After arriving from a visit to Vietnam, Obama joined Abe ahead of a Group of Seven summit at a joint news conference.
The US president is set to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, site of the world’s first atomic bombing, on Friday, after attending the G7 summit.
Both governments are hoping the Hiroshima visit will showcase a strong alliance between the former wartime foes.
Concerns about the health of the global economy will top the agenda at the G7 summit, although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by.
“I want to make this a summit at which the G7 sends a clear, strong message to respond to all situations and contribute to the sustainable, strong growth of the world economy,” Abe told reporters earlier.
The G7 leaders are expected to promote a combination of monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends on Friday, government sources told Reuters.
With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Abe is set to urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy, taking into account each country’s own situation, the sources said. In addition, the G7 leaders were expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market.
Summit topics also include terrorism, refugees, trade, cyber security and maritime security, including China’s assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations.
The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Source: Extracted from a Reuters report, May 25, 2016