Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pressing the case for immediate reform of the United Nations and Japan's aspiration to become a permanent member of the Security Council.
"As for reforming the Security Council, it is no longer time to discuss. Now it is time for us to produce concrete results," Abe told a symposium at United Nations University in Tokyo to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the world body.
"With pride quietly in mind at having built up a record of one achievement after another, Japan stands ready to take on the role of a permanent member of the Security Council. This is how Japan has been until now, and how it will continue to be into the future," he said.