TOKYO: Kuwait and Japan have reached an agreement on waiving entry visa requirements for diplomatic and official passport holders in the two countries, the Kuwaiti Embassy in Tokyo said. “The agreement constitutes the first step towards working on the waiver of visa requirements for regular Kuwaiti passport holders in the near future,” the embassy said in a statement to Kuwait’s state media agency KUNA. Japan is a popular destination for Kuwaiti travelers, according to embassy officials in Kuwait.

“Though Japanese pop culture -- anime (animation), manga (Japanese comic books), and J-POP (Japanese pop music) -- play a role in shaping interest in Japan, traditional Japanese culture also offers deep fascinating experiences,” said Arata Tatsumi, Second Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Kuwait, in an April interview with KUNA.

Visa applications to the country have been on the rise since last October, said Tatsumi, with a 20 percent jump in applications received by the Japanese embassy in Kuwait in January 2023 compared to the same period in 2020. The embassy receives around 20 visa applications daily with the number reaching sometimes around 30 to 40 requests, said Tatsumi.

The agreement to waive visas for diplomats and officials, which the Kuwaiti embassy referred to as a “major achievement” for both countries, will be in effect 90 days after it comes into force. Notes about the waiver were exchanged in a meeting by Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Sami Al-Zamanan and Assistant Foreign Minister and Director-General for the Middle Eastern and African Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry Kansuke Nagaoka, the embassy said in a statement to KUNA.