January 31, 2025
Ministry of Defense
On January 31, Defense Minister Nakatani and Defense Secretary Hegseth held a telephone conference. The summary is as follows.
At the outset, Minister Nakatani extended his condolences to those deceased and their bereaved families in the wake of aircraft accident occurred in Virginia, the United States, on January 29th.
Secretary Hegseth then offered his greetings as a new Defense Secretary. Minister Nakatani congratulated Secretary Hegseth for his appointment and said that he looks forward to working with Secretary Hegseth to further strengthen the Alliance capabilities to deter and respond amid the increasingly severe security environment in the Indo-Pacific.
The Ministers agreed to bilaterally cooperate to realize the vision of Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
The Ministers affirmed their firm intent to continue the initiatives to reinforce the Alliance, including the upgrading of respective command and control framework and expansion of bilateral presence in the southwestern region of Japan. The Ministers reaffirmed that Article V of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to the Senkaku Islands.
The Ministers expressed their willingness to meet in person at the earliest possible time.
Japan-U.S. Defense Ministerial Telephone Conference (summary)(PDF)