The Foreign Ministry effectively completed Saturday its return to its renovated head office in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district from temporary offices it rented for about two years while work was carried out to make the headquarters earthquake-resistant.
Ministry officials said they moved the office of Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Saturday. Such key bureaus as foreign policy, North American affairs, Asian and Oceanian affairs, and Middle Eastern and African affairs have already returned. All the remaining departments will complete their return by Jan. 24, the officials said.
The move comes before the Jan. 19 start of the ordinary Diet session, which is expected to focus on the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces noncombat troops to help rebuild Iraq.