Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Monday with new Brazilian President Michel Temer to discuss strengthening ties between the two countries.
They were expected to discuss how Brazil, home to the biggest overseas community of Japanese descendents, prepared for the recent Olympics in Rio de Janeiro given Tokyo is next to host the Summer Games, according to a Japanese official.
The meeting, in the Chinese city of Hangzhou on the fringes of this year's summit of the Group of 20 major economies, marked the first meeting between Japanese and Brazilian leaders in about two years.
Abe was also expected to discuss with Temer reforming the U.N. Security Council and the serious economic slump in Brazil.
Japan and Brazil have been working with India and Germany, forming what they call the Group of Four, to seek representation as permanent members on an enlarged Security Council.
Temer's predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, the country's first female president, was impeached last week by a Senate vote after being accused of manipulating government accounts to disguise a huge budget deficit.
Temer, a former vice president, will serve out the remainder of Rousseff's term through 2018.