Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces the first major test of her diplomatic skills on Monday when US President Donald Trump arrives in Tokyo for a three-day visit, with the Japanese leader using her first week in office to institute policies designed to please her American counterpart.
In a policy speech to the Diet on Friday, Takaichi vowed to bring forward a goal of defence spending matching 2 per cent of gross domestic product to the current financial year ending in March, two years earlier than the pledges of previous governments.
She will also underline Japan’s commitment under a trade agreement reached earlier this year with Washington to buy around US$8 billion worth of agricultural products, including soybeans. Trump has been under pressure from American farmers after trade friction with China caused Beijing to halt all imports of the US crop. China bought US$12.6 billion worth of US soybeans last year.
There have also been suggestions that the Japanese government may procure US-made vehicles to serve as official government cars, while Tokyo could also relax safety certification rules to allow US pickup trucks on Japanese roads.
On Friday, Tokyo Gas signed a letter of intent with the Glanfarne Group, an American energy and infrastructure firm which is developing the Alaska LNG project, as a step towards Japan buying as much as 1 million tonnes of LNG a year and weaning itself off imports of Russian energy.
Takaichi “is much more aligned with Trump’s world-view” than her predecessor, former prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, and she would “put on a friendly face” for the president, said Ben Ascione, an assistant professor of politics and international relations at Tokyo’s Waseda University.
