Kamikawa to Prioritize U.S. Visit over LDP Leadership Election

Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, a candidate in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sept. 27 leadership election, will visit the United States from Monday to meet with her foreign counterparts in New York on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly session, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Kamikawa was initially expected to stay in Japan to focus on the party election. She will return home on Sept. 25

In place of Kamikawa, Hideki Makihara, one of her nominators for the party election, is expected to participate in a debate among leadership candidates to be held by the party during her U.S. trip. One of her supporters voiced concern about her absence, saying, "It won't be okay."

In New York, Kamikawa is slated to attend meetings of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major democracies and from four countries seeking U.N. Security Council reform--Japan, Germany, India and Brazil.

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