Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Saturday agreed to hold a summit in Tokyo in or around December next year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their relationship, a Japanese official said.
Kishida and his counterparts from ASEAN also pledged to deepen their cooperative ties when they met in Phnom Penh, according to the official.
Japan has been trying to boost relations with ASEAN at a time when some of its members are increasingly vigilant against China's assertive territorial claims in the East and South China seas.