During the Koizumi administration, I served as the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary as well as the Chief Cabinet Secretary.

This is a Cabinet to actually implement the reforms.

When I served as prime minister last time, I failed to prioritize my agenda. I was eager to complete everything at once, and ended my administration in failure. After resigning, for six years I traveled across the nation simply to listen.

We welcome the Obama administration's policy called the 'pivot to Asia' because it is a contributing factor to the safety and peace of the region. I think this pivot policy is playing an indispensable role in enhancing the deterrence of the U.S.-Japan alliance as well as ensuring peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Since the start of the Abe administration, we resumed peace treaty negotiations with Russia, which had lapsed during the three years of the Democratic Party of Japan administration.

The Japan-U.S. alliance is an irreplaceable alliance. And I would like to further consolidate and broaden that alliance.