【Photo Diary】(4) My 600th Overseas Trip: Belgium, the United Kingdom and Russia
Published on October 29, 2025
I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my 10-day, three-nation tour which brought me to Belgium, the United Kingdom and Russia from September 15 to 24, 2025, in my capacity as honorary chair of The Nippon Foundation.
[September 21, Moscow, Russia]
With Mr. Dilmurod from Uzbekistan, who is studying in Moscow under a fellowship program of the foundation’s Japan-Central Asia Friendship Association (JACAFA).
JACAFA was launched by The Nippon Foundation in 2004 to assist the best and brightest Central Asian students studying at major universities, providing funds for books and living and other expenses.
On my meeting with Patriarch Kirill, I said he told me that the Russian Orthodox Church is seeking dialogue with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict following Russia’s invasion.
The patriarch is said to be a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I said that even as Japan-Russia relations deteriorate at a government level, it is important to properly pursue future-oriented people-to-people exchanges.
(To be continued)