Japan will continue to be a friend of the United States, but incoming President Barack Obama may try to approach China more to solve international issues because Beijing can more quickly effect policy, according to a noted American expert on Japan and China.

"It'll be easier to get the Chinese government to make an agreement, because when they make it, they can enforce it much more quickly," said Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II professor of social sciences, emeritus, at Harvard University.

"So on international issues, even though Japan is our ally and our friend, for a lot of problems we'll be talking more to China because they can solve issues more and they are now beginning to play a big role," Vogel said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.