Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is making arrangements to visit the United States as a state guest in early March at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, sources said Monday.
Tokyo and Washington will finalize Kishida's itinerary by factoring in the schedules of Japan's parliament and the U.S. Congress, as well as global political issues, according to the sources.
If realized, Kishida would become the first Japanese political leader to visit the United States as a state guest since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did so in 2015 during the administration of then-President Barack Obama.
When Kishida and Biden met in November in San Francisco on the sidelines of an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit, the U.S. president invited the prime minister to visit the United States as a state guest in early 2024.
Japan and the United States are seeking to schedule Kishida's trip for as soon as possible, considering that Biden will become increasingly busy with the U.S. presidential election scheduled for November 2024, the sources said.
Kishida, whose popularity has plunged in part due to a political fundraising scandal involving his Liberal Democratic Party, may be hoping that the envisioned visit, which may involve a congressional speech, will help boost support for his Cabinet, pundits have said.