Remarks by President Clinton in an Exchange of Toasts
9:30 P.M.(L)
Your Imperial Majesties; Prime Minister Hashimoto& Mrs. Hashimoto; Distinguished Guests. I want to thank you for your extraordinary hospitality to me, Hillary, and all of our delegation. Your majesties, when we last met two years ago, you visited our nation and charmed America. As you crossed the United States, you reminded all Americans of the character and dignity that distinguish the Japanese people and their culture.
Tonight, you have honored us with your hospitality much as you honored our nation with your presence. You have received us with the exceptional grace and elegance for which Japan is rightly renowned throughout the world. More than 1200 years ago, one of your great poets, Otomo No Yakamochi wrote of an imperial "setting wonderful/in its spaciousness,/so superb/so vast--/seeing it, I know/why the rulers have dwelt here/since the age of the gods." We too have been greeted in a setting that is superb and that speaks of a tradition of graciousness toward friends that reaches back to antiquity.
I also thank the Japanese people. The welcome we have received in Tokyo -- for the second time in my Presidency -- speaks eloquently about the friendship between our peoples. You have made us feel very much at home. In a relationship as vast and complex as ours...one that has been analyzed in so many different ways....no number or statistic can begin to capture the value of this friendship to both our nations.
History is filled with changing alliances between states. But history offers very few examples of two peoples who have forged such a powerful friendship in the short period of a half century.
We have indeed traveled far together. We have been able to cover so much distance because we are joined by universal values and seek the same ends: freedom for all our citizens...the blessings of peace...and a prosperity that enables Japanese and Americans to make the most of their lives.
Working side-by-side, we have created in modern times a great democratic tradition -- one of unity and cooperation in the service of our peoples' highest aspirations. In only these five decades, we have reaped enormous benefits....building the two largest economies in the world...and creating a tremendous force for security and stability...during an era of constant change and frequent upheaval.
Today, we carried forward our tradition. We revitalized the alliance that has provided such crucial stability in Asia...we continued the hard work on economic issues that will open the opportunities of the future...and we moved ahead with our common efforts to address the new problems we face around the world. We have achieved so much. In the new century that lies before us...if we maintain our resolve...we can accomplish so much more.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Let us raise a glass to the health of their Majesties and the friendship between the peoples of the United States and Japan -- which has become such an extraordinary force for progress and hope at the dawn of this new age of possibility.
END
9:40 P.M. (L)
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