Tokyo Report | Diplomacy | East Asia

The Japan-US Summit: Takaichi’s Impossible Task

Japan was prepared for a successful summit. Then the U.S. bombed Iran, and Trump demanded Japan send ships to the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae to deliver remarks to Yokosuka Naval troops aboard the USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan on Oct. 28, 2025.

On March 19, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae will face President Donald Trump at the White House. Her summit meeting with Trump will be the biggest foreign policy challenge for her to date. She must successfully execute a seemingly impossible task – walking out of the meeting with Trump and being able to call the summit a “success” when she and Trump has serious disagreements over approaches to Iran.   

A “successful” summit was clearly within her grasp. Her trade minister, Ryosei Akazawa, has been busy shuttling back and forth, finalizing the agreement on the first tranche of  Japan’s investments in the United States in sectors that are critical for the two countries’ economic security and supply chain resiliency, including AI data centers, energy infrastructure, and artificial diamonds. Takaichi also plans to “deliver” 250 cherry blossom trees from Japan as a gift to celebrate America’s 250th birthday the day before the opening of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington. Most importantly, she will face Trump as a “big winner,” following her landslide victory in the lower house election in February.  

Then, the unthinkable happened – the United States, in a joint operation with Israel, launched an offensive against Iran on February 28. Despite Trump’s repeated claims that the U.S. is “ahead of schedule” in its military campaign against Iran, and the war will over “soon,” the fighting continues, now entering in its third week.  

The global oil market faces grave disruption as Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran keeps up with its attack against oil facilities in the Gulf countries. Gasoline price are surging worldwide, putting additional economic pressure on consumers – many of whom have been struggling with inflation, including the United States and Japan.  

The conflict, which started as a “war of choice” by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is beginning to look like a “war of necessity” to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Desperate to reign in on oil prices, Trump called on U.S. allies to send their naval assets to escort oil tankers. Japan was among the countries Trump specifically named, along with England, Australia and South Korea.  

This is a deja vu moment for Japan. In 1991, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the United States, then under the Bush administration, put together a multinational force to support Kuwait and repel the Iraqi invasion. Japan was asked to participate in the multinational coalition force, but it opted not to send the Self-Defense Force (SDF) while the military operation continued. Instead, it contributed over $900 billion to support the multinational coalition forces and the war-affected countries in the Gulf region.   

At the time, Japan was criticized for its unwillingness........

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