Keynote Message by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan The 7th Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters “Water and Disasters for Cooperation and Partnerships” (through Video)

　I am pleased to give this keynote message to the 7th Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters.

　Before I begin, I would like to highlight that an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Ritcher scale hit the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, affecting the country, Thailand, China and other places. There have been recurrent disasters over the world such as the earthquake in January followed by heavy rain in September of 2024 in the Noto Peninsula of Japan, as well as heavy rain disasters in the Valencia Region of Spain. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the victims of disasters, and my sympathy for all who are affected by them. It is my sincere wish that the areas that have been devastated by past disasters will swiftly recover and be reconstructed.

　Today, I will address the theme of this Session, “Water and Disasters for Cooperation and Partnerships”. We use water every day for a variety of purposes, from day to day living and livelihoods to religious beliefs. Water is readily available from the tap in New York, where this session is being held, as it is in many other places. The safe water however in front of us is only made available after many people have been involved in collecting and delivering it from its natural source. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation requires various forms of cooperation and partnership between many peoples from the past to the present.

　Please take a look at this picture (Fig.1). This is a water distribution facility called the Sanbu-ichi Spring, located in Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan. It has been in use since the Edo period. The local community gathered there to ensure that this precious water should be shared fairly. They moved a diversion pole in a way that all stakeholders were satisfied with the allocation. The facility is still efficiently used by the community. The water users and local people operate and maintain it on a rotational basis. There is even a water allocation ceremony that is performed annually in the presence of relevant representative villagers.

　This is the Nishino Waterway, located in Shiga Prefecture in Japan, a flood diversion tunnel to discharge floods, or “too much water” (Fig.2). About 180 years ago, led by the Buddhist Priest Esho Nishino, the local community, which had been plagued by recurrent flooding, planned, shared the cost, and invited stonemasons to build a tunnel 220 meters long. The tunnel was drilled through with the help of stonemasons from the Ise Region, and the drainage channel was completed, successfully preventing floods in the area.

　The problems of “too little water” and “too much water” were overcome through cooperation and partnerships between regional people in Japan, as in many countries around the world.

　Furthermore, cooperation and partnerships across borders significantly contribute to national development.

　The wastelands of Asaka in Fukushima prefecture in Japan were largely uncultivated at the beginning of the Meiji Period in the 1870s due to a scarcity of water resources (Fig.3). The local community organized the “Kaisei Company”, and successfully developed new water resources (Fig.4).

　Noting this success, the Meiji government conceived a large-scale agricultural development plan in the area. However, the plan that included water diversion from Lake Inawashiro, the fourth largest lake in Japan, entailed many technical challenges. The government requested the Chief Engineer van Doorn, whom they invited from the Netherlands, to do surveying and planning. Based on his basic plan, the Asaka Canal including a water-balancing sluice known as Juu-rokkyo, with its 37 tunnels, was constructed in around 3 years, transforming the vast barren lands into fertile grain belts, thus bringing many blessings to the regional people (Fig.5).

　Abundant water supply through the channel also enabled development of hydropower for industry and a drinking water system for cities, and developed this isolated village into one of the wealthiest areas in the region.

　The Kaiseikan Hall, the base of development activities, is still preserved today (Fig.6). My wife Masako and I visited the Kaiseikan Hall and it was a deeply moving experience to think of the hardships and dreams of the people who were developing the area at that time.

　Supported by such cross-border cooperation and partnerships, Japan, which had just opened up to the world, was able to start building a modern nation.

　Japan has achieved progress and prosperity through cooperation and partnerships with many countries, and has shared with the world what it has learned and accumulated. This photo shows Sabo Technical Centre in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which I visited the year before last (Fig.7). Sedimentation control was a significant challenge in Indonesia as it has many volcanos, and is prone to geological disasters like Japan. Indonesian and Japanese engineers cooperated for about forty years in addressing the challenges. They developed sediment control technologies and methods tailored to local conditions, and have trained many engineers. I understand that the center has become a hub for technical development and knowledge transfer to neighboring countries, and makes significant contributions to scientific progress and technical training on climate change and water issues.

　As we have seen, people have cooperated, united and worked hard together, sometimes across borders, so that everyone can enjoy the blessings of water and avoid its threat. This collaboration has formed a long history of water cooperation, and sometimes has even expanded across borders. Managing and using water together has led to strengthening of ties and friendships. Water, which was once an object for cooperation and collaboration, has become the foundation for friendship and partnerships between peoples and regions. As global warming progresses and humanity faces floods, droughts, and water stress, I believe that we all need to realize the potential of cooperation and partnerships at various levels, and need to take action.

　The SDGs deadline is less than five years away. The necessary pace of acceleration to achieve the targets is increasing day by day. I understand that focused discussions on themes of the UN 2026 Water Conference will take place tomorrow and they are expected to encourage action by countries and enhance cooperation and partnerships. I sincerely hope that the discussions tomorrow and the process that follows will encourage everyone to take new action to solve the world's water problems. With the hope that cooperation and partnerships on water will continue to expand and contribute to the peace and prosperity for humanity, I too will continue to pay sincere interest to water issues.

　Thank you