His Majesty Japan’s Emperor Naruhito’s 66th Birthday & National Day of Japan: Message from Shuichi Akamatsu, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan

I would like to celebrate the occasion of the 66th birthday on the 23rd of this month of His Majesty Naruhito the Emperor of Japan with the readers of Business Recorder. This marks his 8th birthday since His Majesty’s accession to the throne. I extend my heartfelt wishes for the continued good health of His Majesty the Emperor and all the readers.

Reflecting the bilateral relationship between Japan and Pakistan, numerous interactions took place at the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025, held in Japan from April to October last year. This Expo showcased numerous cutting-edge technologies that are both people- and environmentally friendly, deeply impressing over 29 million visitors worldwide. Among these, the Pakistan Pavilion, constructed from pink salt, attracted over 1.8 million visitors. I believe the Pakistan Pavilion played a meaningful role in sparking interest and a sense of closeness toward Pakistan among many Japanese people.

This year, we aim to further strengthen bilateral relations through people-to-people interactions between our two countries. From September to October this year, the Asian Games and Asian Para Games, major international sporting events, will be held in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. This will be a grand event where athletes and officials from 45 Asian countries and regions, including Pakistan, will participate. We hope it will serve as an opportunity to enhance international exchange and mutual understanding through sports. We wish the Pakistani delegation every success and sincerely hope that many people, including high-level leaders from the Pakistani government, will take this opportunity to visit Japan.

I conclude my message by expressing my hope that people-to-people exchanges between Japan and Pakistan will become even more active, and that a cooperative relationship befitting the demands of this new era will be built.

Japan-Pakistan Dosti Zindabad!

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026