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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from the 54th group of junior reporters from Okinawa and the 32nd 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 . This program fosters students who will contribute to society in the future. 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,

“I welcome the junior reporters to the Prime Minister's Office. I was greeted by your wonderful signing voices, and by the welcome dance and song a moment ago.

That dance, passed down since ancient times in Okinawa, alludes to verdant pine trees that have grown thick with needles. From now on, all of your trunks will grow truly strong, like pine trees, you will stretch out your branches, and your needles will thrive. You are young with bright futures, like pine needles. It is very important for all of you to have opportunities for exchange with your compatriots from Hakodate and many others as well.

From the reporters from Hakodate, we heard a song in tribute to their hometown  . Through your song, I could feel the joy and pride you feel at having been born in Hakodate.

Okinawa and Hakodate. Both locations have wonderful natural landscapes. Both have four distinct seasons as well as unique traditions, histories, and cultures. Going forward, I want you to continue to cherish all of those.

We are now promoting regional vitalization. Every region should continue to advance through utilizing its own history, traditions, cultures, special characteristics, and merits. That is the kind of Japan I want to realize.

Suppose that each region became like Tokyo. If that happens, Japan will have lost its special flavor. This is something that cannot happen. The people living in each region understand their local areas well, and they continue to develop them while making use of each area’s special characteristics. That is the kind of Japan that I want to create.

You have all come here as junior reporters gathering news. Learn about the region you live in. That is important. It is also an excellent thing for your lives to learn that there are a variety of places in Japan, and that there are many opinions and beliefs held by the different peoples of the world.

I hope that you will make use of this opportunity as junior reporters. Each region has its own problems and issues, and I would like you to learn how important it is for everyone to continue to think about them.

I would like to conclude my remarks by expressing the expectation that you make use of this experience and continue to steadily develop.”