President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. received the credentials of Japanese Ambassador Kitagawa Katsuro during a ceremony at Malacañang on Thursday.

Ambassador Kitagawa presented his credentials to President Marcos, which was followed by a brief meeting to take stock of the robust relations between the two countries.

Ambassador Kitagawa has held several senior positions at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Director-General of the European Affairs Bureau and Director-General of the Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department. He likewise served in Japanese diplomatic missions in France and the Republic of Korea.

During his meeting with the President, Ambassador Kitagawa said he would work to further deepen the Philippines-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

“I shall exert every possible effort to further deepen our strategic partnership through the steady progress of cooperation in a wide range of areas such as security, economy, and people-to-people exchange,” the Ambassador said.

For his part, the President acknowledged the longstanding relationship between the Philippines and Japan that has continued to grow even closer.

“The decades-long friendship between our two countries has reached a level never before seen in the history of our vibrant and dynamic relations. We hope to continue to foster this partnership for the benefit of both our countries and our peoples,” the President said.

The Philippines and Japan are marking this year seven decades of longstanding friendship and the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Japan was the Philippines’ second-largest trading partner in 2025, with total trade reaching $22.2 billion. It also remains the country’s largest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA), with loan and grant commitments totaling about $13.959 billion as of December 2025.

The two countries have forged more than 300 bilateral agreements covering a wide range of areas such as trade and investment, defense equipment and technology, infrastructure and Mindanao development as of June 2026. Presidential News Desk