By Elaine Lies and Tim Kelly
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio&nbsp;Kishida&nbsp;starts a&nbsp;tour&nbsp;of key Western partners on Monday, after unveiling his country's biggest&nbsp;military&nbsp;buildup&nbsp;since World War Two as Tokyo weighs steps to counter China's growing power.
Kishida, who will host a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers in May, will meet leaders of the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Canada this week.&nbsp;Talks are expected to range from economic security and semiconductors to the war in Ukraine and rising tensions with nuclear-armed China and North Korea.
"As leader of the&nbsp;G7&nbsp;chair this year, I'll be making this visit to reaffirm our thinking on a number of issues,"&nbsp;Kishida&nbsp;told a Sunday news programme.
"With the United States, we'll discuss deepening our bilateral alliance and how to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific."
He visits London and Rome after agreeing last month to develop a new jet fighter with those countries. He is to sign a deal with Britain that will establish a legal framework to allow visits by each other's armed forces, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday.
Issues on Friday's final stop at the White House are expected to include&nbsp;Japan's&nbsp;plans to arm itself with missiles able to strike targets in China or North Korea, the bilateral defence agreement and efforts to limit China's access to advanced semiconductors.
Tokyo and Washington hope the more muscular&nbsp;military&nbsp;policy&nbsp;Kishida&nbsp;announced last month, a further move away from&nbsp;Japan's&nbsp;pacifist postwar constitution, will close a widening missile gap with China and deter Beijing from&nbsp;military&nbsp;action, particularly against neighbouring Taiwan.
"He'll be going to show the U.S. that this has been concluded - and, with the&nbsp;G7&nbsp;summit approaching, to touch base with the rest of the&nbsp;G7&nbsp;to confirm their stances on Ukraine and Asia," said political commentator Atsuo Ito.
Japan's&nbsp;new defensive capabilities may require Washington and Tokyo to revise guidelines that define the roles they play in a decades-old alliance that lets the United States keep warships, fighter jets and thousands of troops in Japan.
Last revised in 2015, the guidelines will likely be among the subjects discussed by&nbsp;Japan's&nbsp;defence and foreign ministers and their U.S. counterparts on Wednesday before&nbsp;Kishida&nbsp;meets President Joe Biden, a Japanese defence ministry official told a briefing on Friday.
On semiconductors, Japan and the United States are deepening cooperation on advanced chip development amid growing trade tension with China.
Both countries are eager to ensure their manufacturers have access to components considered key to the new technology-driven industries such as data storage, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Although&nbsp;Kishida&nbsp;has said he backs Biden's attempt to limit China's access to advanced semiconductors with export restrictions, he has not agreed to match sweeping curbs on exports of chip-manufacturing equipment the U.S. administration imposed in October.
Even without any major announcements,&nbsp;Kishida&nbsp;will hope his&nbsp;G7&nbsp;tour&nbsp;boosts his flagging domestic support, hammered by cabinet resignations and a scandal over his party's ties to the controversial Unification Church, analysts said.
"Holding a successful&nbsp;G7&nbsp;summit would bring him maximum political points - and this trip is preparation for that," said Airo Hino, a political science professor at Waseda University.
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(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Tim Kelly; Editing by William Mallard)

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Japan's Kishida set to talk military buildup, chips on G7 tour