President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos join Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his spouse Ishiba Yoshiko during the welcome ceremony at the Kalayaan Hall,  Malacañang Palace, in Manila. Yummie Dingding, PPA Pool

MANILA (UPDATED) -- Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru on Tuesday arrived in the Philippines for a 2-day visit, marking his first official bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has been active in forging closer ties with nations that can help the Philippines push back against China's aggression in the South China Sea.

Marcos Jr. described his Japanese counterpart's visit to Manila as "timely" as their two countries "mark the 10th year of our strengthened strategic partnership" and year ahead of the "70th year of the normalization of our diplomatic ties."

"Your timely visit highlights the stability, harmony, mutual respect, and immense benefit that we bring to each other. Signs that we are indeed in the golden age of our relations," he said.

"I am looking forward to our talks today spanning economic cooperation and development, strong people-to-people ties, and defense and security relationships," he said.

"I hope our discussions today will further help us in our common pursuit of peace, security, and prosperity for all."

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Ishiba also thanked Marcos Jr. for inviting him to visit the Philippines, noting that he last visited the southeast Asian country 25 years ago, when he was still serving as Japan's state minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

"The Philippines and Japan are neighbors connected by the ocean and we are also an ally of the United States," the Japanese leader said.

"Our two countries are bound by fundamental values including the rule of law as well as shared challenges in the area of security, economy and disaster prevention," he said.

"We need to be fully prepared and work together in case of natural disasters."

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Ishiba rose to power in 2024. His visit comes after Japan's Defense, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ministers traveled to the Philippines earlier this year as a "testament to the importance" of the two countries' relations.

"The summit meeting with President Marcos will involve discussions on various matters, some of which relate to national security cooperation and maritime law enforcement cooperation," Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya said in an earlier statement.

"These include the Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement, signed during the 2+2 Meeting last July 2024 and currently being prepared to enter into force, the transfer of air surveillance radar systems, and the Official Security Assistance extended by Japan to the Philippines," he said.

"To further these cooperative aspects, we look forward to opportunities to deepen collaborations in such areas as logistics and information."

Last year, Japan and the United States pledge to pour in billions of dollars to fund the a "corridor of investments" in Luzon, the largest island group of the Philippines.

Manila, Tokyo and Washington had also discussed ways on how to curb Beijing's incursions in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where trillions-worth of seaborne goods pass through annually.

"The topic of international affairs will also be discussed, especially since cooperation between Japan and the Philippines in achieving a Free and Open Indo-Pacific has grown its importance in recent years," Endo said.

"The discussions will further promote our security and defense cooperation in order to maintain and strengthen rules-based international order and enhance collaborations on various matters," he said.

Ishiba is the second Japanese prime minister to have visited the Philippines under Marcos Jr.'s term. His visit also comes ahead of the 2 countries' 70th anniversary of the normalization of relations next year.

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