Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a news conference in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on Jan. 4 (Pool)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will make his first official White House visit on Jan. 13 to discuss the international security environment with U.S. President Joe Biden.

The two leaders are expected to discuss a host of issues, including climate change, critical technologies, North Korea’s ballistic missile programs, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

“It will be a very important summit,” Kishida said during a Jan. 4 news conference.

The Japanese government, which plans a massive defense buildup in the years to come, revised three key national security documents in late December to bolster its defensive posture.

Kishida said the summit will be an opportunity to “demonstrate at home and abroad the further strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance” and to “establish closer cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

“President Biden will reiterate his full support for Japan’s recently released National Security Strategy, its presidency of the G-7, and its term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” the White House said in a Jan. 3 statement detailing the summit schedule.

It added that the two leaders “will celebrate the unprecedented strength of the U.S.-Japan Alliance and will set the course for their partnership in the year ahead.”

Kishida is scheduled to depart on Jan. 9 and tour France, Italy, Great Britain and Canada before visiting the White House.

Kishida said he hopes to demonstrate strong leadership as the host of the Group of Seven Summit in Hiroshima in May.

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