TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio departed from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport aboard a government plane on Monday for the first state visit to the United States by a Japanese leader since then Prime Minister ABE Shinzo’s 2015 visit.

Kishida is scheduled to attend a summit meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday and address a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Thursday.

Through these events, Kishida apparently hopes to demonstrate the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance at home and abroad.

“The Japan-U.S. alliance is becoming more important as the international community deals with complex and diverse issues and Japan faces an increasingly severe security environment,” Kishida told reporters at the prime minister’s office earlier on Monday.

“I want to confirm that Japan and the United States are global partners that will lead (efforts to solve) challenges in the international community together,” he said. “It is an important opportunity to send that message to the world.”

At the upcoming summit, Kishida and Biden are expected to reaffirm that their countries will continue to cooperate closely to maintain and strengthen the international order. After the meeting, the leaders are slated to hold a joint press conference and release a statement that includes the outcome of the meeting.

In his congressional speech, Kishida is expected to emphasize progress in bilateral cooperation in a variety of fields including security and the economy. He is also expected to call for a future-oriented Japan-U.S. relationship.

“I want to make a speech with sights set on the future,” Kishida said on Monday. “I will speak about what kind of future we seek, and what Japan and the United States need to do.”

Also on Thursday, the Japanese and U.S. leaders and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will attend the first trilateral summit of the three countries.

Kishida is scheduled to inspect a factory of a Japanese-affiliated company in North Carolina on Friday before returning home on Sunday.

Kishida’s wife, Yuko, will accompany him on the U.S. trip.

JIJI Press