In his stay from Monday to Wednesday, the US president will also sign deals on critical minerals and shipbuilding, and may even be gifted some gold-plated golf balls, media reports said.
AFP looks at the main issues for the visit.
- Hosting US troops -
Tokyo is Washington's closest regional ally. A security treaty obliges the United States to defend Japan if attacked and allows US troops to be stationed there.
But Trump has said he wants Tokyo to pay more to host the around 60,000 US military personnel currently in Japan, deriding the decades-old pact as a free ride.
If the United States were attacked, Japan "doesn't have to help us at all" and is free to "watch it on a Sony television", Trump said in his first term.
Multiple sexual assaults by American troops in Japan, most infamously the 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US Marines, have angered many Japanese over the years.
- Military spending -
Long-pacifist Japan is adopting a more muscular military stance as relations with China worsen, with Beijing hardening its territorial claim to Taiwan, visible on a clear day from the nearest Japanese island.
Japan has moved to acquire "counter-strike" capabilities including Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States, and plans to deploy domestically developed, longer-range Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles to military bases.
Takaichi -- who only became prime minister last week -- said on Friday that Japan's target of spending two percent of its gross domestic product on defence would be achieved this fiscal year, two years earlier than planned.
But US officials want Japan to spend even more, potentially matching the five percent of GDP pledged by NATO members -- except Spain -- in June.
- Trade -
Most Japanese imports into the United States are subject to tariffs of 15 percent, but this is less painful than the 25 percent first threatened.
Japan's US-bound car exports slumped 24 percent in September in value terms year-on-year, a blow for an automotive sector that accounts for around eight percent of jobs in the Asian nation.
Trump is expected to dine with the chairman of carmaker Toyota and other business leaders on Wednesday evening.
Under the terms of their July trade deal, Japan is expected to invest $550 billion into the United States, according to the White House.
Japan has said though that only one to two percent of what Trump calls a "signing bonus" will be actual investment, with the rest covered by loans and loan guarantees.
Washington also wants Japan to stop buying Russian energy, to import US gas and to invest in a long-stalled pipeline project in Alaska trumpeted by the US president.
- 'Hot' pickup trucks -
Ahead of his visit, Trump praised Takaichi, Japan's first woman prime minister, noting their shared closeness to assassinated ex-premier Shinzo Abe.
"I hear great things about her," Trump said.
Abe -- who gave Trump a gold-coloured golf club that he then misplaced -- was a "just a fantastic person, and he liked her a lot, (and) she liked him a lot".
Trump wants Japan to import more American products, including rice and cars, particularly "very beautiful" Ford F-150 pickup trucks.
Japan might buy 100 of them for road and dam inspections, and display some outside the state guesthouse when Trump visits, local media said.
Takaichi "has good taste. That's a hot truck," Trump said in response to the reports.
Trump departs for Japan ahead of key China meet
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Oct 27, 2025 -
US President Donald Trump headed to Japan on Monday, the second leg of an Asia tour, in advance of a meeting with China's Xi Jinping aiming to end the bruising trade war between the world's largest economies.
Washington and Beijing sounded hopeful notes at the weekend over the chances of sealing a deal, which helped on Monday to push Japan's Nikkei above 50,000 points for the first time.
Trump is expected to land in Tokyo in time for an evening appointment with the Emperor of Japan, before a meeting on Tuesday with the nation's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
The US leader said he had heard "great things about her" and hailed the fact that she was an acolyte of assassinated former premier Shinzo Abe, with whom Trump had close ties.
Takaichi said she told Trump ahead of the meeting that strengthening the Japan-US alliance was her administration's "top priority on the diplomatic and security front".
Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are "ripping off the United States".
- 'Going to be great ' -
The trip, Trump's first in the region since returning to office, kicked off in Malaysia on Sunday with a flurry of agreements.
That included rewarding neighbours Cambodia and Thailand with trade agreements after co-signing their ceasefire pact, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur.
He also agreed was a trade and minerals deal with Malaysia, and moves to mend fences with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after months of bad blood.
"I think we'll be able to do some pretty good deals," Trump told the leftist leader.
Trump squeezed in a meeting with Qatar's leaders during a refuelling stop on the way to Malaysia, where they discussed the fragile truce in Gaza.
It was Trump's first visit as president to Kuala Lumpur, where his flight was escorted by two Malaysian F-18 jets, before a red carpet welcome where he gave his trademark arm-waving dance.
The greatest prize for Trump remains a China deal.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's Vice Premier He Lifeng had already held two days of trade talks, seeking an agreement to avoid additional 100 percent tariffs due to come into effect on November 1.
China's vice commerce minister, Li Chenggang, said a "preliminary consensus" had been reached.
Bessent told ABC that the extra tariffs had been averted, and signalled a deal on rare earths and American soybean exports had been reached.
"It's going to be great for China, great for us," Trump told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
- 'Open' to meet -
The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, where Trump will meet Xi for the first time since returning to office.
Trump is due in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
Global markets will be watching closely to see if the meeting with Xi on Thursday can halt the trade war sparked by Trump's sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing's rare earth curbs.
Trump has also added to speculation that he could meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while on the Korean peninsula, saying he was "open to it".
The two leaders last met in 2019 at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the border area separating the two Koreas.
South Korea's reunification minister has said there is a "considerable" chance that Trump and Kim will meet.
Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US president if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.
burs-pjm/jm
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