在ヒューストン日本国総領事館

Good Afternoon and welcome to the Consulate General of Japan at Houston. Let me first give you my congratulations for your recent graduation. I hope you are proud of the accomplishments you have made and challenges you overcame in High School. I hope that you will take all the learning experiences forward into the next stage of your journey at Prairie View A & M.

I hope today’s visit will help you to understand the world in new ways that perhaps you didn’t know about. It is our hope that you will come away from today’s meeting with an understanding of Japanese culture and the close bonds Japan has with Texas. One symbol of unity is the Japanese Garden at the center of Hermann Park just down the street. Together with the Houston-Chiba sister-city relationship, Houston has many solid examples of its commitment to Japanese culture.

Likewise, Japan is firmly tied to Texas: Toyota’s newest and largest production facilities in San Antonio highlight Japan’s commitment to the American economy; NASA’s strong partnership with JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, shows that our two countries work together to create new technology and better mankind.

These are just a few of the examples that bring Japan and Texas together. Still, most people in Houston do not know about Japanese culture. Japanese restaurants are popular, but we want people to think of more than sushi when they hear the word “Japan.”

It is my hope that you will help change this. You have a unique opportunity to take the information today with you and pass it on, and help people learn about Japan. So please enjoy the presentation and come away with a strong understanding of Japanese culture. Hopefully you will find it so interesting that you will one day visit my country and perhaps inspire others to branch out and embrace Japan.

Thank You.