Politics & Government

Adviser to Japan PM Ishiba Meets with U.S. Lawmakers

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Akihisa Nagashima

iji Press

12:55 JST, November 26, 2024

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Akihisa Nagashima, special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, held talks with U.S. Congress members and others during his visit to Washington between Wednesday and Sunday, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Among the lawmakers were Sen. William Hagerty, who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan during the first administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and Michael McCaul, chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, the ministry said.

According to Nagashima, the series of talks covered issues such as ways to ensure the reliability of the U.S. extended deterrence, joint development of defense equipment by the United States and Japan, and the maintenance of trilateral cooperation among the two nations and South Korea.

“We think that we will be able to share with the incoming Trump administration the recognition about the increasingly severe security environment in the Indo-Pacific region and the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said of the U.S. visit by Nagashima.

“We will continue communicating” with the Trump side, Hayashi also said at a press conference.