U.S. President Barack Obama has spoken by telephone with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, making "deep commitment" to the Japan-U.S. alliance, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Thursday.
"President Obama said he looked forward to an early meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister," Gibbs said of the "substantive and wide-ranging" telephone talks on Wednesday night in a statement.
Japan is one of major U.S. allies in Asia.
Obama, who took the office on Jan. 20, has held telephone talks with leaders of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Canada, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Russia, France and Germany.