Press Releases
Assuming the Japanese honorary president for the “150th Anniversary of Japan-Belgium Friendship” by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan
1. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Belgium in 2016, both countries will or-ganize a variety of events to celebrate the year as the “150th Anniversary of the Japan-Belgium Friendship”. Given the importance of the relation-ship between the two countries and the significance of these memorial events, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan will assume the honorary president on the Japanese side for this Anniversary. The presidency will be from the 1st of December 2015 to the 31st of December 2016. On the Belgian side, His Majesty the King of the Belgians will assume the hon-orary president from the 1st of December 2015.
2. The Outline of the “150th Anniversary of the Japan-Belgium Friendship”
is as follows.
(1) The year 2016 is the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Belgium (the Amity, Commerce and Navi-gation Treaty was signed on the 1st of August 1866). Taking advantage of this memorial year, the leader of both countries agreed to develop further the bilateral relations in various domains including cultural exchange and people-to-people exchange in their summit meeting in May 2014 and reconfirmed in their summit meeting in May 2015.
(2) To celebrate the 150th anniversary, both private and public sectors cur-rently plan to organize memorial events in a wide range of areas includ-ing politics, economy, culture and education. Through these events, it is expected that Japan and Belgium will deepen their mutual understand-ing, which will lead to further enhancement of their bilateral ties.
