The White House said on Wednesday that U.S.-Japan relations will not change in the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's resignation.

"Japan is one of our best friends in the world and that alliance is not going to change as the result of any change in leadership in that country," said White House spokesman Bill Burton.

"We'll watch the political process take its course and be waiting like everybody else to see who the next Prime Minister will be," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose popularity has been marred by his bungled handling of a plan to relocate a U.S. marine base in Okinawa, resigned on Wednesday after only eight months in office.