A new group was launched Tuesday in Tokyo tasked with facilitating the creation of an East Asian community, a regional economic bloc encompassing southeast and northeast Asian nations.
The new group, dubbed the Council on East Asian Community, involves the participation of Japan's 11 leading think tanks, some 40 scholars and journalists and 13 business leaders.
At its inaugural meeting, former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone was named chairman of the group, while Kenichi Ito, president of the Japan Forum on International Relations and a principal group organizer, was appointed president.
Organizers said Japan lags behind China and other key Asian nations in its preparedness for the proposed creation of a regional economic bloc, adding that the new group will strive to form a national consensus on the matter.