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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a gathering accompanying the Meeting of the Ministry of Defense and Self-Defense Force (SDF) Senior Personnel, at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

“I am delighted to have this opportunity today to celebrate with all of you, who are the core of Japan’s national defense and are working on the front line.

I believe that my most important responsibility as Prime Minister is to protect the lives and peaceful daily lives of the people.

I would like to once again express my respect for the 250,000 members of the SDF who are fulfilling this responsibility under challenging circumstances, literally 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

At the same time, I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to all of their family members.

Over the past half month, I have travelled a distance on government airplanes equivalent to circumnavigating the world twice, through my visits to Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Vladivostok, Hangzhou, and Vientiane. My diplomacy that takes a panoramic perspective of the world map, as well as the proactive contributions to peace based on the principles of international cooperation advanced by Japan, are supported not by Mario’s warp pipes, but by everyone in the SDF.

At each of the places I travel, I am always greeted and received by defense attachés posted overseas.

When I opened the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) in Nairobi, Kenya, I was joined by members of the SDF who are working hard there for capacity building in peacekeeping operations (PKO). They also joined me as special guests at a reception.

At the same time, members of the SDF deployed training for the transport of Japanese nationals living abroad in Djibouti, north of Nairobi. In the unfortunate event that an unexpected situation arises, the SDF will rush to the rescue. It is extremely heartening to know this. Of course, it also must be said that PKO forces have done work in South Sudan, and SDF units for counter-piracy operations have been working off the coast of Somalia.

When I went to Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, to participate in the East Asia Summit (EAS), multilateral training was carried out by the SDF together with the Lao People’s Armed Forces in the neighboring country of Thailand.

At approximately the same time, joint training exercises were held by the Maritime SDF escort fleet together with the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Everywhere I go, I am able to reconfirm the global activities of the SDF. As the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, I am extremely proud of how hard everyone is working for the peace and stability of the world.

This is not limited to just the real world. I have heard that the SDF play a major role in the popular film, Godzilla Resurgence. Although characters taking on my role and the Chief Cabinet Secretary’s role apparently die early in the film, I hear the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries survive and work on the issue. I have also heard that the Chairman of the Joint Staff Council and members of the SDF appear in the film and are depicted as being very heroic.

I think that this popularity is rooted in the unwavering support that the public has for the SDF.

‘The Self-Defense Forces, who serve the Japanese people.’ I feel that this strong belief is the source of the strength of the SDF, and has been carried on by the SDF from your foundation to this very day.

I hope that our hearts will be as one, and that we can continue to thoroughly pool our efforts into the future. I would like to close my remarks by expressing my prayers that our union becomes even stronger.”