The Japanese chief will probably use Tuesday’s summit to attempt to persuade her Korean counterpart that Seoul and Tokyo are in comparable boats with regards to nationwide safety and the financial system
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung shake arms forward of their summit held on Oct. 30, 2025, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation discussion board in Gyeongju, South Korea. (Yonhap)
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is making an effort to embody “omotenashi,” the Japanese idea of hospitality, in diplomacy forward of her summit Tuesday with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, inviting him to satisfy in her hometown of Nara Prefecture. The nice and cozy welcome is suggestive of the significance she locations on the assembly.
“The most important query going into the summit might be whether or not South Korea and Japan can verify the friendship between them and present the worldwide group that they stand collectively,” Japan’s Nikkei famous in an article revealed Sunday.
Nara Prefecture is Takaichi’s hometown and the constituency she represented as a lawmaker. Internet hosting a bilateral summit in a single’s hometown is a transfer hardly ever seen amongst Japanese prime ministers, except Shinzo Abe, who invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2016 to debate points such because the 4 islands of the Kuril Islands, identified in Japan because the Chishima Islands.
Horyu Temple, the World Heritage web site that the 2 leaders will go to collectively the day after the summit, is Japan’s oldest temple and identified for its Kudara Kannon, a sculpture crafted by artisans from the Korean kingdom of Baekje. This itinerary seems to have been with the advanced historic relations between South Korea and Japan in thoughts.
The Japanese Prime Minister’s Workplace reportedly acknowledged that the dishes on the banquet might be “personally chosen by the prime minister, that includes Nara delicacies.” Moreover, the Japanese authorities is taking a step past earlier approaches, asserting forward of the summit that it’s “speaking intently with South Korea” relating to the excavation of stays on the Chosei coal mine, the place 136 Korean victims of pressured labor and others perished throughout Japan’s occupation of Korea.
Some consider that the Japanese authorities is trying to cozy as much as South Korea via its “omotenashi diplomacy” amid its intense battle with China. After Takaichi remarked in November 2025 that Japan’s Self-Protection Forces might intervene in a Taiwan contingency, the Chinese language authorities has launched blatant retaliation on the financial entrance, whereas Japan’s sole army ally, the US, has remained comparatively silent.
Chinese language President Xi Jinping additionally referenced China and South Korea having made “nice sacrifices in resisting Japanese militarism and achieved victory,” throughout his summit with South Korea’s Lee on Jan. 5, which was learn as a request for South Korea to hitch China’s strain marketing campaign towards Japan.
Takaichi’s authorities will probably emphasize that Japan and South Korea are in the identical boat in areas corresponding to nationwide safety and the financial system to keep away from isolation, whereas additionally explaining its China-related points to Lee.
“Whereas discussions of North Korea dominated earlier South Korea-Japan summits, Japan will probably focus totally on China. The hospitality proven by Takaichi on her residence turf will function an indicator of her diplomatic acumen,” the Nikkei recommended.
By Hong Seock-jae, Tokyo correspondent
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