A taho vendor attends to students of Mintal Elementary School as they take a short break while waiting for the arrival of Japanese First Lady Akie Abe outside the Mintal Public Cemetery on Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2017. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe high-fives a student from the Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku in Davao City during his visit to the school on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
Students of Mintal Elementary School wave Japanese and Philippine flags on Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2017 as they await for the arrival of Japan First Lady Akie Abe in Barangay Mintal. The village is known as the Little Tokyo of prewar Philippines. (Christine Megriño/davaotoday.com)
A selected group of students form Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s name with their hands as Abe visits the Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku in Davao City on Friday, Jan. 13. Some 1,700 students welcomed Abe during his visit. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
Young students of the Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku in Davao City wave Philippine and Japanese flags during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, Jan. 13. Some 1,700 students from the school welcomed Abe. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Madam Akie Abe arrive at the Franciso Bangoy International Airport in Davao City on Thursday evening, Jan. 12, 2015. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
Flags of Japan and the Philippines are placed in various locations in Davao City including in Barangay Mintal where Japan’s First Lady Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is set to visit on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Barangay Mintal is tagged as the Little Tokyo of prewar Philippines where early Japanese migrants resided and worked in the abaca plantations around it. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)
An Urban Search and Rescue personnel from the city government watches as a fireman continues to put the fire that razed a soon to open shopping mall in Barangay Mintal, Davao City on Wednesday night, Jan. 11. The fire started around 4 p.m.(Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
A local resident reads the communist publication Pasa Bilis! (Pass it Quickly) during a peace forum organized by the National Democratic Front in Barangay Makopa, Laak, Compostela Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 10. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
Farmers hastily put away their grain to keep them from being wet moments after a slight drizzle started to pour in Barangay Makopa, Laak, Compostela Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 10. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
