By DPA,
Tokyo/Washington : US President Barack Obama landed Friday afternoon in Tokyo, the first stop on his four-nation Asian tour.
Obama is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama later Friday. Climate change issues, the war in Afghanistan and the global downturn are expected to feature prominently in the talks.
Hatoyama, who heads the Democratic Party of Japan, which ousted the long-ruling Liberal Democrats in a landslide victory earlier this year, wants to reposition Japan’s standing in the traditionally close US-Japanese relationship, aspiring to a more “equal” partnership.
The future of a US military base on Okinawa, which is highly unpopular among the island’s residents, is a bone of contention.