This year marks 480 years of relationship between Portugal and Japan. Are there initiatives planned to mark the moment, in 1543, of the contact between the Japanese and the Portuguese, the first Europeans to arrive in the archipelago?
We are planning to hold several events commemorating the 480 years of friendship between Portugal and Japan and one of the biggest is the Japan Festival, organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Portugal and Japan, which will take place in June this year. In addition, we plan to organize various cultural events between May and June and September and November to mark this 480 years of friendship between the two countries. Exhibitions will also be held in Fundação Oriente and Fundação Gulbenkian. We also count on the help of Diário de Notícias to publish articles about the cooperation between Portugal and Japan, something that will happen once a month, and we would like to thank you in advance for the support of your newspaper. I would also like to add that on the joint initiative of the Embassy of Japan in Lisbon and the Embassy of Portugal in Tokyo, a logo was created to mark the celebrations, along with the cherry blossom, a Japanese icon, with the tile, a of the symbols of Portugal.
What knowledge do the Japanese currently have of the Portuguese presence in Japan. Are there traces of this presence in Japanese culture in the 16th and 17th centuries?
Since 1543 and for about 100 years, the exchange between Japan and Portugal began and continued. This meeting in 1543 can also be said to be the first contact between the Japanese and the Europeans, and the Portuguese merchants took various things to Japan. In contemporary Japanese, we have several words from Portuguese. For example, we currently use words like button, cup, tobacco, bread and letter, which are Portuguese words that Japanese people use in everyday life. The magnitude of the impact of that contact can be demonstrated by the existence of those words, and in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon there are screens of the Namban culture that also show the very great impact of what was then happened .
How does Japan view Portugal today? Is it an interesting country for Japanese companies to invest in?
I would also like to point out that our meeting in 1543 is known to most Japanese through school, and that the Japanese are very interested in Portugal. Of course, Portugal is a developed country in terms of green energy and technology and we understand that the country is growing significantly in these areas. Most Japanese companies are very interested in these sectors in which Portugal is highly developed, especially in the field of green energy and the large investments in wind, solar and hydrogen energy. The Portuguese nation can be proud of the fact that the automatic and electronic toll collection system was introduced by Portugal before the rest of the world. In this context of innovative technology, startups also continue to lead, and given this national economic environment, there are many Japanese technology companies that are very interested in Portugal.
Japanese culture, both erudite and popular, through manga and anime, has many admirers in Portugal and around the world. What is the importance of this soft power to Japan?
This cultural exchange is a good instrument to bring the two peoples closer together. As for traditional culture, we can mention some very popular ones, such as judo, kendo and martial arts in general, and some traditional musical instruments from Japan. We can also refer to the tea ceremony and flower arranging, traditional Japanese cultures that are very positively accepted in Portugal. In fact, on one of the last Saturdays I practiced kendo with some Portuguese and I was very impressed by the ambition of the people who practice this martial art here. And especially the young generation is very interested in manga, anime and games, and this pop culture from Japan enchants the Portuguese enormously, something that makes me very happy. In Portugal, almost every year in Porto and Lisbon, the Iberanime event takes place, which receives many people, something that I am very happy about, because through this event we can deepen the friendly relationship between the two countries.
Japan is the third largest economy in the world, is a solid democracy in East Asia and is a great cultural power. Is it still a major Japanese ambition to have a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council?
It has been 75 years since the founding of the United Nations and in that time we have seen a very radical change in international society. Even the function of the United Nations itself has diversified into many areas. But despite this, the structure of the Security Council has never changed. The member states have tabled a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine, but due to Russia’s right of veto, that resolution has been rejected, so that the role of the Security Council is currently not fulfilled. Japan wants to implement this reform of the Security Council and it is therefore very important that the legitimacy, representativeness and effectiveness of the same Council be improved. It is not only Japan that is thinking about this, I think that the international community also wants this reform. Last year, Japan was elected a non-permanent member of the Security Council, the twelfth time it has been elected to that position, more times than any other member of the United Nations. This means that the country has proactively contributed to the discussion within the Security Council and that the government of Japan has made efforts to convince other countries to implement the reform of the Council and allow Japan to join the Security Council as a permanent member. Our government’s goal is to achieve peace and security in the world through the United Nations. In January, Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa visited headquarters in New York to participate in the open debate of the United Nations Security Council and met with Secretary General António Guterres. In that exchange of views, our minister stated that Japan would actively contribute to the fulfillment of the expected responsibilities of the Security Council, something that António Guterres gladly accepted after supporting Japan’s participation in the same Council.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year prompted Japan to announce it was doubling its annual military budget. It is historically only 1% of GDP and the goal is to reach 2%. Was this decision consensual among the Japanese people and well accepted in the international community?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is totally unacceptable, but unfortunately there are possibilities of the same happening in the region of our country. We see some phenomena around Japan, such as the strengthening of nuclear energy and the installation of ballistic missiles, as well as the drastic strengthening of military expansion, in addition to the unilateral attempt to status quo with violence. We can see these things all over Japan, especially in the past year, as ballistic missiles flew through Japanese airspace and landed within our EEZ. We also see signs that nuclear tests have taken place. This environment is very serious, especially since this is the first time we see this stricter and more complex post-war security environment. To deal with this situation, the government of Japan has revised three documents related to security: the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Program. My country decided to strengthen the military, and in five years the Japanese government decided to increase the military budget to 43 billion yen (304 billion euros). To complete this process after five years, we predict it will increase to 2% of GDP. This decision by the Japanese government is, of course, a very radical change in terms of security policy, but it falls within the scope of its constitution and international law, which is immutable. Under the Constitution of Japan, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. In addition, we have a rule of three anti-nuclear principles (no production, no possession, and no permitting of nuclear weapons in the country) and a defense-only policy, which we will enforce. We can also add that after World War II and for 75 years, Japan never entered the battle. Of course, we have a lot of public opinion about the increase in the military budget, but also in the international community there are various public discussions about the use of weapons in Ukraine. But the government of Japan cares about the Indo-Pacific being open and free, and we have already proposed this policy and most countries have already shared and supported this proposal. There are many challenges to world peace, but Japan wants to further deepen relations with the allied countries and, in this context, we want to deepen relations with the Portuguese government.
What surprised you most during these first days in Portugal as ambassador of Japan?
This is my first time in Portugal, I arrived in Lisbon last December. When I arrived at the airport, I quickly realized that the cold here is very moderate and in the city of Lisbon, we see several Japanese sushi and ramen restaurants. I think this means that the Portuguese love Japanese food, something that made me very happy.
Source: DN
