Press Conferences

Q: Hi, my name is Stefano Carrer, I’m a journalist for the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. Could you say something, elaborate a bit about the visit of Prime Minister Abe to Brussels, G7; but also to Rome, to the Italian government and to the Vatican?

Mr. Mizushima: Sure. Okay, thank you for your questions. Prime Minister Abe is going to visit Italy today and tomorrow. He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Renzi, and also he will pay a courtesy call on Pope Francis, which will be happening on Friday, June 6th. We strongly expect to confirm close cooperation with Italy, as Italy will take EU presidency starting from July this year. And also in the courtesy call on Pope Francis, we would like to send a message to the 1.2 billion Catholics all over the world about the Japanese policy to contribute to the stability and the prosperity of the world.

I just would like to elaborate a little bit more on the meeting between Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Renzi. Of course, our purpose is going to talk about the common global challenges. We would like to confirm with the Italian government the positions to oppose to an attempt to change the status quo by force, and to observe the rule of law, which are very important for peace and stability of the situations anywhere in the world. And also, Prime Minister Abe expects to explain his policy of proactive contribution to peace, and we expect to get a better understanding from the Italian government. Disaster reduction will be one of the topics that we would like to talk about, because Japan will host the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, March 2015.

Another topic will be the economic relations. As is well known, Japan and the EU have been negotiating the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement. And we would like to reaffirm the early conclusion of the Japan-EU EPA in that meeting. And also, we can talk about the growth strategies which will be very important for both countries, Japan and Italy, in particular promoting a high-value added agriculture or promoting small and medium-scaled industries, and so on.

Another topic will be the cultural and people-to-people exchange. The year 2016 will mark the 150th anniversary of opening diplomatic relations between two countries. So taking advantage of that year, we would like to enhance the people-to-people exchange or cultural exchanges, and since both countries are rich in tourism resources, we can talk about the promotion of tourism. Also, Japan will host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, so we would like to enhance sports exchanges as well, in the meeting. So those are the issues that we expect.

Q: Zaccheroni is the coach of the national soccer team of Japan, no?

Mr. Mizushima: That is correct.

Q: So there are no real issues between Italy and Japan, not presently?

Mr. Mizushima: Well, the topics that I explained are very important issues. As I said at the beginning, we would like to confirm the close cooperation between Japan and Italy and the topics that I mentioned are the examples in which two countries can enhance cooperation further.

Q: Will anything the Vatican, with the Pope, maybe it’s also because it seems like that the Pope will come to Asia next summer, visiting Korea, the fact that the Pope will come to Asia next summer, is it practical or not really?

Mr. Mizushima: I do not know the details about the Pope’s plan to visit Asian countries, but as I said, it is important for Japan to share our policies with the Pope and get a better understanding from them. As I said, the Catholic Church has 1.2 billion Catholics all over the world, so we expect such a close cooperation will be a benefit to both Japan and the Catholic Church.

Q: Because there are rumors that maybe the Pope will make a stopover in Hong Kong, I guess to send a signal to China so — this is a rumor - he’s supposed to go to Korea. About G7, could you say something about G7 and Abe?

Mr. Mizushima: About the G7 meeting, I think the summit meeting is still going on. Yesterday, on June 4, they had discussions at dinner time, and a Communique was issued about the foreign policy and they talked about the situation in Ukraine and the situation in East Asia and others. I understand that the leaders of the G7 countries made very candid and active discussions in that meeting. And about the situation in East Asia, Prime Minister Abe took a lead in discussions and he mentioned the heightened tensions in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and he reiterated his ideas, principles that every state should make its claims on the international law, the attempts to change the status quo by coercion or intimidation cannot be tolerated, and any dispute should be resolved in a peaceful manner. And I understand the other leaders of the G7 countries expressed strong support to his ideas.

Q: Since Defense Minister Onodera came to Italy in May recently, and normally, one of the discussions will be also with Prime Minister Abe about the possibility to sign an agreement for exchange of information on the security, but probably will not sign anything this time.

Mr. Mizushima: In the visit to Italy?

Q: They will be discussing most of the—probably to carry on negotiations for the kind of agreement to exchange information on a security level and possibly also about industrial partnership. But probably understood that since in Japan, the situation is still not undergoing to change the secret laws, so probably won’t be signing anything this time.

Mr. Mizushima: Okay. As far as I know, I don’t have such information with me. If there are any developments regarding what you just mentioned, then I can share it with you. But at this moment, I don’t have any concrete information on that.

Q: So basically we are strong friends, and so when next year there will be an expo in Milan, probably important, and the following year, celebrations for the anniversary of the diplomatic relations.

Mr. Mizushima: Yes. And the year 2015 also marks another anniversary, the 400th anniversary of the Keicho era mission to Europe. And the mission had an audience with the Pope Paul V in 1615, so the next year, 2015 also marks that anniversary. And as you mentioned, the Expo will be held in Milan so the cooperation for the Expo will be also discussed in the meeting. That’s what I expect.

Q: I understood that the Japanese pavilion will be one of the largest. So we hope that Japanese participation in Milan will be large and successful.

Mr. Mizushima: Thank you very much.