The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and her Japanese counterpart, Katsuya Okada, have failed to reach a deal on a dispute over a U.S.
military base, but pledged not to let it derail the broader relationship.
After discussions in Hawaii, Mrs Clinton said she had again urged Tokyo to follow through on a deal to relocate the US Marines' Futenma base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, but allowed that this could take time to fully resolve.
The realignment of US forces in Japan involves moving thousands of marines to Guam.
But many Okinawa residents say the base should be moved off the island entirely.
Her stop in Hawaii is ahead of a trip to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.