When Defense Minister Gen Nakatani welcomed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo for talks on Sunday, the Pentagon chief was treated to a backdrop of Japan’s famed cherry blossoms in full bloom as he inspected an honor guard.
The implicit symbolism of the scene was not lost on Nakatani, who took it as a metaphor for the direction U.S.-Japan defense ties are heading.
“It was just as if the flowers were celebrating with us the bright future of the alliance ahead of us,” Nakatani, standing beside Hegseth, told a news conference later in the day.
