Greetings from Ambassador Tanaka
2022/1/5
A message from Ambassador of Japan TANAKA Kazunari
My name is TANAKA Kazunari, and I arrived in Majuro, the capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on December 21, 2021.
Japan and the Marshall Islands have been neighbors and friends in the Pacific Ocean for more than 100 years, including the period of the League of Nations mandate by Japan before World War II. During World War II, more than 19,000 Japanese lost their lives in this area, and the crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, also known as the Lucky Dragon, was exposed to radiation when the United States, administering Marshall Islands under United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, conducted a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1954. However, Japan and the Marshall Islands have deepened their friendly and cooperative relationship for more than 30 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1988 after the independence of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Approximately 10% of the Marshallese population is said to be of Japanese descent, and many of them are active in politics and other fields. In addition, Japanese food, such as rice, is well established, and many Japanese words have become localized.In terms of the economy, the vast Exclusive Economic Zone of the Marshall Islands provides a major fishing ground for Japanese skipjack pole and line fishing vessels, and Japan has been providing various types of economic cooperation, including grant aid through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Although there has been no cases of community transmission in the Marshall Islands, COVID-19 has made it difficult to conduct people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, including the dispatch of JICA volunteers and teams for collection of remains of Japanese war dead. While it is difficult to predict how the situation surrounding the COVID-19 will change, I hope that the situation will improve and that people-to-people exchanges, including those ofyoung people, will become active again. All of us at the Embassy of Japan will do our best to further develop friendly and cooperative relationship between Japan and the Marshall Islands by cooperating with Japanese and Marshallese people who are making various efforts in this area.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of the Marshall Islands
TANAKA Kazunari
Japan and the Marshall Islands have been neighbors and friends in the Pacific Ocean for more than 100 years, including the period of the League of Nations mandate by Japan before World War II. During World War II, more than 19,000 Japanese lost their lives in this area, and the crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, also known as the Lucky Dragon, was exposed to radiation when the United States, administering Marshall Islands under United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, conducted a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1954. However, Japan and the Marshall Islands have deepened their friendly and cooperative relationship for more than 30 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1988 after the independence of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Approximately 10% of the Marshallese population is said to be of Japanese descent, and many of them are active in politics and other fields. In addition, Japanese food, such as rice, is well established, and many Japanese words have become localized.In terms of the economy, the vast Exclusive Economic Zone of the Marshall Islands provides a major fishing ground for Japanese skipjack pole and line fishing vessels, and Japan has been providing various types of economic cooperation, including grant aid through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Although there has been no cases of community transmission in the Marshall Islands, COVID-19 has made it difficult to conduct people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, including the dispatch of JICA volunteers and teams for collection of remains of Japanese war dead. While it is difficult to predict how the situation surrounding the COVID-19 will change, I hope that the situation will improve and that people-to-people exchanges, including those ofyoung people, will become active again. All of us at the Embassy of Japan will do our best to further develop friendly and cooperative relationship between Japan and the Marshall Islands by cooperating with Japanese and Marshallese people who are making various efforts in this area.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of the Marshall Islands
TANAKA Kazunari