Japan-United States of America Relations
Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee (“2+2” Ministerial Meeting)
In the morning of April 27, 2015 EST, the Security Consultative Committee (SCC) (the “2+2” Ministerial Meeting) was convened in New York City.
The Meeting was attended by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fumio Kishida and Minister of Defense, Mr. Gen Nakatani from the Japanese side and Secretary of State, Honorable John F. Kerry and Secretary of Defense, Honorable Ashton Carter from the U.S. side. The Meeting was the first to have been convened since October 3, 2013.
In the Meeting, given a much closer Japan-U.S. relationship which the two countries have enjoyed in recent years, the Ministers had discussions over a range of topics including bilateral security and defense cooperation as well as the realignment of U.S. Forces in Japan. The SCC approved the new Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation (PDF) 
and issued the Joint Statement (PDF)..