Prince Albert II of Monaco will pay a three-day visit to Japan from next Sunday.

The visit will make him the first head of state to visit the country after Japan and Monaco formally established diplomatic ties last December, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. Prince Albert II’s Japan trip is mainly to visit an exhibit featuring Grace Kelly, the Hollywood actress who became Monaco’s princess. The exhibit is on a nationwide tour in Japan from last December and will be shown in Tokyo during his stay, the ministry said. Prince Albert II will meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, and also Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss strengthening their nations’ bilateral ties and multilateral concerns. Until last December, consular relations existed between Japan and Monaco. But Japan was unable to officially forge diplomatic ties with Monaco due to a 1918 treaty that put Monaco under limited French protection. The treaty was replaced with a new text, enforced in 2005, which permits for the first time other countries to accredit ambassadors to Monaco.

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