Biden-Kishida Dinner at Tokyo Restaurant with 'Sun Yat-sen Secret Passage'

U.S. President Joe Biden (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands during a summit held at the State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan, on the morning of the 23rd. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] On the 23rd, U.S. President Joe Biden had dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Happoen, a high-end restaurant in Tokyo.

According to NHK, the private dinner meeting between the U.S. and Japanese leaders, which started around 7 p.m., ended around 8:30 p.m.

Considering that the U.S.-Japan summit, which began around 11 a.m. at the Tokyo State Guest House and lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes including lunch, the two leaders spent nearly 4 hours together that day.

The dinner venue is located on the site of a residence that belonged to a close aide of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo Shogunate, covering about 40,000 square meters and featuring a Japanese garden, a teahouse, and a wedding hall.

According to the Happoen website, Sun Yat-sen, a key figure in the Chinese Xinhai Revolution who went into exile in Japan in 1915, stayed here, and it is known that his lodging had a secret passage for emergencies.

Before the dinner that afternoon, President Biden met for about 30 minutes with families of Japanese victims abducted by North Korea at the Tokyo State Guest House.

The White House stated in a press release after the meeting, "President Biden met with the abductee families to express solidarity and to support Prime Minister Kishida’s efforts to resolve this issue."

The White House added, "The President listened to the families’ stories and conveyed deep condolences, urging North Korea to correct the mistakes of history and provide a full explanation regarding the 12 missing Japanese."

Earlier that morning, President Biden also met with Emperor Naruhito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

President Biden said, "The United States has a very strong bond with Japan and it is the most important partner in the Asia-Pacific region," and Emperor Naruhito responded, "I hope this visit will further strengthen the friendly relations between the U.S. and Japan," according to Kyodo News and others.