On Wednesday, Rutte was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The visit was made as US President Donald Trump pressed other NATO members, whose membership is primarily German, to boost their military spending.
Trump also wants the allies in Asia to strengthen their military bases to challenge China and halt North Korea.
” The US wants NATO to be more active ( in the region ).” In the meeting with the Japan Times, Rutte said,” Not in terms of Article 5 but in terms of projecting strength and having each other’s backs within NATO.”
In accordance with NATO’s Article 5, all other countries may view an assault on any representative nation as an attack on all and act accordingly.
In recent years, their rulers have been attending NATO conferences, and NATO has taken steps to strengthen relationships with Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand- the so-called IP4- in recent years.
Rutte stated to the Japan Times last week that NATO wanted to raise the bar for information sharing and cooperation between the defence and industry.
The Dutchman, who became NATO’s chief in October, said,” We have to walk beyond… combined statements.”
Japan and other European nations have increased their military ties, and Tokyo and the European Union announced a new security and defense collaboration in November.