Tokyo, 17 August 2022 (TDI): Ambassador of the United States to Japan, Rahm Emanuel congratulated the newly appointed Defense Minister of Japan Hamada Yasukazu.
Hamada Yasukazu has appointed as the new Defense Minister on August 10, 2022, after Nobuo Kishi.
On 16 August, the new Defense minister received a courtesy call from the US ambassador to strengthen and enhance the bilateral relations between the countries.
On August 17, #DefenseMinisterHamada received a courtesy call from Mr. Rahm Emanuel @USAmbJapan. Ambassador Emanuel congratulated Minister Hamada’s appoinment. Both sides confirmed that they would work together to further strengthen #JapanUSAlliance & #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific🇯🇵🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HfklXBa9dc
— Japan Ministry of Defense/Self-Defense Forces (@ModJapan_en) August 17, 2022
Discussions on various areas of cooperation
Both the officials confirmed to work together to empower the US-Japan alliance in defense along with the economic arena.
Moreover, discussion to make a free and open Indo-Pacific was also one of the main parts of the discourse between the diplomats.
The incumbent minister also received a call from US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin on 16 August to fundamentally enhance the defense capabilities of Japan.
Secondly, the diplomats further discussed encouraging the military capability of Japan through the formulation of the National Security Strategy and other documents.
Japan is one of the most successful democracies around the globe which encourages them to be one of the closest allies of the United States.
US-Japan diplomatic relations
Both the countries have signed many defense and economic treaties to empower people-to-people diplomacy. 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of the US-Japan Security treaty.
In 2015, US-Japan Defense Guidelines were revised to strengthen security-oriented cooperation. Moreover, Japan provides military bases to the US for forward-deployed forces.
In January 2016, US-Japan signed a new five-year military package to support US forces in Japan. Secondly, in the same year, the US returned a major portion of the Northern Training Area. Nearly, 10,000 acres, reducing the amount of land utilized by the United States on Okinawa by close to 20 percent.
Both the United States and Japan collaborate in sectors of energy, technological advancement, and economic development.
Both nations are making progress towards their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region through various partnerships. This includes the Japan-US Strategic Energy Partnership (JUSEP), Japan-US Strategic Digital Economy Partnership (JUSDEP), and the Japan-US Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP).
