With glass and silk butterflies adding to the decor and blistered shishito pepper butter slathered on the rib-eye steak, President Joe Biden welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife to a gala state dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
State dinners are often viewed as a glamorous tool in the arsenal of diplomacy, where the charm offensive is unleashed on allies − and even adversaries − with whom greater partnership is desired.
Preparations for the meeting had been underway for some time.
A week before the guests arrived, a large, hard-to-miss banner depicting both the U.S. and Japanese flags hung from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located next to the West Wing.
On Tuesday, First lady Jill Biden previewed the menu and the décor celebrating “the flourishing friendship” between the two countries with the State Floor transforming into a “vibrant spring garden.”
Keeping with the spring garden theme, guests sat among a field of flowers, with glass and silk butterflies from both countries “dancing over their tables,” said the first lady.
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