On April 28, Japanese and European leaders will meet for the 19th bilateral Japan-EU Summit in Tokyo. At first sight, the summit is just another in a long series of annual events that began back in 1991 with the European-Japan Joint Declaration of The Hague. It will, however, be one of the most important summits to date.

Here are a few reasons why.

For the first time, Japan will be represented by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his new government. The Hatoyama government is attempting to break Japan's traditional dependency on the United States — the painful discussions on moving Futenma air station in Okinawa being a good example.