Prabowo Warmly Welcomed by Indonesian Diaspora in Tokyo, Some Receive Autographs
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Prabowo Subianto’s arrival at the hotel where he was staying in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday (29/3/2026) was met with a jubilant welcome from the Indonesian diaspora.
According to a press release from the Presidential Secretariat (Setpres), around 8:00 p.m. local time, Prabowo arrived and was immediately greeted enthusiastically by the Indonesian diaspora who had been waiting for his arrival.
Three Indonesian children dressed in traditional attire stood neatly in line, presenting flowers to President Prabowo.
They lined up neatly, with some diaspora members unable to hide their emotions upon seeing President Prabowo up close.
Taufiq, for example, an engineer working as a consultant at an electrical company in Japan, felt that the moment of meeting the President was an unforgettable experience.
“Today is the first time I’ve met Mr. Prabowo Subianto in person. It feels extraordinary, doesn’t it? Why extraordinary? Because out of 280-290 million people, we have the chance to meet our President of the Republic of Indonesia directly. So this is truly extraordinary, very happy, and of course, it will be a core memory for me,” he said on Sunday.
Ara, a nurse who has long resided in Japan, felt similarly.
She admitted she did not expect to meet the President in person.
“Actually, I’m nervous. Outside, the expectation was to meet him. And this is also an opportunity for the diaspora in Japan to meet,” said Ara.
The opportunity became even more memorable when Ara managed to obtain a direct autograph from the Head of State.
“Maybe because of the position in the line too, at the end of the line, right in front of Mr. [Prabowo], and Mr. is very friendly too, approaching us one by one, and alhamdulillah, I got the chance to have it signed,” said Ara.
Meanwhile, Tiwi, a PhD student at Chuo University who attended with representatives from the Indonesian Students’ Association in Japan, expressed her happiness about the President’s visit.
For Tiwi, even though she had not yet had a direct conversation, President Prabowo’s presence remained a valuable moment.
“Very pleased, of course. And this is the first time I’ve been able to meet him in person, even though I haven’t been able to chat yet, but I’m already happy to see Mr. President’s presence,” she said.
Tiwi also placed great hopes on the increasingly close diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Japan through this visit.
“From my perspective, I hope that with good diplomatic relations between Japan and Indonesia, this will open up various opportunities for the Indonesian diaspora, and also for those in Indonesia to come to Japan or from Japan to Indonesia, both in terms of knowledge transfer, investment, and economy, making things better in the future,” she said.