Opening Remarks by Chinami Nishimura
at the 1st Seminar on the Dialogue for the Future
between Japan and the Islamic World,
Abu Dhabi, 7 March, 2011
HH Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
HE Shaikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research,
Esteemed participants from the Islamic World and Japan,
Assalaam Alaikum
Allow me to congratulate and express my sincere gratitude to Zayed University and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for successfully hosting the First Seminar on “the Dialogue for the Future between Japan and the Islamic World”. My thanks also goes to the Sasakawa Middle East Islam Fund, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and the UAE-Japan Society for co-hosting this seminar. It gives me great pleasure to see such a large turnout of intellectuals, students and the media from the Islamic countries of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and Japan.
It was just about 100 years ago when visits of people between Japan and the Islamic World began to be recorded. It has been reported that Kotaro Yamaoka became the first Japanese to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1909. The first Mosque in Japan appeared in Nagoya in 1931. Although this Mosque was damaged during the Second World War, there are currently more than 60 Mosques in Japan and, the number of Muslims in Japan is reported to have reached one hundred thousand. Japan’s population being 120 million, this may not be a lot. Islamic influence, however, is felt and increasingly so, in every walks of life in Japan; culture, economy, art and science. Japanese people are of the view that key to preserving good relations as neighbors or business partners is not to impose one’s values on the other. Rather, it is to embrace cultural diversity and explore a happy coexistence based on mutual respect. Holding free exchange of thoughts and opinions should serve for the better future for both the Islamic countries and Japan.
Based on this standpoint, Japan has organized eight seminars under "the Dialogue among Civilizations between Japan and the Islamic World" since 2002 with Bahrain as a main partner, in both Islamic countries and Japan aiming to establish a network and promote our mutual understanding. Building upon this, this year, we decided to launch a three-part series of "the Dialogue for the Future between Japan and the Islamic World" to discuss what the current generation should do for young people who forge the future, with a view to better delivering our message to the world. I am confident that Japan has a role to promote dialogues and cooperation with those countries, especially as it has fostered traditions and culture somewhat different from those in the West, and has no negative historical memory with the Middle Eastern and other Islamic countries.
The overall theme of the first part of this Future Dialogue, held here in Abu Dhabi, is “Towards a Creative Society: Diversification of Industrial Structure and Job-Creation for the Younger Generation”. In this seminar, I hope that we can promote better understanding of how we can empower the youth, harmonize institutions and technical innovation for a free society and effectively enlist energy of the youth for development of the society.
Underlying factors of the recent political situations first observed in Tunisia and in Egypt, and now in some Middle Eastern and North African countries, include youth unemployment and uncertain job security. To shed light on both the immediate remedy and the long-term solution to address these issues, our topics focus on demography and resource allocation, culture and new market, job creation and technology, sustainable economic development, as well as youth exchange. And in this seminar, young generations from both sides are invited to participate. The young people who have different foundations of culture, would think about how to work together and boost mutual understanding by acknowledging differences of perception and opinion. I do hope that the Youth Exchange Session in particular, would lead to nourishing future citizens who are active beyond their cultural differences.
Employment opportunities for the youth can be diverse, and Japan, based on its own experience, can be useful in supporting the efforts of the governments in the region. The fact that Tunisia is studying the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) for possible creation of a similar system is a case in point. I would like to take this opportunity to convey to you that Japan is willing to extend such support.
My heartfelt wish goes to you all for this two-day seminar to be a resounding success.
Thank you very much.
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