By Roland Buerk
BBC News, Tokyo
**United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates has met Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama.**Japan’s new government is seeking more equal relations with the US, its key security ally since the end of World War II.
Mr Gates is the first American cabinet minister to visit Tokyo since the new administration took power last month.
Both sides are working out how the relationship, critical to security in north east Asia, will change.
Forces at work
In Mr Gates’ talks with Mr Hatoyama, a key issue was the nearly 50,000 strong US force in Japan, many on the island of Okinawa.
Mr Hatoyama wants to review a 2006 pact under which a base would be relocated from a crowded urban area to the coast by 2014 - and has suggested it could be moved off the island altogether.
But the US defence secretary has ruled out major revisions to the deal, saying it would undermine broader security arrangements.
The US is keen to get an agreement before President Barack Obama visits Tokyo next month, but Japan has said it needs more time.
Another sticking point is the new government’s decision to end, in January, an Indian Ocean refuelling mission in support of the war effort in Afghanistan.
Japan wants to offer more civilian aid instead.