Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to become first UK minister to give speech in Japanese

Officials will hope he avoids another embarrassing gaffe after he accidentally told politicians in Beijing that his Chinese wife, Lucia, was Japanese

Jeremy Hunt will become the first British minister to deliver a speech in Japanese as he makes his first diplomatic visit to the country since becoming foreign secretary.

Mr Hunt, who lived in Japan for 18 months when he was his twenties, will seek to impress his hosts on a visit to Tokyo where he will promise of a "new era of friendship" between the two nations.

Officials will hope he avoids committing another embarrassing gaffe, after he accidentally told politicians in Beijing that his Chinese wife, Lucia, was Japanese.

Mr Hunt was expected to say: "I came to this country for the first time in 1990 to learn Japanese. I lived for eight months in Kyoto, then six months in Nagasaki, followed by six months in Tokyo.

"I was introduced to Japan and wonderfully looked after by Japanese families all over the country, and I always try to meet them when I come back.

"Today, I am here to take forward the new era of friendship between Britain and Japan. We have so much in common as two island nations who strongly support the rules-based international system that has delivered peace and prosperity for many years.

"Our friendship stretches back to the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 – and I am sure it will strengthen in the years ahead, not least because for the first time there is a British foreign secretary who can speak a little Japanese."

Mr Hunt is due to hold talks with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and foreign minister Taro Kono, where he will raise the future UK-Japan economic partnership and security on the Korean Peninsula.

As one of the UK's biggest investors, Japan has been vocal in its concerns over Brexit, which it reportedly sees as an act of "economic self harm".

Car giants such as Nissan and Toyota are said to be watching the negotiations carefully, as their British factories depend on frictionless trade with the EU for parts.

Mr Hunt became foreign secretary in July after Boris Johnson's dramatic resignation from the cabinet in protest at Theresa May's Brexit strategy.

On his first diplomatic mission to Beijing, Mr Hunt told government officials, said: "My wife is Japanese ... my wife is Chinese."

Amid laughter in the room, he said: "Sorry, that's a terrible mistake to make.

"My wife is Chinese and my children are half-Chinese and so we have Chinese grandparents who live in Xian [in northern China] and strong family connections in China," he added.