Trump set to visit Japan to honor new Emperor

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01:53

U.S. President Donald Trump is the first state visitor to Japan since the new Japanese Emperor Naruhito ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne earlier this month, a sign of the close relationship between Japan and the United States. He will spend four days in Japan, meeting with the Emperor as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"President Trump is deeply honored to be the first visitor of state to meet the new Emperor, very much looking forward to it, very much looking forward to seeing his good friend Prime Minister Abe and having a productive discussions on a range of very important issues," said John Bolton, U.S. national security adviser.

Topics like trade and DPRK denuclearization will be featured in Trump's talks with Abe this weekend. It's expected that Japan may push for a larger role in revising stalled denuclearization talks with the DPRK as Pyongyang resumed short-range missiles testing after a relatively long period of silence. Japan took a harder stance on this, saying the move violated UN resolutions.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on their way to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, May 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

Aside from the DPRK, trade is also on the agenda. The U.S. and Japan are currently negotiating a trade deal and Abe is expected to push Trump for a deal that avoids tariffs on Japan's lucrative auto exports.

With trade tensions running high between the U.S. and China, a deal with Japan, especially one that gives U.S. farmers greater access to that country's agricultural market may look more attractive to Trump now than it did a few weeks ago.

The trip will likely yield more photo-ops than tangible agreements, but observers say the trip will help solidify the relationship between Trump and Abe.

"Of course, personal relationships are everything. I'm in the investment banking field. It's no different in statecraft and geopolitics. Deals are people. Administrations come and go. People endure. So the bonds that have been created between Trump and Abe are really important," said Dan McClory from the investment banking firm Boustead Securities.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at the White House, June 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

Trump and Abe are expected to play golf and Trump also scheduled to attend a championship sumo match in Tokyo where he will give the winner a custom-made trophy, apparently to be called the Trump Cup.

President Trump will end his trip with a visit to the Yokosuka military base for Monday's Memorial Day, a federal holiday to remember and honor people who died while serving in the United States armed forces.

Yokosuka military base is the largest strategically important U.S. naval installation in the western Pacific. It was taken over by U.S. Marines in August 1945 after WWII and the U.S. continued to use it when the security treaty between the two countries entered into force on April 28, 1952.