Japan–Qatar relations April 2006, an economic agreement was signed between Qatar and Japan. Also that year, the inaugural meeting of the Japan-Qatar Joint Economic Committee took place. The Qatar-Japan Business Forum was held in Qatar in August 2013, during the visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There were an estimated 50 Japanese companies with offices in Qatar in 2015. In 2015, when Qatar finalized the purchase of 24 fighter jets from France, Japanese banks agreed to lend Qatar $6.8 billion for a down payment. Japan was the main destination for Qatari LNG in 2016, importing 12.1 million tonnes. This provided Japan with
Sanji Abe Abe became the first American of Japanese ancestry to be elected to Hawaii's territorial senate; he ran from the South Hilo district as a Republican. His dual citizenship of the U.S. and Japan became a hotly discussed issue during his election campaign. His citizenship issues first came to public attention in early October; soon afterwards, Abe announced that he would be renouncing his Japanese citizenship. He received confirmation of his expatriation on November 2. The intersection of Abe's ancestry and rise to prominence set him up for negative attention from the US Army's Hawaii sub-command; he was arrested on August