News Release: PR-05-01 | May 17, 2017 | Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr. met with Japan Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo on May 16 to discuss the current security environment in the Asia-Pacific region, and U.S-Japan defense cooperation.

Admiral Harris and Admiral Kawano reaffirmed the importance of cooperation between United States Armed Forces in the Pacific and Japan Self-Defense Forces to address threats by North Korea and its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

Admiral Kawano invited Admiral Harris to Yonaguni Coast Observation Unit in Yonaguni, the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands on May 17 to see JSDF defensive capabilities and they toured facilities with Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Ogawa, Commanding General, Western Army, JGSDF. This was the first time for Admiral Kawano to visit the camp and also a first for a commander from U.S. Pacific Command.