By DONI TANI/ Staff Writer
February 11, 2025 at 14:18 JST
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gave U.S. President Donald Trump a gold “kabuto” headpiece as a souvenir at their summit in Washington on Feb. 7.
“(The headpiece ornament) was presented to Mr. Trump to express our wishes for the healthy growth of his family, especially his grandchildren,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference on Feb. 10.
The kabuto was created by Ningyouno Hanafusa Co., a traditional doll company established in 1717 and based in Ishiba’s home prefecture of Tottori.
The ornament, named “Amairo odoshi manten kinboshi kabuto,” is priced at 168,000 yen ($1,110).
According to the company president, Tomoya Hanafusa, 38, Ningyouno Hanafusa received an order for the kabuto from the Foreign Ministry in November last year.
The company did not know who would receive the gift, he said.
“I was surprised that it was for the U.S. president,” Hanafusa said. “If the summit went well, I am glad (the kabuto) was able to play a part.”
The headpiece ornament is made using a traditional technique that skillfully combines multiple iron plates and materials. It is also decorated with an ancient Japanese arabesque pattern.
Plated with platinum, it is said to be made in the hope that it will shine forever.
Hayashi revealed that Ishiba also gave Trump a Kutaniyaki vase, a traditional craft of Ishikawa Prefecture.
In November 2016, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave golf-enthusiast Trump a gold-colored Japanese-made driver worth 540,000 yen at their first meeting.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II