Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, will travel to South Korea this week for two days of expanded bilateral discussions, as Tokyo seeks closer co-ordination with its neighbour on security and economic policy.
The visit reflects a steady warming of relations between the two countries, whose ministers have increasingly met in joint security and economic formats. Officials in Tokyo have pointed to the dialogue as one of the more productive strands of Japanese diplomacy at a turbulent moment for the region.
The trip follows a period of intense contact with Washington. Rather than stopping in Tokyo before his summit in China, President Trump dispatched Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Japan, then telephoned Ms Takaichi while still in the region to reaffirm what both sides described as the “unwavering” US-Japan alliance.
That call ranged across the issues now dominating Asian security: the status of Taiwan, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its effect on energy supplies, and broader questions of economic security. Japan, heavily dependent on imported oil and gas, is acutely exposed to the disruption in the Gulf.
At home, Ms Takaichi has been preoccupied with managing her own Liberal Democratic Party. Potential future leadership rivals, among them Taro Kono and Yoshimasa Hayashi, have kept their distance from the emerging alignment between the prime minister and the veteran power broker Taro Aso.
The yen has added to her difficulties. The currency ended last week at about 158.46 to the dollar, extending a gradual slide despite repeated intervention by the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry’s most recent intervention totalled roughly $10bn, drawn from foreign-exchange reserves estimated at about $1.2 trillion — among the largest such holdings in the world. Officials have signalled they are prepared to act again to slow the currency’s decline.
For Ms Takaichi, the Seoul visit offers a chance to demonstrate diplomatic momentum abroad even as the politics at home, and the pressure on the yen, remain unresolved.