If you have been following along since March Archbishop Mamberti had released a statement saying that if the two were to meet then PM Aso might invite the pope to come to Japan. What a strange thing to say if plans weren’t already in the making.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City on July 7, sources close to the meeting said Wednesday.
The first meeting between a pope and a Japanese prime minister since 1999 will occur as Aso, a Catholic, has been hoping to meet the pope when he attends the Group of Eight summit to be held in Italy from July 8, said the sources in Rome.
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s foreign minister, visited Japan in March and met with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and other Japanese officials. Mamberti is the first secretary for relations with states of the Holy See to have visited Japan.
Now I just wait for the news story that hopefully announces the pope`s official visit here. 
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