When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travels to the U.S. next month for a meeting with President Barack Obama, he will find new secretaries of state and defense.
Democratic Sen. John Kerry, nominated by Obama to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as the top U.S. diplomat, is expected to easily win Senate confirmation after his hearing starts later this week. Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, an Obama confidant, is the more controversial appointee as Pentagon chief. His confirmation hearing will be held late next week, but will be far more contentious than Kerry's.
The direction Kerry and Hagel would set for the U.S.-Japan relationship is unclear.