Japan and the US are essential defence allies and each other’s top foreign investors

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump’s 2nd top with a foreign leader since his go back to the White House.

Japan is among the closest allies of the United States in Asia with around 54,000 US military workers stationed in the nation.

Ishiba will be promoting peace of mind on the significance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump’s “America First” agenda risks encroaching on the nations’ trade and defence ties.

“It would be terrific if we might affirm that we will collaborate for the development this area and the world and for peace,” Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the journey.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will release a joint declaration, which could vow to build a “golden era” of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to “new heights”.

Ishiba is anticipated to inform Trump that Japan will increase defence from the United States, the Nikkei said.

Ishiba might also propose importing more US natural gas-- chiming with Trump’s plan to “drill, child, drill” while enhancing energy security for resource-poor Japan.

Since Japan has cut its melted gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it “frantically needs to open up brand-new sources of LNG, and other energy more broadly”, Sheila Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

“The intent is to provide a win-win worth proposal from Ishiba to the president,” she said.

Trump will meet Ishiba in Washington on Friday-- simply days after a joint interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sportysocialspace.com where the US president sparked uproar with a proposition to take over the Gaza Strip.

The Japan top might be less shocking, Smith said, as Trump “has a fairly strong commitment to the alliances in Asia”.

- Taiwan danger -

Ishiba has stressed the value of US defence ties, indicating threats on Japan’s doorstep such as China pressing its claims of sovereignty on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Tokyo needs to “continue to protect the US dedication to the region, to avoid a power vacuum leading to regional instability”, Ishiba just recently informed parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are expected to affirm the value of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese media said.

That would echo joint statements made by the last US president Joe Biden with previous Japanese prime ministers.

Concentrating on this point is “incredibly essential” because Japan and the United States must interact to prevent a prospective crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, an international relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the problem of defence costs, however, there are concerns Trump might supply less cash and push Japan to do more, Smith said.

“That’s where … the Ishiba-Trump relationship might get a bit sticky,” she said.

- After Abe -

Also causing jitters is Trump’s determination to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has actually delayed steps against the latter 2 nations pending talks.

“I hope Ishiba will show him there are other ways to attain financial security,” such as complying on technology, Shiraishi informed AFP.

One example is the Stargate drive, revealed after Trump’s January inauguration, to invest approximately $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States, led by Japanese tech investment leviathan SoftBank Group and US firm OpenAI.

Reports said the leaders might likewise discuss Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion quote to purchase US Steel, which Biden blocked on national security grounds.

Japan and the United States are each other’s top foreign investors, and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will agree on creating an investment-friendly environment.

During his first term, Trump and Japan’s then-prime minister Shinzo Abe delighted in warm relations.

As president-elect in December, Trump also hosted Akie Abe, the widow of Japan’s assassinated ex-premier, for a supper with Melania Trump at their Florida home.

Trump built a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith believes he had a “genuine fondness”.

He will likely “see Ishiba through a different lens”, said Smith, and “it will be more the state-to-state relationship, not the individual”.

Ishiba, 68, will not be the very first Japanese VIP to satisfy the 78-year-old Trump personally given that he took workplace-- a distinction held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.