President Joe Biden hailed the "unbreakable" US-Japan ties as he welcomed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to a lavish White House summit that discussed significantly improving defense ties against China - and featured music by Paul Simon, AFP reports.
Biden rolled out the red carpet for the 66-year-old Kishida and his wife Yuko to highlight Japan's importance as a bastion in the Asia-Pacific region against a resurgent Beijing.
Welcoming the Japanese leader, Biden said "the partnership between us is unbreakable."
Behind the pomp of the state visit lies serious business - the two leaders will unveil plans to restructure U.S. military command in Japan - the biggest boost to defense cooperation since the 1960s - to enable it to respond more quickly to threats.
Kishida and Biden were to give a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden at 12:30 p.m.
First Lady Jill Biden, who gave a preview of the state dinner that will conclude the day's events, said the visit would "celebrate the burgeoning friendship between the United States and Japan."
"Our nations are partners in a world where we choose creation over destruction, peace over bloodshed and democracy over autocracy," she told reporters.
The visit underscores the importance Biden places on building alliances against countries like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, in an increasingly uncertain world rocked by wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
"We would judge this to be a landmark and historic summit," a senior US administration official told reporters ahead of the visit.
Biden will also host the first trilateral summit between Japan, the Philippines and the United States aimed at deepening their alliances amid escalating maritime tensions with China.
Hanging over the US and Japanese leaders will be the thorny issue of Japan's takeover of US Steel, a deal Biden opposes as he faces a tough re-election battle against protectionist, right-wing former President Donald Trump. / BGNES
