Welcome Remarks by Consul-General Hidenobu Sobashima at Japan Night on 23 May 2013
The Hon. Bruce Atkinson, President of the Legislative Council of Victoria,
The Hon. Ken Smith, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria,
Mr Telmo Languiller, State Member for Derrimut,
Councillor Andrew Munroe, Mayor of the City of Whitehorse,
Your Excellency Murray McLean, Chair of the Australia Japan Foundation and former Ambassador of Australia to Japan,
Mr Kenji Ono, President of the Japanese Society of Melbourne,
Mr Shinji Saga, President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Melbourne,
Mr Tony Preston, President of Japan Club of Victoria,
Mr Peter Yates, Deputy Chair of Asialink and Director of the Australia Japan Foundation, who has kindly accepted to speak, representing the returnees from Japan,
Other Returnees from Japan,
Distinguished Guests,
Good evening and welcome to Japan Night 2013.
Tonight I would like to talk about “tako”.
The Japanese word “tako” has three different meanings.
One is octopus, the second, kite, and the third, callus or hardened skin.
If you are fed up with hearing the same thing again and again, you say in Japanese “Mimi ni tako ga dekita.” meaning that you have formed a callus in your ear.
A number of guests here may say that “I have formed “tako” in my ears”, to hear my favourite phrase as follows:
Melbourne is the world’s most liveable city for the second year running.
Congratulations!
In this connection I repeatedly said on various occasions, and I am going to say this now again that perhaps the activities of Japanese companies with their Australian partners and the cultural programs organized by Japanese residents with the participation of Australians here are also contributing to this liveability, that is the world’s best, economically and culturally, in this multicultural society.
Tonight’s guests are key persons in this regard.
Between Victoria and Japan, since around a year ago, we have witnessed a lot of high-level visits and exchanges such as those by a number of Victorian Parliamentarians including both the President and the Speaker, and Telmo, who are present here tonight, to Japan, and a number of Members of the Japanese Diet and the Aichi Governor to Victoria.
The first-ever full-fledged gallery of Japanese arts in Australia was opened in the NGV.
In parallel with the release of the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century by the Government of Australia, a biannual Conference of the National Federation of the Australia Japan Societies and the National Symposium of Australian Teachers of Japanese were held in Melbourne with the participants from all over Australia, in addition to the JET and other annual events.
With the implementation of the Asian Century White Paper, among others, I hope we will witness more developments between Australia and Japan and Victoria and Japan in the coming years.
I believe that all guests tonight will contribute one way or another in this process.
So I would like to thank you again for your presence tonight and your contributions.
Having said this, I hope that you will all enjoy this Japan Night.
I will enjoy, too.
Thank you.