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President Donald Trump heads to Tokyo on Friday for the second time in his presidency on an official state visit that's tied to the enthronement of the new Japanese emperor.

He and first lady Melania Trump are the first state guests of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, following his father's early abdication.

The U.S. president hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and give a Memorial Day speech to troops stationed at an American naval base in Yokosuka before he and Melania return to Washington. 

Over the long weekend, Trump will be the guest of honor at cultural events intended to flatter the visiting leader - including a sumo wrestling tournament where he'll present the winner with a prize – and showcase the strength of the nations' friendship.

At the naval base he is expected to inspect one of Japan's largest warships, the JS Kaga, which is being fitted out as what will be effectively the country's first aircraft carrier since 1945. 

'As Japan's first state guests following the enthronement of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito on the first of May, this visit by the President comes really at a historic moment in Japan and it demonstrates that the alliance between the United States and Japan has never been stronger,' a senior White House official told press in advance of the first couple's visit.

President Donald Trump heads to Tokyo on Friday for the second time in his presidency on an official state visit that's tied to the enthronement of the new Japanese emperor

Mongolian Tamawashi (L) and ozeki Takayasu (R) compete on day seven of the Grand Sumo May Tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan on May 17, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. Trump and Abe will attend the final day of the tournament this weekend

The U.S. president says he will give the winner of the tournament a prize, which is not being referred to informally in Japan as the Trump Cup

Japan's new Emperor Naruhito (L) and Empress Masako (R) wave to well-wishers during their first appearance after ascension at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on May 4. They'll host Donald and Melania Trump as their first state guests next week

Firepower: Trump is expected to inspect the JS Kaga, a helicopter carrier which is to become the Japanese naval defense force's first full-scale aircraft carrier since World War II 

'The alliance serves as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region,' the U.S. official added. 'The United States' and Japan's shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific serves as the foundation for a global partnership that strengthens security, prosperity, and a rules-based order around the world.'

Touchy topics like regional security and trade are not on the agenda, however.

Little heavy lifting is anticipated on the visit that precedes the meatier gathering of leaders of the world's largest economies next month.

'I think that it's going to be a very kind of cordial, though kind of staged moment,' said Annika Culver, associate professor of East Asian history at Florida State University. 

'I doubt there's going to be anything really kind of accomplished, but these kind of important continuance or feeling of positive relations.' 

The American president's trade war with China and his desire to enter into an economic agreement with Japan have been put on the back burner.

'I don't think that the purpose of this trip is to focus on trade. It's really to be state guests of Their Majesties. And that's really the heart of the visit,' the U.S. official who spoke to press said. 'It's a celebration of their new roles and this new era that's been kicked off -- the Reiwa era -- and a chance to celebrate the alliance.' 

Trump will return to Japan in June for the convening of Group of 20 leaders that's taking place this year in Osaka.

He says he'll have summits with China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the annual event and travel to South Korea while he's in the region to meet with President Moon Jae-in.

Trump is set to acknowledge the strained relations with North Korea while he is in Japan in his Memorial Day address, the senior aide to the president indicated. 

The official said Trump would 'talk about the importance of the alliance in deterring aggression in the region,' in what appeared to be a reference to Pyongyang's recent missile test. 

Abe has invited Trump to inspect the JS Kaga, the country's second-largest warship. It is currently a helicopter carrier but it is to be equipped with F-35B strike fighters, making it effectively the country's first aircraft carrier since the end of World War II.

The Kaga's namesake was sunk in the Battle of Midway in 1942. 

Japan is investing heavily in its self-defense forces over fears of Chinese and North Korean incursions.

The country's constitution forbids it from re-militarizing but allows self-defense forces, and Abe's administration has stepped up defense spending.

The symbolic nature of a fully-equipped aircraft carrier is seen as a powerful statement by the Japanese government. 

Yokosuka is currently home to the U.S. Navy's Carrier Strike Group Five, whose flagship is the Nimitz-class nuclear-power aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan.

Abe and Trump have only a small window set aside for business during Trump's five-day trip to Japan. Their likely to play golf on Sunday, the U.S. president's first full day in Tokyo, and the next night Abe will host the president and first lady at a black-tie dinner.

Trump has held only one state visit in his presidency last April when he hosted French President Emmanuel Macron. He has cut back significantly on the extravagant events compared with his predecessors.

He's offered other unique experience to world leaders he wants to impress. 

U.S. President Donald Trump (C, L) and first lady Melania Trump arrive at U.S. Yokota Air Base in the suburbs of Tokyo on Nov. 5, 2017 on their first visit to Japan

It was also a state visit. They are seen here with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko prior to their meeting at the Imperial Palace on November 6, 2017. Akhito has since abdicated

The Japanese prime minister had a hat made for Trump during the visit that plays on his campaign slogan

Abe allowed Trump to help him feed his fish before a joint news conference at Akaska Palace

Policemen stand guard near the U.S. embassy ahead of the U.S. president's visit to Tokyo

Abe visited Trump in Washington less than a month ago to attend a birthday celebration for Melania Trump. He golfed with the U.S. president before he returned to Tokyo.

Trump hosted a U.S.-Japan summit for Abe last year at his Palm Beach resort. The leaders also golfed together then.

The senior official who briefed press on the Tokyo trip said the frequency of Trump's contact with Abe 'is really emblematic of just how close the relationship is' between the two leaders.

'That is absolutely unprecedented in terms of just of the frequency and substance of all of their interactions,' the official stressed.

By the White House's count, they have met or spoken more than 40 times since Trump's election in November of 2016. Abe was the first world leader to meet with Trump after he won the contest, flying to New York to present him with a gold golf driver.

Abe's grand gesture made an impression on Trump, who mentioned it during his state dinner toast during his last trip to Japan.

'He actually brought me the most beautiful golf club I've ever seen. It was a driver that's totally gold,' he said. 'It is the most beautiful weapon I've ever seen.'

Washington College Professor and 'Japan's Security Renaissance' author Andrew Oros credits the gift and the continent-crossing venture with Abe and Trump's tight-knit relationship.

'The early outreach from Prime Minster Abe was tremendously successful,' he said.

Oros said a trade battle with Japan has mostly been 'put off' while Trump goes toe-to-toe with China on its practices, in spite of a $67.6 billion deficit.

'It's just sort of simmered along,' Oros said of the imbalance Trump has complained about between Japan and the United States. 

Oros said that's exactly the way the Japanese planned it. 'Japan would be happy if these trade negotiations just disappeared,' he told DailyMail.com.

He said of the possibility for trade talks in Tokyo: 'No one thinks there's going to be any serious discussions.'

Abe will fill Trump's time instead with cultural activities such as the sumo tournament, where the leaders will be seated in chairs that are being brought into the Ryogoku Kokugikan just for Trump. 

Sumo watchers with floor-level seats near the dirt ring typically enjoy the martial art that only men can compete in on Japanese sitting mattresses. But Trump and Abe will sit in chairs at the event, News Post Seven reported. 

The U.S. president is also expected to present the victor of the 15-day competition with a massive cup.  

The accommodations are a testament to Abe's commitment to staying in the good graces of the American president who can rally an army of social media users and move markets with his Twitter account in a moment's notice. 

Abe lured Trump back to Japan with an invitation to meet Emperor Naruhito before any other world leader.   

'And I said, 'Gee, I don't know if I can make it. Let me ask you a question: How big is that event compared to the Superbowl for the Japanese?' ' Trump recalled during Abe's most recent White House visit. 'And the Prime Minister said, 'It's about 100 times bigger.' I said, 'I'll be there. If that's the case, I'll be there.''

Naruhito will not be formally enthroned until a ceremony in October, but the offer to meet him a month into his reign was enough to summon Trump. 

'Isn't it 130 some-odd years that it's happened? It's a very unusual — it's a very unusual thing,' Trump told Abe in April of Akihito's abdication. 'And you're talking about reigning through blood for over 3,000 years — the longest in the world. So it's a very, very big event.'

Abe told him it had actually been 200 years since a living Japanese emperor stepped down.  

'Well, that's really nice. And that's an honor on behalf of our country, not just the First Lady and myself. So we really do look forward to that,' Trump replied. 'And I think, on a little bit lighter note, we will also be going, perhaps, to a sumo wrestling match. I've always found that fascinating.'

He said, So, in fact, we're having a trophy made in this country. We're going to give the trophy to the winner of the championship. So that should be good.'

Jim Schoff, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointed to the comments and said the visit is a missed opportunity for the American president.

'I don't sense that Trump is going into this with a strategy of what he wants to get out of it, he's kind of just going for the trip. There's no real political benefit for him.'

Schiff said Abe is 'desperate to avoid' an in-depth conversation on trade, and Trump is playing right into it. 'We could have a lot more substance here, and unfortunately, I don't expect a lot to come out of it.'

On the call with press before the president's visit, the U.S. official previewing the trip said characterizations of the trip as lacking in substance were wrong.

'I don't want to give the impression that it won't be substantive. It's going to cover quite a broad range of topics in the relationship. There will be some substantive things to announce. So there will be ceremony but there will also be substance in this visit,' the official insisted.

Washington College's Oros said Trump's trip on its own provides valuable insight into his relationship with Abe and the closeness of the U.S. and Japan. 

'If Japan were not as important to the U.S. as it is, he would just meet with Abe then,' Oros told DailyMail.com. 'In part, that's because President Trump and his advisers really do understand that the alliance with Japan is a critical linchpin to relations with China.'