The Imperial FamilyActivities of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and other Members of the Imperial FamilyTheir Majesties the Emperor Emeritus and Empress EmeritaAddresses and Press Conferences by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress until April 30, 2019Addresses by their Majesties the Emperor and EmpressAddresses by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress on the Visit to Canada and the United States of America (2009)
I am paying a visit to Canada together with the Empress at the invitation of Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada. On the way back to Japan, We will be visiting the State of Hawaii, in the United States of America, to participate in the commemorative event for the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation.
I visited Canada in 1953 on my way to attend, as the representative of Emperor Showa, the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Fifty-six years have passed since then, and I am looking forward from the bottom of my heart to once again visiting Canada, this time with the Empress. The Empress and I sincerely hope that our visit this time will further advance mutual understanding and friendly relations between our two nations.
The Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation, which was established mainly by Japanese Americans in Hawaii to celebrate our marriage, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. In the ceremony, I would like to pay tribute to the efforts made by those involved in establishing this scholarship, and am looking forward to meeting those whom I met before as scholarship students.
In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to the Prime Minister of Japan and to the very many people whose heartfelt efforts have made this visit possible.
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Your Excellencies, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond,
I would like to express my profound gratitude to Your Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, for inviting the Empress and I to visit your country, and for the gracious words which Your Excellency has just now spoken.
We arrived in Ottawa three days ago and spent the weekend enjoying the beautiful nature of Canada, with its rich greens and waters. We were most impressed by the great effort the people of your country make in order to maintain nature in the metropolitan area and try to lead a healthy lifestyle.
As we will be visiting many places in your country and meeting many of your people, including Canadians of Japanese ancestry, we hope to deepen our understanding of your country where those who have lived here for generations and those who moved here from various countries recognize and respect their mutual cultures and strive to create harmoniously the Canada that is today.
On the occasion of this welcoming ceremony, I would once again like to express our gratitude and sincerely hope that, as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations, our visit will contribute to deepen the mutual understanding and friendly relations between our two countries.
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Your Excellencies the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond,
I would like to express my profound gratitude to you both for hosting this banquet in our honor and for the gracious words which Your Excellency has just now spoken.
Exchanges between Canada and Japan can be traced back to 1877 when Manzo Nagano of Nagasaki Prefecture in southern Japan landed at New Westminster in the Province of British Columbia and took up residence in Canada. In the years that ensued, exchanges between our two countries developed steadily and in 1887, a regular Pacific Ocean route was opened between Vancouver and Yokohama, followed two years later by the establishment of a Japanese Consulate in Vancouver. In 1928, the Japanese Legation to Canada was established in Ottawa, and in the following year, the Canadian Legation to Japan was opened in Tokyo. In fact, this was Canada's fourth bilateral mission, following those in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the French Republic. This indeed reflected the fact that there were already active trade and other exchanges between Canada and Japan at that time.
It is regrettable, therefore, that the relationship that had thus developed between our two countries was damaged because of the Second World War. It saddens me that so many people experienced suffering and difficulties because of the war. Ever since our diplomatic relations were resumed after the end of the war, our exchanges once again have been enjoying steady development thanks to the wisdom and ceaseless endeavors of the peoples of both nations. Today, Japan and Canada are important partners that share common fundamental values, and we have been able to establish close, friendly, and cooperative relations. Our exchanges go beyond trade and investment in the economic sector and encompass interaction in the academic and cultural spheres, where there continues to be a steady expansion of exchanges. Since last year, various commemorative events have been taking place in both countries to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all those people who have placed importance on our friendly relations and worked so hard to advance our cooperative ties.
This is my second visit to Canada. My first visit took place in 1953, when I visited your country on my way to attend the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The eleven days that I spent traveling across your nation as a 19-year-old remain vividly embedded in my mind and I still fondly remember the hospitality extended to me by His Excellency The Right Honourable Vincent Massey, then Governor General of Canada, and His Honour Clarence Wallace, then Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, both of whom invited me to stay at their official residences, as well as the warm welcome extended to me by the people of Canada. Similarly, I cannot forget the heartfelt greeting that was extended to me by the Canadians of Japanese ancestry who, in spite of the severely cold weather, waited to greet me at each of the stations where my train stopped while traveling across Canada. Fifty-six years have passed since then, and I am indeed delighted that I have an opportunity to once again visit your country, this time together with the Empress.
In today's world, it has become increasingly important that Japan and Canada continue to work together in order to ensure the peace and prosperity of the international community. I would like to pay my deep respect to the dedicated efforts that Canada has made in contributing to the United Nations Peace-keeping Operations and other international peace-building activities. I would also like to express my heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives during those activities.
Canada is a country that has developed by valuing its social and cultural diversity while giving pivotal importance to ties that bind people to one another. I believe that this diversity has been fostered in Canada's tolerant and open society, which has welcomed many people from all over the world. The Empress and I are much delighted that many Japanese Canadians, including the Honourable Beverly Oda, your Minister for International Cooperation, who joins tonight, have grown up in such a society as Canada to distinguish themselves across a broad spectrum of society today.
For the Empress and I, it would indeed be a joy if this trip of ours will further deepen the mutual understanding between the peoples of our two nations and in some way contribute to bringing our friendly and cooperative relations even closer.
I would now like to raise my glass in a toast to the good health of Your Excellencies the Governor-General and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond and to the happiness of the people of Canada.
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On July 9th, on the occasion of Their Majesties' visit to the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, Her Majesty the Empress talked to the ten children who were then present in the "Reading Room". Like other visitors who had read to the children in this Reading Room before, Her Majesty's talk was carried to all the children's rooms in the hospital through the in-house television.
Good morning. I am Michiko from Japan. I am now visiting Canada accompanying my husband, the Emperor of Japan ,who is making a State visit here.
Before leaving Japan it was suggested to me that in this reading room, if I could read something to you, but as I was not able to find a story short enough to finish in a limited time, I chose instead to sing for you a small Japanese cradle song. Though I don't have the good voice of a singer, I'll sing it, just with the experience of being a mother of three children to whom I often sang lullabies. I am afraid it is too early to become sleepy, but this is for tonight.
Cradle Song (Words by Kitahara Hakushu, Comp'd by Kusakawa Shin) 1, 2, (3), 4
So, sleep well tonight. Together with His Majesty, the Emperor, I wish you all the best.
It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening with many of you who have gathered here from various places to participate in the commemorative event marking the 50th anniversary of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation.
We were delighted that this scholarship was established fifty years ago to celebrate our wedding, thanks mostly to the efforts of the people of Japanese ancestry here in Hawaii. Student exchanges between Hawaii and Japan have continued ever since, and the Empress and I have been meeting the recipients of this scholarship from both Japan and the United States at the Imperial Residence each year. On this occasion, we are very much looking forward to renewing our acquaintance with those who studied under this scholarship in the past.
We would like to take this opportunity to pay our most sincere tribute to the efforts made by those involved both in Hawaii and Japan who have established this scholarship and maintained and nurtured it to this day. Please join me in a toast to wish the best for the future of the scholarship students, for the continued development of this scholarship to meet the expectations of future students, and for the further strengthening of the friendly relations between Hawaii and Japan.
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