Japanese State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tsuge Yoshifumi vowed to strengthen the ties between the Philippines and Japan during his first visit to the country on Wednesday.

In a press conference, Tsuge said he promised to continue efforts to enhance the relationship of the two nations when he met Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

“Yesterday, I just exchanged views with Foreign Minister Manalo on strengthening bilateral ties in a wide range of fields as we will see the 70th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Philippines in 2026. We agreed on the importance of people-to-people exchanges, and I will continue to make efforts to further strengthen Japan-Philippines relations as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs,” Tsuge told reporters on the sidelines of the MEXT scholars send-off reception.

The Japanese government sponsors the studies of international students in Japanese universities through the MEXT scholarship program.

Tsuge said that the exchange student program between both countries was “an extremely effective form of diplomacy”.

“It is an extremely effective form of diplomacy for these young people to study in Japan, including MEXT scholars, to learn about each other's cultures. This will go a long way in strengthening relations between our two countries,” he said.

“I hope that the MEXT students who will visit Japan in the future will, with the spirit of “once-in-a-lifetime encounter,” come into direct contact with many people in Japan, and through building rich people-to-people relationships, open their eyes to the charms of Japan that can only be learned through people on site. We hope that they will experience Japan as it really is through their own experiences, become true Japan experts in the Philippines, and play an active role as new bridges between Japan and the Philippines in the future,” he added.

Tsuge said his first visit to the Philippines was “meaningful” and allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of the country.

“During my visit to the Philippines this time, I communicated with the Philippine government and Japanese companies. I was also able to praise the Olympic athletes, including Carlos Yulo, who has studied in Japan for many years, and to deepen exchanges with Nikkei-jins and foreign students. In the process, I was reminded that what supports the relationship between Japan and the Philippines is not only security and economy but also people-to-people relations,” Tsuge said.

Sixty-two Filipino MEXT scholars will be heading to Japan in September and October, which is only more than half of the usual scholars sent out from the Philippines each year.

According to the Japanese embassy, around 100 Filipino MEXT scholars are sent to Japan yearly.

The send-off reception was also attended by Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya, his wife Akiko as well as University of the Philippines Los Banos Chancellor Jose Camacho, who was a former Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) scholar. Jaspearl Tan/DMS