President on five-day State visit to Japan

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Japan

KYOTO - President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived here in Kyoto yesterday evening on a five-day State visit.

On the first leg of his tour, the President is due to visit several key ancient temples in Kyoto the cultural city of Japan before arriving in the capital, Tokyo this evening.

Among them are Daitokuji Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple, Tenryuji Temple and Kiyomizu-dera Temple. On completion of the first leg of his tour, President Rajapaksa is due to attend a special meeting with local business leaders, this evening.

President Rajapaksa is touring Japan on a special invitation extended by Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

President Rajapaksa is due to meet Prime Minister Fukuda and Emperor Komatsu Akihito tomorrow.

The most important part of his visit would be tomorrow when he, along with First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, will be hosted by Emperor Akihito at the Akasaka Palace, better known as Geihin. It is in the Moto Akasaka area of the capital Tokyo. The guest house took on its present function in 1974, having previously been a detached palace.

The architect Katayama Tokuma designed the neo-Baroque structure as a residence for the Crown Prince.

Sri Lanka, under President Rajapaksa has strengthened its relations with many countries. Japan, which has maintained close ties with Sri Lanka for many years, would further strengthen its relations with the current State visit. Political observers said President Rajapaksa's State visit to Japan, which comes at an important juncture, would further strengthen Japan-Sri Lanka ties.

People-to-people cultural exchanges between Japan and Sri Lanka date back many years. Mutual friendly visits by prominent personalities of both countries have also taken place over a long period of time.

Official diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka commenced in 1952. Since then cultural exchanges have taken place on numerous occasions and contributed significantly to enhancing our relations over the years.

Japan is the single largest donor to Sri Lanka in terms of the total amount of assistance since 1986, and Sri Lanka is one of the largest per head recipients of assistance from Japan in the world.

Japan's Overseas Development Assistance commenced in 1954 when Japan joined the Colombo Plan.

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