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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Dr. Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, at the Prime Minister’s Office.

The two leaders attended a salute and ceremony by the guard of honor and then held a summit meeting. After that, the leaders held a joint press announcement.

Lastly, Prime Minister Abe hosted a banquet at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and said in his address,

“I wish to extend my heartfelt welcome to President Gauck and Ms. Daniela Schadt on their first visit to Japan. In our meeting earlier, we held an extensive exchange of views. This evening, I would like you all to relax and enjoy Japanese cuisine to your heart’s content.

At the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which we are all looking forward to, we will hold a competition for sailing, a hobby of President Gauck.

In fact, when it comes to sports, Japan and Germany are both competing extremely hard against each other as friendly rivals. At the Rio Olympics, we saw some very close and hard-fought matches unfold during the table tennis competition in particular. Although the Japanese Men’s team won, our Women’s team unfortunately lost.

In soccer, unfortunately, Japan does not yet rival Germany, but I hope we can do so someday. I believe there are many people in Japan who follow the Bundesliga with a passion. We are joined today by soccer player Naohiro Takahara, who, along with fellow Japanese players Shinji Kagawa and Makoto Hasebe, are now adored by their supporters in Germany just as much, if not more, as when they played for Japanese teams. It is the dream of Japanese soccer players to be cheered on in a world-class league by the world’s best supporters.

German music is a point of pride for Germany, and there are also Japanese people active in this field as well. Daishin Kashimoto and Sayako Kusaka are both working as first concertmasters in the Berliner Philharmoniker and Konzerthausorchester Berlin respectively.

We have invited to today’s dinner banquet leaders who are active in a range of areas, including politics, the economy, academia, art, and sports.

Thanks to all of you, the relationship between Japan and Germany is what it is today. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and ask for your continued support for the further deepening of the relationship.

President Gauck, I have heard that, like my wife, you also enjoy dry white wine. I hope you will truly enjoy the Japanese sake and Japanese dry white wine that we are serving tonight.

I would now like to raise a toast, for the health of President Gauck, Ms. Schadt, and everyone here, and for the further deepening of the bonds of friendship that connect the people of our two countries. Zum Wohl! (cheers)”