Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Jan. 24 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will underscore Japan’s security and economic contributions to the United States to fend off unreasonable demands at his first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ishiba huddled with senior administration officials at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence on Feb. 1-2 to discuss Japan’s strategies for the summit to be held in Washington on Feb. 7.

Dozens of bureaucrats from the foreign, defense and trade ministries were summoned in turn.

Administration officials are concerned that an unpredictable Trump may make harsh demands.

The dominant theme was how Ishiba can explain Japan’s contributions to the United States to Trump in an easy-to-understand manner, sources said.

“We must present our arguments as simply as possible,” one participant said.

Another said, “We must communicate how vital ties with Japan are to national security.”

A document prepared for the meeting listed benefits from trade with Japan, as well as Japan’s response to a potential U.S. request to further boost defense spending, the sources said.

“I have learned that things will only become worse if we talk more about difficult issues,” Ishiba said during the Feb. 1 session.

A defense expert, Ishiba intends to reaffirm the importance of a strong Japan-U.S. security alliance with Trump, who labeled the bilateral security treaty “unfair” during his first term, sources said.

Ishiba is expected to explain Japan’s decision to increase defense spending to 2 percent of its gross domestic product and government plans to play a bigger role and shoulder a greater burden in the security alliance.

“I want to tell (Trump) how important a role Japan is playing in terms of security for the United States,” Ishiba has told an aide.

Ishiba also plans to seek U.S. reassurance that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which stipulates the U.S. obligation to defend Japan, applies to the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The uninhabited islets are administered as part of Okinawa Prefecture but are claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands.

Ishiba will also seek a U.S. pledge to cooperate in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s.

On the economic front, Ishiba intends to emphasize that Japan is the world’s top investor in the United States and that Japanese companies have created 1 million jobs in the country, sources said.

At a Lower House Budget Committee session on Feb. 3, the prime minister pointed out that Japan’s investments in the United States over the past five years are tops in the world.

The government is also considering expanding imports of liquefied natural gas from the United States.

“It is a reasonable option among items that Japan can purchase,” a government official said.

Administration officials remain guarded about Trump, however.

“You never can tell what Trump will say until you meet him,” an aide to Ishiba cautioned. “It all depends on how things play out.”

But Ishiba voiced optimism, referring to the friendly relationship that Shinzo Abe, his predecessor during the first Trump administration, forged with the mercurial U.S. president.

“I have been told that Trump is a better listener than one might think,” Ishiba said during the Feb. 3 Lower House Budget Committee session. “In a meeting, he reportedly listened to Abe 70 to 80 percent of the time.

“By any chance, we may also have good chemistry.”

(This article was compiled from reports by Kohei Morioka, Doni Tani and Taro Kotegawa.)

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