(28 April 2017) The Italian Embassy in Japan’s Facebook page announces Ambassador Giorgio Starace's visit to Italian researchers based in Japan. "Robotics, nuclear physics, biology, ICT and more: There will soon be an association to increase productivity and quality together!". "Scientific cooperation between Italy and Japan is of enormous interest for both countries. Italy, in particular, benefits from the high degree of specialisation of internationally successful Japanese technology" according to the Scientific Cooperation section of the Embassy website. Areas where cooperation between Italy and Japan is more active are: Physics and Astronomy; Life Sciences; Nano-science; robotics; space; and ICT (Information Communication Technology). (Red)

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

Official relations between Italy and Japan began with the arrival of the Italian war frigate "Magenta" in the port of Yokohama on 27 May 1866. On 25 August of that same year, a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce was signed. There is little information on diplomatic headquarters in the early years of Italo-Japanese relations. In 1872, a diplomatic seat was permanently set up in Tokyo on a plot of about 7,600 square feet southwest of Toranomon. Over the next thirty years the buildings were expanded, though repeatedly damaged by fire and typhoons. In 1919, the Embassy buildings were severely damaged by a fire. In 1922, the Italian Government acquired the former Austro-Hungarian Embassy in Kioichō, near the Imperial Palace. This site was also seriously damaged by the great Kantō earthquake (1 September 1923) after which the Italian Government regained their former headquarters. The Japanese Government proposed an exchange of property that would satisfy the needs of the new regulatory plan. Lengthy negotiations began in December 1928 to offer Italy Prince Matsukata's former properties located in the Mita area. In March 1928, an agreement was reached under which the Italian Government obtained full access to the 20,000 square metre territory and the Embassy was subsequently transferred there in March, 1932. The Ambassador's residence was destroyed in 1945 during the Second World War and the Chancellery suffered serious damage. The Italian Embassy wasn't rebuilt until twenty years later. A first proposal to rebuild it was pitched in 1959 by the architect Pier Francesco Borghese, in collaboration with the Japanese architect Masachika Murata. It was approved in 1963 and completed in April 1965.