Public Diplomacy

The exchange between Sakai Town in Ibaraki Prefecture and Argentina began from the arrival of the Perry’s Black Ships dispatched by the United States in 1853. Mr. Nomoto, an official of the Shogunate in the Edo era, who received Mr. Montenegro, an Argentine sailor on board the said ship, was origin from Sakai Town. 80 years later from the arrival, their grandsons became acquainted through letters and got to know the exchange between their grandfathers. When Mr. Montenegro, the grandson of the sailor and the former Argentine Minister to Japan at that time, visited the elementary school in Sakai Town where Mr. Nomoto's grandson was born, he was warmly welcomed by the local residents. Mr. Montenegro had made a significant contribution to the relationship between the Town and Argentina in those days. Although the exchange was once suspended due to the WWII, it was revitalized in the 1960s. Since 1989, the children of the elementary school have been putting on creative performances to promote exchanges with Argentina. In 2016, Sakai Town was registered as a Host Town of Argentina for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games. The athletes who participated in the Tokyo 2020 were moved by the cheers with smiles of the many children holding Argentine flags!

On March 22, 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan hosted the event "Local x Global –A special Event for Future Interaction-" jointly with the City of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture and Yamaguchi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture at Happo-en Tokyo. 65 guests mainly from the diplomatic corps stationed in Tokyo, foreign chambers of commerce in Japan and the private companies participated in the event. At the beginning of the event, Mr. Ishikawa Hiroshi, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), delivered the opening remarks. Then, the representatives from the City of Nagoya and Yamaguchi City gave presentations on the various attractive features of each city in the first part of the event. Both cities exhibited their tourist information, local products, traditional crafts, and other aspects in their PR booths in the second part of the event. Foreign Minister Hayashi joined in the event and visited PR booths with the guests. Check the detail and digest movie

Niigata Prefecture's knitwear industry was launched by some pioneers who, in response to the postwar clothing transition at that time, changed their occupation from the textile industry, and has moved up to be a comprehensive knitwear production hub. On the other hand, in spite of high technology and quality of Niigata's knitwear, it had had a problem in appealing to the general public both in Japan and abroad. In response to the situation, the collaborative efforts were made by Niigata Prefecture in close collaboration with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Niigata Trade Information Center (JETRO Niigata).

The online event was held for the first time at the Consular office in Portland at the end of January this year. It was called "More Than Just Potatoes! Introducing the City of Boise, Idaho." Here is an overview of the day's events. A consultation of Boise State University with the Consular office led to the participation of great number of young people who wanted to introduce the charms of Boise City to Japan. Even Japanese mayor and city council members participated in this event. It provided a great opportunity for the future. It was an event not to be missed.

Grant County, located in the central part of Washington State, has a thriving agricultural industry and aerospace industry, etc. In 2016, a sister airport relationship was established between the prefectural Nagoya Airport and Grant County International Airport. In December 2019, Komaki City and Toyoyama Town in which the prefectural Nagoya Airport is located, and the State of Washington signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of Friendship. In spite of the unexpected pandemic which happened just after the signature, it is strongly expected that the exchange will be developed anyway.

Best timing & best match!
The tweet that gained the most attention this month was a cat standing in the hilly town of Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, which was posted on February 22, Cat's Day. The cat's line of sight is the three-story pagoda of Tennei-ji Temple, which was built in 1367. There is impressive atmosphere and nature created by this ancient temple. A cat may gently greet you when you visit this picturesque and lovely hill town!

From last December to the end of February, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Japan in China had held a local attractions’ promotion event in close collaboration with Japanese local governments, organizations and private companies. The objective of this project is to spread the information on tourism, local culture and cuisine/food in various parts of Japan. With the participation of 67 Japanese local governments and organizations, a lot of attractive movies of those local regions were posted on SNS accounts of the Embassy etc. Japanese restaurants located in China, wholesalers or EC market sites as the partners of this project had effectively used the common logo of the project to cheer it up as well. A lot of attractiveness of Japan’s local regions were conveyed to China through this project.