Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik awarded the Oman Civil Order, Second Degree, to Japanese politician KONO Taro and two other politicians on Friday.

Kono, NISHIMURA Yasutoshi and ETO Seichiro were given the honor by the Sultan for their efforts and kind contributions in strengthening bilateral relations between the Sultanate of Oman and Japan in various fields.

The awards were handed over by Dr. Mohammed bin Said Al Busaidi, Oman’s Ambassador to Japan, when he received the honorees at the embassy in Tokyo.

Kono, a popular political figure in Japan, is a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan’s House of Representatives. He was Minister in Charge of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Vaccines in the previous administrations of former Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe. He currently runs the PR department of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Like Kono, Nishimura is also a member of the House of Representatives with the LDP. He was Minister in Charge of Measures for the Novel Coronavirus and Health Crisis Management of Japan (2020–2021).

Eto assumed the position of State Minister for Foreign Affairs, as well as the Vice-Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Deputy Secretary-General of the LDP.