Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi: “We welcomed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Tokyo and held a summit meeting.
“Amid the complex crises facing the international community, close collaboration with fellow democratic nations has never been more important.
With Italy, a country that shares our values and principles, we have cooperated across a wide range of “fields in the past, but this year—marking the 160th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations—we confirmed with Giorgia our intention to elevate bilateral relations from the previous “strategic partnership” to a “special strategic partnership” and aim for even greater heights.
“In this meeting, we deepened our personal relationship by addressing each other by our first names, “Giorgia” and “Sanae,” exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in areas such as security, the economy, economic security including the strengthening of supply chains for critical minerals, space, and science and technology, as well as on international situations including the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine, and confirmed our commitment to further collaboration.
“Italy’s outstanding pavilion, which recently won a gold award at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, is still fresh in our minds, and Italy has also expressed its intention to participate in GREEN×EXPO, to be held in Yokohama in 2027.
“Welcoming this, I presented Giorgia with collaboration goods from Tuntun and Sanrio, which I heard her daughter enjoys.
Additionally, as a stylish gift for Giorgia, I gave her a pair of Edo Kiriko earrings, and for her daughter, a Sanrio glass.
“At the luncheon, we surprised Giorgia—who celebrated her birthday just yesterday—with a cake and sang “Happy Birthday” to her in Italian to mark the occasion.
I heard that Giorgia wished to spend her birthday in Japan this time, and I am truly delighted.
“Moving forward, I will continue teaming up with Giorgia to tackle the various challenges facing the international community. Grazie, Giorgia.”
