Latin America on Japan's radar

Both in terms of its market and its energy, Brazil - home to some 2 million Japanese Brazilians - is the most important leg of Abe's visit. Japan wants to have a hand in the Latin American country's offshore oil development and infrastructure projects such as ports, roads and railways so as to secure stable imports of grain.

Japan has conducted no active diplomacy in the region for quite some time. In fact, Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit the region in a decade. The Japan International Cooperation Agency provided just $450 million to the region in 2012 - less than half of that received by Africa and a fraction of the $5.7 billion in the overseas development aid destined for Southeast Asia that year.

Now Abe is trying to secure trade and investment partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean to help stimulate Japan's economic recovery and he is hoping to secure support to help him boost Japan's role on the world stage.

Trinidad and Tobago was an important stop where Abe had a summit meeting with the leaders of 14 Caribbean countries on Monday, an encounter that tested his diplomatic charm offensive. In October 2015, the United Nations will elect new nonpermanent members to the UN Security Council for a two-year term starting in January 2016, and one of Abe's goals for this tour is to secure support for Japan being granted one of the seats.

Abe sees official development assistance as the most influential tool to gain votes, and has decided to provide the middle-income countries that are important to this strategic aid even though they have "graduated" from ODA programs.

During his meeting with the Caribbean leaders, Abe announced that their countries could be Japanese ODA recipients despite their economic growth.

Japan is also trying to persuade Bangladesh to abandon its bid to become a nonpermanent Security Council member, which would make Japan the only candidate from the Asia-Pacific. Abe is expected to visit Bangladesh in September to make his appeal in person.

As tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have risen, the Abe administration has stepped up his diplomatic efforts to drive wedges between China and other countries. Abe and his high-ranking officials have made no secret of this.

A strong nationalist, Abe lifted the 70-year ban on July 1 on Japanese troops fighting alongside allies overseas. This has not been well received within Japan and abroad.

So he has turned his overseas trips into sales trips to help sell his Cabinet's decision to reinterpret Japan's constitution to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.

The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn