On Tuesday, May 22, commencing at 3:00 p.m. for around 20 minutes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura received a courtesy call from Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who is visiting Japan to attend an ICRC Donor Support Group (DSG) meeting that will be held in Tokyo on Thursday, May 24, and Friday, May 25. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura said Japan had highly appreciated the activities to date of the ICRC, which is undertaking humanitarian aid work energetically in dangerous conflict areas. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura also praised the ICRC's employment of Japanese personnel, which had been increasing in recent years, and said he hoped for its further increase. He said that Japan wanted to continue to strengthen its cooperation with the ICRC.
   
   
2. President Kellenberger expressed gratitude for the cooperative relationship between Japan and the ICRC, including that Japan contributed a record amount to the ICRC last year despite experiencing the Great East Japan Earthquake and a severe fiscal situation, and that a Japan office was opened in 2009.