JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI GIVES WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOLDIERS TO BE SENT TO IRAQ AT ARMY GARRISON IN ASAHIKAWA ON NORTHERN ISLAND OF HOKKAIDO, JAPAN. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gives words of encouragement to the main contingent of Japanese troops to be sent to Iraq at an army garrison in Asahikawa on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan February 1, 2004. Speaking to about 600 soldiers, Koizumi said Japanese troops would not join in the U.S.-led war in Iraq. REUTERS/Toshiyuki Aizawa