Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan was visited today by Japanese Ambassador Hattori Takashi, who delivered an official note regarding the postponement of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Uzbekistan, originally scheduled for 10-11August, according to the "Dunyo" news agency.

In his comments to "Dunyo," Ambassador Hattori Takashi explained:

- On the evening of 8 August, an earthquake with a magnitude of over 7.1 struck off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. In response, emergency measures are being taken due to the seriousness of the current situation. Japan's Meteorological Agency has issued its first-ever warning about the increased likelihood of a large-scale earthquake. A meeting of the Japanese government was convened to address the disaster response, where measures to prevent further damage were discussed.

It was noted that there is a heightened risk of an earthquake exceeding six on the seismic intensity scale within the next week. In light of this, the Japanese government is actively gathering information about the damage and urgently raising the alert level for the potential occurrence of an earthquake.

Given the above emergency situation, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was forced to make the decision to postpone the "Central Asia + Japan" Dialogue summit and his visit to Uzbekistan. This decision was made to manage the crisis and ensure appropriate emergency response measures. It is a very difficult decision in the face of the current emergency. The Japanese side hopes for the understanding of the Uzbek side.

The Ambassador emphasized that the strong desire of the Japanese government to strengthen relations with Central Asian countries, particularly with Uzbekistan, remains unchanged.

The Japanese side, while expressing deep regret over the forced decision to postpone the visit, also expressed its intention to reschedule the visit to Uzbekistan as soon as possible.