Press Conferences

Mr. Norio Maruyama, Foreign Press Secretary: Global Festa Japan 2017 will be held at Odaiba Center Promenade (located in Symbol Promenade Park) in Tokyo from September 30 to October 1.

Global Festa Japan is one of the largest international cooperation events in Japan, co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC), with the aim of deepening understanding of the current situation and necessity of international cooperation. This year marks the 27th time that the event is being held. Visitors can gain exposure to international cooperation through exhibits and activity reports from 264 organizations engaged in international cooperation as well as stalls featuring foods from various countries and numerous stage events.

This year’s theme is “Find Your Piece!” and will introduce the “17 goals to transform our world” presented in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have the global target year of 2030. The event offers a variety of content to encourage people to view the goals as directly related to them, rather than being for someone else.

In the main stage program, many guests will be making appearances, including Pico Taro, the global singer and songwriter who created a promotional video on SDGs, and the comedy duo Oriental Radio. Parliamentary Vice-Ministers for Foreign Affairs Mitsunari Okamoto and Iwao Horii will also take the stage to provide clear explanations on international cooperation and SDGs.

Foreign Press Secretary Maruyama: On October 4, the “Soupe de Poisson party” will be held in Tokyo by a private voluntary organization with a view to supporting recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Relevant officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan will attend this event and give the opening speech.

For this event, chef Katsuhiro Nakamura, who was appointed as National Goodwill Ambassador to Japan of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in May 2017, will prepare “Soupe de Poisson,” cuisine from Southern France, using ingredients from a disaster-affected area. This soup is prepared by making the best use of the ingredients, using the head and bony parts of fish, which are usually discarded. By doing so, it will also contribute to raising public awareness about reduction of food loss and food waste.

Furthermore, a fruitcake made with fruits grown in Fukushima Prefecture will be shown by a pastry chef of Imperial Hotel Tokyo. The Director-General of FAO who visited Japan in May 2017 mentioned that “we don’t see any reason to raise concern about the safety of food from Fukushima.” With this comment in mind, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively introducing this kind of safe and tasty menu lineup and products to people overseas in order to support the recovery of disaster-affected areas including Fukushima.

Goto, Yomiuri Shimbun: I understand that the Chinese Embassy will be hosting a reception tomorrow for the 45th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. Is it correct that Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Kono will attend and give a greeting as a representative of the Japanese Government?

Foreign Press Secretary Maruyama: I have heard that Foreign Minister Kono will attend. Government officials usually attend receptions and give a greeting, but I do not have any further information on this matter. I have heard that the Minister will attend.