Lula and the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, in a bilateral meeting in Hiroshima.| Photo: EFE/EPA/Japan Pool

The Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, announced this Saturday, together with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, that he will start the process to approve visa exemption for Brazilian tourists in the country. The two leaders met for about an hour in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, where Lula traveled to participate in several sessions as part of the summit of leaders of the G7, which includes emerging countries. Kishida also said that he will make a loan worth around 30 billion yen (about R$1 billion) to actively support the Brazilian health system and other sectors, and shared his opinion on various matters of cooperation with Lula.

In 2019, by decree of the then president Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian government had unilaterally abolished the visa requirement for Japanese, Americans, Canadians and Australians, with the aim of promoting tourism in the country. However, in March of this year, Lula ordered the Itamaraty to resume the requirement, which will come into force as of October. The alleged reason was the principle of reciprocity, since Brazilians still need a visa to enter the four countries.