Aug
23
Article/Journalism, Writers 
Comments Off on Who was the first U.S. president to visit Japan?
Who was the first U.S. president to visit Japan?
Article/Journalism, Writers Comments Off on Who was the first U.S. president to visit Japan?
Posted by Tom Baker (Chiba, 1989-91)
U.S. President Joe Biden is set to visit Hiroshima next spring, when Japan hosts the Group of Seven summit. All of Biden’s recent predecessors have also visited Japan at some point.
Amazingly, the first presidential visit happened way back in 1879, when Ulysses Grant spent the summer in Japan shortly after leaving office. He met an array of Japanese historical figures, including Eiichi Shibusawa and Emperor Meiji.
I recently spent a day exploring Tokyo in Grant’s footsteps. Here’s what I found.
