Ambassador’s Letter: “Spring in Ireland and Japan–Ireland Exchange” (April Edition)

Dear Readers,

April comes to a close today, a month in which we have increasingly felt the arrival of spring day by day (though some might say “it already feels like summer”). I hope this message finds you well. April also marks the beginning of a new academic    and fiscal year in Japan, and I imagine that many of you with ties to Japan have reached important milestones, such as starting school or beginning new job with a new team. This month saw entrance ceremonies at the Dublin School for Japanese Children and its Kindergarten, as well as the Japanese Film Festival, which was held across Ireland for two weeks from mid-April.

In April, I had the opportunity to visit various parts of Ireland. On the west coast, I visited the headquarters of TG4 in Connemara, County Galway, where I met with the CEO and Editing Director, among other colleagues. We exchanged views on a range of topics, including the continuation of Japan–Ireland exchanges in various forms following the company’s production of a documentary on Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai last year. I had often heard from many Irish people that Connemara is the most beautiful area in scenic County Galway, and it more than lived up to expectations. The gently shimmering sea under the spring sunshine was truly breathtaking. In Galway, seaweed has historically been valued as fertiliser for livestock, but recently interest has been steadily growing again, as it finds new uses, including in cosmetics.

In late April, I also visited Cork, Ireland’s second-largest city, located about three hours south of Dublin by car. At the Irish Army’s Collins Barracks in Cork, a NATO-hosted training programme took place for a week, with participants from ten NATO partner countries, including Japan. On the final day, I met with the two participants from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as well as members of the Irish Army and NATO personnel, and heard their impressions of the training. Although this programme has been held annually in various countries, the fact that such exchanges in the field of security are beginning between Ireland, located at the western edge of the Eurasian continent, and Japan at its eastern edge, is, I believe, significant as an example of cooperation among like-minded nations. It is also a welcome development in the context of the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” initiative that Japan has promoted over the past decade, which seeks to ensure peace and stability across the maritime region from Asia to Africa through economic and people-to-people cooperation.

While in Cork, I also had the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on the Lord Mayor, Councillor Fergal Dennehy. The Lord Mayor told me that works by the sculptor Hironori Katagiri from Iwate Town had previously been exhibited in Cork, and that there are plans to display his works again this summer. This reminded me of a local newspaper article with photographs of the Japanese sculptor in Cork a few decades ago that I had been shown in February by Mr SASAKI Koji, Mayor of Iwate Town, during his visit to the Embassy of Japan.

In County Kildare, about an hour from Dublin, I visited Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who until last year served as Ceann Comhairle  and was also Chair of the Japan–Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Group. He kindly welcomed me at the Irish National Stud, where we spoke about his official visit to Japan in 2023 during his tenure as Ceann Comhairle (at the invitation of the Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives), as well as prospects for future Japan–Ireland cooperation. 

This is also the season when foals are born, and I was able to catch a glimpse of a mare tenderly caring for her newborn foal just hours after its birth. At the stud in Kildare, one of the world’s leading centres for thoroughbred breeding, mares are brought from around the globe, and the hope of producing future champions sustains a thriving business. I also met a young staff member from Aomori Prefecture, born to a Japanese parent and a New Zealand parent, and had an engaging conversation with him about horse breeding.