President Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko Kishida, to Washington, D.C., with a seafood dinner on Tuesday evening.
The couples went to BlackSalt, a seafood restaurant in the Palisades neighborhood of Northwest D.C.
The Bidens welcomed the couple to the White House earlier on Tuesday and are set to host an official state dinner on Wednesday. Biden and the prime minister will also participate in a joint press conference that day.
Before dinner, the Bidens exchanged gifts with the visitors.
The official gift was a 17-inch three-legged table that was handmade by a Japanese American owned company in Pennsylvania. The table was crafted from American black walnut wood and will include a plaque to commemorate the visit.
Biden gifted the prime minister a custom framed lithograph and a two-volume LP set, signed by music legend Billy Joel, as well as a vintage vinyl record collection of great American music artists presented in a custom leather box.
Jill Biden gifted Yuko Kishida a framed painting of the Yoshino cherry tree that they planted together on the South Lawn of the White House last spring.
Additionally, she gifted her an autographed soccer ball signed by the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and the Japanese Women’s National Football Team. It was signed before the U.S. and Japan played in the SheBelieves Cup semifinal match in Atlanta, Ga., last weekend.