U.S. President Trump will visit Asia next month. The Japanese government is trying again to get Trump to visit Tokyo during his trip. However, the Japanese's wishes may once more be thwarted.
On October 16, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that sources said Tokyo has been lobbying Trump to visit Japan next month, in order to showcase the ‘strong relations’ between Japan and the United States.
On the 14th, the Philippine Presidential Palace confirmed that Trump will visit the Philippines in November to attend the ASEAN summit held in Manila. This ASEAN summit is scheduled to take place from November 16 to 18. Additionally, there are reports that Trump may attend the 33rd APEC Economic Cooperation Forum Informal Ministerial Meeting held in Shenzhen in November.
Reports say that these anonymous sources indicate that Japanese officials strongly hope that Trump will visit Japan before the APEC conference, so that Tokyo can have an opportunity to influence Trump’s agenda related to China. Tokyo also welcomes the idea of Trump visiting Japan after the APEC conference.
However, people familiar with the matter said that there is almost no indication that Trump will add Japan as a stop during his Asian tour.
Sources familiar with the matter said that Trump has met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Akai three times this year, and it is expected that the two will also meet at the ASEAN summit next month. Therefore, although Japan is actively arranging for Trump’s visit to Japan, he “may consider that there is no need to travel to Japan specifically”.
Senior analyst Jeremy Chan of political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group said that whenever the US president visits Asia, Tokyo aims to showcase the strong relationship between Japan and the United States, especially at a time when Sino-US relations are warming.
He stated that if Trump can visit Japan, it would be the most powerful symbol of Washington’s emphasis on the Japan-US alliance.
However, Jeremy Chen said that no matter how many guarantees Washington makes, Tokyo will not be satisfied. Japan is “especially worried” about the possibility of an agreement between the United States and China that would harm Japan’s interests.
He added that Naomi Kashi also needs to consider the impact of domestic politics, as her popularity depends in part on her ability to handle relations with the United States.
Mong Cheung, a professor at the International Liberal Arts Department of Waseda University in Japan, believes that as Sino-US relations warm up, Japan may hope to regain its dominance through Trump's visit. This would also serve to demonstrate that Tokyo remains Washington's 'number one ally' in Asia. Additionally, Japan wishes to coordinate its policies towards China with the United States in advance.
"Tokyo is very concerned about sending a signal to China: US-China relations are moving closer and will not be at the cost of Japan-US relations." Jerry Chen said.
In November last year, Koike Kairemi made wrong remarks regarding Taiwan. She showed no remorse and refused to withdraw her statements. This act revealed the ambitions of Japanese right-wing forces to challenge the post-war international order, and also led to a rapid deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations. Since January 2026, China has strengthened controls on the export of dual-use items to Japan.
Facing the deadlock in Sino-Japanese relations, Tokyo has not reflected on or corrected its own wrongful actions and words. Instead, it hopes that Washington will step in and exert pressure to encourage China to relax relevant export restrictions.
In fact, this is not the first time that Japan has been eager to secure Trump's visit to Tokyo.
In May of this year, during Trump's visit to China, Japanese media reported that the Japanese government originally hoped that Trump would visit Japan before his trip to China, so that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would have the opportunity to convey Japan's stance on China to the US, including emphasizing the so-called "military threat from China". However, this plan was abandoned due to the impact of the conflict in Iran.
