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総領事のヒューストン通信 |
天皇誕生日祝賀レセプションでの挨拶
2009年12月11日
在ヒューストン日本国総領事 大澤勉
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening.
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all here tonight as we celebrate the birthday of the Emperor of Japan. His Majesty Emperor Akihito was born on December 23rd, 1933, and will turn 76 this month. The Emperor ascended the throne in 1989, so this is a most special year for us, as it is the twentieth anniversary of the Emperor’s accession to the throne. And this is also the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the recent activities of the Emperor. One of his duties is to foster friendly relations with foreign countries by welcoming guests of the state and visiting foreign countries. From July 3rd to the 17th, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress visited Canada and the state of Hawaii, where they met with government officials as well as citizens and promoted friendship with both countries. On November 14th, His Majesty the Emperor hosted a luncheon for President Obama during his stay in Japan as a first stop on his trip to Asia.
Now, let me talk about what happened this year in my jurisdiction, Texas and Oklahoma. First of all, I am very happy to say that no hurricanes hit Texas this year. Although the economic recession has dampened some spirits, the economies of Texas and Oklahoma largely remain strong. Texas gained 41,700 jobs in October 2009, the largest monthly gain since October 2008; the state unemployment rate stayed below the national average for 34 straight months; and the foreclosure rate remained mostly stable over the past three years.
The economy of Oklahoma, like that of Texas, was previously shielded from the national recession thanks to a robust energy industry. Although it was hit hard in 2009, there have been some bright spots. Oklahoma City’s unemployment rate was just 5.9% in September 2009, which is almost four points lower than the national average; it is also the lowest unemployment rate in the nation for metro areas. Like Texas, Oklahoma did not experience as great a housing bubble as the rest of the nation, so the economy has been mostly protected from real estate losses. Japanese businessmen in Texas and Oklahoma are hoping that, despite the struggles we continue to encounter, positive signs are beginning to show.
Currently, about 10,000 Japanese live in Texas and Oklahoma. 2009 has been a busy year for us. Baseball player Kaz Matsui of the Houston Astros achieved 2,000 hits during his career in Japan and the U.S., and added his name to the list of VIP baseball players in Japan.
Astronaut Koichi Wakata completed a four and a half-month mission as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station and returned to Earth on July 31st. In other space related news, the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), Japan’s first unmanned cargo spacecraft, was launched on September 10th and successfully docked with the International Space Station. It is expected to be used to resupply the space station in the future. Also, on December 20th, Astronaut Soichi Noguchi will travel to the International Space Station, and stay there for about six months. Astronauts Naoko Yamazaki, Satoshi Furukawa, and Akihiko Hoshide, who are currently training at JohnsonSpaceCenter, are also scheduled to enter space in the coming years.
This year we also had many new Japanese doctors who came to Texas for the medical research at the Texas Medical Center.While Houston has received a good number of Japanese scientists and professionals, there have been many visits by notable artists as well. Twenty-year-old Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii won a Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth this year. Houston’s Opera in the Heights has a Japanese assistant conductor, and the Houston Ballet has several Japanese ballerinas. I would also like to inform you that the Japan Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston will open next year.
Now, I would like to focus on recent Japan-U.S. relations. On September 16, 2009 Yukio Hatoyama became the new prime minister, after his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) defeated the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the August 30th national election. Only seven days after Prime Minister Hatoyama took office, he met with President Obama in New York. About two months later, President Obama visited Japan and met with Prime Minister Hatoyama again. President Obama’s visit to Japan in November was very substantive and successful. According to President Obama, this was one of the three firsts in his administration; the first foreign visit of Secretary of State Clinton was to Japan; the first foreign leader invited to his White House was the Japanese Prime Minister; and this time, the first stop in his trip to Asia was Japan. During their meetings, the two leaders stressed the importance of the Japan-U.S. relationship, multilateral solutions to international issues involving both nations, and the realization of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
Major changes were seen in both the U.S. and Japan this year with the inauguration of new administrations. Although the leadership has changed, these frequent meetings show that our good bilateral relations have not changed. We believe that Prime Minister Hatoyama and President Obama are kindred spirits in their desire to lead their nations and the world out of the current crisis.
I am very happy to be here as Consul-General of Japan at Houston and welcome you all to my residence tonight. I would like to thank all of you once again for coming to this reception from throughout Texas and Oklahoma. It is a great honor for me to have Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst coming from Austin, and Secretary of State Susan Savage coming here on behalf of the Governor of Oklahoma. I am very excited to hear from our distinguished guests, so without going further, I greatly appreciate you all for joining us and give the floor to them. Thank you so much.