Japanese FM to visit US to discuss Obama's trip

TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit the United States on February 7 to hold talks with his US counterpart, John Kerry, on a planned Japan visit in April by US President Barack Obama, according to local media Tuesday.

Kishida is expected to reaffirm the Japanese government's position on the issue of relocating the US Futenma Air Station in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, according to Japan' s Kyodo News.

Susumu Inamine, an opponent of the Japanese central government relocation plan, was re-elected the mayor of Nago city, to where the government plans to relocate the controversial airbase.

The two top diplomats are also expected to discuss the ongoing US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations, said Kyodo, citing government officials.

Kishida will also explain to the United States the intention of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's worship to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.

The shrine visit in last December disappointed the United States, which said the move "will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors". The visit was blasted by Japan's neighboring countries like China and South Korea.