TOKYO - Former US President George W. Bush arrived in Japan on Tuesday on his first visit to the country since he left office, officials said.
Wearing a dark suit, a smiling Bush waved to the media and travellers at Narita airport's arrival lobby, before heading to downtown Tokyo for a two-day visit at the invitation of a private-sector organisation, reports and airport officials said.
Bush is scheduled to throw a ceremonial first pitch for the Japan Series between the Yomiuri Giants and Nippon Ham Fighters at Tokyo Dome late Tuesday, the Nippon Professional Baseball said.
During his stay, Bush is also expected to meet former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and give a speech, reports said.
Koizumi, one of the nation's most popular premiers in modern times, had maintained cozy personal ties with Bush. Koizumi retired from politics earlier this year without running for general elections in August.
Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a major defeat in the polls, with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan ending half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule.
Bush has no plans to hold talks with any officials of Hatoyama's centre-left government, officials said.
Bush visited Japan in July last year to attend his last summit of the Group of Eight industrialised nations held on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
