Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Tuesday she will visit Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine on Feb. 2 to introduce newly appointed Ambassador to Okinawa Sadaaki Numata.
Kawaguchi said she will also meet separately with Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson, the U.S. military coordinator of the Okinawa area.
She will visit Okinawa after holding her fifth town meeting in Fukuoka on Feb. 1 on the theme of Japan and East Asia.
Numata, 59, a former ambassador to Pakistan, was appointed Friday as ambassador to Okinawa. He succeeded Hiroshi Hashimoto, who became ambassador to Austria.
The post of ambassador to Okinawa was established in 1997 under the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to emphasize issues concerning Okinawa, including the U.S. military presence there.