Professor Ewart receives his certificate from Ambassador Orita

Your Excellency, Ambassador Orita, Madame Orita, ladies and gentleman,

I am deeply honoured to receive this award and particularly so, since you, Ambassador, have come over to Northern Ireland to make the presentation. It is, I understand, your first visit to Northern Ireland and so, on behalf of my colleagues and friends gathered here this evening, let me welcome you to Belfast; I hope you will have an opportunity to see something of our countryside before returning to London.

In receiving this award I am acutely conscious that it also reflects the contributions made by many others, to developing and enhancing the ties between Japan and Northern Ireland. And it has been with their support that many of the relationships have developed and strengthened in scope and direction over many years.

You referred, Ambassador, to the acclaimed exhibition ' Contemporary Calligraphy of Japan', which was an important event in the Japan 1991 Festival. That exhibition was managed and arranged by Professor David Barker who is with us here this evening; he has also been responsible for many similar exhibitions during the Japan 2001 Festival and also during the non festival years. This exemplifies the achievement of one of our key objective of the Festivals - to use the Festival to kick start valuable and worthwhile projects which would then continue on an ongoing self sustaining basis.

Bringing together young executives from Northern Ireland, Japan and many other countries on a demanding educational programme at MBA level, created a network of young enterprising businessmen, many of whom were at the fore of Northern Ireland's drive to create new jobs through inward investment, and to develop new international markets. The interaction with Japan was a particularly important part of that drive and today, some 20 years on, the Invest Northern Ireland office in Tokyo remains the important focal point for trade with East Asia.

The Japanese Language Programme, which commenced in September 1990, was a product of collaboration between the then Department of Education and the Department of Commerce. Recognizing the growing impact of Japan on the world's economy, they created an opportunity for the study of the Japanese Language in sixth form education. They invited the University of Ulster to direct a pilot Project and, with an initial 300 or so sixth formers from 28 schools, this proved to be the sound platform from which today's Japanese Studies Project emerged.

The Japanese Language Project was in due course subsumed into the Japanese Studies Project which enhanced the language element by adding a strong cultural dimension; and, to bridge the physical and time zone difference between our two countries, electronic mail links were developed to facilitate student and staff communication. By keeping pace with technology developments, these have now been overtaken by videoconferencing links. Thus today's students will have the opportunity, for example, of participating, in joint fieldwork sessions, by contributing equally to discussions along with their fellow students in Japan. What exciting learning opportunities this project is providing!

The driving force behind this project has been David Farrell, and his support to the other teachers, from Japan and Northern Ireland, has been the single most important contributing factor in the success of the project. Working with Professor Yamanishi and Dr Naruse from the Toyama Prefecture, this project has demonstrated the extent to which strong cooperative links can add significant value beyond the initial project: electronic links have provided the introduction which have led to teacher and pupil visits to Japan and to Northern Ireland; staying with families in each others countries has enhanced both language skills and life style appreciation. And there is now interaction at an education policy level, which will enable each of us to learn from each other how we can better use the digital world in secondary and tertiary education.

The educational value of this project is clearly recognized and it has earned and received for many years ,the strong support in Northern Ireland of the Department of Education and the Education and Library Boards and it has been similarly supported in Japan.

Just two weeks ago a party of teachers from Japan visited Northern Ireland, met and stayed with their counterparts in Northern Ireland schools, and worked together to draw up, against clearly defined learning objectives, a programme of work for their pupils over the next six months.

In March next year that group of teachers from Japan and Northern Ireland will meet again, this time in Japan, to evaluate that what has been achieved and, based on the curriculum priorities of each country draw up an appropriate programme for the following three years.

Ambassador, amongst the many things we have learned from this project is that two cultures can be different and yet equal, and, as increasingly we are being called upon to become international citizens, so we need to find that balance between living in a global economy while at the same time retaining and preserving the essential elements of our own cultural identity.

If our young people, through projects like this, grow up to understand and experience that mutual understanding of each others culture, then we may be better equipped to cooperate in peace and harmony.

I would like to think that whether it be pupils communicating with each other using the digital media to enhance learning, or whether it is teachers and policy makers working together to strengthen the curriculum, or whether it through job opportunities being created in each others countries, or working together in the theatre and in the arts - that by such means, which we are in many ways pioneering in our Japanese Studies Projects, we may both be better educated and be better able to contribute positively to a complex and, at times, a frightening world.

Your Excellency, thank you for the honour you have bestowed on me this evening, I accept it in all humility, being mindful of the many others, here in Northern Ireland and Japan, who are working towards the same goal.

Thank you