Yahoo Finance 5 Things to Know About Obama's Trip to Japan
U.S. President Barack Obama is arriving in Japan on Wednesday to attend the annual summit of the Group of Seven leaders and make a historic visit to Hiroshima. Here are five things to know about the president’s trip.
#1: Obama will attend the Group of Seven meeting in Ise-Shima
On Thursday and Friday, Mr. Obama is attending the annual summit of the Group of Seven leaders, held this year in Ise-Shima, Japan. Top on the list of themes to be discussed by the leaders of the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Canada is the sluggish global economy. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said North Korea’s nuclear program and other geopolitical issues in the Asia-Pacific region will be on the table. This will be the first summit meeting held in the region in eight years.
#2: The global economy will be in the spotlight
Measures to stoke global growth will be a key topic at the meeting, although a consensus on a unified approach to boosting growth is likely to elude the leaders. At a weekend meeting of G-7 finance ministers, the U.S. and Japan clashed over whether Tokyo should be allowed to arrest the yen’s recent rise. The seven nations wrapped up the meeting without an agreement on a balanced mix of policies, including coordinated fiscal stimulus.
#3: Bilateral issues between the U.S. and Japan are also under scrutiny
A U.S. military base worker was arrested on Thursday in relation to the murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa prefecture. Mr. Suga said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will bring up the issue during his bilateral meeting with Mr. Obama and request that Washington take strict measures to prevent such crimes.
#4: Obama will visit Hiroshima
On Friday, Mr. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the site of the world’s first atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945. The president told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that he wouldn’t question the decision to drop the bomb because every leader has to make difficult decisions, especially in wartime. Still, the president’s words and gestures in visiting the site of the bombing will be watched closely.
#5: Group of Seven leaders will visit the revered Ise Shrine
President Obama and all leaders of the Group of Seven nations will visit the Ise Shrine prior to the kickoff of their meeting. The country’s most revered shrine, which over seven million worshipers visit every year, is known as the site where Amaterasu Omikami, the legendary ancestor of the Imperial Household, is enshrined. The shrine is the most suitable location for foreign leaders to touch “the spirit of Japan,” Mr. Abe has said.
