “ensures peace and stability in Asia” but also “enhances credibility of Japan’s pledge not to become a major military power.”

Both Miyazawa and Watanabe urged Parliament to enact legislation permitting Japan’s armed forces to be dispatched overseas for the first time since World War II to participate in U.N. peacekeeping and disaster relief missions. The legislation passed the lower house in December but has not won upper house approval.

Miyazawa also announced that his government will revise--probably downward--a five-year, 22.8-trillion yen ($185.4-billion) defense buildup plan that was approved 13 months ago.

His main emphasis, however, was on “making Japan a giant in living standards.”

Pledging to shift the national priority from producers to consumers, Miyazawa said he will introduce legislation to provide a five-day workweek “as soon as possible within fiscal 1992” for all government employees, who usually work half a day on Saturdays.

“Shorter working hours and more comfortable working places are national goals that we must achieve to make our working lives less stressful,” he said. “We hope to promote the full diffusion of the five-day workweek (and) the curtailment of overtime” for workers in the private sector, he added.

Average working hours for the Japanese exceed Western standards by about 200 hours a year--the equivalent of 25 days of work.

Women, he added, must be assured “full participation in all sectors of society.”

A new five-year economic plan spelling out the steps for Japan’s transformation to a “living-standards giant,” Miyazawa said, will be announced this summer.

The plan will seek to raise living standards to the level of other advanced nations, added Takeshi Noda, director of the Economic Planning Agency.

Miyazawa also apologized for the arrest Jan. 13 of a former Cabinet minister, Fumio Abe, detained on a bribery charge. He pledged to seek reforms to control political contributions and spending. Until his incarceration, Abe had served as a lieutenant of Miyazawa’s own ruling party faction of followers.

Earlier, Miyazawa’s Cabinet approved the appointment of Takakazu Kuriyama, 60, a former vice foreign minister, as ambassador to Washington.