Post-Brexit trade opportunities key aim of Theresa May's visit to Japan

Theresa May will aim to secure a boost for Britain's post-Brexit trade when she visits Japan.

The Prime Minister will put trade and investment opportunities at the heart of her visit, where she will be received by Emperor Akihito and the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Defence and security cooperation is also expected to be a key theme of the trip, from Wednesday August 30 to Friday September 1.

Last month Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson used a visit to Tokyo to say Britain was poised for an "all-singing, all-dancing" post-Brexit free trade deal with Japan.

Mrs May will be accompanied on the trip by business leaders from a range of sectors.

A Downing Street spokesman said the delegation "will showcase the strength of British business, the shared confidence in the UK-Japan economic relationship as we leave the EU, and the potential for future growth".

The trip will be Mrs May's first visit to Japan as prime minister, having met Mr Abe at the G20 in Hamburg last month, at Chequers in April, and at the UN General Assembly in New York last year.

As well as trade and security, the spokesman said the visit would also cover issues such as working together to support the rules-based international system and the promotion of free trade and democratic values.