Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda waves as he departs from Tokyo International Airport. [Photo:AFP]

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Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda arrived in Washington Thursday for his first visit to the United States as Japan's prime minister and U.S. President George W. Bush will host him in the White House on Friday.

During Friday's talks, the two leaders are expected to discuss the issue of more than a dozen Japanese whom Japan claimed were kidnapped by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the 1970s and 1980s.

Moreover, the two are also expected to discuss the possible U.S. move to remove the DPRK from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. Media reports said Japan has opposed to the possible U.S. move.

Japan has been a key ally of the United States in East Asia.