President Zourabichvili visits Tokyo to attend enthronement ceremony of Japanese Emperor Naruhito
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Tuesday, October 22
During her official visit to Japan, the president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, had the opportunity to meet with the various Japanese officials and, along with world leaders, she will attend the enthronement ceremony of Japanese Emperor Naruhito in Tokyo.
President met with representatives of the tourism and wine industries at a working dinner as part of her visit to Japan.
The President talked about Georgia’s tourism potential and discussed the history and uniqueness of Georgian wine with the heads of leading travel companies. She mentioned Georgia’s ancient civilization, diverse nature, attractiveness due to a combination of traditional and contemporary cultures, gastronomic diversity, and the globally-known Georgian wine.
“Georgian wine, with its refined taste, will attract the Japanese market. Georgian wine is part of the world civilization and the Japanese people know its value very well,” said President Zourabichvili.
Tadashi Shimura, President of the Japanese Travel Agents Association, stated that there are several important advantages for tourism in Georgia, from nature to its culture, climate, and traditional cuisine. “I think Georgia has everything, but we should still be raising awareness of Georgia in Japan. Last year, we had an awareness campaign on Georgia,” noted Shimura.
Kenichi Ohashi, a Japanese master of wine, also attended the meeting with the President and stated that Japan was interested in expanding its market with Georgian wine.
“Georgia is the beginning of the Silk Road and Japan is the end of it and of course, Georgia has a very long wine history in the global market. We respect this long history, part of which is Georgian wine having been certified as world heritage by UNESCO. I hope that the President’s visit will be a very strong trigger to expand our market,” said Mr. Ohashi.
During her visit to Tokyo, the President also held a working lunch with representatives of the Parliamentary Friendship Group of Japan. The Japanese side thanked the President of Georgia for her visit to Japan and for taking part in the enthronement ceremony of the Japanese Emperor.
The sides discussed Georgia-Japan cooperation in politics, economy, culture, and sports. Discussions focused on the situation in the occupied territories of Georgia. According to the representatives of the Parliamentary Friendship Group, despite the difficulties in the world, the situation in Georgia, the situation in the occupied territories should not be forgotten by the international community.
Zourabichvili held a meeting with the Mayor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike. During the meeting, President thanked Japan for the support of Georgia's territorial integrity, spoke about the difficult situation in the occupied territories of Georgia and noted that the support and follow-up of all our partner countries are very important for Georgia in this direction.
The sides discussed issues of deepening the tourism links between Georgia and Japan and, as the Tokyo Mayor noted, the development of this relationship needed to raise awareness of Georgia in Japan.
President started her visit on October 20 and will complete it on October 25.
