In the late morning, President Obama gave a speech at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Beat Takeshi, Jero, the mayor of Nagasaki, the mayor of Obama city, and the families of the Japanese people abducted by North Korea were among the 1,500 guests invited to listen to the president speak. The part of his speech in which he mentioned the abductee issue received the greatest applause form the audience.

Afterwards, Obama had lunch with the Emperor and Empress. It was the first time an American President had dined with the imperial family since Clinton’s visit in 1998.

At around 2:30PM, Obama got on Air Force One to fly to the APEC meeting in Singapore.

Update: Some American bloggers are attempting to twist Obama’s polite greeting to the Emperor as a extraordinary display of an American president groveling before a foreign monarch.