Vice President Pence Writes About His Trip to Japan

It was my honor and distinct privilege to join sailors of the world’s greatest Navy aboard U.S.S Ronald Reagan in Japan on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump asked me to attend to thank our sailors for their service, who have stood up and stepped forward to protect our countries, our values and our way of life. They are the best of us—heroes all.

The United States-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of peace, prosperity and freedom in the Asia-Pacific, and let me be clear: Under President Trump, the United States stands unwavering in our alliance and unyielding in our resolve to defend all that we have built together. The United States of America will continue to protect our people and our allies and to strengthen the bonds between us—today, tomorrow and every day hence.

Meeting the crew of U.S.S. Ronald Reagan was one of the highlights of my visit to Japan.

Next, we visited with staff members and their families at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo to thank them for their service and the great work they do.

Following that stop, I met with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and leaders of the Japanese business community about the President’s economic message. Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Aso and I kicked off the U.S.-Japan economic dialogue, providing our two nations with the opportunity to deepen our bilateral economic ties—and to foster jobs, prosperity and growth on both sides of the Pacific.

I was also honored to receive the Mt. Fuji Dialogue Global Leadership Award.

Our last visit of the day was with a few softball and baseball fans. A love of baseball is one of the many things that bind American and Japanese culture, and it was great to see young people active and having fun.

That concluded our visit to Japan, and that night, we departed for our next stop: Jakarta, Indonesia.

You can get the latest updates from my visit to the Asia-Pacific region by following the hashtag #VPinASIA, @VPComDir, and @VPPressSec on social media. There is an album on my Facebook page with photos from the trip. Each morning, you can also read a recap of the previous day here on wh.gov. {eoa}