• The New York visit from Monday marks her first overseas trip

TOKYO: New Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa’s ability will be tested as she is set to make her international debut in New York.

The New York visit from Monday marks her first overseas trip since she became foreign minister in last week’s cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The trip comes at a crucial time when Japan faces a series of regional and global challenges, such as China’s growing military activities and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As Japan holds this year’s presidency of the Group of Seven major countries, Kamikawa’s diplomatic skills will be closely watched. Previously, she served as justice minister three times.

In New York, Kamikawa is slated to attend a G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting and hold a string of bilateral meetings. The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union.

The scheduled bilateral meetings include those with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Kamikawa is also slated to hold a meeting with foreign ministers of Germany, Brazil and India for talks on the reform of the UN Security Council and join a meeting on measures against infectious diseases.

It will be the first time for Kamikawa to meet with Blinken in person. They talked over the phone on Thursday.

At a press conference on Friday, Kamikawa said, “I aim to build relationships of trust with my counterparts from around the world.”

Her predecessor, Yoshimasa Hayashi, held talks with Blinken a total of 20 times during his two-year tenure as foreign minister. Through the frequent talks, Hayashi and Blinken reaffirmed the strong alliance between Japan and the United States.

Hayashi drew attention at a G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Britain in December 2021 by playing John Lennon’s Imagine on the piano during a dinner session.

While it is unclear how skillful Kamikawa is as foreign minister, Kishida said at a press conference Wednesday that she has extensive personal connections overseas and a lot of experience in the cabinet.

Before starting her political career, Kamikawa worked for a US senator in policy planning.

Challenges for Kamikawa include how to deal with China, which strongly opposes the release into the ocean of treated water containing tritium, a radioactive substance, from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station as well as with North Korea, which is repeatedly launching ballistic missiles.

JIJI Press