Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada's planned visit to the United States possibly later this week for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been cancelled due to Japan's parliamentary schedule, the Japanese government's top spokesman said Wednesday.

At a regular press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano denied the cancellation will have any repercussions on Japan-U.S. relations ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's Nov. 12-13 visit to Japan.

Over the weekend, the U.S. State Department said Clinton and Okada would meet Friday in Washington, but soon retracted the announcement.

On Monday, the department said Clinton was still ready to meet with Okada Friday.

But Hirano said the talks have been cancelled as it is difficult for Okada to leave Japan during the ongoing Diet deliberations.

"I don't think Japan-U.S. relations will be affected simply because his visit was cancelled," he added.

It was believed that Okada and Clinton would discuss an intensifying row over the relocation of a U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture before the Japan-U.S. summit meeting next week.