WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump offered "deepest condolences" on Saturday over the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.

"We were saddened to learn of his passing in Tokyo on Friday," Trump said in a statement.

"On behalf of the American people, Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the people of Japan and to the loved ones of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone," he said.

Nakasone's "efforts to strengthen the United States-Japan alliance...laid the foundation for the global partnership between the United States and Japan," Trump said.

Quoting former US President Ronald Reagan, Trump said Nakasone was "a friend, a wise colleague, and the leader of America's most important partner and ally in the Pacific."

Nakasone nurtured a close relationship with Reagan while he was Japanese prime minister from 1982 to 1987. Nakasone died at the age of 101.

JIJI Press