The Taft-Katsura Agreement was a secret agreement signed between William Howard Taft, United States Secretary of War, and Count Katsura of Japan in July 1905. In the agreement, the United States recognized Japan's sphere of influence in Korea; in exchange, Japan recognized the United States's sphere of influence in the Philippines. The Taft-Katsura Agreement was an initial step that paved the way for the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in September 1905.