[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from the 55th group of junior reporters from Okinawa and the 33rd group of junior reporters from Hakodate at the Prime Minister's Office.

The junior reporters from Okinawa, selected from elementary and junior high schools in Okinawa Prefecture, actively promote youth exchanges to further connect Okinawa and the mainland through news gathering activities in various areas of the mainland. With the intention of fostering students who will contribute to society in the future, courtesy calls to the Prime Minister are conducted. The news gathering activities of the junior reporters from Okinawa have been conducted jointly with the junior reporters from Hakodate since 1992, after they visited Hakodate on their return from the news gathering activities in the Northern Territories, and exchanges subsequently began. As in previous years, the junior reporters from Okinawa and the junior reporters from Hakodate paid the courtesy call together.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

“Welcome to the Prime Minister's Office. I watched the traditional Okinawan dance performance a moment ago, and felt the rich sense of Okinawa’s culture and traditions once again after viewing this splendid pair dance. I also listened to an enjoyable song from the junior reporters of Hakodate that made we want to visit Hakodate.

When we talk about Japan, we often use the phrase ‘From Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south.’ Japan may be a country of limited geographical size, but the extensive length north to south gives rise to a country that is very culturally diverse. Also, both Okinawa and Hokkaido have beautiful nature to go along with their diverse cultures and traditions, and both form the livelihood of many people living in these places.

Japan’s very first G7 summit meeting was held in Okinawa, while the second took place in Hokkaido, and this year, Ise-Shima filled the role of the third host. I believe attendees to each of these summit meetings discovered for themselves Japan’s diversity and experienced Japan’s rich natural beauty, which was made possible through our efforts to share information with the world about local cultures, traditions and nature.

Today, your representatives made wonderful speeches. These speeches talked about the desire and hope to do work that benefits others in the future. Working for the benefit of others requires that you think about others and understand the positions of various people. I also feel it is very important to fully know and grasp the challenges and problems people face, too. As junior reporters, you are exposed to various types of information, so it is important to view this information with your own eyes and process it with your own minds.

Today, you met with Minister Shimajiri for the first time here at the Prime Minister’s Office and if you felt she was a nice person, this represents the first and primary piece of information you have. If you felt like the Prime Minister looks younger in person than on television, this means that what you actually see is correct compared to what you see on television. In this manner, I would like all of you to experience things in person. I would like you to see with your own eyes, listen with your own ears, feel with your own heart, and think with your own mind. Of greater importance, though, is having the commitment and dedication to help others, as was mentioned in today’s speeches. I would like all of you to always keep this in mind in your future endeavors. You truly are the future of Japan. I would like to conclude my address with my hopes that you will achieve the mission entrusted to you as reporters and work hard in the future by utilizing this experience. I ask that together we work hard for the benefit of our local communities and Japan as a whole.”