From Saturday to Monday, Foreign Minister Taro Kono was on a brief Southeast Asian tour to both Brunei and Singapore. Beyond the bilateral and regional issues Kono touched on during both legs of his visit, it was also a demonstration of the emphasis Japan is placing on Southeast Asia as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations within the broader context of its own Indo-Pacific strategy.
Japan's Indo-Pacific strategy
Despite the current focus around U.S. President Donald Trump's articulation of an Indo-Pacific strategy, the concept is not new or unique to the United States. The concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific strategy is also not new in the Japanese context, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe being a staunch advocate of it dating back to his previous tenure as prime minister from 2006 to 2007.