"Sorry, I started a little late." During a formal meeting with U.S. President Trump on October 28, Japanese Prime Minister Sakaimi apologized at the beginning, but then the topic changed,"I was just watching baseball in President Trump's room. Now the Dodgers (played by Japanese player Shohei Otani) lead the Blue Jays 1 - 0." Trump and members of the U.S. delegation next to him laughed.
At the Guest House in Yuanchisaka, Tokyo, sanae takaichi and Trump had their first face-to-face meeting, which lasted about 40 minutes. Takaichi presented Trump with the golf club of the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Considering that Trump likes gold, he also specially presented a set of golf balls and tees plated with Kanazawa gold foil and printed with Trump's name.
Trump has established a good personal relationship with Shinzo Abe, and Takaichi boasts of being the "successor of Abe". This Japan-US summit diplomacy seems to be still going on in Abe's shadow. According to the Asahi Shimbun, Trump told Takashi that Abe often talked about her. "Before meeting, I heard a lot of excellent comments about you, and I believe Abe will be very happy for the appointment of Prime Minister Takashi."
On the same day, Japan and the United States signed two vaguely worded documents. One was a document on effectively implementing the Japan-US tariff agreement, and the other was a framework document on ensuring important minerals such as rare earths and strengthening supply chain cooperation.
Professor Zhang Yuan, Deputy Dean of the Japanese Research Institute at Nanjing University, said that the key mineral and rare-earth supply agreement signed by the United States belongs to the "long line" layout, preparing for the future to get rid of dependence on China. But in the short term, the Japanese economy is still very dependent on China, Japan will not follow the pace of the United States to compete with China.
As Takaichi Sanae said in his policy address on the 24th: "China is an important neighbor of Japan and needs to build constructive and stable bilateral relations. However, there are still some outstanding matters between the two countries in the security field."
"Pickup diplomacy" and boarding an aircraft carrier
"We are the strongest ally," Trump said at the opening of the Japan-US summit. "Japan is increasing its military strength significantly, and the United States is receiving a lot of new arms orders from Japan." He thanked Japan. Takaichi expressed the hope to work with Trump to create a "new golden age" of Japan-US alliance.
The two men talked about lunch from the meeting, then visited the US military's Yokosuka base together and boarded the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "George Washington", presenting a harmonious atmosphere to the outside world. White House Press Secretary Levitt told the media that Takashi Saami had announced that he would nominate Trump to compete for the Nobel Peace Prize.
On the evening of the 28th, in the official residence of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister said to the Japanese media: "Through frank discussion in a wide range of fields, significant results have been achieved.
Since the Trump administration took office, it has been asking Asian allies, including Japan, to increase defense spending and strengthen defense capabilities. In March this year, U.S. Defense Secretary Hagerseth bluntly said during a meeting with Japan's then-Defense Minister, Tani Nakagawa: "We want to know how Japan will act together with the United States," urging Japan to improve its defense capabilities. In June, the U.S. Department of Defense proposed that Asian allies, including Japan, increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Three days before Trump's visit, Takaichi Sanae delivered a policy speech, saying that Japan's defense system would be further strengthened: the goal of "defense expenditure accounting for 2% of GDP" originally scheduled for 2027 would be advanced to this year, and the three security documents would be revised before the end of 2026. This is undoubtedly what the United States is happy to see, but the analysis believes that there is no stable source of funds to support the increase of Japan's defense expenditure.
Japan also plans to buy more Ford F-150 pickup trucks, Reuters reported. The idea was originally proposed by Trump, who called the model a "hot car" in the United States. On the 28th, on the day of the Japan-US summit meeting, an F-150 pickup truck was parked outside the Tokyo Guesthouse for display. Sources said that because the F-150 models are too wide and have high fuel consumption and are not suitable for most Japanese drivers, these vehicles may be used for purposes such as snow sweeping operations.
Within two days of Trump's visit to Japan, the first call was made with Trump.According to the official information of the Japanese prime minister's residence, the meeting emphasized: "Strengthening the alliance between the two countries is the government's 'most priority'".
Stephen Nagi, Professor of International Relations at the International Christian University and Visiting Scholar at the Japan Institute for International Affairs, told Time magazine: “High markets must make Trump believe that Japan is a key partner in achieving the ‘Make America Great Again’ strategy.”
“A very fair deal.”
At noon on the 28th, the Japanese-U.S. leaders held a working lunch, the menu announced by the White House showed that U.S. rice and beef were presented on the table, and the vegetables and Japanese-U.S. partnership in the high-market home town of Nara County was also reflected in the lunch."
In the Japan-US trade agreement reached in September, Japan will accelerate the implementation of the “Minimum Access” rice plan, increase U.S. rice purchases by 75 percent and purchase U.S. agricultural products including corn, soybeans, fertilizers, bioethanol and other U.S. products for a total of $8 billion annually.
Previously, the two sides did not publicly discuss the specific details of the US$550 billion investment commitment. In return for the huge investment, Japan's exports will receive a 15% tariff rate, which is lower than the level Trump initially threatened to impose. At the time, there were differences in the two countries 'statements of the investment. Trump described the $550 billion as discretionary investment funds for his government, 90% of which profits are owned by the United States. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that Japan would provide a combination of investment, loans and loan guarantees, and positioned it as a measure to support Japanese companies 'projects in the United States.
Focusing on investment of US$550 billion, Japan and the United States released the "Japan-US Investment Cooperation Joint Fact List" on the 28th. The four key investment areas are: nuclear energy and other energy sources, power development for artificial intelligence (AI), AI infrastructure strengthening, and key minerals. The document pointed out that a total of eight Japanese companies expressed interest in the "formation and participation" of these projects. If the maximum investment scale of each project listed in the joint document is totaled, the total amount is approximately US$400 billion.
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryo Akazawa was asked about the first project at a press conference that day. He only said: "I hope to spend the necessary time to ensure that the project benefits both countries."
When Trump mentioned the investment during the talks, he said: "This is a very fair deal." In an interview with Nihon Keizai Shimbun on 27th, U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick stressed that the $550 billion investment and financing plan in the United States is an investment in national projects, and "Japan's risk of loss will be zero".
There are many doubts in Japan about this huge investment. According to the Asahi Shimbun, at the Japanese Senate Budget Committee held on September 12, some opposition party members raised concerns, saying that Japan's US$550 billion investment in the United States was an "inequality memorandum in the era of peace and stability."
In the memorandum on U.S. investment, it was written that “the U.S. President will choose the investment object from the list recommended by the Investment Commission”, the Investment Commission is chaired by the US Secretary of Commerce, and Japan participates in it as a member of the “Consultative Committee” that provides recommendations. The Constitutional Democratic MP, Gaomi Truth, pointed out that Japan cannot directly choose the investment object, “If you choose not to invest, will reciprocal tariffs be punished?
As part of a broader bilateral trade agreement, investment areas also include liquefied natural gas (LNG).In recent years, Japan has steadily increased its purchases of US liquefied natural gas, trying to get rid of its reliance on Australia, a major supplier, and preparing for the expiry of its long-term contract with Russia’s “Saharan-2” oil project.
On October 24, Tokyo Gas, Japan's largest city gas company, signed a preliminary agreement with the Alaska LNG project in the United States to purchase 1 million tons of LNG every year. According to a Reuters report on the 28th, a senior Japanese official said that in order to curb the rise in electricity prices, Japan hopes to continue to import Sakhalin-2 LNG because it takes only a few days to transport from Russia to Japan, while it takes about a week to transport from Alaska. Shipping from the U.S. Gulf Coast takes about a month.
Cooperation to strengthen rare earth supply chain
In another framework document signed by the Japanese and American leaders on the 28th, the two sides agreed to "support the supply of raw materials and processed key minerals and rare earths that are extremely important to domestic industries in Japan and the United States". According to the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" report, the two countries will set up a ministerial consultation mechanism to select projects jointly funded by both parties from the mining, smelting and processing of rare earths, and speed up the construction of a supply chain that gets rid of dependence on China.
According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs and Trump did not directly mention China in their public discourse on 28th, but China is responsible for more than 90% of the world's rare earth processing, which has caused both U.S. and Japan to worry about their respective mineral supply chains.
On October 28, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiangkun said that China's position on rare-earth export control policy has been clarified several times.China's relevant measures are the standardization and improvement of the export control system, in line with international practice, with the aim of betterining world peace and regional stability, and fulfilling international obligations such as non-proliferation.
According to Japanese media, the establishment of a complete supply chain for rare earth usually requires a long-term effort of 10 years per unit. Institutions such as the Japan Oceanic Research and Development Agency (JAMSTEC) will begin trial excavations of rare earth near the sea of South Island in January 2026. This will be an unprecedented challenge, and the research team plans to collect rare earth-containing mud from the ocean floor of about 5,500 meters deep, but the technical threshold is extremely high.
Earlier, the United States and Australia reached an agreement on October 20 to jointly invest billions of dollars in joint projects in key minerals, including rare earths. According to the New York Times, data from the US Center for Strategic and International Studies shows that Australia currently has 89 active rare earth exploration projects, far more than any other country. But finding geological deposits of rare earths is only the beginning. It takes years to obtain new mines and build a mine, and it takes years to establish a smelter to separate rare earth elements from ore.
This week, the United States also signed similar Rare Earth Supply Framework Memorandums with Malaysia and Thailand, respectively.The documents signed by the Japan-U.S. leaders on 28 referred to the model of documents from the United States and Australia, while the United States and Japan will promote supply chain diversification cooperation.