On August 24, commencing at 7:00 p.m., Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a welcome reception, inviting the Ministers of African countries and representatives of international organizations, who are visiting Japan to attend the TICAD Ministerial Meeting, for approximately 90 minutes. The overview is as follows.
At the outset, Minister Kamikawa delivered an address, welcomed the African delegations’ participation in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting, and expressed her intention to further strengthen coordination with African countries towards the success of TICAD 9, which is scheduled to be held in Yokohama next August. She announced the TICAD 9 official logo afterwards.
Following this, Mr. YAMANAKA Takeharu, Mayor of the City of Yokohama, the host city for TICAD 9, delivered an address, stating that the City of Yokohama will contribute to the success of TICAD 9 through warmly welcoming the participants to the conference. In addition, Mr. AISAWA Ichiro, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan and Chairman of the Japan-African Union (AU) Parliamentary Friendship League, proposed a toast.
At the reception, traditional Bon-odori dancing from various areas of Japan were performed to showcase the diversity of Japanese culture. Furthermore, dishes made with ingredients from various areas of Japan, including disaster-affected areas such as the Tohoku Region and Ishikawa Prefecture, were served.
In addition, booth exhibitions were organized by Japanese companies, public agencies, local governments, participating organizations, and exchanges were held with the reception participants at the venue.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
