Pope Francis met with the Japan's prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in the receiving room of the Vatican's audience hall, rather than in the library of the Apostolic Palace, where he typically receives heads of state.
Their meeting comes as Japan marks 80 years since it became the first Asian country to establish full diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1942.
The Prime Minister offered the Pope a ceramic from Hiroshima, where his family is originally from. (0:45)
In return, the Pope gave him a bronze sculpture, with symbols of peace.
You see the dove, the olive tree.
According to a statement from the Vatican, the two talked about the war in Ukraine, and expressed their mutual hope for a world free of nuclear weapons. The Vatican spokesman said they talked discussed how the use and possession of nuclear weapons is inconceivable.
Their meeting echoes the Pope's 2019 visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where he called on world leaders for an end to the use of nuclear weapons.
JM
