British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on Tuesday urged the Japanese media to give more coverage to the murder case of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker in the hopes that it will help bring the killer to justice.
Beckett made the comments at a joint evening news conference with Foreign Minister Taro Aso, held after their meeting.
The foreign secretary urged the media "to give more coverage to this terribly sad case."
During the meeting, Beckett expressed thanks for the Japanese police's efforts in the Hawker case.
"I also said to the foreign minister how much we appreciate efforts and works" by the investigative authorities, she said.
Hawker, a 22-year-old English-language teacher at a Nova Co. school, was killed in March. Police found her naked body buried in a sand-filled bathtub in the Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, apartment of Tatsuya Ichihashi when they visited him to ask about the young woman's disappearance.
Ichihashi, 28, escaped from police at the apartment and is still at large.
During her meeting with Aso, the two agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a number of fields, including efforts to create a new international framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan is Beckett's last stop of an eight-day tour of Asia.