Посол - Выступления

Your Excellences, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you today to celebrate together the Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan who is actively engaged in official duties and will soon turn 80 years old in good health.

Retracing the Japanese-Russian relations, I'd like to point out that this year has marked an extremely important year for the bilateral relations. This April Prime Minister ABE for the first time in the past 10 years made an official visit to Russia, and since then he met President Putin three times to discuss further development of the bilateral relations in various areas. Based upon the Joint Statement, adopted by the two leaders during Mr. ABE's visit to Russia, negotiations on the conclusion of the peace treaty have been resumed, and moreover there has been progress in a wide range of areas such as politics, security, economy and cultural exchange.

As concrete examples of the above-mentioned, for the first time in Japanese-Russian history so-called "2+2" meeting took place early November between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Defense. As a result of this meeting, it was agreed to strengthen security and defense co-operation in various spheres, including counterterrorism and combating piracy, defense exchange, and cyber security. As for the economic area, progress in co-operation has been witnessed in the field of not only energy and automobile industry, but also in the new field such as medicine, agriculture and urban infrastructures. Furthermore, we remember about the successful launch of the "SOYUZ" spacecraft in November which docked with the International Space Station (ISS). The fact that Japanese astronaut Koichi WAKATA is a member of the crew symbolizes the development of the Japanese-Russian co-operation in the space activity.

As far as cultural exchange is concerned, both Japanese and Russian sides have been making every effort to enhance mutual understanding by annually organizing large-scale cultural festivals. Recently we attach increased importance to the promotion of the culture of Japanese cuisine. Many of you might still remember about the reception "Enjoy Washoku" held in this hall with the presence of Prime Minister ABE in April, where the best Japanese dishes were offered to the guests. A lot of Japanese companies operating in Russia kindly supported not only the reception in April, but also today's reception, presenting the foods and drinks which are the pride of their goods. Furthermore, a Japanese chef of a Japanese restaurant in Moscow and a Russian chef, who won the contest "The Best Cook of the Japanese Cuisine" held in Moscow, are invited to this reception to prepare sushi right in front of you. I hope you will enjoy their sushi.

Let me conclude by reiterating that my Government, in cooperation with the Russian Government, will continue the efforts next year to further develop not only bilateral relations in wide range of areas based upon the achievements of this year, but also the partnership in the international arena, including in the Asian Pacific region.

Now let me propose a toast for the Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and good health and happiness of all of you. KAMPAI!