A celebration marking the 60th birthday of the Emperor of Japan Naruhito was held in Riyadh Thursday by the Japanese Embassy in Saudi Arabia with a large attendance by government officials and diplomats including Deputy Governor of Riyadh Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdul Aziz. 

The Ambassador of Japan to Saudi Arabia Uemura Tsukasa welcomed guests by delivering the opening speech in perfect Arabic lauding “the bilateral ties between Japan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are absolutely privileged” especially with the recent visit by Japanese PM Abe which “gave fresh momentum to this promising relationship” and that “Japan will continue to spare no effort in making Saudi G20 successful.”

The ceremony was opened by the Deputy Governor of Riyadh Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdul Aziz and Ambassador Uemura cutting a cake with both countries emblems followed by a performance of traditional Japanese dance. 

Emphasizing culture and history, Ambassador Uemura spoke about the many unique characteristics which Japan possesses including resilience “to rise from the ashes and achieve development, philosophy to integrate modern technology with long standing traditions and ways to bring about reconciliation among various factions and embrace every part of the society” while recognizing “Saudi history of modernization and nation building also has a lot of unique wisdom” with hopes to “learn more about each other’s experience and wisdom so as to create new ideas of model for development together” with Japan-Saudi Vision 2030 being a hallmark of this with his continuous encouragement of Japanese people to come experience Saudi Arabia firsthand. 

With regards to the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics to be held in Tokyo this summer, Ambassador Uemura suggested to all present to visit, explore and discover Japan, as it is a “good excuse to book a flight to Japan” 

And concluded in hoping that everyone enjoyed “the evening with the atmosphere of beautiful Harmony” while savoring Japanese cuisine such as Tempura, Yakisoba and sushi and Maki prepared live by the Ambassadors personal chef and a Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassador Chef Sato from Yokari restaurant.