ニュース 2009/08/10 Okada speaks at Thomson-Reuters “Newsmaker” event On August 10, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada gave a speech entitled “A Change of Government: Transforming Japan” at a Newsmaker event organised by Thomson-Reuters news agency. This was the first time a Newsmaker event had been held in Japan. World leaders such as UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi have spoken at previous events in the Newsmaker series. With an election which could see the country’s first genuine change of power take place fast approaching in Japan, Okada spoke to an audience of around 160 businessmen, economists, diplomats and members of the press, both domestic and foreign, and explained with reference to the DPJ Manifesto how the party intended to tackle such issues as reform of the Prime Minister’s Office and the bureaucracy, economic policy and growth strategy, the US-Japan Alliance and Asian diplomacy, as well as other global issues. Following the speech, there was a flurry of questions from the audience which revealed people’s high expectations for a change of government, and the approximately one-hour event ended in an atmosphere of excitement.