Prime Minister Naoto Kan attended the National Governors' Conference held in Tokyo.

In addition to Prime Minister Kan, Mr. Yoshihiro Katayama, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications and Minister of State for Promotion of Local Sovereignty, and others from the national government attended the meeting and exchanged views with prefectural governors.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister said, "We must now start moving from recovery to reconstruction. On top of this, we have yet to see the complete conclusion of the nuclear incident, which is an extremely difficult issue. As the one responsible for responding to this, I apologize for the various impacts not only on the disaster-stricken regions but throughout the nation.
That said, we must by all means move from recovery to reconstruction, while bringing the nuclear incident to a close. For this, it is obvious that the national government must work as one; in addition, I would like the prefectural governors to further enhance the mutual cooperation that they have achieved through the National Governor's Association.
From this unprecedented disaster and the nuclear incident, I would like to revive Japan -- to achieve reconstruction that will help restart Japan, setting it on the path toward a truly dream-inspiring future -- by all means, working hand in hand with the prefectural governors. I therefore sincerely ask for your further support and that you join hands with us to revive Japan together."