After reading in the news about all the heads of states and dignataries who attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, I wondered about how many US presidents had visited Japan and for what reasons. It was easy to find out on the internet. I did not know what it meant to be a state guest, but that was also easy to find on the internet - I found this information on the Imperial Household Agency website.
"State Guests (Kokuhin) are foreign Heads of State or equivalent who are officially invited and received by the Japanese Government with the utmost courtesy. The foreign Heads of State who will be invited and received by the Imperial Family are determined by a Cabinet Meeting. The reception of State Visits by the Imperial Family includes a welcoming ceremony attended by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, State Call with Their Majesties, State Banquet at the Imperial Palace and farewell calls by Their Majesties. Their Majesties, together with the rest of the Imperial Family, wholeheartedly receive these State Guests."
(On a side note, the one thing I heard about most often from my students about the Queen's funeral was that the Emperor and Empress of Japan were not wearing masks while attending!)
Gerald Ford (1974 - 77) was the first serving US president to visit Japan.
November 18 - 22, 1974 State guest, met with Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei.
Jimmy Carter (1977 - 81)
June 24 - 29, 1979 State guest, attended the Group of Seven Summit in Tokyo, met with Prime Minister Ohira Masayoshi, held a town meeting in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture.
July 9-10, 1980 Attended Prime Minister Ohira's funeral.
Ronald Reagan (1981 -1989)
November 9-12, 1983 State guest, met with Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro and visits his Hinode-Sanso mountain retreat.
May 2-7, 1986 Attended the G7 Summit in Tokyo, met with Prime Minister Nakasone.
George H. W. Bush (1989 - 93)
February 23 - 25, 1989 Attended Emperor Showa's Funeral.
January 7 - 10 1992 State guest, met with Prime Minister Miyazawa Kiichi and fainted and vomited at a banquet. (For some reason, there are many photos on the internet of this banquet incident, but I chose not to include them.)
Bill Clinton (1993 - 2001)
July 6 - 10, 1993 Attended the G7 Summit in Tokyo, met with Prime Minister Miyazawa.
April 16 - 18, 1996 State guest, met with Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro.
November 19-20, 1998 Met with Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo.
June 8, 2000 Attended Prime Minister Obuchi's funeral.
July 21 - 23, 2000 Attended the G8 Summit in Kyushu and Okinawa, met with Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro.
George W. Bush (2001 - 09)
February 17 - 19, 2002 Met with Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro.
October 17 - 18, 2003 Met with Prime Minister Koizumi.
November 15 - 16, 2005 Met with Prime Minister Koizumi.
July 6-9, 2008 Attended the G8 Summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, met with Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo.
Barack Obama (2009 - 17)
November 13 -14 Met with Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio.
November 12 - 14, 2010 Attended APEC meeting in Yokohama, met with Prime Minister Kan Naoto.
April 23 - 25, 2014 State Guest, met with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
May 25 - 27, 2016 Attended the G7 Summit in Shima, Mie Prefecture, met with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and visits Hiroshima.
Donald Trump (2017 -21)
November 5 - 7, 2017 Met with Prime Minister Abe, played golf.
May 25 - 28, 2019 State guest, met with Prime Minister Abe, played golf.
Joseph Biden (2021 - ...)
May 22 - 24, 2022 Met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, met with leaders from the Quad (Japan, United States, India, Australia).
Hi Pamela: Nice post but no photo of President Trump, I had to laugh at the one Of Clinton jogging, he was always exercising.
ReplyDeleteCatherine
Interesting that your students commented on the Emperor and Empress not wearing masks. I didn't notice any masks in the coverage I saw. Case numbers are apparently rising in the UK, perhaps because everyone is acting like the pandemic is over.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I remembered those days.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that newer presidents have visited a lot more often than previous ones. I wonder if that's a sign of how the US-Japanese relationship has improved since WWII?
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