By Our Reporter Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nakayama Norihiro returned home on 17 January after concluding his two-day official visit to Nepal. During the visit, Nakayama paid courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. They exchanged views of mutual interests and cordial relations between the two countries, which has been in placesince bilateral relations were established in 1956. Recalling President Bhandari’s visit to Japan to attend the Ceremonies of the Enthronement of the Emperor last October, Nakayama expressed that recent increase in bilateral exchanges between Japan and Nepal is further enhancing the long-standing friendly relationship. Nakayama visited the project sites supported by Japan, one of them is Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital at Thapathali, which was under the ‘Program on Rehabilitation and Recovery from the Nepal Earthquake in 2015’ and completed in May 2019. He also visited Tribhuvan International Airport which Japan supported under the “Project for Improvement of Aviation Safety Facilities in Major Airports” to improve the safety and efficiency of air transport in Nepal. Furthermore, Nakayama observed Kathmandu Durbar Squarewhere two Japanese cultural heritage advisors are engaged in reconstructing cultural heritages damaged by the earthquake in 2015. He also met some academians. Likewise, Nakayama attendedthe promotional event of Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY 2020) organized by the Embassy of Japan. Prior to the event, Nakayama had a meeting with Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and wished for the grand success of VNY 2020.