在ヒューストン日本国総領事館

国際貿易センターでのスピーチ 2008年4月8日

在ヒューストン日本国総領事　大澤勉

President Wea Hua Lee,Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honor for me to speak at this historical event at the InternationalTradeCenter today.I would like to congratulate you on your new, expanded facilities.International Trade Center-Houston is dedicated to the promotion and encouragement of international business opportunities between Houston and foreign countries.I am confident that the InternationalTradeCenter will play a very important role in the Houston community and that the new facilities will be put to good use.I am very pleased to be invited to the first in the series of luncheons that are going to be held here.

I took my post here in Houston last September and it has been a half of a year since then.I am enjoying life in Houston, Texas, and I have been impressed by everything I have seen so far.Houston is an incredibly diverse and multicultural city with friendly people.There are about 3000 Japanese living in Houston.Many Japanese people have told me that, and I quote:“Houston is a really comfortable place to live—except for the heat of summer.”Actually, despite the fact that the heat of summer is fast approaching, Houston has many fascinating attractions for our overseas visitors and businessmen.

In fact, unfortunately many people in Japan do not know much about Texas, despite it being one of the most important states in the United States and having what would be the world’s eleventh largest economy if it were an independent nation.As Consul General of Japan in Houston, Texas, I’m going to work, not only to strengthen the ties which bind Texas and Japan together, but also to increase the awareness of this great state in Japan.

Recently we had two pieces of good news that are expected to increase the awareness of Houston, Texas in Japan.The first is that the Japanese astronaut, Mr. Takao Doi, went into outer space on the space shuttle, Endeavor, and successfully completed his mission to install a Japanese storage compartment on the International Space Station.He said that, and I quote, “This is a small step for one Japanese astronaut, but a giant entrance for Japan into a greater and newer space program.”I suppose you might have heard a similar expression about forty years ago.As he mentioned, this is only the first step and two more Japanese astronauts are planning to go into space on the Space Shuttles scheduled to launch this year.Thanks to Mr. Doi’s achievement, many Japanese media organizations reported from the JohnsonSpaceCenter and as a result of that, more and more Japanese are learning that Houston is a fascinating place to visit.

The other bit of good news is related to the Houston Astros Baseball Team.Kazuo Matsui, the Japanese second baseman is expected to start playing by the middle of this month.I am sure that his stint with the Astros will raise awareness about Houston in Japan and, without a doubt, encourage more Japanese tourists to come to see what this great city has to offer.

March 4th of this year was a special day for me to rapidly and precisely report to my capital on what’s happening in Texas.Not only the Japanese Foreign Ministry, but also many Japanese leaders, including business leaders, were paying much attention to Texas, especially the results of the presidential primary election in Texas.The results were as you well know.

Professionally this is a very interesting moment to serve in the United States.I consider myself to be very fortunate.It is essential for a diplomat like me to carefully observe the country he or she serves in and to find out and analyze underlying factors which shape that county.In that sense, there are no better times to understand the basics of the United States than during the presidential campaign when we can witness the American democracy at work.

Japanese people are very interested in the dead heat between the two Democratic candidates.For me, as a diplomat, the important question is, not only who will be elected the next President of the United States, but also “why.”The answer to this question will give us important clues as to how Japan should relate to the United States in the future.

With regard to the U.S. Presidential campaign, I would like to quote from a survey conducted by one of the major newspapers in Japan.The newspaper asked a question to 100 Japanese intellectuals, who are not necessarily specialist on the United States.The question is “If you were the President of the United States, what would you consider to be priority issues that you would tackle?”

Many Japanese intellectuals mentioned the war in Iraq and prevention of nuclear proliferation, as well as banning fire arms and curbing violence in American society.The other interesting answers were to “Find a better way of showing America’s strength to the world,” “Find a way to govern and improve the country without necessarily identifying outside enemies,”“Prevent obesity and lead the country to eat better” and “Rediscover the importance of production and reduce the reliance of the national economy on financial transactions.”

Frankly speaking, these answers reflect some changes that at least some Japanese want to see in the United States.

The relationship between Japan and the United States has been one of the most, if not the most, solid relationship in the world for more than 60 years, since the end of World War II.Japan has been one of a very small number of countries in the world, whose basic stance towards the United States has been consistent all throughout this period.There is no reason to think that this will be changed in the foreseeable future.

Japan and the United States share fundamental values such as democracy, political freedom, respect for human rights, rule of law and economy based on the free market mechanism.Actually, Japan and the United states not only share fundamental values, but also share the common problems of a developed country struggling to revive vigor and stay competitive in the face of increasing challenges from the developing countries.

The rapid growth of the likes of China and India will have a huge impact on the world economic system.It will come in the form of climate change and the rapidly growing consumption of raw materials and foodstuffs. Advanced economies like Japan and the United States will face the challenge of how to stay competitive in the face of the rise of the developing countries and how to maintain and strengthen global rules which will ensure sustainable development.Japan is willing to work towards the goal that will allow China, India and others in the developing world to constructively engage for better management of the world.

The Japanese Government is now busily preparing for the G8 Summit meeting that will take place in July in Toyako, Hokkaido in Japan.This upcoming G8 Summit will be a good opportunity for Japan and the United Stats to work together for the well being of the world.

Today, many businessmen are gathered here so I think I had better talk about trends and forecasts of the Japanese economy.

The official assessment of the Japanese economy in February stated, “The economy is recovering at a moderate pace recently.”This expression might sound bureaucratic and difficult to understand, so I would like to explain the situation in a little more detail to you.

The Japanese economy has emerged from the long-term, post bubble stagnation, as the result of progress in economic structural reform and the efforts of companies to improve profitability.Japan’s economic recovery has been sustainable and the unemployment rate has improved to down below 4%.The Japanese economy still remains in recovery mode; however, recently many economists are becoming a little bit pessimistic about the outlook of the Japanese economy due to the recent high value of the Japanese Yen and the increase of prices of the raw materials that Japan has to import.

I am cautiously optimistic about the future of the Japanese economy, because Japan is the second largest economy in the world, only after the United States.Japan has tremendous sources of economic growth, including technological innovation, impressive household wealth and social stability.

Before concluding my speech, I would like to introduce a recent study conducted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.It shows that the image of the United States within Japan is becoming increasingly positive, with more than three quarters of the people in Japan holding a favorable impression of the United States.I think it’s a very promising sign for future relations between our two countries.

Now I would like to thank you once again for giving me this opportunity today.I hope that you are able to understand Japan better and I wish everyone a very pleasant and meaningful time working and learning in this new facility of the InternationalTradeCenter.

Thank you very much.