FILE - In this May 25, 2013 file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from right, plays tug-of-war with Myanmar school children at Lat Yat San Friends Elementary School in Yangon, Myanmar. Abe departed Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014 for Africa, keeping up a busy overseas travel schedule designed to boost Japan's global profile in the face of China's rise. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File)