Press Conferences

Arita, Nippon TV: This morning, together with Minister Aso, you met with the Prime Minster. Can I ask what you talked about?

Minister Kishida: I was in attendance when the Prime Minister received reports on discussions at the G20. I think that going forward, some of the discussions at the G20 will be related to the G7 Summit, and so I attended from the standpoint of diplomacy.

Arita, Nippon TV: Did you discuss AIIB?

Minister Kishida: I will refrain from commenting on the detail. The discussion was on the content of the G20.

Arita, Nippon TV: Yesterday evening, Prime Minster Abe, talking about his statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, said on a television program that his statement would uphold the Murayama Statement and so it was not necessary for it to include words such as “apology” and “aggression” Can I ask for your own opinion on this?

Minister Kishida: This is the Prime Minister’s statement and therefore I am not in a position to talk about the thoughts of the Prime Minister. However, the Prime Minister has repeatedly expressed that the Abe Cabinet upholds the position on the recognition of history outlined by the previous administrations in its entirety.

My understanding is that the Prime Minister will issue his statement with this as the assumption.

Arita, Nippon TV: Could you please tell us the status of the arrangements for the Japan-China Summit at the Bandung Conference?

Minister Kishida: I have heard that over 100 leaders from Asia and Africa will attend the Bandung Conference. In conjunction with the Conference, the Prime Minister is also energetically working on the arrangements toward the holding of bilateral meetings. Within these efforts, the Japan-China meeting you referred to has not yet been determined.

Kusuki, Sankei Shimbun: The anniversary of Victory Day in Russia will occur after Golden Week. Will the Prime Minister be deciding soon what his response will be, including whether he will attend the commemorative ceremony?

Minister Kishida: At the current point in time it is not decided if he will attend.

Fukai, TBS: Regarding the 70th anniversary statement, can I ask what impact do you think the Prime Minister’s comments yesterday will have on Japan’s diplomacy with countries in Asia?

Minister Kishida: The Prime Minister has not yet actually issued his statement, so while we will pay attention to responds to it in the future, obviously we have not heard any responses at the current time.