IKARUGA, Nara Prefecture—Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung visited Horyuji temple on Jan. 14, a day after playing a BTS song together on the drums.
The temple, founded around the year 607, has deep historical ties to the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders toured the site for about an hour, viewing landmarks such as the famed five-story pagoda and the Shaka Triad statue.
Shokaku Furuya, the chief priest who guided them, explained that the temple bears the influence of the Korean kingdom of Baekje. He shared that techniques including how to make the roofing tiles were brought over at the time of the temple’s construction.
Lee’s trip to Takaichi’s home prefecture of Nara began Jan. 13 as part of efforts to deepen ties between Japan and South Korea through mutual visits by their leaders.
According to a senior official at the prime minister’s office, Horyuji was chosen as “a symbolic place representing Japan-South Korea cooperation.”
Lee showed interest while viewing murals in the temple’s main hall, saying, “I remember seeing these in textbooks.”
When the two leaders addressed reporters the day before, Takaichi said she was looking forward to showing Lee around Horyuji “while reflecting on the history of exchanges between our two countries and the importance of people-to-people connections.”
Takaichi and Lee held a summit at a hotel in the prefectural capital of Nara on Jan. 13.
After their talks, they performed the song “Golden” from the globally successful animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” and BTS’s “Dynamite” on the drums.
Takaichi, who played the drums in a heavy metal band during her student days, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, the same day that she prepared the session as a surprise.
“When we met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last year, Lee said that it was his dream to play the drums,” she said.
Lee also posted on X on Jan. 14, saying: “Just as we respected each other’s differences and matched our rhythms, I hope that South Korea and Japan can also deepen their cooperation and grow closer step by step.”
The South Korean presidential office announced the same day that it had presented Takaichi with a drum set made in the country and drumsticks adorned with a mother-of-pearl inlay.
Officials said the gifts were chosen in consideration of Takaichi’s long-standing passion for drumming, noting her band activities since high school and her being known for carrying drumsticks around when first elected to the Diet.
Lee’s visit to Nara marks the first time in about 14 years that a South Korean president has visited a Japanese regional city, excluding trips for international conferences.
(This article was compiled from reports by Narumi Ota, Tatsuya Harada and Akihiko Kaise.)
AloJapan.com