Governor Koike visits London and Paris on business

From Tuesday, October 30 to Sunday, November 4, Governor Koike visited the cities of London and Paris on business.

While in London, aside from meeting with Lord Mayor Charles Bowman to further deepen cooperation with the City of London, Governor Koike also spoke at the Tokyo-London Financial Seminar 2018 and at City, University of London on Tokyo’s appeal and her initiatives for the realization of Tokyo as a global financial city.

At a meeting with Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, Tokyo’s friendship city, the governor and the mayor discussed the Olympic and Paralympic Games and challenges faced by the two cities, such as climate change. She later visited Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to hold discussions with those who were involved with the London 2012 Games and to see the post-Games.

In Paris, Tokyo’s friendship city, Governor Koike met with Mayor Anne Hidalgo, and at a symposium hosted by Paris, she and Mayor Hidalgo spoke about each of their city’s plans for a post-Games legacy. The two also agreed that their cities would cooperate on initiatives in fields including the Olympic and Paralympic Games (sports), the environment, culture, and tourism.

While in Paris, the governor visited Furoshiki Paris, a furoshiki-themed art event held as a part of Tandem Paris-Tokyo 2018, a cultural exchange program of the two cities; the Art Brut Japonais II exhibition held at the Halle Saint-Pierre Art Museum; and the Live Performance of Karakuri Ningyo (Mechanised Dolls) held at the Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris.

The governor also visited a booth set up to promote the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the host city Tokyo at a shopping mall and a judo training hall in Paris where Japanese judo instructors had been sent. At the promotional booth, she spoke to a large number of Parisians and tourists on the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Tokyo’s charms.