Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan Saturday sought US President Barack Obama's assurance on defence in the Asia-Pacific region, dpa reported.
Tokyo's territorial disputes with China and Russia are becoming high priorities for Kan, who told Obama through a translator, "The US military presence is only becoming more important."
Meeting ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama, the two also discussed clean energy, including rare earth elements whose supply is dominated by China,
US and Japanese experts are slated to "discuss policies on the development and deployment of clean energy technologies, including electric vehicles, transformative energy, peaceful nuclear energy ... and rare earth elements," a document released after the meeting said.