What Did the Gifu Governor Do in Lithuania? A University Letter of Intent and the Chiune Sugihara Connection

This article is a personal summary of public information and is not advice on studying, working or travelling. Its content is what is written in the Gifu Prefecture press releases, the Governor’s press conference record and the Prefecture’s budget documents, the announcement of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), an article by the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, and the official page of Sugihara House in Kaunas, all opened on 2026-11-10. Anything not written there is marked “not confirmed”. For the 2019 visit of President Nausėda to Gifu Prefecture, see Lithuanian President’s First Visit to Japan for the Enthronement Ceremony; for how to get to the memorial museum in Kaunas, see How to Get to the Chiune Sugihara “Visas for Life” Museum.

0. Summary (3 points)

• Gifu Governor Yoshihide Esaki visited Vilnius on 4 November and Kaunas on 5 November during a trip to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia (1–8 November 2026). For Governor Esaki, this was his first overseas trip since taking office
• In Vilnius he met the Health Minister and gave a lecture at Vilnius University on Gifu Prefecture’s work on healthy longevity. In Kaunas, Gifu University and the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences signed a letter of intent on academic exchange, with the Governor present
• What links Gifu Prefecture and Lithuania is Chiune Sugihara, who issued the “Visas for Life” in Kaunas. The Prefecture has honoured him together with Yaotsu Town since the 1990s, and the previous Governor also visited Lithuania in 2017. This visit is a first “for Governor Esaki”, not a first “for a Governor of Gifu Prefecture”

1. What happened during the November 2026 visit

On 27 October 2026, Gifu Prefecture announced that the Governor would visit Poland, Lithuania and Latvia for 6 nights and 8 days (1–8 November). According to the Prefecture’s announcement, the purposes in Lithuania were the following two.

• To talk with the Health Minister and people from the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine and learn about Lithuania’s measures for an ageing society, and also to present Gifu Prefecture’s work on healthy longevity to medical and health students
• To attend the signings between Gifu University and the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and between the Gifu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts, and to visit Sugihara House and present donations for its repairs

Those accompanying him included Deputy Speaker Kosei Nagaya of the Prefectural Assembly, Mayor Masanori Kaneko of Yaotsu Town, President Kazuhiro Yoshida of Gifu University (President of the Gifu–Lithuania Friendship Association), and President Yukio Murase of the Gifu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Gifu).

Date	Place	What was done	Source
4 November	Vilnius, Ministry of Health	Meeting with Health Minister Linas Kukuraitis and others	Gifu Prefecture announcement (results)
4 November	Vilnius University Life Sciences Center	Discussion of university-to-university cooperation with the Vice-Rector and others	Gifu Prefecture announcement (results)
4 November	Vilnius University Medical Science Centre	After a meeting with the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and others, the Governor gave a lecture mainly to master’s students	Gifu Prefecture announcement (results)
4 November	Residence of the Ambassador of Japan to Lithuania	Meeting with Ambassador Shinsuke Shimizu	Gifu Prefecture announcement (results)
5 November	Kaunas, LSMU	Gifu University and LSMU signed a letter of intent on academic exchange	LSMU announcement (results)
5 November	Kaunas	Morning: visit to Sugihara House and presentation of donations; afternoon: meeting with the Mayor of Kaunas and signing of a memorandum between the Gifu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts	Gifu Prefecture draft schedule. Results not confirmed

4 November: Vilnius

According to the Prefecture’s announcement, at the meeting at the Ministry of Health, the Governor presented the Prefecture’s work on healthy longevity, Mayor Kaneko presented the history of exchanges built on the connection with Chiune Sugihara, and President Yoshida presented Gifu University’s research. The announcement says the Governor stated: “Thanks to Mr Chiune Sugihara, a strong bond was formed with Lithuania, and we would like to deepen our exchanges further while sharing knowledge with each other.”

In the afternoon, at the Vilnius University Medical Science Centre, he gave a lecture titled “The Challenge of a Healthy-Longevity Society (Health Promotion in the Age of 100-Year Lives)”, mainly for master’s students in medicine and health. According to the Prefecture’s announcement, in the Q&A after the lecture there were questions about the Prefecture’s “Morning Project”, which uses the café culture of breakfast “morning” sets, such as “Did the Prefecture provide financial support for this project?” The Governor answered, in substance, that initiatives that rely on financial support are hard to continue once the support ends, so the Prefecture focused on collecting and analysing data.

5 November: Kaunas

According to the LSMU announcement (5 November 2026), the delegation from the Prefecture visited the LSMU Emanuelis Levinas Centre, and Gifu University and LSMU signed a letter of intent on academic exchange (ketinimų protokolas). The content written in the LSMU announcement is as follows.

• They aim for long-term academic cooperation. One of the pillars is the exchange of students and teaching staff
• Fields discussed: research on cancer and rare diseases, robotic surgery, training of specialists, sharing experience with biobanks, and research across medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and engineering
• The Rector of LSMU noted that Gifu Prefecture is known for the development and manufacture of medical devices and expressed hope for cooperation in that field

As of 2026-11-10, Gifu Prefecture has not published its results release on the amount of the donation to Sugihara House, the meeting with the Mayor of Kaunas, or the content of the memorandum between the chambers of commerce (not confirmed). On the same day we also rechecked the Prefecture’s list of November press releases, Kaunas City news and LRT, but found no article reporting the results of that day. We will add them here when the Prefecture publishes its announcement.

2. What “first” means

This visit is sometimes described as a “first”, but you need to separate what exactly was the first.

• Governor Esaki’s first overseas trip since taking office: Chunichi BIZ Navi, part of the Chunichi Shimbun group (9 November 2026), wrote that he “finished his first overseas trip, which took him to three European countries”. Governor Esaki took office in February 2025
• It is not the first visit to Lithuania by a Governor of Gifu Prefecture: the Prefecture’s budget document says, “During the Governor’s trip to Lithuania in September 2017, he met senior government officials of that country and others, and it was agreed that the Prefecture and Lithuania would promote exchanges in a wide range of fields such as tourism, culture and the economy” (this was under the previous Governor, Hajime Furuta)
• Whether Mr Esaki visited Lithuania personally or in a previous job before becoming Governor is not written in the official documents (not confirmed)

3. The person who links Gifu Prefecture and Lithuania: Chiune Sugihara

Chiune Sugihara was a diplomat who worked at the Japanese consulate in Kaunas at the beginning of the Second World War. According to the official Sugihara House page, the consulate was in this house from November 1939 to August 1940, and here Sugihara issued more than 2,000 Japanese transit visas without clear permission from the government. Since 1999, the house has been a memorial museum (Sugihara House).

Gifu Prefecture describes Sugihara as “a great figure from the prefecture” (2020 flyer). As for his birthplace, some accounts say Yaotsu Town and others say Mino City (formerly Kōzuchi Town); this article does not decide between them (not confirmed). Yaotsu Town has the Chiune Sugihara Memorial Hall, and the Prefecture and the town have worked together to honour him.

4. History of exchanges between Gifu Prefecture and Lithuania (timeline)

We have arranged in chronological order what is written in Gifu Prefecture’s July 2019 Governor’s press conference record, budget documents and event flyer, the LRT article and the Sugihara House page.

Year	Event	Source
1939–1940	Sugihara issues transit visas at the Japanese consulate in Kaunas	Sugihara House
1992	“Sugihara Week” begins in Yaotsu Town, and the Hill of Humanity Park opens (the Prefecture also contributed to the cost)	Prefecture’s press conference record (2019)
1999	Sugihara House (memorial museum) opens in Kaunas	Sugihara House
2000	The Chiune Sugihara Memorial Hall opens in Yaotsu Town (with the Prefecture’s cooperation)	Prefecture’s press conference record (2019)
From around 2016	Personal and cultural exchanges between Yaotsu Town and Kaunas City, and between Gifu Prefecture and Lithuania, increase sharply. 40,000 euros from donations collected by the Prefecture and Yaotsu Town are delivered for the repair of Sugihara House	Prefecture’s press conference record (2019)
September 2017	The previous Governor visits Lithuania, and they agree to promote exchanges in tourism, culture and the economy	Prefecture’s budget document
2018	To mark the 100th anniversary of Lithuania’s independence, “Lithuania NOW” is held in the Prefecture for the first time	Prefecture’s budget document
14 May 2018	An honorary consulate of Lithuania opens in Gifu City. It was opened by Lithuania’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honorary Consul is Mr Yukio Murase, then Chairman of the Gifu Prefectural Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (who accompanied this visit as President of the Gifu Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Then-Governor Furuta also attended. LRT describes it as Lithuania’s fourth honorary consulate in Japan	LRT (2018), Prefecture’s press conference record (2019)
2018 (“last year” in the press conference)	During the Prefecture’s economic mission, a memorandum is signed on importing Lithuanian honey	Prefecture’s press conference record (2019)
October 2019	President Nausėda visits Gifu Prefecture. The Prefecture writes that “welcoming a sitting head of state to Gifu is a first in the history of the prefectural government”	Prefecture’s flyer (2020)
2020	80 years since the visas were issued. A replica of the Chiune Sugihara monument unveiled in Kaunas is presented as a sign of friendship between Gifu and Lithuania, and between Yaotsu Town and Kaunas City	Prefecture’s flyer (2020)
November 2026	Governor Esaki visits Vilnius and Kaunas	Gifu Prefecture and LSMU announcements

Items whose year is unclear (mentioned in the 2019 Governor’s press conference as “things that have happened so far”):

• The Gifu–Lithuania Friendship Association is established, with the President of Gifu University as its president
• Events introducing each other begin: “JAPAN NOW” in Lithuania and “Lithuania NOW” in Gifu
• Kaunas City and Yaotsu Town agree on cooperation and sign a document (year of signing and name of the document not confirmed)
• Lithuania supports the effort by Yaotsu Town and the Prefecture to have the Sugihara documents included in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World”

5. For people involved with Lithuania through study or work

This letter of intent is a document at the stage of “we would like to develop exchanges from now on”, and the LSMU announcement does not mention places for exchange students, a start date or costs (not confirmed). If a scheme is created for going from Gifu University to LSMU, or from LSMU to Gifu University, it should appear on the universities’ official pages.

The procedures and scholarships for studying in Lithuania in general are covered in the following articles.

• Residence Permits for Studying in Lithuania 2026
• Scholarships for Students Going to Lithuania 2026–2027
• Entry Procedures for Lithuania 2026

6. Common misunderstandings

• “A Governor of Gifu Prefecture went to Lithuania for the first time” → A Governor also visited in September 2017. This time it was Governor Esaki’s first overseas trip since taking office
• “Gifu Prefecture and Lithuania have concluded a sister partnership” → Among the documents we opened this time, we found no official document saying that a sister or friendship partnership agreement has been concluded between the Prefecture and Lithuania (not confirmed). The FY2018 (Heisei 30) budget document says that during the 2017 visit the previous Governor proposed a “comprehensive friendship exchange partnership”
• “This time, the Prefecture and Lithuania signed an agreement” → It was Gifu University and LSMU that signed (a letter of intent). The memorandum between the chambers of commerce is in the Prefecture’s draft schedule, but the result is not confirmed. The Governor attended as a witness
• “The number of Sugihara’s visas” and “the number of people saved” → The figure “6,000 people” is a commonly used estimate; what the Sugihara House page states is the number of visas (more than 2,000 transit visas). The number of people and the number of visas are different things, and this article uses the number of visas written on the page

7. What has changed (newest first)

• 2026-11-10: First version. For the 5 November itinerary in Kaunas (Sugihara House, the Mayor, the chambers of commerce), Gifu Prefecture’s results announcement has not been published yet (we rechecked the Prefecture’s November press release list, Kaunas City news and LRT). The opening date of the honorary consulate (14 May 2018) was confirmed in the LRT article and added to the timeline

8. Primary sources and date of last check

Source	URL	Date viewed	What was confirmed
Gifu Prefecture press release (2026-10-27)	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/site/pressrelease/524476.html	2026-11-10 (opened the main page and 2 PDFs)	Schedule 1–8 November / purposes and main itinerary in Lithuania / 5 November itinerary in the attached draft schedule / accompanying members
Gifu Prefecture press release, day 3 of the visit	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/site/pressrelease/526079.html	2026-11-10 (opened the main page)	4 November meeting, lecture and meeting with the Ambassador / the Governor’s remarks
Gifu Prefecture list of press releases (November 2026)	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/site/pressrelease/list351-1220.html	2026-11-10 (looked at 48 items)	Announcements on the visit only for days 1–2 and day 3. Day 4 (5 November) not yet posted
LSMU announcement (2026-11-05)	https://lsmu.lt/lsmu-ir-gifu-universitetas-pasirase-ketinimu-protokola-del-akademinio-bendradarbiavimo/	2026-11-10 (opened the main page)	5 November signing of the letter of intent / members of the delegation / fields of cooperation
Kaunas City news	https://www.kaunas.lt/feed/	2026-11-10 (looked at articles from 3–9 November)	No article reporting the Gifu Prefecture visit
LRT article (2018-05-14)	https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/212506/japonijoje-atidarytas-ketvirtasis-lietuvos-garbes-konsulatas	2026-11-10 (opened the main page)	The honorary consulate in Gifu City opened on 14 May 2018 / the Honorary Consul / the Governor’s attendance. An LRT search (Gifu) shows no article on the November 2026 visit
Chunichi BIZ Navi (2026-11-09)	https://biz.chunichi.co.jp/news/article/10/133037	2026-11-10 (headline and opening only; the body is for members)	“First overseas trip”
Nikkei (2025-02-06)	https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOFD069WO0W5A200C2000000/	2026-11-10 (headline and opening)	Governor Esaki’s first day in office on 6 February 2025
Gifu Shimbun Digital (2026-03-24)	https://www.gifu-np.co.jp/articles/-/683858	2026-11-10 (headline only; the body is for members)	Ambassador Zykas met Governor Esaki at the Prefectural Office
Gifu Prefecture Governor’s press conference (2 July 2019 / Reiwa 1)	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/site/kaiken/21529.html	2026-11-10 (opened the main page)	Exchanges in 1992, 2000 and from around 2016 / 40,000 euros / honorary consulate / friendship association / honey memorandum / signing between Kaunas City and Yaotsu Town
Gifu Prefecture budget request (FY2019 / Heisei 31)	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/138156.doc	2026-11-10 (opened the main document)	The Governor’s visit and agreement in September 2017 / Lithuania NOW in 2018
Gifu Prefecture budget request (FY2018 / Heisei 30)	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/124829.doc	2026-11-10 (opened the main document)	In September 2017 the Governor proposed a comprehensive friendship exchange partnership
Gifu Prefecture Lithuania NOW 2020 flyer	https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/214798.pdf	2026-11-10 (opened the main document)	The President’s visit to Gifu in October 2019 (a first in the history of the prefectural government) / presentation of the monument replica
Sugihara House About the museum	https://www.sugiharahouse.com/en/about-the-musuem	2026-11-10 (read the main page)	Period of the consulate / more than 2,000 transit visas / opening in 1999

Not confirmed (as of 2026-11-10): the 5 November visit to Sugihara House, the amount of the donation, the meeting with the Mayor of Kaunas, and the result of the memorandum between the Gifu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts (Gifu Prefecture’s results announcement not yet posted; no article from Kaunas City or LRT either) / whether Governor Esaki visited Lithuania before becoming Governor / Chiune Sugihara’s birthplace (Yaotsu Town or Mino City) / the year of the signing between Kaunas City and Yaotsu Town and the name of the document / the year the Gifu–Lithuania Friendship Association was established / whether there is a sister or friendship partnership agreement between Gifu Prefecture and Lithuania / places for exchange students between Gifu University and LSMU and when it will start. Ambassador Zykas’s visit to the Prefectural Office in March 2026 was confirmed from the Gifu Shimbun headline; the Prefecture’s page (the earlier URL) could not be opened.