TOKYO —

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on Sunday urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ensure that Japan receives all the relevant information on the results of an investigation into two crashes involving MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft in Morocco and Florida ahead of their scheduled deployment to Okinawa in August.

Gemba and Clinton met on the sidelines of the international conference on aid to Afghanistan.

Gemba said there are safety concerns about the Osprey in Okinawa and Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Fuji TV reported. 

Speaking at a news conference at the Iikura Guest House, Clinton said the U.S. will work to ensure that any American military equipment brought into Japan will meet the highest safety standards.

Japan plans to send a group of 10 experts to the U.S. later this month to be briefed on safety measures being taken to prevent further incidents concerning the Osprey.

She also reaffirmed the Obama administration’s plan to speed up the realignment of its military forces in Okinawa, including the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps air base at Futenma to Henoko, Fuji reported.

Japan Today

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  Probie at Jul. 09, 2012 - 08:01AM JST

  Gemba expresses concerns over Osprey to Clinton

  ...and was told to shut up.

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  NetNinja at Jul. 09, 2012 - 08:37AM JST

  Japan plans to send a group of 10 experts to the U.S. later this month to be briefed on safety measures being taken to prevent further incidents concerning the Osprey.

  Later this month? The planes are already on the boat. Just cruising across the Pacific.

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  Shimagaicha at Jul. 09, 2012 - 09:19AM JST

  Is Japan a US colony?

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  mikemcfly87 at Jul. 09, 2012 - 09:25AM JST

  Japan plans to send a group of 10 experts to the U.S. later this month to be briefed on safety measures being taken to prevent further incidents concerning the Osprey

  Experts on what? Only the U.S. uses this aircraft... And given recent "safety expert" activity (TEPCO), I'm noy so sure this is a smart move on Japan's end.

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  bass4funk at Jul. 09, 2012 - 10:16AM JST

  Experts on what? Only the U.S. uses this aircraft... And given recent "safety expert" activity (TEPCO), I'm noy so sure this is a smart move on Japan's end.

  Well, whatever. They just have to deal with it.

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  T-Mack at Jul. 09, 2012 - 10:33AM JST

  The only major problem has been obtaining spare parts to maintain the aircraft.The V-22 had flown 3,000 sorties totaling 5,200 hours in Iraq as of July 2008.General George J. Trautman, III praised the V-22's increased speed and range over the legacy helicopters in Iraq and said that "it turned his battle space from the size of Texas into the size of Rhode Island." I pray the V-22 has a perfect flight record, and all we post about is without merrit. ki o tsukete kudasai !

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  Hikozaemon at Jul. 09, 2012 - 12:52PM JST

  I believe the last time a Japanese government official made a polite request to Clinton was the Prime Minister Hatoyama asking about that base in Futenma. As we all know, that went REALLY well....

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  basroil at Jul. 09, 2012 - 02:19PM JST

  Best thing Clinton can do is to use on of the MV-22s to get to the meeting instead of the helicopters normally used. That will shut them up really quickly.

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  Shimagaicha at Jul. 09, 2012 - 11:02PM JST

  Of course there are safety concerns about the Osprey. There are safety concerns about US bases in Okinawa too!

  What gives the US the right to continue to occupy Okinawan territory?

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  lostrune2 at Jul. 10, 2012 - 06:19PM JST

  What gives the US the right to continue to occupy Okinawan territory?

  Legally, the Japanese government.

  Pragmatically, the same ones that allow Russia to occupy the Northern Territories.

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  mikemcfly87 at Jul. 11, 2012 - 04:40PM JST

  Of course there are safety concerns about the Osprey

  There are safety concerns about every machine that flies and floats. What gives people the right to continue using them?