The Japanese and US governments are planning for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to address the US Congress during a visit to the United States this spring, Kyodo News Agency quoted a Japanese government official as saying on Saturday.
That would be the first time a Japanese prime minister has addressed Congress since 1961, when then Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda spoke before the House of Representatives. Abe's grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, also addressed the US Congress in 1957.
Final arrangements are underway for Abe to speak before a joint session of the Congress, something no Japanese prime minister has ever done, the official said on condition of anonymity.