Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi indicated Saturday that he will not dissolve the Lower House for elections before the Okinawa summit of the Group of Eight major nations in July.

Obuchi said his Cabinet has important things to do before the elections, such as getting the Diet's approval of bills to implement the fiscal 2000 budget.

He also expressed hope that nations participating in the G8 summit will have substantial discussions on education issues. "Currently, we (the participants in the summit) are selecting the agenda of the meeting," Obuchi said in a television interview to be broadcast today.

"(Japan) hopes education issues will be included in the agenda because the topic is one of the most serious problems shared by the countries of the world," he said.

Obuchi, who was in Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, as part of a two-day visit to the prefecture, said he hopes the summit -- the first Japan will host outside Tokyo -- will be a success and introduce Japan's southern-most prefecture to the world.

During the interview, Obuchi emphasized the importance of educational reform and said he hopes a national conference on educational reforms, a private advisory panel to be launched Monday, will discuss the meaning of education and consider an overhaul of Japan's school system.

Commenting on a possible merger between his Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party -- a question mark which has hung over the two conservative parties -- Obuchi said it may be difficult for the parties to merge before the general elections.

The general elections must be held by October, when the four-year terms of incumbent Lower House members expire.

Obuchi visits venue

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Saturday began a two-day tour of Okinawa, the venue for July's Group of Eight summit, visiting a conference hall being built for the talks and a monument dedicated to the war dead.

Obuchi, accompanied by Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine, visited the conference hall in the Bankoku Shinryokan building -- which is translated as "hall to build a bridge to the world" -- in the resort city of Nago.

The building, roofed with red tiles in the style of traditional Okinawan architecture, is equipped with simultaneous interpretation apparatus, lounges and reception rooms.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States will gather in the building, which is near completion, for the July 21-23 summit.

Obuchi arrived in Okinawa shortly after noon. He visited the Peace Memorial Park in the city of Itoman, where he paid his respects at the "Cornerstone of Peace" on which the names of more than 237,000 people who died on the island in the closing months of World War II are inscribed.

"Our peace was established on top of the suffering of (Okinawa)," Obuchi told reporters after a tour of the park.

"I have renewed my resolve to issue a message for peace to the world" at the summit, he said.