Katsuya Okada
In a similar joint symposium held at the American Embassy in May 2009, embassy officials from Canada, France, the UK, and the US issued a joint statement calling on Japan to sign the Hague Convention. Following the Christopher Savoie incident (see "Specific Cases"), a near identical statement was reissued in October 2009 with additional support from Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Spain. In a 2009 statement, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said that Japan was considering being a signatory, stating that "we are approaching the matter with an open mind, but we must also take public opinion into account."