April 23, 2010
Click for Video
Japan's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Naoto Kan has offered flowers at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.
Kan is in the US capital to attend the Group of 7 and Group of 20 meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors.
On Thursday, Kan visited Arlington cemetery outside Washington and offered flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns.Japanese prime ministers or defense ministers are usually the ones to offer flowers at Arlington when they visit the United States. It is rare for someone in Kan's position to do so.
Kan said people who created and protected the United States are buried at the cemetery, and that he came to pay his respects to the deceased. He described the visit as a memorable one.
Kan's visit is seen as a way for the Hatoyama government to emphasize the importance of the bilateral alliance amid tensions over the relocation of a US air base in Okinawa.
2010/04/23 10:28(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
Posts
