Prime Minister Naoto Kan attended a meeting of the Okinawa Policy Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, discussion took place on matters such as the mid-term report by the panel of experts of the Okinawa Promotion Council as well as requests from the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address, "Okinawa is still struggling with difficult social and economic situations. We need to capture the vitality of Asia, which continues to achieve remarkable growth, and advance measures to promote Okinawa through the use of soft power representative of the area’s unique culture and nature.
Going forward, I expect the central government and Okinawa Prefecture to work together and make sincere consideration of both measures to promote Okinawa which also take into account national strategies, as well as issues concerning the status of the US forces agreement and a reduction of the burden that the presence of US bases creates in Okinawa."