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On October 11, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano announced that US President Barack Obama would visit Japan.
President Obama will visit Japan on November 12 and 13, prior to attending the 17th APEC summit meeting, to be held in Singapore on November 14 and 15.
Hirano said that the leadership summit to be held between Prime Minister Hatoyama and Obama during the visit would involve discussions regarding the Japan-US relationship and international affairs. He added that the detailed schedule would be arranged in order to further promote a close relationship between the two leaders.
Hirano said, “The visit of President Obama to Japan is a truly welcome one for our nation.” He added that the visit would be a valuable opportunity to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, and indicated that as such thorough preparations would be made.
In response to a reporter’s question as to whether the Japanese government would ask Obama to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hirano said that considering Prime Minister Hatoyama had mentioned such a possibility at international gatherings, the administration would consider it, but pointed out that such a visit would likely be difficult schedule-wise on this occasion. He stated, “I believe that if [President Obama] had a little more time here in Japan, he would definitely make such a visit.”
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