【Photo Diary】(5) My 600th Overseas Trip: Belgium, the United Kingdom and Russia

Published on October 30, 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 22, Moscow, Russia]

Photo of Grigory Borisovich Karasin and Yohei Sasakawa.
 With Mr. Grigory Borisovich Karasin, Chair of the Committee on International Affairs of the Russian Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Federal Assembly, or the Russian parliament.

I told him that when viewed from a broad perspective, rigid relations between our two countries are not beneficial, adding: “We need to thaw this frozen relationship at the private level. We should set a course for this in areas such as academia, the arts and sports.”

Mr. Karasin said that, undoubtedly, the important thing about holding these talks is to deepen the friendly relations between our two countries and make them constructive and long-term. 
He would brief Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on our meeting, he added.
 
Photo of Andrey Bystritskiy, Atsushi Sunami and Yohei Sasakawa.
At a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) at the Valdai Club’s Moscow venue. The document was signed by Mr. Andrey Bystritskiy, chairman of the board of the foundation of the Valdai Club, and SPF President Atsushi Sunami.

The memorandum confirms the mutual desire to establish cooperation between the academic and expert communities of Russia and Japan, contribute to a qualified and objective assessment of global problems, and seek joint solutions aimed at developing relations between the two countries.

After the signing, I remarked: “You know, these days, the ice is melting even in the Arctic Ocean, but some ice remains in relations between Russia and Japan. This is very strange, and so I really hope that today’s signing of the memorandum of cooperation will help melt the ice in our relations.”

Photo of Bolshoi Theatre.
 The Bolshoi Theatre, which was built in 1825.

Photo of Bolshoi Theatre.
 The Bolshoi Theatre has a seating capacity of approximately 2,000.

Photo of Valery Abisalovich Gergiev and Yohei Sasakawa.
 Mr. Valery Abisalovich Gergiev, general director of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Photo of the stage of the opera.
Caption I fully enjoyed the opera with the orchestra conducted by Director Gergiev.

(End)
 
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