Japan and the US are key defence allies and each other's top foreign financiers

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump's second top with a foreign leader given that his return to the White House.

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

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

"It would be fantastic if we might verify that we will collaborate for the development this area and the world and for peace," Ishiba informed reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.

Japan's Nikkei paper said Thursday the pair will release a joint declaration, which might vow to construct a "golden era" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "new heights".

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

Ishiba may likewise propose importing more US gas-- chiming with Trump's strategy to "drill, baby, drill" while enhancing energy security for resource-poor Japan.

Since Japan has actually cut its melted gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "frantically requires to open up 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 present a win-win value proposition 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, where the US president sparked uproar with a proposition to take control of the Gaza Strip.

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

- Taiwan risk -

Ishiba has actually the significance of US defence ties, pointing to dangers on Japan's doorstep such as China pressing 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 leading to local instability", Ishiba just recently informed parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are expected to verify the significance 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 "exceptionally important" due to the fact that Japan and the United States need to collaborate to avoid a prospective crisis, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr said Takashi Shiraishi, a global relations professional 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 could offer 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 causing jitters is Trump's desire to slap trade tariffs on significant trading partners China, wifidb.science Canada, and Mexico-- though he has postponed steps against the latter 2 countries pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will reveal him there are other ways to attain financial security," such as complying on innovation, Shiraishi informed AFP.

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

Reports said the leaders might also go over Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion quote to buy US Steel, which Biden obstructed on nationwide security premises.

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

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

As president-elect in December, online-learning-initiative.org Trump likewise 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, niaskywalk.com will not be the first Japanese VIP to satisfy the 78-year-old Trump in individual because he took workplace-- a distinction held by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.