From 26 February until 4 March, Charles Flanagan T.D., Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland, visited Japan for the first time as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and during his stay he had a working dinner with Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. In this year with the ongoing celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Ireland and with the realisation of this visit following Minister Kishida’s visit to Ireland in January, a strengthening of bilateral relations is expected to gain momentum. Ambassador Miyoshi accompanied Minister Flanagan on his visit to Hiroshima and his stay in Tokyo.


3 March – “Surimono – The Art of Friendship” Exhibition Opening
The opening ceremony for “Surimono – The Art of Friendship” exhibition of woodblock prints, etc. took place at the Chester Beatty Library during which Ambassador Miyoshi made a speech. The exhibition is scheduled to continue until 27 August.


3 March – “Maths Counts 2017” Maths Education Seminar
“Maths Counts 2017” was held at Maynooth University and Richard Bruton, Minister for Education and Skills, and Midori Yamamitsu, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, made speeches. From Japan, Dr. Akihiko Takahashi, Professor at Tokyo Gakugei University, gave a live lesson on teaching methods for maths. Japan’s system of maths education is being watched closely in Ireland and over 400 maths educators from across the country were in attendance. The following week at University College Dublin (UCD) a similar seminar was held.

