When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with President Barack Obama on Friday in Washington, he will be seeking to press not one but three reset buttons. The United States has a big stake in at least two of his goals — and it's within Obama's power to help realize them.
Abe hopes to put back on track a U.S.-Japan relationship frayed by political instability in his country, which has rotated prime ministers every year since 2006.
He hopes to kick-start Japan's economy, transforming the country from aging, ailing ex-champion to dynamic contributor to the coming Pacific century.