InsideJapan News Network

The Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has cancelled a trip to the US, a visit which was aimed at helping to improve tense relations between the two nations.

Recently, relations between the two countries have been strained due to the new Japanese president's wish to rely less on the US military and move a number of military bases in Japan, including one on Japan's southern island of Okinawa.

Since the end of the Second World War, thousands of US troops have been stationed in Japan.

Next week, US president Barack Obama is set to visit Tokyo and before this, Hatoyama was due to visit America to meet with secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Hirofumi Hirano said that he did not believe the visit cancellation would have an impact on relations between the nations.

"The visit this time was cancelled as the Japanese side could not coordinate the timing amid various scheduling demands such as parliamentary sessions," he claimed.

Written by Kimberley Homer.