Hatoyama leaves for U.S., making his diplomatic debut+

TOKYO, Sept. 21 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama left on Monday evening for the United
States, where his diplomatic skills will be put to the test as new premier and
leader of the 11-year-old Democratic Party of Japan, which won a historic
election victory on Aug. 30.
During his six-day trip, Hatoyama is set to attend a series of U.N. meetings in
New York and a financial summit in Pittsburgh as well as meet with leaders
including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the
sidelines of the events.
Hatoyama, 62, has met with a rapturous welcome both at home and abroad since
his DPJ ousted the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party from power in the
election, but it is too early to see how successful he may be in leading the
country or how well he can perform on the world stage.
During the trip, Hatoyama, whose Cabinet was launched on Sept. 16 and enjoys
initial high voter support ratings, is also slated to hold talks with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, Australian
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
In talks with Obama on Wednesday, Hatoyama is expected to assure the U.S.
president that his administration will keep the Japan-U.S. alliance as the
cornerstone of Tokyo's foreign policy, in an effort to dispel concerns in
Washington that there might be a major policy change following the transfer of
power in Japan from the LDP.
The DPJ's election victory ended almost total control of Japanese politics by
the conservative LDP since 1955.
It is unlikely that Hatoyama will take up thorny bilateral issues with any of
the leaders, as he has said he would rather focus on building personal
relations based on trust in his first diplomatic trip as premier.
''I want to establish a relationship in which I understand President Obama's
personality and he trusts my human elements,'' Hatoyama told reporters shortly
before leaving for the United States.
He added that achieving resolutions to bilateral issues between Japan and the
United States depends on whether the leaders can build relations of trust.
The meeting with Hu, which is scheduled to be held Monday shortly after he
arrives in New York, will likely be an amicable one, as Hatoyama has promised
not to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors the Japanese war dead,
including war criminals, and is viewed by China and some other countries as a
symbol of Japan's wartime military aggression.
Russia, meanwhile, is apparently hoping that Tokyo and Moscow will find a
breakthrough under Hatoyama in the deadlocked territorial problem of the four
Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, as Hatoyama is the grandson of former Prime
Minister Ichiro Hatoyama who resumed diplomatic ties with Russia in 1956.
Among the international events, Hatoyama will deliver speeches during the
General Debate at the U.N. General Assembly as well as a U.N. session on
climate change and a U.N. Security Council session on nuclear disarmament to be
hosted by Obama on Thursday.
In a speech at a U.N. climate change summit on Tuesday, he will announce
Japan's pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from 1990
levels as well as the ''Hatoyama Initiative,'' under which Japan will offer
energy-saving technologies and funds to developing nations.
At the two-day G-20 summit in Pittsburgh starting Thursday evening, Hatoyama
will place the greatest importance on explaining economic policies of the new
administration and how it plans to sustain Japan's nascent recovery.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada left for the United States early
Monday to attend a series of international conferences and to meet with U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to exchange views with her on the bilateral
alliance.
The first meeting between the new Japanese foreign minister and Clinton will be
held Monday afternoon local time.
Okada will return home Saturday.
==Kyodo