TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, unable to meet North Korea’s leader himself, is heading to Washington to try to make sure President Trump doesn’t overlook Japan’s security and other concerns at the unprecedented US-North Korea summit next week.

Abe will have less than two hours to make his points to Trump at the White House on Thursday before both go to Canada for a G-7 summit on Friday and Saturday, and Trump then flies to Singapore for his June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Japan, which relied on the United States for its post-World War II diplomacy and security, has been absent in the recent burst of engagement with North Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have both met Kim twice, as Abe waits his turn to raise Japan’s concerns directly.

‘‘I want to make sure to be on the same page with President Trump ahead of the first ever US-North Korea summit, so we can push forward nuclear and missile issues, and most importantly the abduction problem, and make for a successful summit,’’ Abe told reporters before leaving for the airport.

After a 2002 summit between then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, North Korea acknowledged abducting 13 Japanese and allowed five of them to visit Japan, though they then stayed, angering North Korea. Japan says at least 17 Japanese were abducted and possibly more.

Abe doesn’t want Trump to strike a compromise that would leave Japan exposed to shorter-range missiles that do not threaten the US mainland or that relieves pressure on North Korea before it takes concrete steps toward complete denuclearization.

He is expected to ask Trump once again to raise with Kim the fate of Japanese abducted by the North in the 1970s and 1980s.

‘‘It wouldn’t be my style to have to ask the US for help on the abduction issue,’’ said Hitoshi Tanaka, a former diplomat and head of a think tank, the Institute for International Strategy. ‘‘It’s embarrassing that a state leader has to ask another leader in resolving the sovereignty of his people.’’

While in Washington, Abe will also likely press Trump to remove Japan from US steel and aluminum tariffs, as well as express his opposition to threats of sharply higher US tariffs on imported automobiles.

Abe said he will show at the G-7 summit his full backing for Trump on North Korea, but he will urge everyone to take leadership in promoting free and fair trade rather than escalating disputes.

Japan hopes to hold talks with North Korea after a successful Trump-Kim summit. Abe has said he is open to meeting with Kim, but only if it would lead to resolving the abduction issue.

He said Japan would then normalize ties and provide economic aid as rewards for a North Korean commitment to both denuclearization and resolution of the abduction issue.

Japanese analysts agree that if Abe’s turn to meet Kim comes, it would be at the very end of a long process as Trump and other regional leaders deal with North Korea’s denuclearization.

‘‘Japan eventually should develop its own diplomacy to deal with North Korea independently to resolve its problems, including the abductions,’’ said Atsuhito Isozaki, a Keio University professor specializing in North Korea.