SENDAI - Japan has thanked Singapore for helping in reconstruction efforts in the Tohoku region after the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his appreciation in a meeting with his Singapore counterpart K Shanmugam in the north-eastern city of Sendai on Saturday.

The ministers reaffirmed the close relations between the two countries and agreed that the 50th anniversary of Singapore-Japan diplomatic relations in 2016 is an important occasion to be celebrated, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Mr Shanmugam is in Sendai to attending the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. He will deliver Singapore's statement at a plenary session on Sunday.