Japan-Cuba Relations

On Thursday, September 22, Prime Minister Abe and his wife attended an informal gathering with Cubans of Japanese descent at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel in Havana City.

54 Cubans of Japanese descent attended the gathering, including Mr. Francisco Miyasaka, President of the Japanese Cuban Society, Mr. Noboru Miyazawa, President of the Isle of Youth’s Japanese Cuban Association, Mr. Antonio Yohena, President of the Cuba Okinawa Association, and Mr. Okada (a Cuban of Japanese descent from Yamaguchi Prefecture). Prime Minister Abe delivered a greeting in which he expressed respect for the efforts and hardships of Cubans of Japanese descent, as well as his strong pride in the high appreciation that Cuba has for Japanese people’s industriousness as a result of Cubans of Japanese descent. Mr. Miyasaka explained that Japanese people who settled in Cuba had a positive impact on the people of Cuba by bestowing Japanese people’s virtues on their descendants and on Cubans, and the Japanese Cuban Society intends to make a greater contribution to developing relations between the two countries.

On Thursday, September 22, Prime Minister Abe and his wife offered flowers at the José Martí Memorial in Revolution Square in Havana City, and visited the José Marti Memorial Museum.

On Thursday, September 22, Prime Minister Abe was welcomed by President Castro before attended a welcoming ceremony held at the Council of State.

On Thursday, September 22, Prime Minister Abe and his wife attended a dinner hosted by President Castro at the Council of State.

On Friday, September 23, Prime Minister Abe and his wife offered prayers and flowers at the Memorial Monument for Cubans of Japanese Descent in the Colon Cemetery in Havana City.

On Friday, September 23, commencing at 9:30 a.m. (local time. 10:30 p.m., September 23, Japan time) for approximately 50 minutes, Prime Minister Abe and his wife visited Old Havana, which was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982, and viewed the Hasekura Tsunenaga Monument, the Plaza de Armas, the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, the Hotel Ambos Mundos, the Casa de Asia (House of Asia) and the Plaza Vieja (Old Square). At the Casa de Asia they visited a stone monument of the Hiroshima atomic bomb site, and at the Plaza Vieja they visited a planetarium that received equipment as a result of cultural grant aid from Japan.

This was the first visit to Cuba by a Japanese Prime Minister, and the first summit meeting with President Castro. This visit turned a new page in the more than 400-year history of friendship between the two countries.

In the summit meeting, it was confirmed that relations will be strengthened in a variety of fields through fora such as discussions between foreign ministers, that bilateral cooperation and cooperation in the international arena will be accelerated, and that the partnership will be strengthened in various fields.

Japanese private-sector companies’ interest in the Cuban market is increasing following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba last year. The Government of Cuba is promoting the introduction of foreign investment in modernization of Cuba’s socioeconomic model, and there is also growing expectation towards investment from Japan.

In this summit meeting, the view was shared that Japanese investment has a significant role to play in the development of Cuba. Collaboration by both countries’ public and private sectors will move ahead for the purpose of strengthening economic relations, including investment.

Massive infrastructure demand exists in Cuba, including in the fields of transport and energy, and so in order to promote full-fledged economic cooperation, it was decided to set up a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) office.