Japanese PM to visit Washington this year

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will make an official visit to Washington in September, officials said Thursday after the Japanese leader met US President Barack Obama.

"President Obama invited Prime Minister Kan to visit Washington in the first half of September," Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told reporters after the meeting.

Kan said he would make preparations for what would be an official visit.

Danny Russel, director of Asian affairs on the National Security Council, told reporters at the G8 summit in the French resort of Deauville that Kan's visit would "likely be in September".

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the summit to discuss Japan's battle to rebuild after a March triple disaster of an earthquake, followed by a tsunami that triggered a nuclear plant meltdown.

Kan had been scheduled to visit the United States in the first half of this year but that trip was put back after the catastrophe. The Dawn