BERLIN - Berlin and Tokyo are arranging for Chancellor Friedrich Merz to make his first visit as leader to Japan in late October for talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expected to focus on security, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.
The discussions in Tokyo are likely to cover drone development and deeper cooperation on defense, the source said, as the countries eye risks in Europe from Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the effects of the war in the Middle East and an increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Merz, who assumed office in May 2025, is expected to visit Japan around Oct. 28, the source said, before traveling to South Korea on Oct. 29, where he plans to attend a forum on German business in the Asia Pacific.
Germany, which has been boosting its defense capabilities in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, is eyeing greater cooperation with Japan as it views European and Indo-Pacific security as inseparable, amid concern that China and North Korea are supporting Russia's war effort.
Under Takaichi, a national security hawk who became Japan's first female prime minister in October last year, the country is seeking to accelerate its defense buildup in response to a worsening security environment in East Asia.
Cooperation between Japanese and European firms on drone technology is gaining momentum, with major Japanese defense equipment contractor Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. saying in late June it has reached a memorandum of understanding with a subsidiary of Airbus SE, Europe's largest aerospace firm, on development of defensive drones.
