Ex-Japan PM Hatoyama to attend Shanghai Expo

Japan's Finance Minister Naoto Kan (L) speaks with then outgoing Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in the lower house of parliament before being voted in as prime minister in Tokyo June 4, 2010. [Agencies]

TOKYO -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned from the top post on June 2, will go to China over the weekend to attend the Shanghai Expo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Thursday.

At a press conference, Sengoku said that the former premier's three-day visit to Shanghai is to attend the "Japan Day" events scheduled for Saturday.

"With the envoy's (Hatoyama) visit, we are hoping that friendly ties between Japan and China will be deepened," he said.