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The Speech by Consul General Kiyokazu OTA at the Arrival Reception (June 9, 2010)
Good evening!
Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for coming to welcome us at our residence on Queen Anne Hill!
My name is Kiyokazu Ota. I arrived in Seattle on March 26th. My wife Junko joined me one month later.
As the newcomer, I should begin by telling you a little about myself.
I． My Childhood
I was born in Hamamatsu City in 1953, and my wife Junko was born in Yokohama. I should not tell you when. It was just 8 years after the end of World War II. I grew up surrounded by war remnants. Hamamatsu is an industrial city halfway between Tokyo and Osaka, facing the Pacific Ocean, and was vulnerable to assault. My childhood playground was well-equipped with leftover human and tank shelters, empty bomb tubes and supplies left behind by the army such as helmets, pots and pans.
When I was in high school, American culture was dominant and American items were very popular in our daily life in Japan, from coke and jeans, to TV programs, movies and cigarettes, although cigarettes were not for me yet. Even being immersed in American culture, I was excited when they announced the first experimental live satellite TV message from the US, and asked my mother to wake me up early next morning to see it. She did, and we watched it only to learn the shocking news that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated just hours before. I shared the sadness at the tragedy simultaneously with the American people. It was November 22nd 1963 in the States and very early morning on November 23rd in Japan.
II． My Foreign Service
It was natural that war and peace -along with American society- were issues which captured me from my adolescence. I majored in International Relations and minored in American Studies at Tokyo University. I joined the Japanese Foreign Service in 1977 and was told to study abroad, but not in the US. I was sent to the UK instead. I studied at Oxford for two years. I had met Junko when we were both freshmen in Japan. We married when I was in my second year at Oxford, so I had to fly 8,000 miles to get to my wedding in Tokyo. The return trip was much more pleasant because I had Junko with me.
Presumably due to my studies in the UK I spent many years in Europe, twice in The Hague in the Netherlands, and twice in Vienna, Austria. The Hague is often called “The Capital of International Law.” Vienna was the meeting place between the East and the West during the Cold War and also the meeting place for European Cooperation and the United Nations afterward. In addition to that, I was assigned to British Commonwealth countries such as Zambia, Australia and Bangladesh. Wherever I was posted, I enjoyed friendship with my American counterparts.
III． Seattle
I had numerous business trips to Washington DC and New York over the decades, but that was not enough for me. I still dreamt often of a post in the United States. Now I am the Consulate General in Seattle, my dream has finally come true.
I have never been in the Pacific Northwest before. Everything is new and fresh to me here. My first impression of Seattle is that is a city of beautiful greenery and clean air. It reminds me of the Nordic cities, Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki, which enjoy natural beauty of coastlines and environmental amenity.
All around me, I can also see the spirit of innovation. People seem free to make their own traditions, exemplified by original businesses that have become so important in Japan and around the world such as Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks. Historically, Americans have looked to the West for opportunity, and today Seattleites are finding opportunities in the West –or should I say the East?
IV． Our Relations Now and in the Future: What We Should Do
I have felt very at home here since the first day. I wondered why. Perhaps it is because Washington State is close to my home country in many ways.
Geographically it is closest of all the states in the contiguous 48. You have the First Corps in Fort Lewis who are ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice to the East in case of crisis. We are military allies.
In terms of trade and investment, we are also very close. Japan is one of the largest international trade partners of Washington State. Japanese food and other Japanese daily necessities are becoming commonplace in Seattle. There exist joint ventures between Japanese and American businesses as well as challenging technological cooperation on projects such as the Boeing 787 and the next generation reactor by Bill Gates and Toshiba.
Our people are also bringing our cultures together. There are a remarkable number of sister city, state and prefectural relationships here. Ichiro and the Mariners have made Seattle famous throughout Japan and have become an engine for tourism.
Washington State hosts a great number of students and academicians from Japan. Language is the key to communication between our two people. To that end, Americans teach English in Japan through the JET program, and Japanese language has become popular among young Americans.
Festivals such as the Sakura Matsuri, Aki Matsuri and Sakura-con, have become increasingly popular, and celebrate traditional and pop-culture from Japan. I see the 36,000 US citizens of Japanese heritage that reside in Washington State contributing in every field. They are a testimony of our developing union. We are not separate cultures anymore; we are fostering a shared culture.
I might be feeling at home due to of any of these forms of closeness, but really I believe it is because you all have been so welcoming to me over the last two months. I would like to express my gratitude for your friendly American hospitality. In this encouraging atmosphere, I am looking forward to strengthening relations further and working together with all of you.
In closing, Japan and the United States share important values in common: freedom, democracy, human rights and market economy. Japan and Washington State have such an interconnected relationship that we should serve as an anchor for the relations between Japan and the United States as a whole.
Thank you for listening.