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 because 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 country.

Ishiba will be promoting peace of mind on the value of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda dangers trespassing on the nations' trade and defence ties.

"It would be terrific if we could verify that we will collaborate for the development this area and the world and for peace," Ishiba told press 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 develop a "golden era" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "brand-new heights".

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

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

Since Japan has actually cut its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "desperately requires to open 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 worth proposal from Ishiba to the president," she said.

Trump will satisfy Ishiba in Washington on Friday-- just days after a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president triggered outcry with a proposition to take over the Gaza Strip.

The Japan top could be less surprising, Smith said, as Trump "has a fairly strong commitment to the alliances in Asia".

- Taiwan hazard -

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

Tokyo needs to "continue to protect the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum causing regional instability", Ishiba just recently informed parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are expected to affirm 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.

Concentrating on this point is "extremely important" because Japan and the United States must interact to avoid a prospective crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, oke.zone a worldwide relations professional at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the problem of defence costs, nevertheless, there are issues Trump might supply less money 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 desire to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has actually delayed measures against the latter 2 countries pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will show him there are other ways to attain financial security," such as working together on innovation, Shiraishi told AFP.

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

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

Japan and the United States are each other's leading foreign financiers, utahsyardsale.com and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will settle on creating an investment-friendly environment.

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

As president-elect in December, Trump likewise hosted Akie Abe, the widow of Japan's assassinated ex-premier, king-wifi.win for a dinner with Melania Trump at their Florida house.

Trump constructed a strong relationship with Abe, clashofcryptos.trade for whom Smith believes he had a "real fondness".

He will likely "see Ishiba through a various 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 meet the 78-year-old Trump personally given that he took workplace-- a difference held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.