Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigns; Japanese Cabinet: US Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa Prefecture are important deterrent force for Japan; Naoto Kan takes over as new Prime Minister of Japan; Kan expresses wish to rebuild ties with Washington;
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  • In a very significant development, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has resigned on June 2 with the hope to improve his party's chances in an election next month. This happened after his popularity plunged due to his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base. The primary factor behind this was his bad handling of the relocation of the Marine Air Station Futenma on the southern island of Okinawa reinforced his public image as an indecisive leader.1

    Meanwhile, reports suggest that the government has admitted that U.S. Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa Prefecture are an important deterrent force for Japan. This determination came during a Cabinet meeting, when the government adopted a written answer to a questionnaire submitted by Kantoku Teruya, a Social Democratic Party (SDP) member elected from an Okinawa constituency, to former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.2

    After Hatoyama’s resignation, Naoto Kan who is also president of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, has taken over as new Prime Minister of Japan. Kan will be the Japan's fifth premier in four years. Prime Minister Kan has unveiled his cabinet and vowed to create a "vigorous country", restore its public finances and mend the strained relations with the United States.3 Meanwhile Kan dismissed a call from the opposition camp to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election. In his first press conference as prime minister, Kan said that his government will "be tested in the (upcoming) House of Councillors election,".4

    According to lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Prime Minister Kan and US President Barack Obama agreed to make efforts to fulfill a Japan-US accord on the relocation of a U.S. military base within Okinawa Prefecture. Kan reportedly said to Obama during his telephonic conversation with him, "I want to make strenuous efforts" on the base issue. While, Obama told Kan that he wants to strengthen the bilateral partnership in the global arena for peace and stability.5

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