The two countries' national anthems played and flags of the
close allies fluttered in the breeze outside the palace.
JAPAN: Donald Trump on Monday became the first foreign
leader to meet with Japan's newly enthroned Emperor Naruhito -- an honour Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe hopes will help charm the US president when it comes to
thorny trade talks.
The palace visit in the morning, followed by a royal banquet
in the evening, was the main event in a feel-good trip that started Saturday
and has seen Abe and Trump playing golf, eating out, watching sumo and
generally enjoying an all-Japanese weekend.
Dining with Abe and their wives at a typical Tokyo grill
restaurant on Sunday, Trump said he "had a great time" and was
looking forward to meeting Naruhito, who took the Chrysanthemum Throne only
three weeks ago, after his father stepped down in the first abdication in two
centuries.
"Tomorrow is really the main event -- a very important
event in the history of Japan. It's over 200 years since something like this
has happened. So it's a great honour to be representing the United
States," Trump said.
After calling on Naruhito in the morning, Trump and his
avowed close friend Abe will meet for summit talks and have lunch, before
holding a press conference.
On Sunday, they grinned for a selfie and praised each
other's golf game. Before the dinner, Abe also accompanied Trump to a sumo tournament
where the US president presented a gigantic trophy, brought from the United
States, to the champion wrestler.
Abe hopes those good vibes will spread into talks on trade,
military ties, the stumbling efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons
programme, and a growing superpower rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
Within an hour of touching down in Tokyo, Trump railed
against what he sees as a trade imbalance between the world's top and
third-largest economies and vowed to make the relationship "a little bit
more fair".
But on Sunday, Trump struck a softer note, saying that
"much" of that deal would wait until Abe faces upper house elections
likely in July -- as rumours swirl that the popular prime minister will combine
that vote with a snap general election.
With his trade war against China getting bogged down, Trump
won't want to rock the boat for his closest Asian ally.
Top Japanese and American trade negotiators spent more than
two hours locked in talks on Saturday night but failed to achieve a
breakthrough, although the Japanese side said there was more
"understanding" between the two sides.
'Small weapons'
On North Korea, Trump appeared to undercut his own national
security advisor, the hawkish John Bolton, by downplaying two recent
short-range missile tests by Kim which raised tensions in the region.
"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which
disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me," Trump tweeted.
"I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his
promise to me."
Before Trump landed in Tokyo, Bolton had told reporters
there was "no doubt" that the launches contravened UN Security
Council resolutions, the first time a senior US administration official has
said this.
The issue is bound to come up as the leaders meet families
of people abducted by North Korea during the Cold War era to train Pyongyang's
spies, an emotive issue in Japan that Abe has pressed Trump to raise in talks
with Kim.
The nationalist Abe himself has frequently offered to meet
Kim to solve the "abductee problem", as it is known in Japan.
On Tuesday, Trump is expected to address troops at a US base
in Japan, highlighting the military alliance between the two allies.
His visit there will underline another big US priority --
arms sales to Japan, which is considering revamping its air force with advanced
US F-35 warplanes.
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