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428079825
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One-on-One Meeting with Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita of Japan, February 2, 1989 (1 of 3)
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428079825
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document
title
One-on-One Meeting with Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita of Japan, February 2, 1989 (1 of 3)
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collections
Records of the National Security Council (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Presidential Memcon Files
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Japan
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428079825
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2
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1989-02-02
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2
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1989
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SECRET
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
0438
SECRET
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
SUBJECT:
One-on-One Meeting with Prime Minister Noboru
Takeshita of Japan (U)
PARTICIPANTS:
U.S.
The President
James A. Kelly, NSC, Notetaker
Mrs. Fumiko Gregg, Interpreter
Japan
Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita
Director-General Tatsuo Arima, Notetaker
Shinichi Nishimiya, Interpreter
DATE, TIME
February 2, 1989, 11:00-11:19 a.m.
AND PLACE:
Oval Office
The President greeted the Prime Minister in the Oval Office. He
said it was his delight and honor to have the Prime Minister as
his first official visitor. He noted the important relationship
of the countries and the essentiality of good communication
between the top leaders. He invited the Prime Minister to join
him on the Rose Garden portico for press photos. (U)
After the photo session, the principals were seated in the Oval
Office and the President commented to the Prime Minister that as
had been the practice with his predecessor, he was hoping that
the relationship could be on a first-name basis. The President
wanted to call the Prime Minister "Noboru" and hoped that the
Prime Minister would call him "George." He noted that this would
be a good symbol because of the very special relationship between
the two countries. (U)
Prime Minister Takeshita replied with pleasure and said that when
the President calls him "Noboru" he feels a special affinity in
friendship. He said he is honored to be the first visitor from
overseas, and that he was particularly honored to be a guest in
Blair House. He recalled many years ago when he visited Blair
House, as a part of the support staff of former Prime Minister
Sato, that he dreamed of some day being a guest at Blair House.
Now this dream had been realized. (U)
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The President expressed hope that Blair House was comfortable,
noting it had just been redone for the comfort of our
distinguished guests. (U)
The Prime Minister responded that it was beautiful and
exceptionally comfortable and that he had had a wonderful rest.
His wife particularly appreciated Mrs. Bush's invitation to the
coffee that morning. She had been especially interested in Blair
House and had visited all of the rooms in the house. (U)
The President remarked on the Bush family's stay in Blair House
on the night before the inaugural. He noted that his five
children had been there with their five spouses, ten
grandchildren, a total of 22. (U)
The Prime Minister continued that he appreciated very deeply that
the President had so promptly accepted the invitation to come to
the funeral of the Emperor. He brought the President personal
greetings from the Emperor, who was his tennis partner during the
September 1987 visit to America. The Emperor sent special
greetings. The Prime Minister touched on his appreciation for
the President's remarks when he had been asked about his planned
travel to Tokyo. The Prime Minister praised these remarks, in
which the President emphasized that the past was unimportant, but
that the present and the future were what interested him. The
Prime Minister said he had found this very moving, and that all
Japan was deeply grateful to the President for his comment. (U)
The President responded there was great respect in his, and in
all America's heart, on the death of the former Emperor. The
Emperor was a man of honor and wisdom who contributed much. (U)
The President continued that he did not have a special agenda for
this meeting, but that if there was anything the Prime Minister
would like to bring up privately he would be happy to receive it.
(U)
The Prime Minister said that he had only one point to mention,
that the purpose of his visit was to establish a personal
relationship of trust with the President. No other country could
replace America as the leader in the world. Japan, as a close
friend of America, would discharge its responsibilities to the
maximum extent possible. It would also cooperate with the United
States to the maximum extent possible. The Prime Minister
assured the President that he hoped they could consult on any
matter and use any convenient means, whether through cables,
letters or telephone calls. ($)
The President responded that we should agree on this. Before any
problem becomes too difficult and causes divisions across our
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government, we will talk together about these problems. (U)
Prime Minister Takeshita said "I cannot agree with you more. " He
said it has been his practice when he went to the Diet to
identify the problem early, speak honestly, and try to work on
the problem before it becomes more serious. (U)
As the meeting concluded the President noted that the Prime
Minister had a long friendship and had the respect of his dear
friend, Secretary Baker. (U)
The Prime Minister said that Secretary Baker had been his teacher
on financial and monetary matters, including on exchange rates.
(U)
The President commented that exchange rates had been a problem,
but seemed to be fairly stable at the moment, to which the Prime
Minister agreed. The President mentioned to the Prime Minister
that the Prime Minister could be the golf teacher of Secretary
Baker, whom he described as not a very good golfer. The
President said he had not been able to play golf for a long time
and did not consider himself to be very good. The President
noted that in the 1950s he had an eleven handicap, but he was
sure it could not be any better than 22 at the moment. (U)
The Prime Minister responded that his golf is legendarily bad,
but officially he is a 28 and some think it is even worse than
that. The Prime Minister mentioned that both men had been born
in 1924, that this further facilitated their friendship, and he
noted that he was 100 days older than the President. (U)
With this conclusion, both proceeded to the Cabinet Room. (U)
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