(Reuters) -&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday in San Francisco that he had been&nbsp;invited&nbsp;by&nbsp;U.S. President Joe Biden for a formal&nbsp;state&nbsp;visit&nbsp;to Washington, the first for a&nbsp;Japanese premier in several years.
During his tenure, Biden&nbsp;has&nbsp;largely reserved the ceremonial events, which can span days and involve a formal dinner attended by celebrities at the White House, for partners such as France, South Korea and Australia.
Meetings during the&nbsp;visits are used to advance policy priorities shared by the two countries.
Kishida did not elaborate on the possible timing of the&nbsp;visit&nbsp;in his remarks to media about the invite at the APEC summit in San Francisco. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated last year, went on a&nbsp;state&nbsp;visit&nbsp;to the United&nbsp;States in 2015.
Kishida's&nbsp;visit&nbsp;could mark one of his last major overseas trips before he contends a leadership election next September, with his popularity flagging due to economic problems and concerns over how&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;will finance a hike in defence spending.
It may also be one of the last&nbsp;state&nbsp;visits to be hosted by Biden as he prepares to contest the 2024 presidential election.
Former&nbsp;U.S. President Donald Trump travelled to&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;on a&nbsp;state&nbsp;visit&nbsp;in 2019, where he was treated to an imperial banquet, front row seats at a sumo tournament and a trip to the country's biggest warship.
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(Reporting by John Geddie and Sakura Murakami in Tokyo and Trevor Hunnicutt in San Francisco; editing by Neil Fullick)

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Japan PM says the U.S. has invited him for a state visit