Japanese prime minister joins Gov. Cooper for lunch at Executive Mansion

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Triad on Friday to tour two major Japanese projects underway in North Carolina. On Friday afternoon, the prime minister will stop in Raleigh for a luncheon and celebration at the Executive Mansion.

Kishida landed in North Carolina late Thursday, facing a jam-packed schedule of meetings with executives, state officials and, of course, some barbecue in what is believed to be the only such visit by a sitting head of state to North Carolina in decades.

On Friday morning the prime minister joined Gov. Roy Cooper for a tour of the Toyota electric battery plant in Randolph County, a $13.2 billion investment by Japan’s largest automaker. He also toured the HondaJet facility in Burlington.

Their visit comes a day after Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a unit of Tokyo-based conglomerate Fujifilm, said it would add 680 high-paying jobs and spend an additional $1.2 billion at a biomanufacturing campus in Holly Springs. Cooper met with Fujifilm executives in Tokyo six months ago.

At noon on Friday, the prime minister and his wife, Kishida Yuko, will join Cooper for a state luncheon at the mansion prepared by renowned Raleigh chef Ashey Christensen. The governor’s office said the award-winning restaurateur will serve a meal “that highlights North Carolina’s culinary tradition with contributions from Japanese fare.”

There will also be a garden party outside for about 50 members of the Japanese press traveling with the prime minister.

Additionally, Sam Jones BBQ will provide barbecue for other members of the Japanese delegation and members for the Japanese media. North Carolina is one of the nation’s leading pork producers, and Japan imported almost $15 billion worth of U.S. pork in 2022, according to the NC Pork Council.

The band Unspoken Tradition will play live music with an acoustic bluegrass set in the garden at the state lunch.

“We’re going to show him a little southern hospitality and try to show him all that North Carolina has to offer, particularly in the area of community colleges, universities, and our great people and our great workforce,” told WRAL in advance of the visit. “I think that’s our secret sauce — of why Japanese companies have continued to invest in North Carolina, because they know they’re going to get the best workers in the world here.”

Kishida is in town as part of a two-leg U.S. trip, which started in Washington earlier this week. A significant focus has been on economic partnerships between the two countries. During the Washington visit, President Joe Biden and Kishida discussed the importance of investment between Japan and the U.S., highlighting investments by Japanese companies in North Carolina.

A visit from a head of state is a rare honor for North Carolina. The last head of state to visit was the Shah of Iran back in 1962.

On Thursday, Cooper said Kishiba picked North Carolina, likely to economic ties, when he could have traveled to any state.

Japan is one of the United States’ largest trading partners, and the largest source of foreign investment in North Carolina. At least 225 Japanese companies have large footprints in the state, employing nearly 30,000 people, according to the governor’s office. That number is expected to grow by thousands more jobs in the coming years, Cooper’s office has said.

On Friday, Cooper and Kishida discussed continued cooperation in research and development and establishing start-up environments that promote innovation. In a joint statement, the leaders touting Toyota’s $13.9 billion investment in North Carolina.

The investment from Toyota and others has come following efforts by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s own trips to Tokyo to recruit Japanese businesses — particularly those in the aerospace, biotechnology and clean energy sectors — to the state.

After Cooper’s most recent trip to Tokyo, in October, Toyota announced it would more than double the size of a massive electric vehicle battery factory in Randolph County. The company’s factory, between Greensboro and Pittsboro, is expected to eventually employ more than 5,000 people — an investment that is expected to spur residual growth of contractors and services in the area.

Fujihatsu & Toyotsu Battery Components, a partnership between Fujihatsu Tech America and Toyota Tsusho America, said in February it would create 133 new jobs in a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Liberty. FTBC is investing $60 million in the project, which will support Toyota’s battery manufacturing unit.

That same month, Japanese pharmaceutical research company Kyowa Kirin said it would add about 100 jobs in Lee County. Cooper met with Kyowa Kirin executives last year in Tokyo, when he was also meeting with Toyota executives.

Cooper’s administration also pushed for years to recruit a HondaJet facility to the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Greensboro is now the global headquarters for Honda Aircraft.

“Japanese investments in our state create thousands of jobs and these companies contribute so much to our communities,” the governor said in a statement. “This historic visit provides a unique opportunity to showcase the best of North Carolina and continue to build this mutually beneficial relationship.”

Timeline of visit

Thursday, 7 p.m.: Fumio Kishida and wife Yuko Kishida arrive at RDU, to be greeted by Gov. Cooper.

Friday morning: Fumio Kishida and Gov. Cooper tour Toyota Battery Manufacturing facility in Randolph County and Honda Aircraft Company in Guilford County. Yuko Kishida is expected to join First Lady Kristin Cooper for Japanese Tea at Duke Gardens. First Lady Cooper and Mrs. Kishida will also visit the North Carolina Museum of Science to see a traditional Japanese Friendship Doll.

Friday afternoon: A state lunch will be held with Gov. Cooper at the North Carolina Executive Mansion. Fumio Kishida is expected to meet with Japanese language students at Nagoya University Global Campus at NC State University.