Vice President Dick Cheney arrived Tuesday for a meeting with the emperor, dinner with the prime minister and a pep rally for U.S. troops aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.
One person not on his list, however, was Japan's outspoken defense minister, who recently set off a tempest by calling the U.S. invasion of Iraq "a mistake."
Cheney's brief visit - he was to depart early Thursday - is a gesture of appreciation for Japan, which has been one of Washington's most valuable allies in its global war on terror, sending troops to Iraq and deploying logistical help for the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
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