Clinton arrives in Japan as PM Kan calls for "rebirth"

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Japan on Sunday to show support for a close ally struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and triggered a nuclear crisis.

Clinton arrived in Japan, which is still reeling from the triple disaster nearly five weeks ago, on the final leg of a global trek that took her to Berlin for NATO talks on the Libya conflict and to Seoul to tackle the North Korean nuclear standoff.

She planned to meet unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto in Tokyo and was also invited to tea with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Residence.

The top U.S. diplomat was expected to renew the Obama administration's commitment to do its utmost to assist rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of the March 11 quake and tsunami, which killed up to 28,000 people, crippled a nuclear power plant and seriously rattled the world's third-largest economy.

Damages have been estimated at $300 billion (183 billion pounds), making it the world's costliest natural disaster.

Washington has deployed thousands of troops plus military aircraft and navy ships to help with relief work in the devastated northeastern part of the island nation.

A senior U.S. official said one of Clinton's key messages would be that Japan should not withdraw from the world stage.

"We all recognise that Japan is in a critical phase, and we want to encourage them as they rebuild and recover to maintain an international focus, that this crisis does not trigger an inward-looking Japan," the official told reporters during Clinton's stop in Seoul.

Clinton was in South Korea to promote a trade pact with Asia's fourth largest economy.

Clinton is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit in a gesture of solidarity with Japan, one of Washington's closest Asian allies, since it was engulfed in its worst crisis since World War Two.

Her 5-1/2-hour stop comes after a week in which the Japanese government put its nuclear calamity on a par with the world's worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, after new data showed that more radiation had leaked from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant than first thought.

Kan has insisted the nuclear situation is slowly stabilising and the country must now focus on recovery from the 9.0-magnitude quake and the tsunami it unleashed.

"I believe ... this difficult period will provide us with a precious window of opportunity to secure the 'Rebirth of Japan'," Kan wrote in an editorial in the online version of Sunday's International Herald Tribune newspaper.

He said Japan would remain internationally engaged while it recovers from the disasters.

"I believe that the best way for Japan to reciprocate ... the cordial friendship extended to us is to continue our contribution to the development of the international community," he wrote.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC PILLAR

In the meantime, Washington is concerned about harm to the economic health of a key trading partner and a pillar of the global economy.

Japan's economics minister warned last week that the damage was likely to be worse than first thought as power shortages would cut factory output and disrupt supply chains. The Bank of Japan governor said the economy was in a "severe state," while central bankers were uncertain when efforts to rebuild the northeast would boost growth.

Japan's nuclear disaster has also raised concern in the United States about President Barack Obama's push for expanded nuclear energy to help wean Americans off their dependence on foreign oil.

Neighbouring China and South Korea have become increasingly alarmed over the risk of radiation spreading from Japan, and several countries have banned or restricted food imports.

Japanese voters last weekend vented their anger at the government's handling of the nuclear and humanitarian crisis, with Kan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) losing nearly 70 seats in local elections.

A fragile political detente with opposition parties has already collapsed and on Sunday, one of Kan's chief rivals in the DPJ, Ichiro Ozawa, hinted he would vote in favour of a no-confidence motion against Kan, according to the Mainichi newspaper.

The unpopular Kan was already under pressure to step down before the March 11 disasters, although any no confidence motion would need the support of more than 70 MPs from his own party.

The North Korean nuclear standoff was also expected to be on the agenda for Clinton's talks in Tokyo, especially after she discussed the issue with South Korean leaders in Seoul.

Japan is party to the long-stalled six-nation talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons development

(Additional reporting by Chisa Fujioka in Tokyo; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and David Chance)