Ishiba-Trump meeting not expected before inauguration

Discussions are continuing on when Japan's Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and US President-elect Donald Trump will hold a meeting.

Japanese government officials are looking into the earliest dates possible for the leaders to meet after Trump assumes office on January 20.

Trump's team had proposed a mid-January meeting in the United States before his return to the White House, but the Japanese officials are citing Ishiba's tight schedule.

The Prime Minister will visit Southeast Asia from early January and an ordinary Diet session is set to open on January 24.