主な式典におけるおことば（平成16年）

I am pleased to be present at the Awards Ceremony of the 31st JAPAN PRIZE International Educational Program Contest with participants from all over the world.

Since its establishment in 1965, the JAPAN PRIZE has contributed greatly to the improvement of educational programs worldwide and has played an important role in furthering mutual understanding among countries.

I have attended this Awards Ceremony for the 15 years since 1989 and have observed the development of the world's educational programs. Every time I attend, I am impressed by the enthusiasm of the program producers, who deal with various themes using new technology and fertile expression as they confront the tasks of our epoch directly. I wish to express my hearty respect for the efforts all of you have made for so many years.

This year, a total of 234 proposals and programs were entered in the Contest's three divisions. I was informed that, in particular, the Program Proposal Division, established last year, received 39 proposals, which outnumber those of last year, from countries particularly in Asia and Africa. I heard, as well, that the proposals and programs are excellent works that face problems in different communities and regions and encourage mutual understanding among people representing different cultures and circumstances.

Broadcasting plays a very important role in nurturing our children and building a bright future for them. I anticipate that the JAPAN PRIZE will continue to encourage program producers who face different environments around the world.

I would like to finish by stating my wish that the JAPAN PRIZE will continue and even increase its good influence.

I am very pleased that the World Rice Research Conference is being held with rice researchers and many other participants from Japan and overseas.

Rice is an excellent crop that is the staple food for more than half of the world's population. Rice has been cultivated in the Japanese archipelago since ancient times and has provided the Japanese people with the basis for a stable life. Every Japanese holds dear the idyllic scene of placid rice paddies, which have worked as dams by storing water, preserved the soil and nurtured a great variety of living things. I am told that both at home and abroad the Japanese-style diet based on rice has come to be highly regarded in recent years as a very healthy diet. It is no exaggeration to say that rice cultivation has been the basis for the development of Japanese society and culture.

The United Nations designated this year as the International Year of Rice, and activities are under way throughout the world to raise awareness of the important role of rice in eliminating hunger and poverty. I believe that this conference is very significant as an opportunity for experts to discuss the production and utilization of rice and the many roles of rice paddies from the perspective of science and technology, and to consider the best avenues for future rice research.

By bringing together the wisdom from all over the world and promoting active discussions from a wide range of perspectives, I hope that this conference will make a great contribution to the solution of the world's food problems and to the protection of the global environment.