Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva has become the first high-level international politician to visit Japan in the aftermath of its devastating multiple disaster. Upon arrival in Tokyo, the Commissioner met with the Japanese Minister for Disaster Management Ryu Matsumoto, and with Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Banno, to whom she personally conveyed the solidarity of Europeans with the people of Japan and reiterated the European Union's readiness to contribute further to the provision of aid on the ground. Commissioner Georgieva also spoke with representatives of the Japanese Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross, which have been working around the clock since the disaster, to bring relief and essential support to the afflicted population. Later today, the Commissioner will discuss the logistics of European assistance delivery with the European Civil Protection Team, which has been deployed in Japan for a week now. Tomorrow, in the tsunami-affected Ibaraki prefecture to which European aid is being sent, the Commissioner will visit an evacuation shelter in the city of Tsukuba. She will participate in the hand-over of European aid (blankets, mattresses, beds) for some of the thousands of Japanese who are living in temporary shelter.