MANILA, Philippines — When Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. arrives in Japan for a rare state visit, he will have two priorities in mind: the two Asian nations’ security cooperation given “coercion and gray-zone tactics” in the sea, and Manila’s energy security dreams in the wake of a global energy crisis caused by war in the Middle East.

The Philippine President, ahead of a scheduled state visit to Japan from May 26 to May 29, noted the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ (JSDF) recent participation in Balikatan 2026, the yearly war games between the Philippines and its treaty ally, the United States.

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“That is important because that changes the playing field, as it were. It changes it significantly. And for Japan now, I suppose you could say it is imperative that those, that new posture of Japan, we have to define it now in terms — and this is what I would seek to clarify — is to define it in terms of how it’s going to work for Japan and the Philippines bilaterally, and together, but multilaterally, together with our other friends and allies in the region. And this extends now for all the way to the Indo-Pacific,” said Marcos in an interview with Japanese media on Monday, May 18.

Marcos and his wife, First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos, are set to travel to Japan for a state visit upon the invitation of the Japanese government. State visits are the highest level of foreign visits in most countries, including Japan.

Rare state visit

Tokyo typically only hosts one state visit a year, which involves a call on Japan’s Emperor and Empress, a state banquet for the visiting heads of state, as well as a summit or meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister.

In 2025, Japan hosted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Japan did not host a state visit since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 until 2024. Prior to a worldwide lockdown due to COVID-19, the last world leader to be feted a state visit to Japan was United States President Donald Trump in his first presidential term of office.

Japan is the Philippines’ first, and for some time, only strategic partner. Manila has since expanded its web of strategic partners to include Vietnam, Australia, South Korea, and India. The latter three partnerships were signed only under Marcos, whose administration has been seeking an expansion of the Philippines’ defense and security partnerships.

Defense ties between the Philippines and Japan have been robust for years, long before the signing and eventual ratification of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which paved the way for the JSDF to engage in war games. Japan is the largest source of Official Development Assistance to the Philippines. Manila was also the first recipient of Japan’s Official Security Assistance, making it a key partner in the Philippines’ military modernization efforts.

In January 2026, the Philippines and Japan signed an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, or a framework to govern the provision of supplies between the JSDF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Energy resilience

Marcos also said Japan has “taken a more active role when it comes to the subject of energy and the energy supply.”

“We are actually very grateful to Japan because Japan has been of great assistance to us in trying to find different solutions for the supply of the different kinds of fuel. And that has become a critical part of our policy,” said Marcos.

The Philippines is among those in the region most affected by disruptions to the supply of oil and other petroleum products caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran and the subsequent closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Before the February 2026 war, Manila sourced almost all its oil from the Middle East — either crude oil from the Gulf or petroleum products processed in Asia, but also from Middle Eastern crude oil.

In April 2026, Japan announced that it would provide up to US$10 billion in assistance through the Partnership on Wide Energy and Resources Resilience (POWERR Asia).

“And we will again try to get more clarity on what the POWERR Asia system that has been proposed by Prime Minister Takaichi. What does it mean in terms of linkages between our different countries, between the Philippines and Japan, and between all of the countries in the region?” said Marcos, who as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), led an early May 2026 meeting of leaders to find a way for the bloc to better shield itself from energy supply disruptions and price fluctuations.

Marcos has been to Japan at least twice before as Philippine President — in early 2023 for an official visit and then in mid-2025 to visit the Philippine pavilion at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. – Rappler.com