Tokyo and Washington are in final preparations for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to address Congress during a visit to the United States this spring, a Japanese government official said Saturday.
Arrangements are well underway for Abe to speak before a joint session of the U.S. Congress, something no Japanese prime minister has ever done, the official said on condition of anonymity.
It also would be the first time a Japanese prime minister has addressed Congress since 1961, when Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda spoke before the House of Representatives. Abe's grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, addressed Congress in 1957.