During the Koizumi administration, I served as the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary as well as the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Japan and Australia share the universal values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental human rights.
When President Obama visited Japan, we were able to confirm that our alliance is playing a leading role in ensuring a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific.
To serve as prime minister while being too mindful of the approval rating is like serving as a prime minister on a roller coaster. What is important, I believe, is that I really act on promises that I make and leave results. Leave a track record and show that to the Japanese public, who will, at the end of the day, I hope, appreciate it.
We welcome the Obama administration's policy called the 'pivot to Asia' because it is a contributing factor to the safety and peace of the region. I think this pivot policy is playing an indispensable role in enhancing the deterrence of the U.S.-Japan alliance as well as ensuring peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.
A robust economy is a source of national strength for Japan.
In 1957, which is now 57 years ago, my grandfather and then-Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi welcomed Prime Minister Menzies as the first Australian Prime Minister to visit Japan after World War II and drove the conclusion of the Japan-Australia Agreement on Commerce.
The United Nations was founded 70 years ago, at the end of World War II. Since that time, Japan has steadfastly walked the path of peace and rebuilt a nation. And, since the mid-1950s onward, we have actively worked to share our experience of development with other nations, especially in Asia.
I have to express sympathy from the bottom of my heart to those people who were taken as wartime comfort women. As a human being, I would like to express my sympathies, and also as prime minister of Japan I need to apologize to them.
Japan's beautiful seas and its territory are under threat, and young people are having trouble finding hope in the future amid economic slump. I promise to protect Japan's land and sea, and the lives of the Japanese people no matter what.
I have experienced failure as a politician and for that very reason, I am ready to give everything for Japan.
The Japan-U.S. alliance is an irreplaceable alliance. And I would like to further consolidate and broaden that alliance.
I think it is the responsibility of anyone involved in politics to always think of what Japan can do to contribute more to the peace and stability not just of Japan and the region but of the entire world.
I believe it is important that we Japanese write a constitution for ourselves that would reflect the shape of the country we consider desirable in the 21st century.
Haven't we put off problems without clarifying Japan's will to protect the lives and assets of its people and territory with its own hands, and merely accepted the benefits of economic prosperity?
To protect people's lives and keep our children safe, we must implement public-works spending and do so proudly. If possible, I'd like to see the Bank of Japan purchase all of the construction bonds that we need to issue to cover the cost. That would also forcefully circulate money in the market. That would be positive for the economy, too.
The Senkaku islands are inherently Japanese territory. I want to show my strong determination to prevent this from changing.
Thinking ahead, in 2013, the Japanese government, together with pharmaceutical companies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established a fund for promoting research and development of medical products for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The importance of planning for disease outbreaks was made clear with the Ebola virus.
Russia is a part of the West and at the same time is a part of the Asia-Pacific.
Since the start of the Abe administration, we resumed peace treaty negotiations with Russia, which had lapsed during the three years of the Democratic Party of Japan administration.
