Japan and the US are key 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 second summit with a foreign leader since his return 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 nation.

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

"It would be fantastic if we might verify that we will work together for the development this region and the world and for peace," Ishiba told press reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.

Japan's Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will release a joint statement, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de which could vow to build a "golden era" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "new heights".

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

Ishiba might likewise propose importing more US gas-- chiming with Trump's plan to "drill, child, drill" while improving energy security for resource-poor Japan.

Since Japan has cut its liquefied 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, informed AFP.

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

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

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

- Taiwan threat -

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

Tokyo must "continue to protect the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum causing local instability", Ishiba just recently told parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are anticipated to verify the value 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.

Concentrating on this point is "exceptionally important" due to the fact that Japan and the United States need to work together to avoid a prospective crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, visualchemy.gallery a worldwide relations expert at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence costs, however, there are concerns Trump could offer less cash 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 is Trump's determination to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has actually postponed procedures against the latter two nations pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will reveal him there are other methods to attain economic security," such as cooperating on innovation, Shiraishi informed AFP.

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

Reports said the leaders could likewise talk about Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion quote to purchase US Steel, which Biden blocked on nationwide security grounds.

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

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

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

Trump developed a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith thinks he had a "genuine fondness".

He will likely "see Ishiba through a various lens", said Smith, and "it will be more the state-to-state relationship, not the personal".

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