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On September 11, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada welcomed United States Ambassador John V. Roos to party headquarters for discussions.
Okada said, “When [the new administration has been launched and] Prime Minister Hatoyama meets with President Obama, I hope that it will be a meeting through which Japan and the United States can cooperate thoroughly on global issues such as global warming and nuclear weapons and go on to lead the world [on such issues].” Roos indicated his agreement with this sentiment.
Okada went on to express the opinion that, “It is important to deepen the Japan-US security agreement and the Japan-US alliance into a relationship that can be sustained 30 or 50 years into the future. We should work to resolve a variety of issues from the perspective of what needs to be done now in order to achieve this [sustainable relationship].” Both sides shared a mutual concern regarding the issues that needed to be resolved in order to deepen the Japan-US relationship in the future.
Roos commented that in the United States the transitional period between administrations was quite long, but in Japan there were only two weeks allotted for this, and questioned whether that gave sufficient time for preparations to be made. Okada answered, “This is the first time that there has been a genuine change of government, and therefore up until now such a scenario has not been envisaged. If this is to become a regular event from now on, although we do not need as long a period as the US, where administration officials are all political appointees, it will be necessary to create some kind of structure for the transition period.”
The two confirmed their intention of maintaining close contact between the Hatoyama government and the US Embassy, and the importance of further developing the Japan-US relationship, and the approximately 45 minute meeting ended.
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