Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the United States last week hoping President Donald Trump would give him the diplomatic equivalent of a bear hug: a sign to the Japanese public at a time of political weakness at home that he could count on his close personal relationship with Trump to produce results for Tokyo.

On the most contentious issue – trade – Abe got little more than a fig leaf. On North Korea, the results were more mixed, with Abe receiving an assurance that Trump would raise the abductee issue but not, as some commentators had hoped