Our spotlight returns this month as we feature an interview with Minister Akio Miyajima, who recently arrived in London to take up a dual role at the Embassy. Minister Miyajima replaces both Minister Hiroshi Noda as Minister Plenipotentiary and Minister Hiroshi Suzuki as Director of the Japan Information and Cultural Centre. A summary of our interview with him follows:

Initial remarks

First, I wish to extend my thanks for the warm reception I have had in my first few weeks in London. I am excited to have taken up my new position and feel very lucky to be here. This is my first time to be posted to London and I am looking forward to learning a lot from my experience in the UK. I believe that Japan and the UK have so much in common and a strong affinity with each other. We are both outward looking as island countries with strong traditions, both with a constitutional monarchy, and both allies of the US with shared values such as freedom, democracy and rule of law. I feel particularly lucky to have assumed my new role at a time when there will be many opportunities to strengthen our friendship and partnership further. The Foreign Minister was recently in London, and the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister are set to visit here in May and June respectively.

In addition, we are celebrating two important anniversaries in the history of Japan-UK relations in 2013. We are marking 150 years since the arrival of the ‘Choshu Five’ in the UK, an important date which commemorates the anniversary of the start of Japan-UK academic interaction. I feel that it is so important to remember those who struggled to learn about western culture, thus giving rise to a modern Japan, and the important role the UK played in this.

It is also 400 years since the founding of the first English Trading Post in Hirado city in northern Nagasaki prefecture, which opened the door to the start of Japan-British relations. I am looking forward to the various events which will be held during this special year.



Which part of Japan are you from?

My family is from Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture, and that is where I was born. However, when I was six we moved to Tokyo, where I attended school and university. I used to return to Kanazawa every summer holidays to stay with my relatives there and I have many fond memories of my home town. Kanazawa is a medium-sized city with a population of half a million, and the people there are very proud of the fact that it was known as Kaga domain’s hyakumangoku castle town. Hyakumangoku means a million koku - a measurement of rice production and the unit of income for samurai in the feudal period. With such wealth, the city has made a point of preserving many aspects of traditional Japanese culture. When I was growing up, my mother was a tea ceremony teacher of the Urasenke school, quite often serving tea at home in the traditional manner.


Why did you choose to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

Since my childhood I have loved reading books and watching TV programmes on foreign countries and cultures. As I started learning English at junior high school, I dreamt that someday I could enjoy communicating with foreigners. During my high school and university days, I read many books on modern Japanese and world history, which made me wish to work for global peace and a nuclear-free world.

Looking back, my first overseas trip, a 50-day backpacking trip to Europe in 1979 at the age of 21, was the crucial time when I started to think seriously about pursuing a diplomatic career. The main purpose of the trip was to see the famous painting The Madonna and Child at the Heritage Museum in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), which I had previously seen displayed in a special exhibition in Japan two years before. After the USSR, I visited Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France by extensively using my EURAIL pass. This trip to Europe really opened my eyes and I was very impressed by the richness of European cultures and traditions.

My studies at university on European integration were also a factor in my joining the Ministry. The process of development from the EEC to the European Community fascinated me as something which could transcend narrow and selfish national preoccupations into broader regional interests, and which might thus foster a culture of peace among states. However, even though I was interested in this topic as a student, until recently I had never been posted to Europe throughout my career at MOFA. Since I took up my position in London, UK Prime Minister Cameron has spoken about a referendum on the EU after 2015. 31 years after my university studies on this topic it is very much a live issue.

You have had many interesting postings during your career. Can you tell us about some experiences that have made a particular impression on you?

Out of my 31 years as a diplomat, I have spent about 40% of my time on US-Japan political relations, 30% on Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands, Australia, New Zealand and Korea, 20% on the United Nations and 10% on other matters.

My first overseas posting after getting my MA in International Relations from Yale University in 1984 was to our embassy in the Sultanate of Oman. It was a very small embassy – only five staff. As a result, I was responsible for political and economic reporting, economic assistance, consular work as well as cultural activities. It was also my first experience of living in a Muslim country. Iran and Iraq were at war at that time and, because Oman is outside the Strait of Hormuz, every morning my task was listening to the BBC World Service on the radio and counting the number of oil tankers waiting to enter the Gulf.

Another experience that I remember well was the enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor in 1990, where I ushered Prince Charles and Princess Diana to the area where the ceremony was to take place in the Imperial Palace.

In 1992 I became Deputy Director, First Southeast Asia Division, Asian Affairs Bureau. I was very busy dealing with the Cambodian peace and reconstruction efforts, the resumption of ODA to Vietnam, and with various efforts to improve relations with Myanmar. It was a rather difficult time then, but now we are happy to see the many positive developments in the region. One of the most unforgettable memories at that time was when a 25-year-old Japanese UN Volunteer was killed in Cambodia 1993. I accompanied his family to see his body and went back to Osaka with his ashes. I was so moved by his father. He insisted that his son would never have hated the Cambodian people and declared that he wanted to see Japan’s Self-Defence Forces remain there as part of the UN PKO so that his son’s wish for free elections could be accomplished.

In 1994 I was assigned to Washington DC. My main focus was to follow US domestic politics, including the Congressional and Presidential elections. I travelled to over 30 states to monitor the political situation and learnt a lot about the vibrancy of American democracy. On a personal note, my daughter was born there and named Sakurako after the beautiful cherry blossoms in the Tidal Basin, originally a gift from the Mayor of Tokyo in 1912.

In 2001, less than two months after the 9/11 bombings in New York, I became the Director of the First North American Division at the North American Affairs Bureau. We hosted President Bush in Japan for his first overseas visit since 9.11. The relationship between then-Prime Minister Koizumi and President Bush was strengthened due to the common challenges we faced, including the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and Prime Minister Koizumi’s first visit to North Korea. I accompanied PM Koizumi to President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas in the summer of 2003.

Following this, I was posted to our embassy in South Korea. I spent three and a half years there. The Korean people were warm-hearted and genuinely kind to me, and I made many Korean friends even though politically our countries were facing a lot of difficult political issues. I saw people-to-people relations growing much closer, particularly through the rising interest in each other’s popular culture. It made me realise the unique ability and important role of culture in fostering good relations between countries, even when political relations may have been strained. Personally, I learned a lot about their culture and our long history as neighbours. I also developed a love for Korean food and drinks during my time in Seoul.

Working on issues related to North Korea was also an important part of my job, including preparing for contingencies. The North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile development programme and the abduction issue have remained among the most difficult and important diplomatic challenges we have to cope with.

In 2007 I became Minister at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations in New York. We ran a successful campaign to be granted a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council and I had many very busy days and nights as Political Coordinator during our tenure in 2009-2010. Highlights at that time were the adoption of the Security Council Presidential Statement 2009/7 after North Korea’s rocket launch and of UN Security Council Resolution 1874 after that country’s second nuclear test. After returning to Tokyo in early 2011 I became Deputy Director General of the Foreign Policy Bureau and Ambassador in charge of UN affairs. I was directly involved in various crisis management operations such as the coordination of emergency rescue teams and relief goods from all over the world immediately after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami as well as the response to North Korea’s second ballistic missile launch. Human rights dialogues with Iran and China as well as The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction were very important areas for me to work on.  


How do you feel about working at the Embassy in London? What do you hope to achieve during your time here?

As I mentioned, this is my first time to be posted to London, but even so I feel a sense that somehow it was meant to be. My studies at university focused on European integration. Now, more than 30 years later, I have come to London to find that the issue of the UK’s future in the EU is a major topic for debate. I am going to follow this important issue. Looking back at the topics that I studied at university, I feel my professor would be thrilled that I have ended up working here.

A personal connection I have with this Embassy is through the former Director of the JICC, Minister Oku, who was tragically killed in Iraq 10 years ago. We studied at the same university and joined the Foreign Ministry together in 1991. Mr Oku studied and played rugby at Oxford. We worked together in Washington DC and in Tokyo. I understand that Mr Oku’s friends among both Japanese people and Oxford graduates have been holding a commemorative rugby match in November every year since 2005. It feels very special to be sitting in the same chair as he did. To carry on the work of my friend is an honour, and I will do my best.

A priority area of my work here will be to make as many friends for Japan in the UK as possible, and I will do my best to make sure our message is delivered clearly to the world through the truly global UK media network. In the course of my efforts to this end, if I can increase the number of friends of Japan if only by a few during my time here, I will be extremely happy.

For most of my career, because I worked only on US or Asia-related issues, this will be a great opportunity for to me to learn about the UK and European perspective on world affairs, including Asia. I would like to learn about the UK, its people, culture and traditions. The UK-US and UK-EU relationships will also remain important areas for me to watch. I feel very lucky and excited to be here.  


How do you like to spend your free time?  Is there anything you particularly enjoy about being in Britain?

I am very impressed by the British Museum and National Gallery. On business trips here I have always visited one of them whenever I had a chance. Since I came to London I have also had a chance to see the vast collection of exquisite works of art from around the world, including the Japanese art collections in the V&A such as that of netsuke. At this moment we are hosting a wonderful exhibition of netsuke from European collections at our Embassy until the end of May. I do hope many people will have a chance to visit it. You can view “The Hare with Amber Eyes” for yourselves! Recently, I went to see the special David Bowie exhibition as well. It was fascinating! I would like to enjoy some musicals, ballets and operas, too. I love taking walks and riding my bike in the beautiful parks and the countryside around the UK.

Meanwhile, you may be surprised to hear that I do like British cuisine! I particularly enjoy eating roast lamb with mint sauce, followed by rhubarb crumble and custard. I also find cream teas especially delicious. I enjoy a drink and feel very lucky to be in London, where I can sample delicious wines from all over the world.

Unfortunately, my wife and three children have to remain in Tokyo, but they will visit the UK from time to time so that I can share with them the many delightful things I have discovered here.

JICC