Defense Minister's Visit and Security Discussion

- Yes. Please go ahead.

Organizing press, Japan

Times, this is Johnson.

Thank you for joining

us. Yes, please.

To begin, from the Minister.

- Please. Yes.

Um, this afternoon,

I am scheduled to inspect the Japan

Ground Self-Defense Force's Omiya

Garrison in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.

Omiya Garrison is home to the

Chemical School, which reports directly to the Minister,

as well as the 32nd Infantry Regiment

and the Central NBC Defense Unit,

and is an important base for specialized

education on chemical agents and for responding to nuclear, biological,

and chemical disasters.

It is an important base for these operations.

Today, I am scheduled to observe training demonstrations

by the units and inspect various items

of equipment.

On this occasion, I will encourage the personnel

who are working with high morale

in the field, and at the same time,

I would like to exchange views with personnel who,

during the Tokyo subway sarin attack, went around stations

as reinforcements to the decontamination sites

and carried out water rinsing

after decontamination,

as well as personnel who, during the Great East Japan Earthquake,

served as reconnaissance team leaders

at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant's Unit Three

and were injured in a hydrogen explosion before water

injection operations began.

I would like to exchange views

with them.

Furthermore, I will meet with

the members of the supporting organizations

who support our personnel,

and, as Minister of Defense, express my heartfelt gratitude

for their ongoing support,

and discuss issues unique to this region

and various challenges,

in a frank exchange of views.

I would like to do so.

I will also tell the families about

improvements in the treatment

of Self-Defense Force personnel and expanded

reemployment opportunities, among other measures,

and how these policies are steadily progressing,

so that everyone can live with peace of mind

and await the return of personnel

with peace of mind,

and that I will make every effort to create

such an environment.

I would like to convey this myself.

For my part, through these inspections,

I will deepen my understanding of the difficult current situation

facing the units,

and at the same time,

I want the public to see

the Self-Defense Forces working 365 days,

24 hours a day

as a reassuring and dependable presence,

and to feel that way about them.

I myself will do everything I can,

including communicating information,

- to achieve this. That is all.

Thank you.

From the organizing press.

One question, please. Yes.

The LDP's

Itsunori Onodera, chair of the Security

Research Commission, said on the 27th

on an NHK program,

regarding the Three Non-Nuclear Principles,

Japan's relationship with the United States,

Japan's dependence on the United States'

nuclear umbrella,

saying this issue should be discussed

as one of the matters to be addressed.

Does the minister also believe

a discussion is necessary? Yes.

Regarding the remarks made

as a member of the ruling party,

the government is not in a position

to comment on them,

but in any case,

the government regards the Three Non-Nuclear Principles

as a policy that it firmly

upholds.

At the same time, as our country faces

the most severe and complex security environment

since the war,

and with security threats to Japan,

including nuclear weapons,

actually existing,

in order to protect our country's independence

and peace to the very end,

in addition to our country's own defense

efforts, extended deterrence provided by the United States,

including nuclear deterrence,

is indispensable, we believe,

and we will communicate closely

with the U.S. government

to ensure that the reliability of U.S. extended deterrence

is strengthened more than ever

before.

That is all.

Thank you.

We'd like to hear from each news outlet.

Yes, thank you for your hard work.

Thank you very

much.