The first ladies of Japan and the United States on Monday planted a cherry tree on the White House grounds in honor of the longtime friendship between the two countries.
Yuko Kishida, the wife of Japan's prime minister, who is on a rare solo overseas trip, and first lady Jill Biden, were both dressed in pink as they used golden shovels to plant a young Yoshino cherry tree after holding a luncheon meeting.
"The planting of this tree is a symbol of the friendship between our two nations forever," said Biden, who also laughed about the two wearing heels on the lawns near the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, saying, "This is how you always plant a tree."
Before the planting, the first lady took Kishida around the White House, including the Oval Office, where she had a brief conversation with President Joe Biden, according to the Embassy of Japan in Washington.
Kishida became the first wife of a Japanese prime minister to have made a solo trip to the United States at the invitation of a first lady, according to the Japanese government.
In January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida traveled to Washington for the first time since he took office in 2021, but his wife did not accompany him, apparently because the U.S. first lady had just undergone surgery to remove cancerous skin lesions.
While staying at the White House for about two hours, Kishida made Japanese tea for the first lady and told her it is a "great pleasure" to him that a cherry blossom festival held every spring in Washington is loved by so many people in the United States, according to the embassy.
Kishida, who is on a three-day visit through Tuesday, expressed her hope that exchanges between the two countries will bloom further through the festival, which commemorates a 1912 gift of cherry trees from Tokyo to Washington.
Each spring, Washington, DC and Tokyo blossom with new life and color, thanks to beautiful Yoshino cherry trees.
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) April 17, 2023
Mrs. Kishida joined me today to plant a new tree at the White House, representing the friendship of our countries, which will bloom for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/GrOMW6YRg9
The first ladies also agreed that women should play a bigger role in their countries, according to the embassy.
Later in the day, Kishida visited Howard University, a prestigious, historically Black institution in the U.S. capital.
At the university, from which Vice President Kamala Harris graduated, she communicated with students studying Japanese, as well as those with an interest in Japan.
