Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, met Monday with Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito at the Akasaka residence, as part of his official visit to the country.

Opportunities for cooperation in the field of new technologies and green energy were the focus of the talks. Borisov invited Prince Naruhito to visit Bulgaria.

The two acknowledged the good relations between Bulgaria and Japan, and discussed perspectives for expanding partnership in the field of politics, economy and energy.

Late Sunday evening the Japanese-Bulgarian Friendship Association held a reception for the Bulgarian delegation where Borisov received as a gift a replica of traditional Samurai gear from the 16th century.

On his part, the Bulgarian PM bestowed to the Association a replica of the Gold Thracian Treasury and a book with illustrations of traditional Bulgarian female costumes.

"We do not have Samurais, but we have Bulgarian women, who are more dangerous than them," Borisov said.

The evening ended with a karate demonstration, the third martial arts demonstration for the day. Enticed by the show, Borisov invited Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, to join him in an improvised karate face-off which ended with the Minister having one less button on his jacket, the Bulgarian correspondents report.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister has 7th dan black belt in karate and is the chairman of the Bulgarian Karate Federation. Borisov has also been a coach for the Bulgarian national karate team for many years as well as an international karate referee.

During his visit, Borisov has been driven in a classic Тoyota Century, Darik radio reports. The model was first made in 1967 while the second one, which is very close to the original, dates from 1997. The car has very limited editions and is mostly hand-made. It is used by the Japanese PM, the ministers, and high-ranking guests. The Emperor is driven in a special version, called Century Royal.

Borissov is also scheduled to confer with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the Chairman of Nippon Keidanren Hiromasa Yonekura and the management of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The Bulgarian PM is accompanied by Ministers of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Mladenov, of Energy and Economy Traicho Traikov, of Culture Vezhdi Rashidov, and of Agriculture Miroslav Naydenov, who will meet their Japanese counterparts.

Some of the crucial aspects of the Bulgarian-Japanese relations in 2011 will be the economy and the investments in Bulgaria's industry and private sector, commented Japanese Ambassador to Sofia Makoto Ito.

The high-level Bulgarian delegation's visit in Japan will continue until Wednesday.

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