The 27th meeting of the Nagata-Kaiwas held on April 16, 2001 at the Headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo. Established in 1997, the Nagata-Kai creates opportunities for LDP Diet members to interact with members of the foreign diplomatic community residing in Japan and to provide them with information concerning the Party's views on important issues of the day.
  This most recent meeting of the Nagata-Kai was hosted by the Director-General of the LDP's International Bureau, Mr. SAITO Toshitsugu¹. Mr. Saito provided an outline of three new pieces of legislation related to national emergencies"² (which were scheduled for Cabinet approval on the same day as the Nagata-Kai meeting) and commented on deliberations that are expected to take place on them.
  Mr. Saito also responded to questions from the foreign diplomats in attendance such as "In the event of national emergencies, how far will government authority extend and will individuals who disobey its directives face any punishment?" "Will the right of collective self-defense be addressed in the course of compiling new legislation?" and others related to his views on the future of Japan's national security.
  Mr. Saito explained that the three pieces of legislation are within the boundaries of "common sense" on national security. At the same time, he stressed that there are aspects of the bills that could be improved and expressed his desire to promote further discussions on these. He also said that the creation of a basic framework for responding to national emergencies certainly represents a substantial improvement over the past when such a framework did not exist at all.