Bill Mosley, a U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman, said today that the talks will be in Honolulu but an exact site has not been determined.

He described the talks as an "informal, exploratory meeting to discuss the possibility of moving toward formal negotiations."

At earlier talks in Washington, the two sides agreed to seek an interim deal of three to five years, then resume formal negotiations, which broke off in June.

Charles Hunnicutt, the department's assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, will be the ranking U.S. official at the Hawaii talks, Mosley said.

The U.S. proposal for an "open skies" agreement, which would allow free competition among U.S. and Japanese airlines, will be on the agenda, he said.

Japan has complained its nation's airlines do not have equal rights with U.S. carriers under a 1952 bilateral agreement.

Hawaii has much at stake. Airlines from both countries have said they would like to increase their Hawaii-Japan service if a deal can be reached.

It was the first time Japan has cautioned a foreign airline, said Hiroaki Tomita of the Transport Ministry. Tomita said the ministry asked the Federal Aviation Administration on March 11 to instruct Northwest to take measures to improve aircraft maintenance.

"Because this involves safety, we will get in close touch with the FAA," Transport Minister Makoto Koga told reporters. Japan also is likely to take up the issue during Japan-U.S. aviation talks planned for next month in Hawaii, said another ministry official.

Northwest Airlines Corp. defended its airline's safety record and said it plans no special action. "We have one of the best safety records in the airline industry," said Doug Killian, a spokesman for the Eagan, Minn.-based company. He said none of the troubles involved passenger injury or endangered passengers. "Some were as minor as a plugged lavatory drain."

Foreign and domestic airlines reported a total 205 cases of flight problems at Japan's airports last year, Tomita said. None of the problems involved injuries.

Northwest accounted for 21 of the 205 cases, including a crack in a wing and tire punctures. Japan Airlines -- Japan's largest airline -- reported just six, Tomita said.

Northwest has reported another six problems this year, he said.

In one case, a Northwest Airlines jumbo jet carrying 362 people to Minneapolis aborted takeoff from Narita Airport near Tokyo after one of its engines failed. The incident forced the airport to close its sole runway for about 40 minutes.