Press Conferences

Mr. KITAMURA Toshihiro, Press Secretary: First, at the outset, I would like to make an announcement about the Program for Official Chef of Japan's Overseas Mission.

As we announced at the press conference by Foreign Minister IWAYA in May, the recruitment of executive chefs for diplomatic missions overseas began yesterday. The recruitment period is scheduled to run until the end of August.

We expect that the recruited executive chefs for diplomatic missions overseas, as “culinary diplomats,” will be more actively engaged in promoting Japanese cuisine and addressing reputational damage.

For details, please refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. We look forward to receiving applications from many people.

NHK, TANII: Concerning China’s Anti-Espionage Law, spot information was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. Please tell us about the significance of issuing spot information and alerts at this time, and if you have any further calls for caution for Japanese nationals staying in China, please share them with us.

Press Secretary KITAMURA: In China, 17 Japanese nationals have been confirmed to be detained by the authorities on charges related to “national security” since 2014, and five Japanese nationals remain detained.

The Government has been alerting Japanese nationals in various forms to the risks of detention in China. This time, from the perspective of continuing to inform the public of precautions when traveling to or staying in China, we have issued alerts regarding what kinds of acts may be considered espionage activities or other illegal activities in China in the form of spot information.

We would encourage those currently staying in China or those planning to travel to China to please take a look at this information. Going forward, the Government will continue to strengthen such alerts and take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals.