Press Releases
Video message by Foreign Minister Motegi at “Beyond Duty - Visas for Life”, High Level Diplomatic Event to Commemorate the Year of Sugihara 2020 in Lithuania
On September 24, commencing at around 9:00 a.m. (local time), in the city of Kaunas in the Republic of Lithuania, an international conference event was held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the issuing of the “Visas for Life” in 1940 by Mr. SUGIHARA Chiune, former Vice-Consul at the Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (considering the state of the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the conference was held in a hybrid format of face-to-face and online meetings). Upon the request of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, sent a video message ((English) (PDF)
) to the conference.
1. In the message, Minister Motegi expressed his gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for making the opportunity to celebrate the 80th anniversary of issuing the “Visas for Life”, and expressed his respect to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for hosting the international conference. In addition, Minister Motegi referenced the achievements of Mr. Sugihara, and introduced the fact that Mr. Sugihara has become one of the most important cornerstones for Japan-Lithuania relations.
2. In addition, Minister Motegi stated how the humanitarian decision made by Mr. Sugihara to issue visas reminds us that there are important values shared by people over time and across borders, and his commitment to work with the international community in order to maintain peace and prosperity of the world amidst the global spread of COVID-19.
[Ref.] Video Message