Embassy of Japan in Kenya
在ケニア日本国大使館
Speech by H.H Shigeo Iwatani,
Prof. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Prize laureate and
Good evening, Habari ya jioni, and Konbanwa. It is my great pleasure to extend my warmest welcome to all of you here today for coming to the Conferment Ceremony of Japan’s highest Decoration to Prof. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the founding chairperson of the Green Belt Movement. The Government of Japan announced the Conferment of its highest Decoration, the “Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun” to Prof. Maathai, on 29th April 2009, the birthday of the Late Emperor Hirohito of Japan. This is the first Japanese official Decoration given to a Kenyan citizen. As Ambassador of Japan to Kenya, I am really honored to be part of this historic moment in the relationship between our two countries. I am sure that all of you present here today already know about the innumerable activities undertaken by Prof. Maathai in various fields. Among these contributions Japan particularly values those which have the effect of raising awareness of the Japanese spirit among people all over the world. Only last week, I personally witnessed the latest example of this. My wife and I joined a tour called “Green Belt Safari” in which we visited Aberdere Forest and listened to a very informative and persuasive lecture by Prof. Maathai on the various difficulties Kenya has to cope with for the protection of their forests. In this lecture she explained very intensively about the “Mottainai” spirit and furoshiki culture of Japan. Mottainai literally means “wasteful” or “what a waste”. It is a very common colloquial word among the Japanese. Professor Maathai came across this word in Japan and found that this word not only indicates the concept of the “3R’s”, i.e. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, but also contains the spirit of respect and gratitude for all things that exist in this world as the gift of nature. Sometimes Mottainai also indicates the humbleness of a person who uses the word. When somebody is given a very high honor or precious gift he or she often says, “Oh, this is Mottainai for me” meaning “I do not deserve it”. That is why when the conferment of this decoration on Prof. Maathai was announced some Japanese press reported this and said “highest Decoration to Prof. Maathai, which is not “Mottainai” at all!” Anyway, Prof. Maathai was so impressed by the word that she started the campaign to disseminate the spirit of Mottainai. It was a good thing that some Japanese private companies such as Mainichi Shimbun Newspaper, Itochu Corporation and many others decided to support this campaign. She preached this spirit all over the world and due to her influence as Nobel peace Laureate, the spirit has now become well known to so many people. Even the Japanese people themselves were reminded the importance of this spirit. Although, as I said, this word is often used everyday conversation, most of the Japanese really do not appreciate the deeper meaning of this word. When Professor visited Japan in February 2005 and started talking about this, the then Prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi said that it was time for “Mottainai” to be made known the world over. Today, the “Mottainai Campaign” is present everywhere in Japanese society. One good example is “furoshiki”, a Japanese traditional square cloth for bundling up various articles, which were almost forgotten and replaced by plastic bags, now attracts not only old people but also the youth as “cool eco-friendly goods”. Prof. Maathai’s campaign includes wider use of furoshiki. Another contribution of Prof. Maathai which Japan appreciates is the promotion of Japanese environmental policy in the international arena. As the first female professor of Nairobi University and former Assistant Minister for Environment, and a Nobel Prize Laureate, Prof. Maathai has contributed significantly in promoting Japanese Initiatives on the Climate Change, such as Kyoto Protocol and “Cool-Earth Promotion Programme”. Prof. Maathai has actively attended various international conferences hosted by Japan, such as the “Exposition of Global Harmony” in March 2005, the “TICAD Ministerial Conference on Energy and Environment for Sustainable Development” held in Nairobi in March 2007, and TICAD IV held in Yokohama, Japan in May 2008. In this context, I would like to emphasize that the Government of Japan is working hard in the field of environmental protection so as to match expectation and aspiration of Prof. Maathai. Mr. Kojima, Deputy Resident Representative of JICA, will make a short presentation on Japanese assistance to Kenya in this field, based on Japan’s “Cool Earth Partnership” with Kenya. It is my sincere hope that this Decoration to Prof. Maathai will stimulate further cooperation between the two countries in environmental and other fields. Finally I would like once again to express our sincere appreciation for her contributions and warmest congratulations for this additional honor to Prof. Maathai: Congratulations, Hongera sana, and Omedetougozaimasu! |