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With U.S. President Barack Obama bound for Japan in April, political observers are focused on whether the two governments can move past a disagreement over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's contentious visit to war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in December.
The White House announced Obama's trip to four Asian countries, also including South Korea, amid uncertainties surrounding China's bid to expand its maritime presence in East and Southeast Asia and North Korea's nuclear threat.