PARIS: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and his French counterpart, Gabriel Attal, on Wednesday agreed to expand bilateral ties in various fields, including the economy, security, and culture.

In their meeting in Paris, the two leaders shared hopes for increased people-to-people exchanges through this summer’s Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2025 World Exposition in the western Japan city of Osaka.

Attal expressed his condolences over the recent death of renowned Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama, saying that many French people are familiar with his works, such as the “Dragon Ball” series. He had made a post mourning Toriyama’s death on X, formerly Twitter.

Kishida gave Attal a “kokeshi,” a traditional Japanese wooden doll based on a character from Dragon Ball.

On Thursday, Kishida is set to deliver a keynote speech at a ministerial council meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

JIJI Press