The first Japan-U.S. talks held in parallel with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade initiative ended Friday in Tokyo, setting the stage for further discussions on more specific issues.

Since this was the inaugural round, the two sides basically stated their positions and tried to establish the issues to focus on from the next discussions, said Takeo Mori, ambassador for economic diplomacy and head of the Japanese delegation.

"We haven't come to a point where we've already found common ground or reached agreement on certain fields," Mori told reporters.