Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama are set to affirm a strengthening of the bilateral alliance when they meet in Tokyo on Friday, with support for Afghan reconstruction also topping the agenda.

As Tokyo's ongoing review of a bilateral deal to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa Prefecture casts a shadow over bilateral relations, the relocation issue is expected to take a backseat during the upcoming talks.

Obama's visit to Japan -- the first leg of his four-country Asian swing -- is his first since assuming office in January, and government officials say that signifies the importance Washington attaches to its decades-old alliance with Tokyo.

"I believe the meeting will be a good one in the sense that he seems to have felt strongly that he must pick Japan as the first country of his visit to Asia," Hatoyama told reporters on Thursday. "I'm looking forward to it."

The two leaders held a bilateral summit in New York in September on the fringes of U.N. General Assembly meetings as well as a short telephone conversation on Tuesday. During the latter, Obama sought Hatoyama's understanding for a delay in his visit.

With next year marking the 50th anniversary of the revision of the bilateral security treaty, Hatoyama and Obama are expected to agree to strengthen bilateral relations in a "future-oriented" manner.

Hatoyama, who has favored a diplomatic stance more independent of the United States, is seeking a "multilayered" alliance with Washington in which the two countries work closely together not just on military security but also on global warming and other global issues.

Obama may refrain from specifically referring to the relocation of the U.S. Marines' Futemma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa, as Tokyo's review on the matter continues, but he may still urge Japan to stick to a 2006 bilateral accord mapping out the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, bilateral sources said.

Japan and the United States agreed earlier this week to set up a ministerial-level working group to discuss the relocation of Futemma in an effort to seek a "swift" settlement of the issue.

Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan, which swept to power after a decisive election victory in August, has promoted the idea of moving Futemma's replacement facility out of Okinawa, or out of Japan altogether.

Friday's summit also comes just days after Japan decided to extend up to $5 billion, or about 450 billion yen, in civilian aid to Afghanistan over five years from this year in an effort to combat terrorism.

Hatoyama will tell Obama of the decision as the president wrestles with a new military strategy for Afghanistan, particularly whether to send more troops to the country. The two leaders are expected to affirm the tie-ups in the country's reconstruction.

Japan's fresh aid is an alternative to an Indian Ocean refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations that Tokyo plans to end in January.

Hatoyama has raised questions about the effectiveness of the Maritime Self-Defense Force mission in fighting terrorism and bringing peace and stability to the people of Afghanistan.

On nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, Hatoyama is expected to make clear his support for Obama, who was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last month for his vision of a nuclear-free world.

Hatoyama plans to tell Obama of the importance Japan attaches to its cooperation with the United States and South Korea on the issues of North Korea, government sources said.

The two leaders are expected to agree on the need to resume early the six-party talks on dismantling the North's nuclear programs. Japan is seeking a comprehensive solution to North Korea's nuclear, ballistic missile and abduction issues.

International parental child abductions could also come up as a topic during the summit after U.S. Sen. Jim Webb and 21 other senators urged Obama earlier this week to take up the issue with Hatoyama. Japan has yet to accede to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The summit will be held at the prime minister's office on Friday evening, to be followed by a joint press conference. Obama will leave the next day for Singapore, where he will attend an annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Obama's visit was postponed by one day because he had to attend a memorial service for the victims of the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas.