K I ZU NA
Linking Japan and the World

Japan and ASEAN
Golden Friendship, Golden Opportunities

Winter2023

KIZUNA

KANAZAWA SHOKO
Calligraphy Artist
Born in Tokyo in 1985, she started learning
calligraphy from her mother when she wasﬁve years old. One of the notable young
calligraphers of today, her solo exhibitions
have been held throughout the world,in cities such as New York, Singapore,and Prague. She was selected as one of theoﬃcial poster artists for Tokyo 2020.

Welcome to KIZUNA, the official
magazine of the Government of Japan.
This bold work of calligraphy is
絆(kizuna) written in Japanese. Kizuna
means the enduring bonds between
people—close relationships forgedthrough mutual trust and support.
Originally describing the rope used
to tether domestic animals such as
horses and dogs, the meaning of
kizuna has evolved over the years. A
passage in The Tale of the Heike,compiled in the 13th century, uses theterm to refer to the bonds of love
between a father and his children.
More recently, kizuna has gone
beyond bonds tying together family
and close acquaintances; it is now
used in a broader sense of human ties
and connections. Of particular note is
the kizuna born among people during
natural calamities, which fosters
feelings of solidarity and serves as theunderlying strength to overcome
hardships.
Similarly, the kizuna cultivatedamong the countries of the world has
the power to deepen cooperation for abetter future. By reporting on a wide
variety of topics concerning Japan, we
hope that this magazine will provide
opportunities for Japan and the rest of
the world to connect and build
strong kizuna.

CONTENTS
04

A Golden Friendship, Golden Opportunities:
The Future of Japan and ASEAN

06

Cooperating to Ensure the Safety of the Straits ofMalacca and Singapore

08

The Digital Finance Platform Pioneering Connectivity
Across Asia

10

Location Intelligence: Using GPS Data and AI to
Tackle Poverty and Disasters

12

Transforming Agriculture from Space to Empower
Smallholder Farmers

14

Southeast Asia and Japan: Linked by Ties ofCultural Exchange

16

ASEAN-Japan Cooperation and
the New Connectivity Initiative for Further Growth18

Policy Speech at the Joint Session of thePhilippine Senate and the House of Representatives:
Heart-to-Heart Ties for the Next Generation
PORTRAITS OF JAPAN

22

Snow Presents the Beauty of Japanese Winter24

Japan’s Increasingly Attractive Financial Markets:
Promoting Japan as a Leading Asset Management Center

26

Navigating the Digital Era:
The Growing Importance of Fact-Checking

28

The Discharge of ALPS Treated Water: Ensuring
Safety and Paving the Way Toward Decommissioning

30

Leveraging Fukushima’s “Hope Tourism”
for a Disaster-Resilient Future

32

The Roadmap to a Blue Flag Beach and Sustainable
Tourism in Miyagi

34

Pokémon with Tohoku:
Continuing Toward a Brighter Tomorrow

TO READ MORE CONTENT,CHECK OUT OUR WEB MAGAZINE.
https://www.japan.go.jp/kizuna/

Winter 2023

COVER
On September 6, Prime Minister
Kishida delivered a speech at theASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum (top),
before attending the 26th
ASEAN-Japan Summit (bottom left).
Bottom right is the official logo forthe 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan
Friendship and Cooperation.

03

Left: Prime Minister KISHIDA attended the 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit on September 6, 2023. The summit was held in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which currently
chairs ASEAN. Top Right: Securing a sustainable and stable power supply is vital for regional economic development. The photo shows the Nam Ngum 1 Hydropower
Station in Laos, expanded with Japan’s help. Bottom Right: Japan is helping to develop human resources in a wide range of fields, supporting those who will take the lead innation-building in ASEAN countries. The photo shows participants in a program that invites people to Japan to learn how to combat marine plastic waste. GUUN CO., LTD.

A GOLDEN FRIENDSHIP,
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES:THE FUTURE OF JAPAN AND ASEAN

The year 2023 is the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.
During that past half century, the global situation has changed significantly, withJapan-ASEAN relations entering a new phase. This milestone year is an opportunity
to reflect on the past 50 years and set out the vision for the new era.
The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) wasestablished in 1967 for the
purpose of regional peace andeconomic growth. The number ofmember states has gradually risen
from the original five—Indonesia,
Malaysia,
thePhilippines,
Thailand, and Singapore—to the
10-country system we see today.

04

In the meantime, ASEAN has
strengthened its intra-regional
integration in the fields of politics
and security, the economy, andsociety and culture, including thesigning of the ASEAN Free Trade
Agreement and the ASEAN
Charter.
Japan and ASEAN have built
and strengthened friendly and

The official logo for the 50th
anniversary of ASEAN-Japan
Friendship and Cooperation. A
logo by a Japanese creator and thecatchphrase “Golden Friendship,
Golden Opportunities” by aFilipino creator were selected forthe contest, which was open to all
nationals of ASEAN Member
States and Japan.

Mrs. KISHIDA Yuko, thespouse of the prime
minister, attending theofficial ASEAN Summit
Spouse Program together
with the other first ladies.
They watched a skit
performed by children, as
wellas
traditional
Indonesian dances and aworkshop on the country’s
traditional arts and crafts,
experiencing the diversityof each area of Indonesia.

cooperative relations in various
fields since first engaging in a
dialogue on synthetic rubber
in 1973. Through people-topeople exchanges, Japan and
ASEAN have established the“heart-to-heart” mutual trustand confidence advocated in
the Fukuda Doctrine in 1977,
working together as partners forpeace and stability, as well as fordevelopment and prosperity inthe region. In particular, Japan’s
assistance to ASEAN, whichemphasizes the developmentof human resources and thecreation of organizations, hasgreatly contributed to the nationbuilding and growth of the group’s
member states.
The year 2023 is the 50th Yearof ASEAN-Japan Friendship andCooperation. Prior to that, an
expert panel from academic andbusiness communities establishedin Japan presented three pillars
for building a new Japan-ASEAN
partnership in their report to
the government, namely: (1)shaping a regional order whichis free, open, rules-based, andfair; (2) building a society which
fulfills economic prosperity,
sustainability, and equity; and,(3) mutual understanding andtrust as the platform for a renewed

ASEAN-Japan partnership.
Over the past half century,
ASEAN countries have achieved
remarkable economic growth,
and Japan has newly proposed
pillars that emphasize fairness.
“What Japan should emphasize
in its work with ASEAN is thesetting of rules and standards inline with fairness, while facing
common challenges that reflect
the regional realities especially inthe areas of human development,
energy and digital technology,”
said Associate Professor AIZAWA
Nobuhiro of Kyushu University,a researcher on Southeast Asiaand member of the expert panel.
“We need to understand that therelationship between Japan and
ASEAN is precious. We have
50 years of friendship; we areblessed with a broad and dense
network. But at the same time,
we need to transform and renew
this relationship very quickly as
challenges are pressing. Japan
will actively engage with new
emerging social forces in ASEAN,
especially with those from theyounger generation. The trust
we have is a major advantage
for working together in times of
unpredictable global changes.”
In March, Prime Minister
Kishida announced a new plan

for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific(FOIP)” and clearly identified
Southeast Asia as an importantregion. He also announced a newcontribution of 100 million dollars
to the Japan-ASEAN Integration
Fund (JAIF). In addition, at theASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum heldin September, the prime ministerannounced the Japan-ASEAN
Comprehensive
Connectivity
Initiative, under which Japan
indicated that it intends to expand
the scope of cooperation tostrengthen connectivity in a wide
range of fields, including transport
infrastructure development, digitalconnectivity, maritime cooperation,
supply chain resilience, electricity
connectivity, and human andknowledge connectivity.
Concluding the 50th Yearof ASEAN-Japan Friendship
and Cooperation, the ASEANJapan Commemorative Summit
will be held for three days,
from December 16 through 18,
2023. It is hoped that Japan and
ASEAN will further strengthen
their friendly and cooperative
relationship.
Associate Professor AIZAWA Nobuhiro of
Kyushu University’s Department of Cultural
Studies, Graduate School of Integrated
Sciences for Global Society. He specializes inIndonesian politics, Thai politics, urbanizationand politics, and Chinese people living
overseas in Southeast Asia. He is also a memberof the expert panel for the 50th Year of
ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.

05

COOPERATING TO ENSURE

THE SAFETY OF THE
STRAITS OF MALACCAAND SINGAPORE
The Straits of Malacca and Singapore are a vital shipping lane linking Asia with Europe and the Middle East. The
narrow straits with their predominantly shallow waters constitute a treacherous choke point for passing vessels. Japan has
been cooperating with the three littoral States of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore since the 1960s to enhance thesafety of navigation, including conducting joint hydrographic surveys.
The Straits of Malacca andSingapore, most of which arewithin the territorial watersof Indonesia, Malaysia, andSingapore, comprise one of
the world’s most economicallyimportant seaways, with 35% of
global shipping passing through.
With the growing economic
development of the countries
belonging to ASEAN (Associationof Southeast Asian Nations), thevolume of traffic passing throughthe straits has increased year by
year, with approximately 130,000
vessels using the route annually.
However, the straits have many

areas of shallow water less than
20 meters deep, and are affectedby complex currents and seasonal
winds, making them difficult tonavigate. Should a major maritime
accident cause disruption to theirshipping lanes, there would bea significant impact on the local
and global economy, and an oil
spill could lead to disastrous
environmental pollution.
“Ensuring navigational safety
in the Straits of Malacca andSingapore is a key area of maritime
cooperation that will benefit theentire ASEAN region. Japan has
been working together with thethree littoral States since the 1960s
and has contributed to the safety ofnavigation in the straits in a numberof areas, including the removalof shipwrecks, hydrographic
surveys, and the production ofelectronic navigational charts,” said
NAGAMATSU Kenji, executive
director of the Malacca Strait
Council (MSC) of Japan.
Japan has worked on the past
three joint hydrographic surveys.
The second of those—conductedfrom 1996 to 1998—established
a 500-km traffic separation
scheme (in which an area of water
separates opposing shipping lanes)

The survey vessel traveled a total distance of 25,000
km. Some of the work was dangerous, as the vessels
had to go back and forth along a one-way traffic
separation zone. However, with the cooperation of
the littoral States, the work was completed with noaccidents.

06

The Straits of Malacca and Singapore
The light blue ocean waters are less than 20 meters deep

Malaysia

Indonesia

Singaporeand produced the first electronic
navigational chart. However, theseabed’s topography has graduallychanged and the number of larger
ships has increased, leading to anincreased risk of marine accidents.
There is thus a vital need for moreaccurate electronic navigational
charts.
“As seabed surveying touches
on some sensitive security issues,
the littoral States were hoping
for cooperation from Japan, withwhich they had established arelationship of trust. The territorial
waters of the Straits of Malacca
and Singapore are also complex,
and Japan plays a coordinating role
among the three littoral States,”said Nagamatsu.
In response to a request for thethird joint hydrographic survey, thelittoral States and Japan targeted
five specific areas within theStraits of Malacca and Singaporethat required particularly urgent
action. In Phase I of the survey,
which ran from 2015 to 2016,
financialcooperationandthe dispatch of engineers were
provided through the Japanese
Shipowners’ Association, theJapan Hydrographic Association,and the MSC. In Phase II, whichbegan conducting its survey in2018 and covered a larger sea area,
approximately 1 billion yen wasWith Japan’s support, and following updates to the electronic navigational chart of the Straits ofMalacca and Singapore, the ASEAN Hydrographic Survey Workshop was held in Indonesia in
September, at which the results of the project were reported.

budgeted by the Japan-ASEAN
Integration Fund, establishedto support integration among
ASEAN nations. The MSC
oversaw coordination and managed
the progress while the private
firm Aero Asahi Corporation
conducted the survey.
“As such a long country
geographically,
Japan
has
established its strength in surveying
in diverse environments,” said
OSHIMA Aoi of Aero Asahi who
coordinated the joint survey. The
technology used in the most recent
survey was multi-beam sensors thatcan capture the 3D imagery of thewhole section of ocean bed selected
for the survey. Oshima continued,“For greater efficiency, the survey
ship needs to travel back andforth across the traffic separation
zone, but that is as dangerous asdriving the wrong way down a busy
road. Fortunately, we were able toconduct the survey safely without
any accidents, thanks to the littoral
States properly communicating
information to vessels in the
shipping lanes.”
The most difficult part of thesurvey was the disruption to
the project due to COVID-19
restrictions. However, those
involved rallied together to collectinformation and complete theextension procedures, and thesurvey resumed after a hiatusof two years and four months.
With the survey of the whole area
completed, the electronic chart
was finally updated in July 2023.
“The ASEAN Hydrographic
Survey Workshop, held in Jakarta
in September, was attended bymaritime officials from ASEAN
member states and received highpraise,” noted Nagamatsu.
Not only will the completion ofhighly accurate electronic charts
promote maritime cooperation
among ASEAN member states,
but it will also greatly improveconnectivity. Japan will continue its
efforts to collaborate with relevant
authorities in order to improve thesafety of maritime navigation.
OSHIMA Aoi (left), of Aero Asahi, with
NAGAMATSU Kenji, executive director of
the Malacca Strait Council. The shield they areholding was sent by the littoral States as atoken of their appreciation for Japan’s
cooperation over the years.

07

Bakong is Cambodia’s mobile payment system using blockchain technology.
The name comes from Cambodia’s first temple mountain of sandstone, which isalso the prototype for the design of the Independence Monument. Therefore,
Bakong suggests a sense of freedom and self-determination for Cambodians.

THE DIGITALFINANCE PLATFORM
PIONEERING CONNECTIVITY ACROSS ASIA

Several years ago, a Japanese blockchain startup was launched out of the desire to create a new payment service.
The company has since helped launch Bakong, a mobile payment system using blockchain technology,
for the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).
In October 2020, Cambodia introduced a mobile
payment system using blockchain technology for
its central bank. Via a smartphone app, this system,
known as Bakong, can be used for all kinds ofremittances and payments for individual or corporate
customers. Transactions are instantaneous andrequire no fee.
Previously, few people in Cambodia had bankaccounts while many owned smartphones, creating acompetitive market in which private payment services
with limited interoperability coexisted chaotically.
At the same time, Cambodia’s national currency, the08riel, had low rates of adoption, and foreign currencies
consequently enjoyed widespread use in the country.
The launch of Bakong was touted as a means to solve
such problems, establishing an inclusive and stablefinancial system for Cambodia.
That major project was supported by
SORAMITSU Co., Ltd., a Japanese startup
company established in 2016 that develops andintroduces the blockchain technology essential for
digital financial services. TAKEMIYA Makoto, anengineer who co-founded the company, said, “Manyyears ago, when I had to send a membership fee for anMembers of SORAMITSU and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).
Second from right is TAKEMIYA Makoto, the CEO of the company,
and third from left is MIYAZAWA Kazumasa, its president.

international conference from my bank, the process
made me realize just how long everything took andhow high the fees were. That experience inspired
me to create a new kind of money that was usable
worldwide online, eliminating needless time-wasting
and fees. From that point on, I decided to learn about
blockchain technology, and founded SORAMITSU.
Since then, we’ve made great progress in realizing our
vision through projects such as Hyperledger Iroha,
SORA, and Fearless Wallet, which all provide toolsthat central banks can use for digitally transforming
their economies.”
Hyperledger Iroha is the open-source and free-touse blockchain platform developed by the firm forbussiness use. It has already been utilized in various
systems both in Japan and overseas, and, along withthose developed by IBM and Intel, is one of theblockchain platforms managed by the Hyperledger
Foundation—a
globalecosystem
fostering
blockchain technologies. With an uncomplicateddesign and being easy to install, the platform
is renowned for its high processing speed,
reliability, and security. The National Bank of
Cambodia (NBC) saw value in Hyperledger Iroha’s
performance and low cost, as well as the flexibility
and drive that come from a small startup firm. That
resulted in the bank choosing SORAMITSU to leadthe joint development of Bakong in April 2017.
Bakong, which supports both the Cambodian rieland the US dollar, has steadily grown in popularity
in the three years since its launch. As of this year, thesystem has 8.5 million registered accounts, more thanhalf of Cambodia’s population. Bakong is used inabout 1.5 million stores, at which payments grossed
15.5 billion dollars by the end of 2022. ProjectManager Zilya Yagafarova said, “Working closelywith the NBC team, I noticed that they were very
proud of their work. They were very happy to help
the people of their nation, and I was happy to help
them.”In February 2023, SORAMITSU launched thedemonstration experiment of a central bank digitalcurrency (CBDC) in Laos based on a system similar
to that of Cambodia’s Bakong, and the results will
be used to build an optimal system to address thechallenges of that country’s financial situation.
With the support of the Cabinet Secretariat andthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as well as
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, thefirm is also currently conducting basic research on
the potential CBDC needs of such countries as Fiji,
Vanuatu, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, as wellas conducting a proof-of-concept demonstration with
the Solomon Islands. Going forward, the company
plans to roll out similar demonstration experiments
throughout the Pacific region and Southeast Asia.
SORAMITSU President MIYAZAWA Kazumasa
said, “Bakong can now be used in many stores in Laos,
Vietnam, and Thailand, where you can scan a 2D code
and automatically exchange money and pay using the
Bakong app. Many European countries share the euro
as a common currency, but in the future, perhaps
the financial systems of various Asian countries will
be connected in a transparent and accessible fashion
without the need for such a currency union.”
Soramitsu is an ancient Japanese word that, in
one theory, means “to fill the sky.” Apparently, thecompany name was chosen because of the founders’idea of ​​building a blockchain encompassing theentire world. Before long, SORAMITSU’s blockchain
technology may be spreading its wings across Asia,
strengthening ties throughout the region.
Zilya Yagafarova of
SORAMITSU in frontof Bakong Temple. She
began her career as an
IT technician andsystems business analyst
at a bank before joining
the company as a project
manager for Bakong.

09

LOCATION:INTELLIGENCE
USING GPS DATA AND AI TOTACKLE POVERTY AND DISASTERS
As people in developing nations increasingly flock to live in urban areas, theinformal settlements in those cities have also expanded, resulting in a proliferationof the number of residents who live not only in poverty but also alongside the perilsof natural disasters and infectious disease. A Japanese university startup is
endeavoring to change that reality through the utilization of innovative, AI-based
location-analysis technology.
In recent years, the world’s
populationhas
becomeincreasingly concentrated inurban areas, as they are the main
centers of economic activity.
United Nations (UN) statistics
indicate that these areas occupy
approximately only 3% of the total
land area globally yet produce
more than 80% of the world’s total
GDP. Meanwhile, more and morecity dwellers in Asia and Africa
are living in poor conditions,with insufficient access to public

Members of the LocationMind team who aredeveloping the PIVE (Poverty Impact andVulnerability Evaluation) tool in the Philippines,
including SHIBASAKI Mariko (center) andMIYAZAWA Satoshi (second from the right).

services and education linked tothe cycle of poverty. It is difficult
to assess where and how thesepeople live when their number
increases in a chaotic fashion, andthat in turn constitutes a great
barrier to the adoption of measures
by governments and NPOs for
improving their welfare.
A Japanese startup, LocationMind
Inc., has taken an innovative
approach to solving thatproblem by utilizing cutting-edge
technologies to analyze and predict

human movement, or “people
flow.” “People flow data” arecreated by collecting and analyzing
location data from smartphones
and other devices and visualizingthem in an easy-to-understandform. Such data are useful not
only for businesses, but also for thetackling of a wide range of social
problems, from traffic congestion
to disaster control.
LocationMind was establishedin 2019 by researchers of alaboratory team headed byProfessor SHIBASAKI Ryosuke,a renowned authority in this field,
who was at the time a professor at
the Center for Spatial Information
Sciences of the University ofTokyo. Among other initiatives, thecompany is presently undertaking
a joint research project in themetropolitan area of Manila, thecapital of the Philippines, together
with the Asian Development
Bank, to develop what they callthe “PIVE (Poverty Impact andVulnerability Evaluation) tool.”This tool analyzes GPS data,
satellite images, census data, andother data by using proprietary AI
technology to capture and visualize
the state of people living
in poverty—which had
heretofore not been sowell understood. The
subjects range fromthese people’s generalliving conditions totheir access to healthcare
and education, as wellas the disaster risks
to which they are
exposed.
Since Metro Manila
was developed on low-

lying plains along several river
estuaries, it frequently suffers
water damage owing to typhoons
and other disasters. The analysis ofdata from past flood damage andsubsequent changes in the flowof people has made it possible topinpoint high-risk areas and predictthe movement of people andtraffic when disasters strike. “Byproviding this information speedily
and in an easily accessible form,
we aim to support policymakers
and NPOs in their decisionmaking,” said SHIBASAKI
Mariko, a consultant working on
the development of PIVE.
How to combine and analyze
diverse types of data can be a trialand-error affair, but the company

In such fast-growing cities as Indonesia’s capital of
Jakarta (photo), public transport plays a key role inrelieving traffic congestion and rectifying transport
inequalities. In order to establish an efficient public
transport system, it is important to assess residents’locations and their transportation needs at various
times of the day. While supporting the developmentof railways in ASEAN countries, Japan has also
cooperated in research and analysis to promote
development in line with potential needs. AP/AFLO

has built up substantial experiencein addressing manifold social
problems. During the COVID-19
pandemic, for example, thefirm contributed greatly togovernmental decision-making inJapanthroughhigh-quality
analyses that predicted infection
risks by examining the flow ofpeople in the unprecedented
situations that arose—such as
the nationwide restriction on
unnecessary movement—which issignificantly different from that innormal times.
Another instance of suchanalyses can be found in Indonesia,
where a project has been organized
to develop a model visualizing
residents’ locations and theirtransportation needs at various
times of the day for the purposeof improving public transport in
the Jakarta metropolitan area.
The project has succeeded inachieving a highly precise systemof analysis and prediction—more
economically and quickly thanconventional means—by applying
a distinctive method of utilizing
already available GPS data andprevious traffic surveys. “Evenin situations in which others
might give up, experience has
convinced us that there must be asolution, so we continue setting up
alternate hypotheses and moving
on to the next analysis,” explained

Top: An impoverished settlement in Metro
Manila that was selected as the test site for the
PIVE tool project. People-flow analysis not
only
assessesthe
distribution
andconcentration of people in such areas, but also
helps to better understand their movement intimes of disaster, their access to education, andother aspects of how they live.
Bottom: A PIVE map of an area adjacent toMetro Manila that visualizes how people living
in poverty tend to settle in places vulnerable toflooding and other disasters. The darker the
red, the greater the area occupied by newbuildings, including illegal settlements.
OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS | UP NOAH | PLANET LABS PBC,NORWAY’S INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE AND FORESTS INITIATIVESATELLITE DATA PROGRAMMIYAZAWA
Satoshi,whodeveloped the model, and also
serves as a member of the PIVE
development team.
The team is currently working
on a PIVE prototype that will
be further refined by input frompolicymakers and others. “We aim
to eventually build a commercial
product that can be used in othernations,” Shibasaki said. The UN
predicts that the world’s cities willcontinue to balloon in population,
increasing by an additional 2.5
billion people by the year 2050.
If that is to be our future, then
PIVE will contribute greatly torealizing the promise of the SDGs
(Sustainable Development Goals)
agenda, which is to “Leave No One
Behind.” 11TRANSFORMING
AGRICULTURE
FROM
SPACE
TO EMPOWER
SMALLHOLDER FARMERS

Smart farming—the application of leading-edge technologies such as robotics andIoT to agriculture—is spreading around the world, not least in Asia. An exampleof this is an innovative Japanese technology that leverages satellite imagery and
AI to enable even smallholder farmers to adopt data-driven agriculture ataffordable costs.
Recent years have seenan acceleration in digitaltransformation (DX) in various
sectors, including agriculture.
While data-driven agriculture
management is progressing in
the United States and Europe—
which mainly practice large-scale
farming—innovative initiatives arealso emerging in Japan and other
Asian countries, where small-scale
farms are the mainstream. One
company driving the trend in
Asia is Sagri Co., Ltd., a Japanesestartup. Founded in 2018 with

A farmland in Vietnam included in Sagri’s
project. Surveys were conducted on suchinformation as the amount of fertilizer used.

the goal of finding solutions to
the world’s agricultural challenges,
the company’s strength lies in its
technology that uses satellite data
and AI to automatically conductsophisticated analyses and forecasts
on farmland.
By having AI learn frommassive amounts of “teachingdata” combining satellite data andactual on-the-ground information
on farmland, it will become able
to arrive at the right answers on
its own. Not only can the system
make predictions about eachparcel of farmland in terms of cropconditions and harvest yield, etc.,
but it can also analyze the soil,
assessing the amount of nitrogenand carbon, pH values, and otherconditions. As soil samples arenormally required to make suchanalyses, the use of Sagri’s system
can significantly reduce both costand labor.
In addition to its domestic
business, Sagri is working to
introduce the system among
ordinary farmers in India andThailand following pilot projects
to tackle the agricultural challenges
in those countries. In India, morethan 12,000 farmers are making
use of Sagri’s soil analysis services,with some now able to reduce theirchemical fertilizer consumption
by nearly 20%. As this reduction
helps to also reduce emissionsof nitrous oxide, a greenhousegas, it can result in qualification
for carbon credits. To turn these
credits into a new source ofrevenue for farmers, Sagri is now
undertaking procedures to obtain
the qualification to receive them.
The company also plans to launch
the same system in Vietnam,
Cambodia, and elsewhere. “Carbon

With Sagri’s service, crop conditions and soil analyses
for each individual farm can be confirmed by digital
devices such as smartphones (left). “Up to now, suchtechnologies were rarely available to smallholder
farmers, so our service has had a huge impact on
optimizing seed and fertilizer amounts,” said
Chevdumoi Ravanth Mohanaram (on the right of theright photo), the COO of Sagri’s Indian affiliate.

credits will be a great incentive
for farmers, leading also to thedecarbonization of the agriculture
sector in emerging countries,” said
SAKAMOTO Kazuki, who heads
the company’s Asia business.
The foundation for such
pioneering efforts is the farmland
parcel in question. In agriculture,
the size and shape of a particularplot of land, along with its uniqueconditions such as irrigation andsunlight, are the major factors
in all decision-making, fromwhat would make for the mostsuitable crops to how much
fertilizer should be used. Whilethat underscores the importanceof delineating land parcels, inemerging countries, plots of land
are not often delineated accurately.
According to Sakamoto, “A landparcel represents, so to speak,
the farmland’s ID, serving as thefoundation of its link to important
information and analysis.”“If smallholder farmers can stabilize theirincome through data-driven agriculture, theirchildren will have the means to receive an
education and the chance to pursue their
aspirations. It is our dream to create such afuture,” said SAKAMOTO Kazuki, who heads
the company’s Asia business.

Farm parcels in Suphan
Buri Province in central
Thailand that have been
automatically delineatedusing satellite imagery(indicated by the redlines in the right-hand
image). That proves thateven the boundaries ofsmall-scale farms whose
shapes are unique andirregular can be accurately
mapped.

Sagri has developed technology
for the accurate and automatic
mapping of diverse types offarmland based on satellite data.
First, it provided AI with thevast amounts of information on
farmland available in Japan, which
includes many small-scale farms.
The accuracy of the technology
was then further enhanced byproviding the AI with information
about farmland in India, thecompany’s first overseas businessdestination. “India’s farmland istruly diverse in size and shape.
Thanks to these inputs, our AI
can now identify various kindsof farmland,” said Chevdumoi
Ravanth Mohanaram, the COOof the company’s Indian affiliate.
Also, when used in a pilot projectin Thailand that was selected
in 2020 to promote a project
under the Japan-ASEAN Asia
Digital Transformation Promotion
Program, the system was highly
acclaimed for being able toaccurately delineate Thai farmland,
which can be narrow and rolling.

In its business overseas, nothingis more important to Sagri thanworking with partners who are
well-versed in local circumstancesand culture. In Thailand, thefirm has been developing a soil
analysis model together withresearchers at the Faculty ofAgriculture, Kasetsart University,and a soil analysis project is now
being prepared for launch with
Bangkok Produce Merchandising,a subsidiary of the Charoen
Pokphand Group, Thailand’s
largest conglomerate, aiming
for social implementation. “We
would like to work together
with local people, rather than
impose our technology or values
on them. And the day will
eventually come when we pass
the baton to them, and they will
manage the system’s operations on
their own,” stated Sakamoto.
This novel approach toagriculture, developed jointly withlocal partners, should bring aboutfurther growth and an inclusive,
mutually rewarding future.

13

An international U-18 friendship match dubbed
JapaFunCup was held at Fukushima’s J-Village
Stadium. Victory went to the Southeast Asian teamcoached by Koga. JFA

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND JAPAN:

LINKED BY TIES OF
CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Japan has long conducted people-to-people exchange programs in a wide range of fields, including culture and sport,
and has been strengthening its close cooperation with member states of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) for the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. Promoting mutual understanding will pave
the way to a new level of partnership between these countries.
Over the 50 years since ASEAN-Japan relations
started in 1973, the two parties have deepened
their ties of friendship not only in the political andeconomic spheres, but also in the fields of culture,arts and sports through people-to-people exchanges.

The “WA Project”: Toward Interactive Asia through“Fusion and Harmony,” announced at the ASEANJapan Commemorative Summit Meeting in Tokyo in
2013, is part of that endeavor. The Japan Foundation
Asia Center, set up for this project, has been
implementing two main programs. One is NihongoPartners, which dispatches Japanese language
assistants throughout Asia to support local Japaneselanguage teachers, and the other is Arts and Cultural
Exchange, which conducts artistic and cultural
exchanges. One initiative of the latter is Asian Eleven,a sports exchange carried out in coordination with
the Japan Football Association ( JFA) and the Japan
Professional Football League, which dispatches
coaches and players to ASEAN nations to share theirknowledge and experience of football in Japan. The
goal of the program is for the people of Japan and
KOGA Takuma (center) was head coach for two and a half years at an academy
for young athletes in Myanmar. The photo was taken at the JapaFunCup. JFA/AFLO

Top: Abdul Walid bin Haji Misli today works at the EdTech
Centre in Brunei. He said that he is grateful that people heinteracted with in Japan became interested in his country.
Right: Students from Brunei who participated in the
JENESYS program. The group stayed in private homes in
Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, where they learned how tomake the local cuisine, and experienced the ski slopes. After
returning home, they shared their experiences, and somehave kept in touch with the Japanese students they
befriended.

the countries of ASEAN to foster relationships as
friendly rivals through football, and to take Asianfootball overall to a higher level.
Starting from October 2017, former Japanese pro
football player KOGA Takuma spent roughly two
and a half years as a head coach at the Myanmar
Football Academy in Mandalay, where he trained
young players of the next generation. “Myanmar has
some very highly skilled individual players, and I see
potential there for a big leap forward. They responded
to my coaching by playing more and more proactively,
which I found very gratifying,” Koga recalls.
The event that impressed Koga the most took placein 2019, when he served as head coach for a selectteam of players under 18, chosen from 11 Southeast
Asian countries, who were brought to Japan to playa friendly match with a team selected from theprefectures of Japan’s Tohoku region. “It’s great if we
succeeded in passing along some of our energy to thepeople of Tohoku, who were working really hard toreconstruct after the Great East Japan Earthquake ofMarch 2011,” Koga said. The game was a close battle
that ended with a penalty shootout victory for the
Asian Eleven team.
The Japanese government also conducts a program
called JENESYS ( Japan-East Asia Network of
Exchange for Students and Youths) as one of Japan’s
Friendship Ties Programs. The program, whichstarted in 2007, invites young people of merit in the
Asia-Pacific region to Japan and likewise sends young
Japanese people to this area, the goal being to nurture
future generations with a better understanding ofeach other. By March 2023, 36,000 young people
from ASEAN nations had come to Japan and 3,000
Japanese youths had visited the countries of ASEAN,
each expanding their mutual understanding.
In March 2019, Abdul Walid bin Haji Misli
came to Japan as a leader of 22 university students
participating in JENESYS. “Every step and momentof being in Japan was electrifying and inspiring. Every
visit and activity in which we participated was fun
and amazing,” he recalls. The group visited a museumin Tokyo, interacted with Japanese college students,and stayed in Japanese homes. “The participantsfrom Brunei really appreciated the discussions withJapanese students. This is a great program that allows
our students to develop a mutual friendship andunderstanding through people-to-people exchanges,
where we can continue to mature our bilateralrelationship and strengthen our solidarity even at an
early age,” he said.
Abdul Walid currently works at the EdTech
Centre of Brunei’s Ministry of Education. “I reallyadmire Japanese people’s work ethic and dedication.
I determined myself to be as dedicated to my work
after visiting Japan, so that I could contribute to myjob more efficiently. Personally, I would love to go
back to Japan and engage in a professional exchange
to improve my work skills, especially in the areas ofteaching and educational technology,” he adds.
Friendships, forged through interactions between
the young people who hold the future in their hands,
will be the foundation of a stronger partnership
between Japan and the ASEAN nations.

15

ASEAN -JAPAN COOPERATION AND THE

NEW CONNECTIVITYINITIATIVEFOR FURTHER GROWTHSEPTEMBER 6, 2023
Full Text: https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/statement/202309/06speech.html

In early September, Prime Minister Kishida visited the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of India toattend ASEAN-related summit meetings and the G20 New Delhi Summit. On September 6, he delivered aspeech at the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum held in Jakarta, Indonesia, and announced the “Japan-ASEAN
Comprehensive Connectivity Initiative.”
1. Introduction
Distinguished guests and participants. Selamat pagi.
I am very much honored to have a chance to visit toIndonesia and to speak to you at this ASEAN IndoPacific Forum as the Prime Minister of Japan, especiallyin this commemorative 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan
Friendship and Cooperation and the 65th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japanand Indonesia.
Supported by the dramatic economic development ofIndonesia and other ASEAN countries, the Indo-PacificAt the Summit, Prime Minister Kishidastated that the following day (September 7)
would mark exactly 100 days to go until theCommemorative Summit in Tokyo in
December, and expressed his intention toaccelerate preparations for the meeting inclose cooperation with the ASEAN
counterparts.

Region is now a powerful driver of the global economy.
I think it is very timely that Indonesia has set the theme“Epicentrum of Growth” as this year’s ASEAN Chair.
I am proud that many cooperation projects from Japan
will be introduced at this forum.
2. New Plan for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” andASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)
The ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)
shares fundamental principles such as openness,transparency, inclusiveness, and respect for internationallaw with a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” which
Japan has been promoting.
As a consistent supporter of ASEAN Centrality andunity, Japan was among the first countries to express its
full support for the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacificin 2019.
And today, I hereby announce the “Japan-ASEAN
Comprehensive Connectivity Initiative” and declarethat Japan will promote cooperation to strengthen
connectivity in six areas.
3. Japan-ASEAN Comprehensive Connectivity Initiative
Overview
The six areas and concrete ideas are as follows.
The first is transportation infrastructure development.
Japan facilitates the flow of people and goods among
ASEAN countries by developing ports, roads, railroads,
and airports. The projects implemented by Japan have
expanded to worth 2.8 trillion yen. In addition toLeaders gathered at the 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit on September 6. At this meeting, a joint statement to establish the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership was adopted.

hard infrastructure cooperation, we are promoting
soft infrastructure cooperation through technicalcooperation, continuously providing Japanese technology
and knowledge.
The second area is “Digital Connectivity.” Japan
will cooperate with ASEAN countries in promoting
digitization and strengthening regional connectivity
utilizing digital technology, as well as contributing to thesecurity of cyberspace.
The third is “Maritime Cooperation.” This is an
important element in strengthening connectivity between
Japan and ASEAN countries, which are linked by the sea.
Japan will assist ASEAN countries in enhancing theirmaritime law enforcement capacity, through training
programs and grant of patrol vessels for the coast guard
agencies and maritime police.
The fourth area is “Supply Chain Resilience.” Facing
the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s aggression
against Ukraine, ensuring a stable distribution of goods
and food security have become important issues. Japan
will contribute to supply chain resilience in the ASEAN
region, and will build economies that can withstand acrisis together.
The fifth is “Electricity Connectivity.” The ASEAN
region is experiencing rapid economic development, anddemand for electric power is also growing. In order toensure a stable electric power supply, Japan will support
the improvement of electricity connectivity through theformulation of master plans and training programs.
Lastly, “Human and Knowledge Connectivity.” Thefoundation for the development of society is “people”
and their “knowledge.” We will foster human resourcesin ASEAN countries through conducting personnel
exchanges and training programs in a wide range of fields,
as well as strengthen the network of people in Japanand ASEAN countries.
In these areas, Japan will provide capacity building

projects for 5,000 individuals over the next three years. By
promoting technical cooperation with ASEAN countries
and strengthening our network, Japan will grow together
with ASEAN. We hope to build a future in which Japanand ASEAN can co-create new social values.
4. The Commemorative Summit
In concluding this 50th Year for ASEAN-Japan
Friendship and Cooperation, Japan will welcome theASEAN Leaders to Tokyo and host the Commemorative
Summit in Tokyo in December.
Together with the ASEAN Leaders, we would like tojointly launch a new vision for the general direction of
ASEAN-Japan relations and cooperation in the coming
years.
We will launch a wide range of cooperation initiatives
in the political and security, economic, cultural and social
fields, and further promote attractive cultural, peopleto-people and intellectual exchanges and support forJapanese language education.
Through these initiatives, let us work together to passon long-standing ASEAN-Japan “Golden Friendship” tothe next generation and to make the new era our “Golden
Opportunity.”Thank you very much. Terima kasih.

As one of six areas of the Japan-ASEAN Comprehensive Connectivity
Initiative, Japan is promoting the development of land, sea, and air transport
infrastructure, including railroads, ports, and airports. Various projects are
moving forward, including construction of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit
System in Indonesia (left) and development of Sihanoukville Port inCambodia (right). AFP/AFLO (left); JICA (right)

The above text was republished from the website of the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan:
https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/statement/202309/06speech.html

17

On November 4, 2023, Prime
Minister KISHIDA Fumio delivereda policy speech at the joint session of
the Philippine Senate and House ofRepresentatives.

POLICY SPEECH AT THE JOINT SESSION
OF THE PHILIPPINE SENATE AND THE HOUSEOF REPRESENTATIVES:HEART-TO-HEART TIESFOR THE NEXT GENERATIONNOVEMBER 4, 2023
Full Text: https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/statement/202311/04policyspeech.html

From November 3 to 5, Prime Minister Kishida visited the Philippines and Malaysia and held meetings withthe leaders of these countries. In the Philippines, the prime minister delivered a policy speech at the Joint
Session of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives.
1. Introduction
Honorable Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, President of the
Senate of the Republic of the Philippines,
Honorable Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Speakerof the House of Representatives of the Republic of thePhilippines,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.
The Philippines, with the second largest population
among ASEAN countries and more than 300,000 citizens
living in Japan, is an irreplaceable partner for Japan. I am
honored to have the opportunity to be the first JapanesePrime Minister to speak here at the Congress of thePhilippines, which has a long tradition.
In 1977, former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda
delivered a speech in Manila in the presence of President
Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, Sr. I am reminded that in the18

speech, he expressed his desire to build a heart-to-heart
relationship of trust with Southeast Asia including thePhilippines, as equal partners.
A half century has passed since then. Exchanges
between our two countries have deepened, and today, therelationship between Japan and the Philippines is stronger
than ever.
Looking back over the long history of our bilateralrelationship, it has not always been smooth sailing. We
cannot forget the endeavor of our predecessors based on
the spirit of tolerance, including the pardon of Japanese
war criminals by President Quirino in 1953, which paved
the way for our two countries to overcome difficult times
and build the friendly relationship we enjoy today.
Today, Japan-Philippines relations have reached thepoint of being called a “golden age.” This year also marks
the 50th anniversary of the friendship and cooperation

between Japan and ASEAN, and in December, we will
host a commemorative summit meeting in Tokyo.
Against this backdrop, I am very delighted to have theopportunity to visit Manila for the first time as Prime
Minister and to express my views on Japan’s foreign policy,
including strengthening relations with the Philippines
and ASEAN.
2. Japan’s Efforts to Address Challenges of the International
Community: the Importance of the Philippines and ASEAN
Ladies and gentlemen,
The international community is currently at a historicturning point, and the international order based on therule of law that we have taken for granted is under serious
threat. The international community is also facing complex
and interrelated challenges such as climate change andinfectious diseases. Under these circumstances, we cannot
afford to have the world be divided based on ideologies
and values.
At the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in May this year,
which I had the honor to chair, I listened to the diverse
voices of the international community, including those of
the countries referred to as the “Global South.” What I
strongly felt there was the need to return to the very basic
foundation that everyone can share. What I emphasize assuch a foundation is the idea of “human dignity.”
There is no better place to stress the significance of“human dignity” than here in the Philippine Congress.
The Constitution of the Philippines stipulates that theCongress shall give highest priority to protecting andenhancing the rights of all people to “human dignity.”
In order for everyone to live with dignity, it is essential
to build a peaceful and stable world. From this standpoint,
I confirmed with President Marcos during his visit to Japanin February that we would work together to maintain andstrengthen the free and open international order based on
the rule of law.
Furthermore, during my visit to the U.S. in January,
I expressed my strong determination to defend a “Freeand Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).” Also in March, I
announced a new plan to realize the FOIP. Underlying
this plan is our determination to lead the international
community toward cooperation rather than division andconfrontation, and to defend “freedom” and “the rule oflaw” at all costs.
Today, I stand here to share with you my renewed

commitment to further advance these efforts and to sharewith you my thoughts on how to do so.
There are “four pillars” in the new FOIP plan. The
first of these pillars is to uphold “principles for peace andrules for prosperity.” This is the idea of building “peace”
by confirming and promoting the basic principles that theinternational community should uphold.
For example, stability in the Mindanao region is linked
to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. From thisperspective, Japan has supported the peace process andeconomic development over the past two decades. We
just announced yesterday in our meeting with President
Marcos, the provision of heavy equipment for disastermanagement in Mindanao. This cooperation is based on
the vision of the FOIP.
3. The 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship andCooperation
Ladies and gentlemen,
Fifty years ago, Japan has initiated dialogue with
ASEAN ahead of the rest of the world. Since then, Japanand ASEAN have helped each other in times of difficulty
and nurtured a relationship of trust with a heart-to-heart
connection through exchanges among peoples in a wide
range of fields and at various levels.
One of the lessons learned from this experience isthe second pillar of the new FOIP plan, “addressing
challenges in an Indo-Pacific way.” This is the idea ofaddressing global challenges in a realistic and practicalmanner, and enhancing the resilience and sustainability ofeach country as an equal partner.
For example, COVID-19 expanded divisions anddisparities in the international community. It is evident
that the world as a whole must respond to international
health challenges. Japan will support the ASEAN Centre
for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies todevelop as a regional center of excellence.
Prime Minister Kishida held a Japan-Philippines Summit meeting with H.E.
Mr. Ferdinand R. Marcos, President of the Republic of the Philippines, andattended a banquet hosted by the president with Mrs. KISHIDA Yuko.

19

Japan will also promote the third pillar of the new FOIP
plan, which is to strengthen “multi-layered connectivity.”
Needless to say, ASEAN is one of the priority regions inovercoming vulnerabilities by strengthening the linkages
among countries.
Japan will promote cooperation in line with theASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which
resonates with the FOIP. We will work with ASEAN toensure that many countries support and cooperate forthe principles and activities set forth in the AOIP, suchas openness, transparency, inclusiveness, and a rules-based
framework.
In the G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué, Japan
led the way in strongly articulating our commitment
to strengthen coordination with ASEAN, to support
ASEAN centrality and unity, and to promote cooperationin line with the AOIP.
In March, Japan announced a new contribution of
US$100 million to the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund
( JAIF). In addition, in September, Japan launched the“Japan-ASEAN Comprehensive Connectivity Initiative”
to strengthen connectivity in both tangible and intangible
fronts. We will also mobilize private-sector funds tosupport ASEAN’s resilience and sustainability.
In the commemorative summit meeting in December,
we will jointly formulate a vision to create a new era ofsustainable and prosperous development together, whilebuilding “trust” for the next generation.
4. Progress in Japan-Philippines Relations(1) From a “Golden Age” to New Heights
Ladies and gentlemen,
Japan and the Philippines have strengthened theirrelationship at all levels in recent years. In 2016, whichmarked the 60th anniversary of the normalization of
diplomatic relations, then Their Majesties Emperor andEmpress of Japan visited the Philippines. In February thisPrime Minister Kishida visited
the Metro Manila Subway Project
construction site and a Philippine
Coast Guard patrol ship (photo),both supported by Japan.

year, President Marcos, together with President of the
Senate Zubiri and Speaker of the House of Representatives
Romualdez, visited Japan.
In addition, various exchanges and cooperation between
the two countries are underway, such as visit of membersof the Japan-Philippines Parliamentarians’ Friendship
League to the Senate and the House of Representativesof the Philippines this summer. Now I would like tointroduce some specific examples of our cooperation.
(2) Security and Defense Cooperation
First, security and defense cooperation.
The last pillar of the new FOIP plan is “extending
efforts for security and safe use of the sea to the air.” Japan
has hitherto provided 12 ships to the Coast Guard to playa part in improving the Philippines’ maritime security
capability. Furthermore, a Japanese firm delivered awarning and control radar to the Philippine Air Force lastmonth in order to improve Air Domain Awareness.
Also yesterday, Japan agreed with the Philippines toprovide coastal surveillance radars to the Philippine
Navy as the first cooperation project in the world underJapan’s newly established Official Security Assistance(OSA) this year. Japan will continue to contribute to theenhancement of the Philippines’ security capabilities,
thereby contributing to regional peace and stability.
Furthermore, we concurred with President Marcos tocommence formal negotiations on a Japan-Philippines
reciprocal access agreement (RAA). Japan intends tofurther deepen strategic cooperation with the Philippines
in the future.
(3) Economy and Investment
Next, I would like to touch upon cooperation in theareas of economy and investment.
Japan is the largest donor to the Philippines. Throughthe 600 billion yen public-private assistance announced
in February which runs through March next year, we willcontinue to support economic and social development, inline with President Marcos’ “Build Better More” program.
For example, the construction of the Philippines’ firstsubway system is underway in Manila with Japanese
assistance. I am going to visit the construction site later
today. I am proud of the fact that Japan can play a part inthis subway project, which is said to be a 50-year dream.
Furthermore, Japan is one of the largest investors

in the Philippines on a private-sector basis. Publicprivate partnerships and investments in companies that
contribute to decarbonization are also underway. The
public and private sectors are eagerly working together tosupport the economic growth of the Philippines.
We welcome the signing of the Memorandum of
Cooperation in the field of Tourism. We hope that throughefforts such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup co-hosted
by Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia this year, our“Golden Friendship” will lead to the next generation.
(4) Cooperation on Global Issues
Japan and the Philippines have also deepened
coordination in addressing global issues.
As a native of Hiroshima, nuclear disarmament is mylifework. I will continue to promote realistic and practicalefforts toward a “world without nuclear weapons.” With
this in mind, I am pleased that in September we were able
to co-host the Commemorative High-Level Event on a
Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) with Foreign
Minister Manalo.
Regarding climate change, which the Marcos
administration also attaches great importance to, we are
deepening cooperation on energy transition throughthe realization of the “Asia Zero Emission Community(AZEC)” concept. We will hold the AZEC summit
meeting, and will work with participating countries
to pursue the common goal of “Net Zero” via various
pathways for energy transitions according to eachcountry’s circumstance.
(5) Strengthening Japan-Philippines-U.S. Cooperation
Lastly, I would like to offer a few words about thecooperation among Japan, the Philippines, and the U.S.
In order to maintain and strengthen a free and open
international order based on the rule of law, multilayered
cooperation among allies and like-minded countries
is crucial. In September, President Marcos, U.S. Vice
President Harris, and I exchanged views for the first timeand confirmed to enhance cooperation.
In the South China Sea, trilateral cooperation toprotect the freedom of the sea is underway. In addition
to the participation of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in the
joint U.S.-Philippines exercises held last month, the firstjoint exercise by the coast guard agencies of the three
countries was held in June this year. Through these efforts,

let us protect the maritime order, which is governed bylaws and rules, not by force.
5. Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen,
As I have mentioned, the relationship between Japanand the Philippines has made great strides over the
past half century. I believe that the people-to-people
connection is the bedrock of this relationship.
I offered flowers yesterday at the monument to Dr. José
Rizal. Dr. Rizal, who had once stayed in Japan in his youth
and had the opportunity to interact with Japanese people,
envisioned that our two countries would one day engage
in a full-fledged relationship.
Indeed, exchanges between the peoples of the twocountries have been unwavering. After the Great East
Japan Earthquake in 2011, the Philippines sent a medical
assistance team, and Filipino caregiver candidates
remained in the affected areas to provide dedicated care,saying, “We cannot abandon the elderly people.”
In return, when Typhoon Yolanda struck in 2013,
Japanese people from the disaster-stricken area of Tohoku
went to the Philippines to assist in the recovery andreconstruction efforts.
This kind of relationship is what former Prime
Minister of Japan Fukuda articulated, a “heart-to-heart”
relationship. I believe that it is the responsibility of thoseliving in the present to take the “heart-to-heart ties”
established by our predecessors to new heights and passthem on to the next generation.
The slogan for the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Japan
Friendship and Cooperation is “Golden Friendship,
Golden Opportunities.” At the ASEAN-Japan
Commemorative Summit Meeting in December, I hope
to work with President Marcos and other ASEAN leaders
to ensure that the “golden friendship” between Japan and
ASEAN will be a “golden opportunity” that leads to thenext generation.
To friends of the Philippines, ladies and gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to express my deepest
gratitude for the warm hospitality upon my visit to thePhilippines. I will continue to do my utmost to ensure thatthe strong friendship between Japan and the Philippines
will last and further develop in the future.
Thank you very much for your time today. Salamatpo.

The above text was republished from the website of the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan:
https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/statement/202311/04policyspeech.html

21

PORTRAITS OF JAPANSNOW PRESENTS
THE BEAUTY

Hirosaki,
Aomori

OF JAPANESE WINTER

In some Japanese regions, snow falls heavily during the winter.
This season offers unexpected encounters with nature.
Even famous sites, visited in winter, reveal different scenery.
In the harsh weather, moving animals convey warm emotions.

22

Hokkaido

NaganoJIGOKUDANI YAEN-KOEN

CASTLEIN THE SNOW
Hirosaki Castle, located in Hirosaki City,
Aomori Prefecture, is one of the few castles
with its original main tower still standing.
Remains of the three-storied donjon, castle
gate, and other features are open to the public
in a large park, famous for its cherry blossoms
in the spring and warm colors in the autumn.
However, the castle in winter also stands
apart. During the annual festival in February,snow lanterns and small kamakura (snowdomes) are lit, and visitors find themselves
immersed in a fantastical world, gazing up at
the castle floating in the dark sky.

AFLO

ANIMALS
IN THE SNOW
Various animals adapted to snowy scenery live in Japan. The
subspecies of the Siberian flying squirrel, Ezo-momonga,that is found only in Hokkaido has adorably large eyes on asmall body of about 15 cm. Also found only in Hokkaido,
a subspecies of the long-tailed tit, Shima-enaga, a small birdwith cute eyes and downy feathers, is appropriately called
the “snow fairy.” The likelihood of spotting these creatures
is high in the winter, when the trees have shed their leaves.
The famous snow monkeys, wild Japanese macaques who livein the monkey park in Nagano Prefecture, Jigokudani Yaenkoen, are the only monkeys in the world who soak themselvesin hot springs. Precious wildlife seen only during the Japanese
winter is something that you should see with your own eyes.
23

Speaking at PRI in Person Tokyo 2023, Prime
Minister KISHIDA Fumio expressed the importanceof Japan’s policies that will help solve the world’s
problems and encourage corporate activities andinvestments to achieve sustainable growth.

JAPAN’S INCREASINGLYATTRACTIVE FINANCIAL
MARKETS:PROMOTING JAPAN AS A LEADING ASSETMANAGEMENT CENTER

To promote it as a leading asset management center, Japan is advancing a variety of reforms through cooperation with the
public and private sectors. A range of events were held in the fall of 2023 aimed at investors and asset managementcompanies from around the world, providing a great opportunity to communicate the appeal of Japan’s financial markets.
Japan is undertaking various initiatives to promote
it as a leading asset management center. One of these
initiatives, dubbed “Japan Weeks” by the Financial
Services Agency, was a series of events running from
September to October 2023 that welcomed overseas
investors and asset management companies to Japan.
Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio also took thestage daily at related events to announce various
moves to realize that goal. At PRI in Person Tokyo
2023, a forum for leading investors who are driving
global responsible investment, he stated, “Ourobjective is that public pension funds reinforce their

24

work on sustainable finance and spread the movement
to the whole financial market.” The Principles
for Responsible Investment (PRI) are advocatedby the United Nations (UN) for the purpose ofincorporating ESG (environmental, social, andgovernance) considerations into investors’ decisionmaking processes. At the forum, global stakeholders
responsible for promoting the PRI were thrilled tohear Japan’s prime minister announce that at least
seven representative public pension funds, worth
90 trillion yen, or some 600 billion dollars in assets
under management (AUM), will start preparations

for
newly
becoming
signatories to the PRI.
With such statements
being made, how do Japan’s
financial markets appear
in the eyes of investors
aroundtheworld?
According to ONOZUKA
Emi, president and CEOof Eminent Group, “Japan
offers three attractive
points as a capital market.”A specialist in sustainablefinance, she has more than
20 years of experience as
an institutional investor
at several global financial institutions. Japan’s first
big attraction is that it boasts nearly 4,000 listedcompanies, considerably more than other leading
markets in Asia, indicating the country’s highliquidity and market depth. Japan’s second big draw
is the level of trust in its regulators. Only with such
trust can investors around the world focus on theirinvestment activities. The third point is that Japan
is fundamentally an open market in which anyone
can participate. Some countries may have a greaternumber of companies or areas for investment, butthey sometimes need to make further regulatory andsupervisory improvements, and their markets are notalways open to everyone. “Scale, trust, and openness:those are Japan’s three strengths,” affirms Onozuka.
She also goes on to say that Japan should focus
on the following to become even more attractive asa market: “Many firms here need to improve theirinvestment efficiency. In terms of winning investment
from overseas, the pressing issues are top management
being true to their words and better accountability
as an outcome measure, as well as more English
support.” In that regard, expectations are growing
for the establishment of “special business zones forfinancial and asset management business,” which
Prime Minister Kishida announced in New Yorkin September 2023; the details will be announced
by summer 2024. Various measures to enhance thebusiness and living environment, including theimprovement of administrative services in English,

Top: ONOZUKA Emi took thestage at PRI in Person Tokyo 2023
to give a speech on leadership,
innovation, and responsible
investing.
Right: Onozuka has more than 20
years of experience as an
institutional investor, specializing
in sustainable finance (ESG,
impact investing). She engages in awide range of activities, including
advisory services, research, writing,and lectures on sustainable financeand business value creation.

will be considered for the establishment of the special
business zones.
Meanwhile, Onozuka has high hopes for Japan’scommitment to ESG investment, as made by Prime
Minister Kishida at the recent PRI forum. “Fordomestic and international investors, improving
corporate governance and addressing sustainability
issues have become essential prerequisites forevaluating and funding a company. Accelerating
sustainable finance, which is strengthened throughthe joint efforts of the public and private sectors,
should become an additional advantage of theJapanese market. If we can capitalize on that, there
is a good chance that the domestic market will takea leadership role in transition finance regionwide inAsia.”
With Prime Minister Kishida’s determination,
Japan will continue to work together with boththe public and private sectors to make its financial
markets even more robust and sustainable.

25

NAVIGATING THE DIGITAL ERA:THE GROWINGIMPORTANCE OF
FACT-CHECKING

Attending a special session on AI at IGF
Kyoto 2023, Prime Minister KISHIDA
Fumio remarked, “In order to promote
the distribution of reliable information,
it would be effective to develop andpromote the diffusion of technologies
that can prove and confirm the originatorof the information. The international
community as a whole must share that
understanding and deal with those issues
with a sense of solidarity.”

The Existing Practices against Disinformation, or EPaD, which constitute a collection of the existing practices on
countering disinformation compiled by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, were announced in
October 2023. Their emergence highlights the need for international collaboration among multiple stakeholders forfact-checking, which is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of publicized information.
With the COVID-19 pandemic,
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,disinformationhas
becomecommonplace. At the same time,
various issues related to humanrights violations and copyright
infringements have begun to26

emerge along with such advancesin technologies as generative AI.
We therefore live at a time when
everyone recognizes the importanceof checking facts’ accuracy.
The Japanese government
encourages voluntary efforts inprivate-sector fact-checking. As

part of those efforts, Japan hosted
October’s Internet Governance
Forum (IGF) Kyoto 2023. The
IGF is an annual forum in which
many different stakeholders—from government and the private
sector to technical and academic
communities, as well as civilsociety groups—come together
to engage in dialogue on an equal
footing on various issues related to
the Internet.
The EPaD, announced at IGF
Kyoto 2023 as a collection ofexisting practices on countering
disinformation, were prepared byvarious stakeholders, including
private companies and civil society
groups. Since Japan was this year’s
G7 Chair, its Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications
compiled the list, which was firstdeclared in April 2023 in the
Ministerial Declaration of theG7 Digital and Tech Ministers’Meeting in Takasaki City, Gunma
Prefecture.
The EPaD were made public at
one of the IGF Kyoto 2023 sessions,Sharing “Existing Practices against
Disinformation (EPaD)”—hosted
by the Japanese Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications—at which participants engaged inlively discussion on international
collaboration and cooperation.
The moderator of the session was
FURUTA Daisuke, editor-in-chiefof the Japan Fact-check Center,
which is one of three fact-checking
organizations in Japan certified by
the International Fact-Checking
Network.
Furuta believes that the public
release of the EPaD has enabledadvanced cases from the G7 andEuropean countries to be more
widely shared with those engagedin fact-checking, and that everyone
involved has learned a great deal.
Reflecting on the significance ofholding the session at IGF Kyoto
2023, he says, “Speakers fromthe Philippines and Indonesia

shared the importance of multistakeholder cooperation and media
information literacy education
including the development ofgrassroots fact-checkers. The
technical cooperation describedby the speaker from Microsoft wasalso encouraging.”
Fact-checking takes a hugeamount of time and effort. As
Furuta states, “That is why it isvital to have collaboration among
multi-stakeholder groups suchas the media industry, experts,
and public institutions, as well as
among international fact-checking
organizations. It is importantto learn from the best practices
in other countries and regions
and to build on the strengthsof each organization, such as
strong expertise in AI analysis or

educational initiatives.”
Voicing his thoughts about
the future direction that Japan
should take in the field of factchecking, Furuta goes on tosay, “As an Asian country that
continues to maintain a stabledemocracy, Japan should establish
a greater presence in the field ofcountering the misinformationand disinformation that threatensociety. Japan also could serve
as a hub for fact-checking andeducation in Asia.”
The Japanese government willcontinue to work to increaseawareness of the EPaD initiative,
which it has led as the G7 Presidency,
as well as to communicate theimportanceofinternational
cooperation beyond public, private,
and academic frameworks.

Right: FURUTA Daisuke, editor-in-chief of the Japan Fact-check Center.
After working at Asahi Shimbun and serving as the founding editor of
BuzzFeed Japan, Furuta established “media-collab” as its CEO. He
currently works as a journalist and media consultant. JUN TSUBOIKE
Bottom: Screenshots from the session on Sharing “Existing Practices
against Disinformation (EPaD)” at IGF Kyoto 2023. Seen in the upper left
image (from left to right) are FURUTA Daisuke, editor-in-chief of theJapan Fact-check Center, Aribowo Sasmito, co-founder of MAFINDO in
Indonesia, and YAMAGUCHI Shinichi, executive research fellow andassociate professor at the Center for Global Communications of theInternational University of Japan. The upper right image shows Madeline
Shepherd, Digital Safety Lead at Microsoft Operations Pte Ltd inAustralia, and Chay F. Hofileña, editor of Rappler in the Philippines,
appears in the one below.

27

THE DISCHARGE OFALPS TREATED WATER:ENSURING SAFETY AND PAVING THE WAY
TOWARD DECOMMISSIONING

At Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, where efforts for decommissioning
and reconstruction have been underway ever since the accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11,
2011, the discharge of “ALPS treated water” into the sea started in August 2023. The process is being undertaken with safety
as the top priority, under strict safety management and in partnership with third-party organizations. Why is the discharge
taking place, and what future is envisioned beyond it?
Since the accident at Tokyo
Electric Power Company Holdings’
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station (NPS), which occurredshortly after the Great East Japan
Earthquake struck the area on
March 11, 2011, the company has
been advancing decommissioning
work to reduce the risk fromradioactive materials to local
people and the environment. Suchefforts are now reaching a major
turning point. Concentrationsof radioactive materials inthe surrounding sea area havesufficiently decreased, and so havethe radiation levels measured
at monitoring posts at the site

The discharge of ALPS treated water into the sea
has begun at Tokyo Electric Power Company
Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station (center). Decommissioning work has been
conducted carefully, with safety as the top priority.
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN COMPANY/JIJI PRESS PHOTO

boundary. Although at the timeof the accident it was impossible
to enter the site without wearing
protective clothes, workers can
now wear regular work clothes inabout 96% of the area.
“The major challenge from now
on will be the retrieval of ‘fueldebris,’ which is a mixture of melted
fuel inside the reactor and reactor
materials that have solidified,” says
Professor OKAMOTO Koji of the
Graduate School of Engineering,
the University of Tokyo, who
has been involved from the startin the decommissioning process.
Fuel debris retrieval is one of themost difficult challenges duringthat process, but according to
the professor, “it is necessary to
overcome this challenge in orderfor decommissioning to proceedfurther.”
An essential step in taking on
this difficult task is the dischargeof ALPS treated water into the sea,
which began in August 2023. Thisis water that contains radioactive
materials from inside the buildingsof Fukushima Daiichi NPS, andhas been purified and treated by
the Advanced Liquid Processing
System (ALPS) until it satisfies
safety standards for all radioactive
materials other than tritium.
The tanks for storing ALPS
treated water on the site are large
and their number is increasing,already exceeding a thousand. Inorder to safely proceed with thedecommissioning work, the space
occupied by the tanks is needed forthe construction of new facilities.
It thus became necessary todischarge the water and reduce thenumber of tanks.
The ALPS treated water isdischarged under strict safety
management and monitoring. Allradioactive materials are removed
by ALPS to meet the regulatory
standards, with the exceptionof tritium. And for the level oftritium to also fully satisfy safety
standards, the water is diluted withseawater before discharge to reduce
the tritium concentration to under
1,500 Becquerels/L, which isapproximately one-seventh of
the World Health Organization(WHO) standards for drinking
water.
“Japan has made a huge effort
to ensure that radiation doses forpeople and the environment are
extremely low,” says Jim Smith, aprofessor of environmental scienceat the University of Portsmouth inEngland, who studies the effectsof radioactive materials on theenvironment and people. “Therelease will be conducted over
30 years, which is much longer
than would strictly be needed tomeet safety standards. This meansthat annual radiation doses topeople and the environment are
vanishingly small.”In addition to thoroughconfirmation prior to dischargethat the ALPS treated watersatisfies the discharge limit, theconcentration of tritium andother nuclides in the surrounding
seawater and marine products aremonitored both before and after
the start of the discharge, with theresults posted on the Internet.*
To further ensure transparency,
the International Atomic Energy

Left: On August 22,
2023, IAEA personnel
witnessed the sampling ofwater treated by ALPS
and diluted with seawater,prior to its first discharge
at the Fukushima Daiichi
NPS. In July, the IAEA
released a comprehensive
report on the safety
review of the ALPS
treated water, concludingthat Japan’s approach andactivities regarding thedischarge of the water into the sea are “consistent with
relevant international safety standards,” and that thedischarge “will have a negligible radiological impact on
people and the environment.” TEPCO/AFP/AFLO
Right: Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth,
England, is an environmental scientist who has long studied
the impacts of the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and
Fukushima on people and the environment. SAM SHAW

Top: Storage tanks containing ALPS treatedwater line the grounds of the Fukushima
Daiichi NPS. Reducing the number of tanks bydischarging the water into the sea will make itpossible to build the facilities needed forfurther decommissioning work. JIJI
Bottom: Professor OKAMOTO Koji has held
his post at the Graduate School of Engineering,
the University of Tokyo, since 2004. While
conducting research on decommissioning, heregularly visits the Fukushima Daiichi NPS,
and discusses and advises on issues faced in thefield. Since 2018, he has concurrently been
serving as the Director General of the
Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced
Decommissioning Science of the Japan Atomic
Energy Agency.

Agency (IAEA) has been and will
be conducting monitoring—inaddition to setting up an office in
the Fukushima Daiichi NPS areawith personnel on site—and willcontinue to review the safety of thedischarge.
Under this system, the firstdischarge of about 7,800 m3 ofwater was fully implemented from
August 24 to September 11, 2023.
Tritium concentrations confirmed
by monitoring were well below theregulatory standard. “The fact thatthe discharge was carried out safely
is a very big step forward in termsof paving the way to fuel debris
retrieval,” says Okamoto. To protect
people and the environment, Japan
will progress, step by step, with thedischarge of ALPS treated waterand decommissioning efforts, withsafety as the top priority.

*For detailed information on the monitoring of ALPS treated water
Fisheries Agency (https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/e/inspection/index.html)
Ministry of the Environment (https://shorisui-monitoring.env.go.jp/en/)
Nuclear Regulation Authority (https://radioactivity.nra.go.jp/en/list/309/list-1.html)
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (https://www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuclear/hairo_osensui/english/shirou_alps/monitoring/)

29

LEVERAGING
FUKUSHIMA’S“HOPETOURISM”
FOR A DISASTER-RESILIENT
FUTURE

Fukushima Prefecture is the only place on Earth to have encountered thecompound disaster of a powerful earthquake, a devastating tsunami, and anuclear accident. The prefecture-wide endeavor Hope Tourism takes visitors toafflicted areas to learn from this disaster with their own eyes and ears, offering apersonal experience that redirects their behavior toward building a moresustainable future.
The
Great
East
Japan
Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster
Memorial Museum in Futaba
Town, Fukushima Prefecture

is located 4 km north of the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station. Here, the memories andlessons of a compound natural
disaster accompanied by a nuclear
accident—something never before
experienced—are conveyed to theworld and to future generations.
Museum staff member ENDO
Miku, who was nine years old at
the time of the disaster in March
2011, is one of its “storytellers.” “Itis rewarding to know that talking
about the disaster in our own words
can make this experience resonate
personally for our listeners, andthat this can raise their awarenessof disaster prevention,” Endosays. She admits that her own
recollections are weakening, butadds, “I don’t want the experienceof Fukushima to fade. I want tohelp save every life that I possibly
can. That’s why I keep doing this.”
The Memorial Museum opened
its doors in 2020, and more than
200,000 people have since passed
through them.
“Dark tourism,” in which tourists
hoping to experience history
visit sites of human tragedies,such as the remnants of wars
and natural disasters, is drawing
attention around the world. “HopeTourism” is the name given by theprefecture to a study tour thattakes people around Fukushima
for immersive understanding.
It has been actively accepting
visitors from Japan and abroad
since 2016, and the Memorial
Museum is one of its venues.
Participants visit areas devastatedby the disaster and see Fukushima
as it really is, experiencing aspects
that remain absent from ordinary
media coverage. They talk to
local residents and participate inworkshops where they consider
how lessons drawn from thedisaster can be utilized for the
future. The hope is that visitors
Top: Visitors learning that thetsunami reached a height of 4
meters in the spot where theMemorial Museum stands today.
Bottom: ENDO Miku is a staff
member and “storyteller” at theGreat East Japan Earthquake andNuclearDisaster
Memorial
Museum. She often speaks tochildren born after the disaster,
feeling that she can help thembetter understand it because she iscloser to them in age.

will gain new perspectives through“seeing, listening, and considering.”
The tour touches on issues such as
the disposal of soil collected duringdecontamination procedures, andpopulation outflows.
“When you hear the term Hope
Tourism, it may be misunderstoodas solely emphasizing recovery, but
that’s not the case. Participants
look at both the light and darksides of Fukushima, feel hope in
the resilience of Fukushima, andleave with a newfound affection
for the region. As a result, theincrease in people who understandFukushima becomes a sourceof hope for the local residents,”
says
William
McMichael,associate professor at Fukushima
University’s International Center.
McMichael was a step ahead of
the prefecture when he launched
the Fukushima Ambassadors
Program in 2012. This is aninnovative short-term studyabroad program in whichinternational students spend 10
days in Fukushima first learning
the reasons for the nuclear accident
and the details of the compounddisaster, then discussing the issues
involved, and finally considering
Fukushima’s future. Activities may
include visiting the Fukushima

Daiichi Nuclear Power Stationor helping plant cherry trees indisaster-affected
communities.
The content of the program has
evolved along with the situation,
but the primary aim is to show theworld what is actually taking placein the region.
The program has been
conducted 15 times, with morethan 200 international student
participants. “Many students
continue to hold Fukushima intheir hearts even after returning
home,” said McMichael. “Forexample, students studying nuclear
energy are left with a profound
impact the moment they arrive inFukushima. Despite the immense
challenges the region has faced,
they witness the resilience ofits people and gain knowledge
beyond what textbooks can offer.
This experience inspires them totake on their responsibilities witha strong commitment to safety. In
essence, they come to Fukushima
to learn about the disaster, but end
up learning invaluable life lessons
from their experience. I find it
truly heartening to see this level ofdedication.”
McMichael is presently training
English-speaking
guidestoexpand Hope Tourism. A certain

Top left: Canadian-born Associate Professor
McMichael came to Fukushima entirely bychance. He was assigned to Fukushima as a
Coordinator for International Relations of theJapan Exchange and Teaching Programme, andfell in love with the warmth of its people and its
beautiful nature. “I was frustrated by the world’s
misconceptions about Fukushima after the
nuclear accident,” he said. That is why he started
study programs for international students
making sure that the reality of the situation canbe made known. THE FUKUSHIMA MINYU SHIMBUN
Top right: In McMichael’s study program,students discuss in groups the lessons learned
and the knowledge they wish to share at theend of their tour.
Bottom: A visit by international students to
the Naraha Center for Remote Control
Technology Development, which is developing
remote robots to conduct the decommissioningof Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

phrase is deeply etched in his
memory—words shouted out at
a series of outdoor rock festivals
held in the prefecture half a year
after the disaster: “Nothing beats
Fukushima, does it?!” True tothese words, the people of theprefecture gain encouragement byspinning threads of hope with thehelp of visitors who learn from the
Fukushima experience. Together,
they are taking steps into a bright
future.

31

Shobuta Beach, packed withpeople during the summer,
opened for tourism in 1888.

THE ROADMAP TO
A
BLUE
FLAG
BEACH
AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN MIYAGIIn June 2023, a beach in the Tohoku region, in the northeast of Japan, received international environmental recognition
by winning Blue Flag certification. Now everyone can enjoy the beautiful sea there, preserved after the catastrophic
earthquake of March 2011, through the efforts of those who love the region.
Shichigahama (literally meaning“seven beaches” in Japanese) in
Miyagi Prefecture is a small town
on a peninsula jutting into theocean along the eastern coast ofJapan’s Tohoku region. Surroundedby water on three sides, it is said tohave got its name from its sevenbeaches, each with a village formed
around it. One of the seven beaches,
Shobuta Beach, is home to a historicbathing resort that opened in 1888,
Tohoku’s first such seaside resort
and the third ever in Japan.
It was also this beach that, in June
2023, won Blue Flag certification:

32

an international environmental
designation awarded to beaches,
marinas, and sustainable-tourism
boats worldwide that meetstringent criteria for water quality,
safety, and accessibility. Theinternational NGO Foundation forEnvironmental Education (FEE),
headquartered in Denmark, is
promoting the designation aroundthe world in collaboration with
the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and theUnited Nations World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO).
Activities promoting blue

GOKO Akitsugu comes from Murata Town insouth-central Miyagi Prefecture. At the time of
the 2011 earthquake, he was working some 700
km away in Aichi Prefecture, but moved to
Shichigahama having volunteered to help withreconstruction efforts. After working for an
NPO providing support for disaster victims,
he joined the staff of the Shichigahama Town
Tourism Association.

tourism, including the acquisitionof Blue Flag status, are becoming
popular in many parts of Japan.
Blue tourism is a type of sustainable
tourism that aims to protect the
local environment and achievesustainable development by
utilizing the natural landscape andfisheries of coastal areas as tourism
resources.
GOKO Akitsugu of the
Shichigahama Town Tourism
Association has been instrumental
in campaigning for Shichigahama’s
blue tourism. “Since Shichigahama
is a seaside town, we felt that weneeded to educate residents about
the current state of the ocean andwhat should be done to protect it,
and that we as a tourism association
also needed to learn more. It wasthat thinking that fit with the Blue
Flag philosophy,” he remarked.
To become a Blue Flag beach, abeach must meet 33 criteria in fourareas: environmental educationand information, water quality,
environmental management, andsafety and services. Shobuta Beach
was able to obtain Blue Flag status
in the space of just one year thanks
to their remarkably fast-paced
actions, including regular waterquality inspections, the provisionof facilities for the physicallydisabled, and the installation ofsigns and making of broadcasts inforeign languages.
Many people enjoy not only
swimming at the beach, but also
engaging in marine sports suchas surfing and bodyboarding;yachting
andtriathlon
competitions are also held there
from time to time. From thecoast, paragliders can be seen

enjoying the view of Matsushima,recognized as one of the three mostscenic spots in Japan, known for
its stunning archipelago scenery.
Shobuta Beach is also awash withdiverse types of seasonal seafood,including the finest seaweed,
designated worthy even of theImperial Household. And despite
its location—just 30 minutes or soaway by car from Sendai, Tohoku’s
largest city—Shichigahama is
ensconced in the sedate pace ofrich natural beauty.
Let us return our attention backto the story of Goko—who, in
fact, is not from Shichigahama.
He arrived in the town after theGreat East Japan Earthquake ofMarch 2011 as a volunteer, helping
to take care of the disaster victims
and their mental well-being. “I saw
people sobbing as they spoke of
their experiences of the disaster,and children painfully saying
goodbye to volunteers. It made me
want to ensure that my relationshipwith them would be more than justa fleeting one, so I extended mystay as a volunteer for quite a while,and we became like family,” he said.
“The people of Shichigahama are
immensely proud of their small
town and do their utmost for
the local community. That’s why

Top: Matsushima as seen from Mt. Tamonzan
in Shichigahama. The area’s landscape, with
about 260 islands dotting the sea, hasfascinated people since ancient times.
Bottom: Shichigahama was formerly home to a
popular summer retreat for foreigners, as
famous as the forested town of Karuizawa in
Nagano Prefecture. Now, the same area
comprises the Shichigahama International
Village, which is the town’s cultural hub where
various events such as concerts and stage
performances take place.

they didn’t give up when facedwith the earthquake and havesuccessfully rebuilt; that, I think, is
one of the attractions of the town.
I want many people to discover
Shichigahama through blue
tourism.”
The people of Shichigahama
are still working strenuously
to overcome the earthquake’s
aftermath, as well as to protect andpass on the beauty of the sea. The
Blue Flag that they have gained isone milestone on that journey.

33

Under Pokémon Local Acts, which aims to promote local
attractions, activities are being conducted in nine
prefectures. In Iwate Prefecture, a train adorned with
Geodude illustrations travels along the coast (left), whilein Miyagi Prefecture, children enjoy riding on a snow
tube shaped like Lapras (right bottom). In Fukushima
Prefecture, four parks featuring the adorable Chansey
have been opened (right top). RIGHT TOP PHOTO: AFLOPOKÉMON WITH TOHOKU:CONTINUING TOWARD
A BRIGHTER TOMORROW
When the giant earthquake hit Tohoku, northeastern Japan, in 2011, Pokémon, one of the world’s most beloved video
game franchises, promptly responded to provide support, bringing smiles to the faces of children in disaster-stricken
communities. In the following years, these efforts have evolved into a joint endeavor to help the Tohoku region recoverfrom the disaster. Grassroots collaboration is further facilitating the revitalization process.
Since its debut in the form ofa Japanese video game, Pokémon
has become an international
sensation with fans across theglobe. The Pokémon Company
is currently engaged in uniqueprojects, leveraging the widespread
popularity of Pokémon to makethese initiatives possible. One
initiative
involves
providingsustainable assistance to the threeTohoku prefectures–Iwate, Miyagi,
Fukushima–that were severely
affected by the Great East Japan
Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
Amidst the aftermath of thedisaster, many young children,
along with others, faced lives with
©2023 Pokémon. ©1995-2023 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.

34

uncertainty. In response, The
Pokémon Company deliberated on
how Pokémon could contribute to
the cause. SUGA Daigorotoyohide,
director of The Pokémon
Company’s general headquarters,says, “It all started when some ofour staff members volunteered totake plushies and various other toys
to evacuation shelters. Eventually,
Pikachu began visiting thoseshelters and elementary schools.”
His colleague, Senior Director
HIROSE Chihiro smiles, “Themoment Pikachu showed up,
children’s faces brightened up
instantly. That led to the happy
realization that Pokémon could

provide support by just being there.”In December 2011, Pokémon
Center Tohoku, an official
Pokémon retail store, opened in
Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture,
to bring cheer to children
throughout the Tohoku region.
On its inaugural day, many parents
and children lined up outside,
Pikachu’s arrival brought smiles to the children at
an event in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture.

Left: HIROSE Chihiro (left) and SUGA Daigorotoyohide from The Pokémon Company. They are thrilled to contributeto showcasing the charm of both local communities and Pokémon.
Right: Under Pokémon Local Acts, “Poké Lids”—maintenance hole covers featuring unique Pokémon designs—were installed in 30 prefectures across Japan. Touring the country in search of different Poké Lids is bound to be fun.

eagerly waiting for its opening.
The proceeds from the store’s sales
were used to fund The Pokémon
Company’s support program for
Tohoku, dubbed “Pokémon with
You,” ensuring the continuation of
its events and activities.
The company has also utilized
Pokémon GO, a location-based
smartphone app game, to assist
with attracting visitors to the
Tohoku area.
“We became convinced that
Pokémon has the power tomove people and invigorate
communities,” says Suga. He adds,“As time passed after the disaster,
our support evolved into a formof revitalization assistance where
we work together to build up
communities.”
Followingthatprocess,
Pokémon Local Acts was launchedin 2018. Under the program,Ambassadorial Pokémon havebeen chosen for various regionsin Japan in collaboration withlocal governments, aiming toshowcase the unique charm ofeach area to both domestic andinternational audiences. Currently,
nine prefectures have chosen their
Ambassadorial Pokémon, with
Geodude representing Iwate,

Lapras for Miyagi, and Chansey
for Fukushima in the Tohoku
region. Each Pokémon waschosen based on its connection
to the prefecture’s name or local
characteristics.
The Pokémon Company does
not charge any royalties for the
Ambassadorial Pokémon, and thesepartnerships extend to productdevelopment in collaboration
with local traditional crafts andspecialties, along with Pokémonrelated events. In Miyagi Prefecture,for instance, visitors can enjoy a ridein a boat shaped like Lapras, while
in Iwate Prefecture, a train adorned
with Geodude illustrations travels
along the coastline.
One recent initiative within
Pokémon Local Acts is thedevelopment of parks as gatheringspots for local residents. In 2021,
playground equipment featuring
Chansey as its primary design was

Geodudedonated to Fukushima Prefecture,establishing Japan’s first park
to feature Pokémon. “We wantto create places where people
can always meet Pokémon. It’s
touching to think how Chansey
will always hold a special place inthe memories of the children whogrow up playing in one of Chansey’s
Parks,” says Hirose. When theseplaces become integrated into
the local scenery, they also attract
travelers. Hirose adds, “We are ona mission to connect the world
through the power of Pokémon, so
we also hope to build bridges with
tourists from overseas.”
In the nearly 13 years that havepassed since the March 2011
earthquake, and in the years tocome, Pokémon will continue tostand by the people of Tohoku,
bringing smiles to the faces ofboth residents and visitors to theregion.LaprasChansey35

Winter 2023

Published by

Edited by

Public Relations Office, Cabinet Office
andOffice of Global Communications, Cabinet Secretariat
1−6−1 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100−8914, Japan

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Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
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Ministry of the Environment
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