Bilateral relations were strengthen by the official state visit of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in 2007 May.
The song "Nemu No Ki No Komoriuta" is based on a poem Empress Michiko wrote as a teenager.
She translated into Ukrainian the book To Build Bridges (2004), written by the Japanese Empress Michiko, delivered lectures on Ukrainian literature at Kyoto University and lectures on gender problems of modernity at Sokko Gakai University.
She is also the daughter of Japanese fashion designer Jun Ashida who at one point of his career was the dressmaker of Empress Michiko.
Michiko Kakutani | Empress | empress | Empress Matilda | Empress Suiko | Empress Michiko | Empress Dowager Cixi | Empress Shōken | Empress Elisabeth of Austria | Empress of Britain | Empress of Blandings | Empress Myeongseong | Beatrice of Sicily, Latin Empress | Michiko Horibe | Holy Roman Empress | Empress of Canada | Empress Feng (Wencheng) | Battle of Empress Augusta Bay | SS ''Empress of Asia'' | Rasputin and the Empress | Empress Yu Wenjun | Empress Yang Lihua | Empress Xin | Empress Wang Zhi | Empress of Russia | Empress Kōken | Empress Jitō | Empress Cheonchu | Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress | RMS Empress of China |
One of his lifetime highlights was a meeting with the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan in 1992 which was attended by President and Mrs. Jon Wefald of Kansas State University and his lifelong friend Professor Clifton Meloan and his wife.