在ヒューストン日本国総領事館

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

I would like to extend a special welcome to the Honorable Al Hoang, Houston City Council Member representing District F. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you here tonight to celebrate the sister-city relationship between Houston and Chiba, which is growing stronger by the day.

Regretfully, this is one of the last events that I will be hosting as the Consul-General of Japan at Houston. I will soon be leaving for my next posting, which is the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organization in Vienna.

During my tenure of three years and one month in Houston, I have seen the sister-city relationship between Houston and Chiba truly blossom. I took up my current post in September 2007, which coincided with the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Houston-Chiba sister-city relationship. To celebrate this auspicious anniversary, Chiba dispatched an expert in Japanese gardening to the Japanese Garden in Hermann Park in September and Houston sent a delegation led by Houston City Councilmember M.J. Khan to Chiba in October.

On April 2008, Chiba sent a group of musicians to perform music with the taishogoto, a traditional Japanese harp, at the annual Japan Festival in Houston. A booth at the festival also sold various local goods from Chiba to Houstonians. Houston reciprocated in November of the same year by setting up a “Houston Corner” at the Chiba Industrial Festival, at which NASA and Astros-themed goods were sold to Japanese festival goers.

The exchange of students between Houston and Chiba has been ongoing for many years. In August 2009, Japanese middle school students visited Houston. In June 2010, students of Lamar High School in Houston visited Chiba.

As you can see, this relationship has been one of constant reciprocation, warmth, growth, and progress. I hope the sister-city relationship between Chiba and Houston will further branch out into areas such as economy and trade, strengthening the link between our two cities, and indeed, our two countries. With the signing of the addendum to the original sister-city contract today, I am certain this will soon become a reality. Through exchanges between two cities’ incubation facilities, new venture companies will be given opportunities to grow and spread their innovations across the Pacific in pursuit of new opportunities.

Thank you all once again for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us this evening. Your presence here means a great deal. I wish everybody a very pleasant time. Thank you very much.