The first non-American astronaut to walk on the moon's surface will hail from Japan.

U.S. President Joe Biden made the announcement in a press conference together with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington DC on Wednesday, Apr. 10 (Apr. 11 Singapore time).

Biden said of U.S.-Japan ties: "Those ties stretch up to the moon, where two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions, and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon."

Japan will provide a lunar rover to help astronauts spend a longer time on the moon's surface.

The last time an astronaut landed on the moon was in 1972.

Visit to Washington

Kishida is in town for a full-scale state visit.

According to Nikkei, 70 new agreements or deliverables will be jointly announced during the visit.

These include further U.S.-Japan cooperation in areas like artificial intelligence, defence, economic security and space.

A major agreement was creating a joint operational command for U.S. forces stationed in Japan, who will then report to a single commander.

Japan will also create its own joint operations command.

This is expected to streamline communication and coordination of military operations.

Biden also hosted Kishida to a state dinner, CNN reported.

The menu included Japanese-inspired influences, such as a California roll sushi starter, a ribeye steak with shishito peppers and a matcha-flavoured ganache, according to the Washington Post.

During the dinner, Biden said the U.S.-Japan is the "strongest it's ever been" and pledged to stand together at an inflection point in history.

Top image from President Biden Facebook.