What is 'Expo diplomacy'? How many foreign dignitaries has Japan PM met through it?
Question: What does "Expo diplomacy" mean in the first place?
Answer: "Expo diplomacy" refers to meetings between Japanese Cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and foreign leaders and dignitaries visiting Japan for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
A total of 158 countries and regions are participating in the ongoing Expo, and more than 100 dignitaries are expected to have visited Japan by the end of the event on Oct. 13. Many visiting leaders attend their country's "National Day," a daily event at the Expo to showcase their culture, and often meet with Ishiba at the prime minister's office in Tokyo before or after the event.
Q: How many foreign leaders has the prime minister met through Expo diplomacy so far?
A: Since the Expo opened on April 13, Ishiba has met with the leaders of over 20 countries. He strengthened relations by confirming the upgrade of ties with Bulgaria and Guatemala to a "strategic partnership." Some countries are also sending royalty, such as Luxembourg's Grand Duke Henri, whom Ishiba met on May 28.
Q: Is U.S. President Donald Trump visiting the Expo?
A: At the Japan-U.S. summit meeting in February, Ishiba requested Trump to visit Japan at an early date, and the president accepted the request. His visit is expected during the Expo period, and Ishiba stated in the Diet that "President Trump showed strong interest in the Expo." However, the presidential visit remains uncertain as there are no signs Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations are approaching an agreement. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other officials are expected to attend the U.S. "National Day" event at the Expo on July 19.
Q: Is "Expo diplomacy" a regular occurrence?
A: The last world exposition held in Japan was the Expo 2005 Aichi, during which then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also met with foreign dignitaries like then French President Jacques Chirac. Meetings with many visiting world leaders present a valuable diplomatic opportunity unique to the host country of a world exposition.
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Japan Times
42 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Conservatives win big — just not the Liberal Democratic Party
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Parts of the LDP's base peeled off in favor of smaller conservative parties like the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Sanseito, leaving the LDP unable to secure even a simple majority in the Upper House. This has disrupted the political landscape in Japan significantly, which will start the LDP's planning for a new prime minister while spurring on conservative camps both in the ruling coalition and the minor opposition parties. So what exactly happened on Sunday? Going into the race, the ruling coalition needed just 50 seats to maintain a majority. This seemed wholly achievable, considering it previously held 66 of the total seats that were up for grabs. In the end, however, its parties only won 47. Meanwhile, the big winners from the DPP and Sanseito scored 17 and 14 seats, respectively — a net increase of 26 from prior to the election. The CDP held steady at about the same seat tally it had going into the race, but the left-leaning Japanese Communist Party (JCP) lost ground in the Upper House. To understand this outcome more clearly, there are two useful indicators: voter turnout and win percentages. There was an interesting dichotomy in terms of voter turnout, where absentee ballots reached their highest numbers while overall voting was again at a historical low. Lower voter turnout usually proves advantageous to the ruling coalition and its fully developed vote-generating architecture, but this was not the case and suggests two things. First, conservatives and independent voters who might normally support the LDP gave their vote elsewhere. Second, the progressive parties failed to excite the populace enough to get them to the voting booths. Meanwhile, win percentages — that is, the number of seats won compared to the number of candidates — help illustrate who had the most per capita success. 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If they do, they will continue to hemorrhage seats until they lose the government entirely. Instead, they will need to take lessons from some of the minor parties that surged in this past election through social media and other nontraditional forms of engagement with the public. With the dust still settling after Sunday's historic election, what is already clear is that Japan's political equilibrium has shifted, and the parties that adapt fastest to the new rules of the game will shape the country's future. For the LDP and its rivals alike, the era of predictable elections is over. [bio]Michael MacArthur Bosack is the special adviser for government relations at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies. He previously served in the Japanese government as a Mansfield fellow.[bio]
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
‘Japanese First' Sanseito emerges as third-largest Upper House opposition party
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Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
‘Japanese First' Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
The small right-wing populist party Sanseito, which campaigned under the slogan of 'Japanese First,' won big in Sunday's Upper House election, taking a projected 14 seats — the third-most among opposition forces in the poll. The stunning results put the upstart party just behind the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Nippon Ishin no Kai among opposition parties in its total number of Upper House seats. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito coalition was dealt a drubbing in the poll, losing its majority — meaning it will need the support of at least one opposition party to pass any piece of legislation.
