When U.S. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday that the two were meeting ※at a remarkable moment in our alliance,§ he left little room for doubt that the U.S.-Japan alliance has hit a high-water mark.

※Rather than figuring out how we can work more closely together, a more difficult job would be trying to figure out how and where we disagree,§ Biden said just ahead of his summit with Kishida.

※I don*t think there*s ever been a time when we*ve been closer to Japan,§ he added.