TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Long associated with American

ruggedness, burly pickup trucks such as Ford's top-selling

F-150 have now become a symbol of international trade talks,

showing how far countries such as Japan will go to win over U.S.

President Donald Trump.

When Trump met Japan's new prime minister and first female

premier, Sanae Takaichi, in Tokyo on Tuesday, an F-150 was

parked prominently outside the Akasaka Palace venue.

Big U.S. pickup trucks are a rare sight in the Japanese

capital, where the streets are narrow and turns can be painfully

tight.

But the placement of the F-150, not even typically available

for sale in Japan, sent a clear message about Tokyo's

willingness to buy more cars from its ally, an issue that has

been a sore point for Trump for decades.

Last week Reuters reported that Takaichi's government was

working on a package to buy F-150 trucks, an idea originally

floated by Trump, as well as soybeans and gas.

"Well, that's great. She has good taste," Trump told

reporters on Air Force One on Saturday, when asked about the

report. "That's a hot truck."

In August, Trump said Japan was ready to purchase the "very

beautiful" F-150. He often complains about what he sees as a

refusal to accept U.S. cars while Japanese and European

companies sell millions of autos each year in the United States.

In recent trade deals, both markets agreed to drop or ease

safety tests on American vehicle imports.

But the reluctance to buy American has little to do with

trade barriers. Both in Tokyo and London, many drivers see

Detroit cars as simply too big and too hungry for petrol.

It was not clear how many F-150s Japan planned to buy.

Japanese government sources have told Reuters the trucks

would probably end up being used as snow plows, given their

size.

A third of the 3.7 million new cars sold in Japan last year

were mini or "kei" cars, tiny vehicles that are not produced by

American automakers.

Foreign cars accounted for 6% of new car sales overall, with

European brands among some of the top sellers, industry data

showed.

Ford pulled out of Japan almost a decade ago.

Separately Trump said that Japanese carmaker Toyota ( TM )

would also open auto plants in the United States to the tune of

$10 billion.

A Toyota ( TM ) spokesperson was not immediately available to

comment on Trump's remarks.