North Carolina welcomes a historic visitor in Japan's Prime Minister Kishida

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cemented economic links and cultural amity with North Carolina on Friday, following up time in Washington during his official U.S. visit by checking up on benchmark Japanese companies building in the ninth-most populous state and meeting with students.

In between, Kishida lunched at the governor’s mansion in Raleigh, a historic first for the head of a foreign country in the Tar Heel state. Japan is North Carolina’s largest source of foreign direct investment, where over 200 Japanese companies have now set up shop, employing over 30,000 people, according to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his office.

“I am honored to be here in North Carolina to showcase the multilayered and strong ties between Japan and the United States,” Kishida said through a translator, inside the mansion ballroom, where about 60 people listened. The guest list included Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein, Republican state House Speaker Tim Moore and executives of several Japanese and American companies in the region.

He called North Carolina “a state at the forefront of the times” and flexed his knowledge about its landmarks, mentioning Kill Devil Hills, where the Wright Brothers had their first successful flight, as an example of the state's ingenuity.

Until now, Kishida's trip to the U.S. had been focused on global safety. He met President Joe Biden to discuss security concerns about China’s military, participated in the first trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan and the Philippines, and made the case in an address to a joint session of Congress for the U.S. to remain involved in global security.

But Kishida, who has been Japan’s prime minister since 2021, said before his trip that he chose to stop in North Carolina to show that the Japan-U.S. partnership extends beyond Washington, according to a translation posted on his website.

Kishida, Cooper and others traveled to the Greensboro area for Friday morning visits to a Honda Aircraft Co. production facility, as well as to the construction site for a Toyota Motor Corp. electric and hybrid battery plant that is expected to ultimately employ more than 5,000 people.

Hours before Kishida and his wife arrived Thursday night at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a subsidiary of another Japanese company, Fujifilm, announced an additional $1.2 billion investment in its upcoming biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant and another 680 jobs.

Chiaki Takagi, a Japanese studies lecturer at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, said this week that the prime minister's visit surprised her but that it could signal a “positive future partnership” between Japan and the U.S. and more Japanese workers coming to the state.

“This whole thing will provide the area with opportunities to be engaged in very active cultural exchange between Japan and the U.S.,” Takagi said.

The luncheon marked the first time a foreign head of state has visited the governor's mansion since record-keeping began in 1891, the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said.

“What a better way to start than with one of our closest allies and friends from the country of Japan, with whom we share so many common interests,” Cooper said at the luncheon. “So today we make history, welcoming our wonderful friends.”

Cooper has a history of visiting Japan, making two trips to Tokyo in 2017 and 2023 during his time as governor. When it was announced Kishida was coming to the U.S., Rahm Emanuel, U.S. ambassador to Japan, said during the luncheon Cooper was the first to call to ask for the prime minister to visit his state.

Guests dined on a three-course meal prepared by James Beard award-winning Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen, which included wagyu beef tenderloin and Carolina Gold Rice pudding. Meanwhile, additional members of the Japanese delegation and the governor's staff listened to live bluegrass music as they ate barbeque.

Kishida, Cooper and others went to North Carolina State University in Raleigh later Friday, where they met students ranging from those in middle school to adults studying Japanese. They visited the university's Japan Center, which was established by former Gov. Jim Hunt and others in 1980 following a state trade mission to Tokyo. North Carolina State also has long, formal ties with Japan's Nagoya University.

Earlier Friday, Kishida's wife, Yuko, and North Carolina first lady Kristin Cooper shared a traditional Japanese tea at Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham.

Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh contributed to this report.

Japan first lady Yuko Kishida, center, is flanked by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left and Shigeo Yamada, Japan Ambassador to the United States, during a luncheon in honor of the Prime Minister at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper addresses a luncheon in honor of Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a luncheon in his honor at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a luncheon in his honor at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)

North Carolina first lady Kristin Cooper, North Carolina Gov. Roy Copper, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Japan first lady Yuko Kishida pose for a photograph before attending a luncheon at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, second from right, walks through the assembly building during a visit to the Honda Aircraft facility in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, April 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, back left, tour the assembly building during a visit to the Honda Aircraft facility in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, April 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina and Kristin Cooper, arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House for the State Dinner hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and wife Kishida Yuko, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber, Thursday, April 11, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is pictured during a luncheon with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The major traffic artery linking New England with New York will be closed in Connecticut for days after a tanker fire damaged a bridge over Interstate 95, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday.

The tanker truck filled with gasoline burst into flames in a three-vehicle crash Thursday on I-95 in southwest Connecticut, closing the East Coast’s main north-south highway and causing major traffic jams. While Lamont said there were no serious injuries in the 5:30 a.m. accident in Norwalk, the crash caused damage to the bridge above it.

“The heat from the burning fuel compromised some of the bridge, so that bridge is going to have to come down and that demolition is going to start first thing tomorrow morning,” Lamont said at a briefing Thursday evening.

He said the hope is to reopen the interstate by Monday morning.

“This bridge is less than 10 years old and, you know, but the damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker ignited directly underneath the bridge structure,” Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “The steel did begin to overheat and warp.”

The tanker had been carrying a load of about 8,500 gallons (about 32,000 liters) when it crashed, officials said.

Text alerts were sent to residents of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey and trucking companies who use the route were notified to find alternative routes and means of travel, he said. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg also was notified.

“I know what an incredible inconvenience this is for people and all I can ask you to do is stay away from that area as best you can,” Lamont said during an earlier briefing in Hartford. “The traffic jams are horrendous.”

Traffic was backed up for dozens of miles (kilometers) during the morning rush hour and the crash left other highways and secondary roads in gridlock. The major alternate route in the area, the Merritt Parkway, cannot be used by trucks because the underpasses on that highway are too low. Slow moving detours were set up, taking traffic off the highway and around the accident scene.

The accident was reminiscent of last year's deadly accident in Philadelphia along I-95 when a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline lost control and caught fire, destroying a section of the highway.

Thursday's accident occurred under the Fairfield Avenue bridge. While damaged, the overpass did not appear in danger of collapsing, said Scott Hill, chief engineer for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Utility crews were working to replace downed wires and crews also needed to offload about 3,000 gallons (about 11,400 liters) of gasoline that remained on the tanker.

Environmental crews were also working to clean up gasoline and firefighting foam. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said the runoff was contained to a retention pond and did not make it into the Norwalk River.

The crash came just over a year after a similar wreck on I-95 in Connecticut that forced the closure of the highway.

In April 2023, another fuel truck caught fire after colliding with a stopped car on the Gold Star Memorial Bridge between New London and Groton. The fuel truck driver was killed. The crash shut down the southbound side of the bridge for hours, while the northbound side was closed briefly. The driver of the car was recently charged with negligent homicide.

——

Associated Press writer Dave Collins contributed to this report

In this image provided by the Connecticut Governor's Office, emergency personnel work at the scene of a fiery early morning crash that left both sides of Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, shut down in southwestern Connecticut., Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Norwalk, Conn. (Norwalk Fire Department/Connecticut Governor's Office via AP)

In this image provided by the Connecticut Governor's Office, emergency personnel work at the scene of a fiery early morning crash that left both sides of Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, shut down in southwestern Connecticut., Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Norwalk, Conn. (Norwalk Fire Department/Connecticut Governor's Office via AP)

This image provided by the Norwalk Police Department shows the scene of a tanker fire on I-95 in Norwalk, Conn., Thursday, May 2, 2024. Both sides of I-95, the East Coast's main north-south highway, were shut down — causing “horrendous” traffic jams — following the early morning crash involving a passenger car, a tractor-trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons (about 32,000 liters) of gasoline. (Norwalk Police Department via AP)