This is a very crucial issue. As for Mr. Hatoyama Yukio, please see this list of my postings in Japanese if you read the Japanese language (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily/archive?word=%C8%B7%BB%B3). (Lily)
PS: Please visit my second English blog (http://pub.ne.jp/itunalily/) dated 13 April 2012. You will see the diplomatic relationship between Israel and Japan which established 60 years ago. (Lily)
The Japan Times （http://www.japantimes.co.jp）
(1) Hatoyama meets with Ahmadinejad in Iran, 9 April 2012
Kyodo
TEHRAN — Visiting former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Sunday he and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed to make every effort to bring about a world free of nuclear weapons.
In a news conference after meeting with Ahmadinejad, Hatoyama said that he told the Iranian president that Japan has "devoted every effort to earn the trust of the international community for more than 50 years" to prove its resolve not to possess nuclear weapons, and urged Iran to remove any doubts that it is developing such weapons.
According to Hatoyama, Ahmadinejad said during their meeting in Tehran that his country plans to propose a concrete plan to break the deadlock over its nuclear program at the next round of talks with six countries — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. The permanent members are Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S..
"I felt Iran's positive attitude toward the issue," Hatoyama said.
State television Press TV reported earlier that representatives of the six countries will meet in Istanbul on Friday and Saturday to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
The talks will be the first on the Iranian nuclear issue in around 15 months and the first since the United States and Europe tightened sanctions on Iranian crude oil exports.
On Saturday, Hatoyama met with Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi, telling him no nation should possess nuclear weapons.
"No country should possess weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons," Hatoyama said at the meeting with Salehi, after referring to the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, local media said.
Salehi said talks with the six countries will provide a chance for Iran to build a trusting relationship with Europe and the U.S.
Salehi also said Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and the country will never abandon its right to the program.
Hatoyama, who arrived in Iran on Saturday, was visiting the country in a personal capacity to work toward a peaceful resolution of the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, despite the Japanese government's airing concerns that it could result in "dual diplomacy." He left the country Sunday evening.
Hatoyama was the Democratic Party of Japan's first prime minister after the party came to power in September 2009. He stepped down in June 2010, partly due to criticism of his handling of the security relationship with the United States.
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(2) Hatoyama comes under fire for Iran visit, claims ambush, 10 April 2012
Kyodo, Staff report
Back in Tokyo from a controversial trip to Iran, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Monday denied criticizing the International Atomic Energy Agency "for applying double standards" to Iran and said a press statement Tehran issued to that effect was completely false.
"It's a total concoction and it's regrettable," Hatoyama told Diet reporters Tuesday night.
The Iranian press statement said Hatoyama criticized the IAEA "for applying double standards toward certain countries, including Iran," during a surprise meeting with fiery Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday.
Both the Japanese government and the opposition parties told Hatoyama not to go to Iran because they were concerned Iran would only use the meeting to spread official propaganda justifying its nuclear development program.
"We knew (Iran) would definitely take advantage of the meeting. It happened just as we expected," said Toshimitu Motegi, policy affairs chief of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition force.
"Hatoyama is responsible for the problem, but the government and the (ruling) Democratic Party of Japan are partly responsible, too, because they failed to stop" Hatoyama from going, Motegi said.
Earlier the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura insisted Hatoyama's visit was unofficial and stressed that Japan is aligned with the international community in supporting the IAEA's role in resolving the issue of Iran's nuclear activities.
"Our country values the role the IAEA is playing in resolving the nuclear issue, and we have been asking Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA to resolve all issues related to its nuclear program," Fujimura said at a news conference Monday.
Hatoyama's visit and statement came at a sensitive time in Japanese diplomacy. Iran is under fire for its uranium enrichment activities, and Japan has just convinced the U.S. to keep it off the list of countries subject to sanctions if they continue to buy oil from Iran.
The government and DPJ, led by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, tried to stop Hatoyama from making the trip, which occurred on short notice, after it was criticized as "dual diplomacy" by the opposition parties.
Hatoyama's visit can also be viewed as a sign that Noda has no control over his fellow party members. "We have continued to state that now is not a good time to visit (Iran) whether on official business or in a personal capacity," Fujimura said.
Hatoyama was the first DPJ prime minister. He quit in June 2010.
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(3) Hatoyama on his own after 'private' Iran trip, 11 April 2012
Kyodo
The administration distanced itself Tuesday from the brewing controversy stemming from a visit by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to Iran, which was carried out over government objections.
In the media glare: Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama gets ready for a news conference in Tokyo on Monday evening after returning from Tehran. KYODO
Hatoyama was quoted by Tehran as criticizing the International Atomic Energy Agency for "applying double standards" to the country in his talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the former prime minister denied making such comments after he returned to Japan on Monday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference that Hatoyama, having visited Iran in a "private capacity," should "settle the matter (on his own) by protesting to the Iranian side."
Hatoyama told a group of reporters later Tuesday that he has urged the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo to seek a correction to the presidential office's announcement.
Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba, meanwhile, expressed discomfort over Hatoyama's trip to Iran, reiterating that it was "really unrelated to the government" and that the Democratic Party of Japan "didn't ask" him to go.
The foreign minister said he talked with Hatoyama over the phone on Monday night after the former prime minister returned.
"I told him that I would like him to be thoroughly aware that he is a former prime minister," Genba told reporters, suggesting he is concerned that the visit may have resulted in dual diplomacy differing from the policies of the current administration.
Despite the government's repeated calls not to visit Iran at a sensitive time, Hatoyama pushed ahead with the trip, saying he wanted to "personally" try for a peaceful resolution of the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran's presidential office on Sunday quoted Hatoyama as saying the IAEA's treatment of certain countries, including Iran, is "unfair," but Hatoyama, who belongs to the DPJ, said reporters later in Tokyo that Tehran "completely fabricated" his comments, calling it "regrettable."
Hatoyama's trip also triggered criticism from the opposition camp.
Toshimitsu Motegi, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, on Monday accused Hatoyama of allowing himself to be used by the Iranian presidential office.
"We knew for sure he would be exploited and he was treated in the way that was expected," Motegi said in Sendai. "Mr. Hatoyama, whose diplomatic skills are not trustworthy, is of course to blame, but the government and the Democratic Party of Japan, which failed to prevent him from visiting Iran, are also heavily responsible for what happened."
Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the LDP, said Tuesday that opposition parties will grill administration and DPJ officials about Hatoyama's trip, which he called damaging to the national interest.
Hatoyama was the first DPJ prime minister after the party came to power in September 2009. He stepped down in June 2010, partly due to criticism of his inept handling of the security relationship with the United States.
According to the Iranian presidential office, Hatoyama and Ahmadinejad agreed to try to realize a world free of nuclear weapons.
In a news conference after meeting with Ahmadinejad, Hatoyama said he told the Iranian president that Japan has "devoted every effort to earn the trust of the international community for more than 50 years" to prove its resolve not to possess nuclear weapons, and urged Iran to maintain its efforts to remove any suspicion that it is developing such weapons.
Hatoyama quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Iran plans to propose a concrete plan to break the deadlock over its nuclear program at the next round of talks with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.
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