Ambassador Drago Štambuk attended today, 7 September 2009, a working lunch with Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in the Emperor’s Palace in Tokyo

During lunch, which was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Mitoji Yabunaka and Prince and Princess Hitachi, one topic of discussion was the outstanding and constant increase in the interest of the Japanese for Croatia in the last years.

During the conversation about numerous civilisation, cultural and religious subjects, the Japanese imperial couple remembered their visit to Dubrovnik and stressed the beauty of the Croatian sea and coast.

According to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Croatia, the number of tourists from Japan in 2008 increased by 66%. In the first six months of 2009 almost 70 000 Japanese tourists visited Croatia, which is half of the overall number of tourist stays realised last year.