Public Diplomacy

On March 20, the Embassy of Japan in France hosted a reception at the Ambassador’s official residence in honor of His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday. Due to the COVID-19, the Embassy held the reception for the first time in new Japanese imperial year "Reiwa" since 2019, the photos of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress were displayed in a gallery of Japanese culture, including flower arrangement, painting and ceramics. At the booths section, Japanese Local governments introduced their local products such as Japanese tea and Sake, tourism information in collaboration with French-based Japanese companies and public organizations. This reception could provide a good opportunity for the visitors to explore the regional diversities in Japan.

About 500 years ago, Missionary Francis Xavier, born in Pamplona in the Kingdom of Navarre at that period, once stayed in Yamaguchi for the propagation of Christianity. This led to be an occasion for the establishment of sister city relationship between Yamaguchi City and Pamplona City in 1980. In Pamplona, there are some facilities that take after the name of "Yamaguchi" such as "Yamaguchi Park", which are popular among the local citizens. In 2016, Yamaguchi City was registered as a Host Town of Spain for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Taking this opportunity, the Yamaguchi City welcomed a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) from Spain and started online exchanges with Pamplona City. These events further have been developed their relationship. The results of exchanges are also updated on Yamaguchi City's Official YouTube Channel and Instagram.

Host Town Exchanges between Satte City in Saitama Prefecture and Benin began with the visit of the Ambassador of Benin to Japan to the Satte Cherry Blossom Festival. After this Ambassador’s visit, the City has been engaged in exchanges with Benin in various fields such as Karate, music, and presentation of Benin through an exhibition at the Satte City Hall and PR magazines. Moreover, children in Satte City sent letters with support messages and gave 1,000 of paper cranes to the Embassy of Benin in Japan. The Embassy of Japan in Benin has also actively supported their activities in sharing the local charms of Satte City to Benin and made a coordination with Beninese officials and athletes. In March 2022, video message exchanges called "Bridge of Dreams" was realized between a Beninese Olympian athlete participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic game and elementary school students who belong to an Athletic club in Satte City.

The Embassy of Japan in South Africa held the 27th Japanese Film Festival in cooperation with the Japan Foundation in Pretoria and Johannesburg between March 4-6 and 11-13, 2022, for the first time in 2 years. The festival achieved a great success, attracting a total of approximately 600 visitors. At the venue, a PR section for Kagoshima City was set up. Pamphlets on city sights were available and photos of the pre-training camps of South African national team for the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics/Paralympics held in the City were on display to appeal the connection between Japan and South Africa. The Embassy received from the visitors a lot of positive feedback about the works and their impressions of Japan.

Local government officials selected by CLAIR (Council of Local Authorities for International Relations) have occasions to exchange opinions with Japanese counterparts and participate in field trips through “the Local Government Exchange and Cooperation Seminar”. Main purposes of this seminar are to deepen participants’ understanding of the policies implemented by Japanese local governments and to build an effective network between Japanese and overseas local governments and CLAIR. In the fiscal year 2021, this Seminar was held in Paris, Singapore and Sydney, in online format under the themes of SDGs and Zero Emission Strategy. CLAIR received a lot of favorable reviews from the participants.

Prefectural food fair "Taste of Miyagi" was held in March 2022 at Japanese supermarkets and restaurants in the City of Seattle as part of the support for private enterprises in Miyagi Prefecture of which the sales performances were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. 27 of business entities from Miyagi participated in this event and approximately 80 of different kinds of prefectural foods were introduced there.
12 of restaurants offered locally brewed sake and special menus featuring Miyagi Prefecture. Some of the products and goods were even sold out. The Event could bring a positive economic impact for restaurants. It is expected that the cooperation between Seattle and Miyagi will be developed to establish sales channels not only in Seattle but also in the other parts of the U.S for the further contribution to the local economy in Miyagi.

150 Years of Transoceanic Exchange!
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of “Iwakura Mission”, Japanese diplomatic voyage to the United States in 1872. To celebrate this historical event, “Japan Parade 2022” was held in New York on May 14. The parade was featured popular mascots and anime characters. Various performances such as Wadaiko (Japanese drum) sword fighting and traditional dancing were played and presented as well. Needless to say, Japanese food culture was also introduced.
This tweet could transfer the lively atmosphere in in the heart of Manhattan where the charm of Japanese culture was fully shining.