Keizō Obuchi
In June 1999, Japanese Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi paid an official visit to Iceland. During his visit, Prime Minister Obuchi announced the opening of a Japanese embassy in Reykjavík. In 2002, both nations opened embassies in their respective capitals. In 2003, the University of Iceland began teaching Japanese as the first university course in Iceland to teach an Asian language and to specialize in Asian culture. In 2005, Iceland approached Japan on a free-trade accord. Each year, both nations obtain negative attention in the fact that they both continue whaling. In 2016, both nations celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations.