Japanese government officials are faced with a challenging question: when to begin the work of clearing up misunderstandings caused by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's remarks about bilateral relations?

On the campaign trail seeking the Republican Party's presidential nomination Trump criticized Japan, along with China and Mexico, saying Tokyo has deliberately lowered the yen's value against the dollar, making American products less competitive and hurting U.S. employment.

Bringing jobs back from Japan and other countries has become his signature phrase to please the crowds. The 69-year-old billionaire businessman also claims the 1960 bilateral security treaty is unfair as it only obliges the United States to defend Japan.