Japan’s Premier to Start State Visit in L.A.

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi arrives in Los Angeles today, starting a state visit that will take him to Chicago and Washington, where he will meet with President Clinton.

The main purpose of Obuchi’s trip is geopolitical: He will discuss common defense questions with Clinton and reinforce the U.S.-Japan relationship at their meeting Monday.

But Obuchi also will announce economic agreements in Washington, in which Japan and the U.S. will pledge deregulation of their economies--a polite way of saying that Japan will push further opening of its economy in the coming year. Obuchi will also announce an agreement by Japan to facilitate foreign investment in its economy.

On his day in Los Angeles, the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to California in 10 years, Obuchi will visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach--a ship he sailed on as a young student. He will visit the Japanese-American National Library in Little Tokyo, attend a reception at Getty House--the official Hancock Park residence of the mayor of Los Angeles--and speak at a dinner in his honor Thursday night in Beverly Hills. He leaves Friday for Chicago and goes to Washington on Sunday.

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According to the mayor’s office, Getty House, the official residence of the L.A. mayor, is located in Windsor Square, not Hancock Park.

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