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Japan and akropolistravel.com 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 because his go back to the White House.

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

Ishiba will be pushing for reassurance on the value of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda risks trespassing on the countries' trade and defence ties.

"It would be wonderful if we might affirm that we will interact for the advancement this region 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 statement, which might vow to construct a "golden age" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "new heights".

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

Ishiba might also propose importing more US natural gas-- chiming with Trump's strategy to "drill, baby, drill" while increasing energy security for resource-poor Japan.

Since Japan has actually cut its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "desperately requires to open brand-new sources of LNG, and other energy more broadly", Sheila Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

"The objective is to provide a win-win value proposal from Ishiba to the president," she said.

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

The Japan summit might be less surprising, Smith said, as Trump "has a fairly strong dedication to the alliances in Asia".

- Taiwan risk -

Ishiba has actually worried the significance of US defence ties, pointing to hazards on Japan's doorstep such as China pushing its claims of sovereignty on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Tokyo needs to "continue to secure the US commitment to the area, to avoid a power vacuum resulting in local instability", Ishiba just recently told parliament.

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

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

Focusing on this point is "extremely essential" due to the fact that Japan and lespoetesbizarres.free.fr the United States need to interact to avoid a possible crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, a global relations expert at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence expenses, nevertheless, there are concerns Trump might supply less money and push Japan to do more, Smith said.

"That's where ... the Ishiba-Trump relationship could get a bit sticky," she said.

- After Abe -

Also triggering jitters is Trump's willingness to slap trade tariffs on significant trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has postponed measures against the latter 2 nations pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will show him there are other methods to attain economic security," such as cooperating on technology, Shiraishi told AFP.

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

Reports said the leaders might also discuss Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid to purchase US Steel, which Biden obstructed on nationwide security premises.

Japan and the United States are each other's leading foreign investors, and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will agree on developing 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, wikitravel.org Trump also hosted Akie Abe, wiki.myamens.com the widow of Japan's assassinated ex-premier, for bytes-the-dust.com a supper with Melania Trump at their Florida residence.

Trump built a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith thinks he had a "authentic 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 first Japanese VIP to satisfy the 78-year-old Trump personally given that he took office-- a difference held by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.