Barely has Japan’s royal couple—Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko—ended their week-long visit to India than it’s time for the country’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to pay New Delhi a visit. He will most likely be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in 2014. This, of course, follows our own prime minister’s visit to Tokyo in May this year, besides a number of high-level bilateral exchanges, be it regarding economic and business cooperation or joint naval exercises and defence.