Japan's prime minister wants to strengthen defense alliance with “very friendly” Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Thursday he had agreed with US President-elect Donald Trump in a phone call to strengthen the alliance of nations after the tycoon's victory sent defense stocks soaring.

Trump's “America First” approach could mean Washington gets less money for Asia-Pacific security, analysts say – and investors are betting on Japan to expand its own military capabilities.

Key allies Japan and the United States are each the top foreign investors, and 54,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Japan, mostly in Okinawa, east of Taiwan.

Ishiba, who took office just over a month ago, said he and Trump hoped to organize an in-person meeting “as soon as possible,” describing the president-elect as “very friendly.”

“He is the kind of person I can talk openly with,” Ishiba told reporters.

“I would like to have active discussions on strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance from various perspectives, including specific equipment, operations and integration, not just from a financial perspective,” he added.

Shares of Japanese defense contractor IHI rose nearly 20 percent on Wednesday as Trump's victory appeared certain, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rose nearly 10 percent.

The expectation is that “Trump will ask his allies to do more and spend more to defend himself,” said Claudia Junghyun Kim, an assistant professor of international affairs at the City University of Hong Kong.

Japan is already in the process of doubling its military spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP.

“This pressure from Trump doesn't exactly contradict Ishiba's hope of increasing defense spending,” Kim told AFP, and it “should be good news for Japan's defense industry.”

– Railway enthusiast –

The last time Trump won a U.S. election in 2016, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet the president-elect at his Manhattan skyscraper.

Japanese media said Ishiba could arrange a trip to the United States around the time he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru this month.

“On a personal level, Ishiba could be in a difficult position” if he meets Trump, Daisuke Kawai, deputy director of the University of Tokyo's economic security research program, told AFP.

“Ishiba is a train enthusiast who doesn't like golf or social dinners, and unlike Abe, he isn't particularly adept at engaging in social or entertaining conversation. This could mean that they don’t have good chemistry personally.”

Both Ishiba and Trump perceive the US-Japan alliance as unequal – but in opposite directions – so “it may be difficult to initiate productive discussions,” Kawai added.

Ishiba led his ruling coalition to a catastrophic majority loss in snap elections last month.

He is expected to lead a minority government or expand the coalition to include other parties.

Japan and the EU announced a comprehensive new security and defense pact on Friday.

Kawai said it was important for Tokyo to build a defense ecosystem “that generates profits through joint production with other countries.”

Japan, which has relied on the United States for military equipment for decades, is currently developing a new fighter jet with EU member states Italy and Britain that will be in the air by 2035.

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