A beach cleaning campaign was carried out as part of a friendly exchange between personnel of the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) and crew members of the visiting Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force naval ship at Muara Beach yesterday.
Deputy Chief of Mission of Japanese Embassy in Brunei Darussalam Suda Atsushi and Second Secretary of Defense and Security Advisor at the Japanese Embassy in Brunei Darussalam Lieutenant Wada Toshifumi joined in the beach clean-up.
The two visiting naval ships, JS Shimakaze and Suzunami are carrying around 450 Japanese naval personnel, including 93 cadets under Commander of Training Division 1 Captain Yanagihara Makoto. They also visited the Sultanate’s cultural sites.
Meanwhile, Commanding Officer of JS Shimakaze Commander Kanemaru Ryouhei and Commanding Officer of JS Suzunami Commander Kinoshita Yutaka welcomed Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam Maeda Toru onboard on the vessels.
The ceremony, also attended by the RBN officers, concluded with the exchange of tokens between Ryouhei and Yutaka and RBN officers. The event also saw a reception at the JS Shimakaze.
“This year is the 40th year anniversary of the establishment of Japan-Brunei diplomatic relations to further deepen our bilateral cooperative relationship, which is named ‘2024 Japan-Brunei Friendship Year’,” a press statement stated.
The visit by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force aims to foster basic knowledge and skills as well as international perspectives while promoting friendly relations with port call countries.
