Friday, at a solemn state funeral in Washington, D.C., the United States formally bids farewell to Mr. Ronald Reagan, one of the most eminent, influential and widely liked U.S. presidents of the postwar era. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone will be there to convey this nation's sincere condolences to the Americans, most of whom have put aside partisan differences this week to celebrate the life of a remarkable man.

It is not that Mr. Reagan's legacy is uncontroversial. Rather, Americans appear to recognize, quite rightly, that this is a time for comforting the widow and other relatives of their 40th president by focusing on what was good about him and on how much he did to unify his country. They know that historians will revisit the disappointments and divisions soon enough.

Japanese, too, have much to remember about Mr. Reagan that is good. That is why it is appropriate that the nation is represented in Washington by Mr. Nakasone, who served as prime minister from 1982 to 1987 -- years that fell neatly inside the span of Mr. Reagan's two terms as president. For one thing, the two were personal friends. Whatever Mr. Reagan knew and understood of Japan he probably learned mostly from the man he liked to call "Yasu." But the amicability between the two very different leaders also symbolized something bigger than both of them -- the fundamental friendship between their two countries, which Mr. Reagan did much to preserve and advance.