Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya is arranging to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president on January 20, a government source said, as the Asian country rushes to build ties with the incoming administration in its most important ally.
The trip is apparently intended to lay the groundwork for talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump after he is sworn in for a second term as US leader. The Japanese government has received an invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony, the source said.
Japan is traditionally represented at US presidential inaugurations by its ambassador to Washington, the source said.
When he visits the United States, Iwaya plans to explore the possibility of talking to Senator Marco Rubio, who is nominated to be US secretary of state and is awaiting Senate confirmation.
While it is not customary for foreign leaders to attend the swearing-in ceremony of a US president, Trump has extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping, new White House press secretary Carolina Leavitt revealed last month.
Instead of Xi, China will send a high-level envoy to the inauguration, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, calling it an unprecedented move designed to ease tensions between the two countries at the start of a new US administration.
Among the Group of Seven industrial powers, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday that she had been invited and would consider attending the event if her schedule allowed.
Ishiba, meanwhile, said he intended to meet Trump “at the most appropriate time and in the appropriate format,” without giving a specific timeframe.
Government sources said he expected to meet with the Republican president at that time or later.
Japanese lawmaker Satsuki Katayama told reporters on Friday that she planned to attend the inauguration after being offered the opportunity late last year by Senator William Hagerty, who was the US ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term.
A member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councilors said she also attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. Katayama also said she had consulted with Ishiba and others about her upcoming trip to the United States.
Ishiba had considered meeting Trump in person in November, when he returned to Japan from a trip to South America. That did not happen, however, because, according to the Japanese government, Trump’s side cited legal restrictions that prevent the new president from meeting foreign leaders before his inauguration.
Trump, however, has since spoken with other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Ishiba had also wanted to travel to the United States in mid-January. That idea has been postponed, however, with some Japanese government officials insisting that a “long conversation” at an official summit after Trump takes office would be more useful, Reuters reported.
