Minister for Foreign Affairs visits Japan
Published
On 13–14 October, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard visited Hiroshima and Tokyo where she participated in Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel’s official Japan visit. During the visit, Ms Malmer Stenergard met with her counterpart, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya.
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Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard with Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya.
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
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Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard togheter with the Mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui and Swedish Ambassador in Japan Viktoria Li at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Photo: Swedish Embassy in Tokyo
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel’s visit to Japan was undertaken to strengthen and highlight the longstanding and excellent relations between Sweden and Japan. The countries’ strategic partnership of 2024 has contributed to long-term and broad cooperation in areas such as security and defence, trade and investment, and research and innovation. The strengthened relations between the EU and Japan are also important for Sweden.
During their visit to Hiroshima, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and Ms Malmer Stenergard took part in a memorial ceremony marking 80 years since the atomic bombing of the city. In Tokyo, the delegation visited the Japanese National Defence Academy and met with Terumi Tanaka from the organisation Nihon Hidankyo, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024. Ms Malmer Stenergard and her Japanese counterpart discussed issues relating to security and defence, trade and investment, and research and innovation.
Expo 2025 in Osaka and Sweden’s cooperation with Japan
Expo 2025 ran from 13 April to 13 October 2025. Sweden participated through a joint Nordic Pavilion that focused on innovation and green and digital transition solutions. Sweden’s participation in Expo 2025 has provided an opportunity to consolidate its strategic partnership with Japan and further strengthen exchanges in research, education, culture and lifestyle.
Sweden’s cooperation with Japan
The Government’s push to strengthen Sweden’s presence in Asia and promote long-term cooperation was presented in 2023 in its strategy for foreign trade, investment and global competitiveness. Around 150 Swedish companies have subsidiaries in Japan and approximately 1 500 companies are represented by agents of distributors. Approximately 160 Japanese companies operate in Sweden, employing over 20 000 people.
The EU and Japan entered a free trade agreement in 2019. Since then, the EU and Japan have also entered into a strategic partnership. Sweden and Japan entered a strategic partnership in December 2024.
