The US Ambassador to Japan has praised outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio for his contribution to improving bilateral relations.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel visited Kishida at his office on Monday, one day before he is due to step down as prime minister. In a tribute to Kishida being a baseball player in high school, Emanuel gave him autographed jerseys of Major League stars from Japan including Ohtani Shohei of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Suzuki Seiya of the Chicago Cubs.

Emanuel praised Kishida's contribution to developing bilateral ties, strengthening the bilateral alliance, and responding to global challenges.

After the meeting, Emanuel told reporters that under Kishida and US President Joe Biden, the two countries have set the new benchmark for how future prime ministers and future presidents will be judged on managing and nurturing of the most important alliance the United States has.

Emanuel said, "I do look forward to meeting the new president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and future prime minister."

Then he went on to say, "We are going to work together out of a sense of mutual respect toward building off the foundation of the last three years and projecting it into the future."