this is about 40 minutes. we will now begin the press conference with the prime minister who will open with a prepared statement. i have a statement to make to the people of japan. today, the special law on reconstruction bonds and law renewable energy were enacted with the cooperation of the ruling and opposition parties. with the passage of these two laws together with the second

supplemental budget the three vital tasks that i have placed particular emphasis on have been achieved. as a result, as i have stated previously, i will step down from my post as president of the democratic party of japan from this day and following the selection of a new dpj president tender my resignation as prime minister. allow me to address the people of japan. since i assumed the post on june 8 last year, i have been the recipient of both criticism and encriminalment from many citizens. i have embraced the warm encouragement and the harsh criticism with joy and gratitude. i wish to express my appreciation to the people of japan with all my heart.

i also wish to thank those of you gathered here today, the men and women of the dpj, who i have worked together to achieve a new era of transformation in politics. without the support of cabinet ministers senior leadership, government officials and ruling and opposition parties and party members throughout japan, the administration could not have advanced even a single step. soon after the dpj came to power, it suffered a major defeat in the house of counselors election which led to a divided. within my own party when i was reelected last september as party president through the support of party members across japan and many people i was placed in a very difficult situation. despite this, i continued with the determination to push

forward policies needed by the people of japan and for the past year and three months my administration has tackled the many domestic and foreign issues with the utmost efforts. in truth, upon tendering my resignation, i feel like i did when i had to do considering the difficult circumstances i was in. my administration has made concrete progress on the recovery and the reconstruction efforts since the march 11th clamty. it is bringing the nuclear power accident under control and pushing forward integrated reforms of social services and tax system. it may be because i am an optimist but i feel some sense of achievement despite the daunting odds my cabinet faced. i was not born into a

politician family. i got my start in politics as a citizen activist and rose to assume the weighty responsibilities of prime minister and now feel i did what had to be done. i owe this to the people of japan and especially to people who voted for me in my local district who supported me without any hope of favor or profit. i am sincerely thankful to you for this. when i was chosen prime minister, i expressed my goal of creating a society of minimum misery no matter what the era the most important endeavor of politics must be to minimize misery of the nation and her people. to this end, i have focused my energies on the economic front

to secure jobs. the loss of work not only entails economic hardship, it leaves people rootless and robs them of opportunity. it is the greatest determine nant of ever increasing misfor tune. the new economic growth strategy that i set into motion prioritizes job creation for this very reason. moreover, i set up special teams to identify and resolve issues that were likely to be overlooked. as a result, we were able to bring back the remains of japanese soldiers left on iwo jima and launch initiatives against intractible diseases, viruses, suicide and alienation. and after experiencing the

march 11 clamty and nuclear accident, i grew even more convinced of the need to create a society of minimum misery. because we live in a country exposed to the largest number of earthquakes in the world and numerous nuclear power plants, if an accident should happen, i learned that it could threaten the very future of our nation and our people. as prime minister, i felt the greatest sense of power linesness and unpreparedness when we could not prevent the nuclear accident in fukesheema from occurring and exacted such a toll on so many people. i hear the growing concerns voiced by citizens especially from parents with infants.

i will be tackling this problem until the very last day of my term. i slept in my office throughout the first week following the quake and tsunami trying to bring the situation under control. during this time, several reactors were damaged and triggered hydrogen explosions. those were truly chilling days as we scrambled to limit the extent of the damage. a nuclear accident, if it cannot be contained as it was in this case, invariably requires evacuation over a very large area and has long-term consequences. how should we tackle an issue that threatens the very

survival of a nation? the conclusion i reached was to establish a country that does not depend on nuclear power. behind the accident, is what is known as the nuclear power village, which covers a broad range of issues. from regulatory oversight and review to the way government and industry are set up. and even extends to cultural issues. i came to realize the extent for the first time. that is why i began working not only to bring this accident safely under control, but to fundamentally reexamine reform japance nuclear power policy and energy policy. i started a national discussion on a broad range of issues that includes nuclear power safety

and cost as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. it is to be an examination without taboos or restrictions. even after i step down, i intend to do everything i can to assist the victims and push forward the effort to decontaminate radioactive areas, reform the nuclear power program on a comprehensive basis, and wean society from its reliance on nuclear power. i will do so with the same resolve and sense of doubty as i had as prime minister and legislature who served in the nation's top post. having endured an unprecedented earthquake and nuclear accident, the people of japan have drawn together to prevail over this clament. i am proud of the members of

the police, fire department, coast guard, self-defense forces, and nuclear power plant workers who have willingly risked their lives to take part in rescue and relief operations. as well as in the effort to stabilize the plant. above all, the joy i feel as commander in chief for our self-defense force knows no bounds. for they proved their real worth to the people of japan. that they exist to serve country and compaterts. allow me to take this opportunity to express my admiration and appreciation to the people in the stricken areas who yearn to live for a new day and to the local government officials who are striving to realize their dream. and furthermore, to the warm support of everyone in japan.

people around the world are applauding the willingness of the japanese to share things and settle matters. we also saw an outpouring of material and emotional support from the world. i have renewed my belief that japan must recover from the clamty and return as a nation that will repay its debt of gratitude to the world. we are particularly indebt to the government of the united states and operation tom datchi that it mounted which provided incontra veritible proof of the real value of the japan-u.s. alliance. even from the perspective of national security, the world remains in a very volatile

situation. it is imperative that our country continue to base its foreign policy on this bilateral partnership filmly adhering to the belief that it exists to protect the security of japan and the wormed. during the china-south korea japan summit held in our country in may the leaders of china and south korea took time to visit the stricken areas. i believe we were able to affirm the importance of mutual afsistance in times of national difficulty and disaster. around the world, countries face a crisis over their nation's finances. during the upper house elections soon after i assumed office, i initiated the debate on using the consumption tax to brace our social security

system. after continued discussion, we managed to develop a proposal to reform social services and taxes in an integrated manner. no matter which party is in power, the need to ensure that japan's social security system and state finance remain stable and sustainable is an issue that cannot be skirted and is foundational to achieving a minimum misery society. in light of what is happening abroad, procrast nation is no longer an option. the problems are numerous and zaunting but i truly feel that the ruling and opposition parties must cooperate on resolving this challenge upon securing the endorsement of the people.

i will leave how history will judge my term in office to future generations. all i can say is that my onal goal was to re-- only goal was to resolve the issue at hand with the resources at my dispostal. i feel responsible for my inability to communicate effectively to my fellow citizens. as well as for being unable to advance matters given the conzraints of a divided diet in a less conscientious manner. nevertheless, i deliberately chose to tackle issues that people found most difficult and controversial. i felt compelled to act because

i as a member of our baby boomer generation could not leave those issues that we refuse to resolve ourselves to the task of future generations. before i pass the baton to the younger generation, i felt it was the duty of my generation to adopt optimal policies to resolve the challenges of state finances that can no longer be sustained. and ailing social system, reforms that are open to young people and post march 11 energy supply and demand. my hope is the next generation of people that must bear this burden will share my commitment . that is my most cherished sentiment at this time.

having said this, i wish to conclude my resignation speech. all right. we move on to the question and answer session. >> well, you've formally announced your resignation today for the past three months you have not for the most part met any foreign leaders. for example. what do you say to charges that you created a political vacuum in that time as to why you resigned you said in a dice session that if any member of your party should not support you then your can cabinet could no longer continue to function. as the president of the dpj, why do you think you became bogged down in internal party politics in the first place?

>> first of all, in the past three months, my cabinet and i have managed to pass the law overseeing reconstruction and the second supplemental budget. as for nuclear power regulation, we created a new agency by spinning off the nuclear end industrial safety agency from the comics ministry. -- economics ministry. in that sense, the past three months have been quite fruitful in terms of policy achievements. i feel that diplomatic front was equally meaningful having attend it had may summit and discussing issues with u.s. vice president biden. as to the reasons for my resignation, while many have asked as i said earlier, i believe we had to do what had to be done despite the

difficult internal circumstances of our party. that's how i saw matters and acted upon hem. -- them. the dpj president race begins tomorrow. what would you like to see continued from your administration and what would you like to entrust to your successor? you also spoke of your hope that the younger generation would assume the mantle of leadership. who do you see as fitting this description? while many candidates are seeking to become president, who will you support in the contest? >> as i said in my speech,

given that japan has entered the most trying of times, the most appropriate leader of japan is someone who refuses to procrastinate on issues. regardless of how difficult they may be. a person who takes the responsibility of persuading his compaterts to move matters forward. and this person must be able to carry out the current recovery and reconstruction efforts and bring closure to the nuclear accident. that's who i believe should become the next dpj president and new prime minister. >> you flew to the site of the nuclear power accident the day after the march 11 calamity. you were criticized for hindering the onsite work and for risking exposure to radioactive contame nation

despite your position as prime minister. do you have any regrets regarding your decision? if another nuclear accident happened in the future, should the prime minister at the time do what you did? >> following the accident, many things have come to light since then that i did not know at the time. reflecting on this, i can say that at the very least we were unfortunately not told or were aware of the real condition of the reactors at the time of the accident. nor was the situation being accurately communicated due to the scrambled messages that were being bandied about. in rhett are spect, -- retro

spect, by inspecting the areas hit by the earth quake and tsunami, as well as the number one plant, and meeting with the plant director on site, and exchanging views on the morning of the 12th, that proved invaluable in our ensuing efforts to tackle the problem. in that sense, i believe my actions at the time were very meaningful. however, while we had numerous contingency manuals, for example, people are supposed to gather at an jaut site center and make decisions, but the

offsite center itself had been damaged by the quake, and left without electric power and telephone communications. and people couldn't get to the center because the roads were closed. in short, we were facing an unpredictable crisis. and while contingency planning in general is important, if things are not functioning as planned, then you have a choice. you can decide matters based on the information that you're provided with, or you can inspect the situation in person and try to get a grip of the crisis.

i believe every case must be judged on its own merits. i inspected the stricken areas because i thought it was the best course of action and i remain convinced that it proved very helpful in our effort to bring the situation under control. the u.s. president serves the full four-year term. but japan has had six prime ministers in the past four years. what is wrong with politics in japan where a prime minister is replaced when his policy programs stalls or public support falters? and what pollsy jeancheda should your successor -- agenda should your successor pursue? >> there are many reasons why japanese prime ministers serve such short terms.

structurally, i believe, the house of counselors holds an election every three years while the house of representatives usually has an election once every three years. that means two national polls every three years. political pressure is exerted on a prime minister to resign whenever public dissatisfaction increases or he is pressured to step down if his party loses in a national election. even an upper house race. in other words, given the frequency of national elections, prime ministers have had to resign before after every election. that's the structural reason for this trend. take prime minister cameron of

england. for example. soon after forming a coalition he set the date of the next jen ral election five years from that point. yet, no matter how controversial his policies may be, or how much public support has declined, english voters as well as his political opposition will stay with the timetable. it's become an established tradition there. in that sense, if the administration changes in japan and a new prime minister chosen after a lower house election, then he should be allowed to stay in office for the chambers four-year term. i feel such a tradition will prove beneficial for the people and political community.

>> you spoke earlier of your desire to create a nuclear free society then you retracted it saying it was a personal comment. was pressure brought on you? what is the biggest obstacle in creating a society that is no longer dependent on nuclear power? is it a coincidence that the call for your resignation intensified after you shut down the nuclear facility? >> there is a term that i use in my speech which often also appears in the media. it includes everything from government policy to the

business community as well as the community of academics and specialists and even extends to cultural issues. in striving for a nuclear power-free society, i as a politician will be working on regulatory initiatives and structural reforms but it will be necessary to tackle the challenge on a much broader level. after requesting the shutdown of the facility, some people pointed out that certain kinds of pressure were brought to bear on me. but that is difficult to corroborate.

however, i personally feel that criticism and adverse circumstances intensified from that point. on the other hand, i believe in even more powerful movement has emerged. paving the way to a society that does not depend on nuclear power.