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[Provisional Translation]

On January 15 (local time), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Jakarta in the Republic of Indonesia.

Prime Minister Abe attended a meeting with NIHONGO Partners, and then received a courtesy call from Indonesians who were formerly exchange students in Japan. Afterwards, the Prime Minister attended a business dialogue, and then attended a welcome ceremony. Later, Prime Minister Abe held talks with H.E. Mr. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia , and then attended a joint press announcement. Lastly, Prime Minister Abe attended a welcome dinner hosted by President Joko and his wife.

The Prime Minister said at the meeting with the NIHONGO Partners,

“Indonesia ranks second in the world in terms of the number of people studying Japanese on a daily basis. As NIHONGO Partners, you are all working as the literal partners of teachers and students in each high school to support Japanese classes. I wish to offer my heartfelt encouragement to all of you, who are giving it your all each day, away from home and in an unfamiliar environment.

I have heard that as NIHONGO Partners, you are not only teaching the Japanese language, but also about origami, calligraphy, Japanese food, and other aspects of Japanese culture. It so happens that some time ago, during the New Year’s period, I folded some paper into a crane for the first time in a long while. I have not made a paper crane in about 50 years so it did not turn out very well. Upon the suggestion of my wife, I folded it as part of a project to send paper cranes to Pearl Harbor and I wrote my name on it. It so happens that someone took a picture of my crane and uploaded it onto the internet. People commented that I did a poor job on the crane considering I am the Prime Minister of Japan. That was quite a shock for me. You are helping to spread various aspects of Japanese culture throughout the world, and I believe that efforts to understand Japanese culture will eventually lead people to understand more about the way that Japanese people think. I think this is very important.

I have also heard that through your interactions with the people living in the areas that you are dispatched to, you are not only sharing Japanese culture, but are also deepening your own understanding of Indonesia, and thereby working for mutual exchange. I hope that the Japanese language teachers here today will gain many ideas from the NIHONGO Partners for their daily lessons and that this will further enhance the quality of Japanese classes. I hope that students will be able to further enhance their capabilities in Japanese through daily exchanges with the NIHONGO Partners, and that through the NIHONGO Partners, you will come to love the Japanese language even more. I was very happy to hear a moment ago from students that Japanese language classes and culture classes are very fun. I think it is extremely important that students first and foremost think these classes are fun. I hope that at some point, each student will visit Japan, and come directly in contact with Japanese culture and Japanese traditions. 

I want to close my remarks by expressing my hope that the NIHONGO Partners will help to further deepen mutual understanding between Japan and Indonesia, and continue to further strengthen and deepen exchanges between our two countries.”

In addition, the Prime Minister said the following at the meeting with Indonesians who were formerly exchange students in Japan,

“I want to express my great pleasure at being able to have this meeting today with former exchange students in Japan, including Dr. Ginandjar Kartasasmita , Chairman of the Board of the Indonesia-Japan Friendship Association , who has worked hard for many years to support friendly relations between Japan and Indonesia.

Japan and Indonesia have long enjoyed active exchanges in various fields, including politics, the economy, culture, and sports. Large contributions have been made by former exchange students to our friendly relations, which are held together by strong bonds. I would like to express my gratitude for that.

I am aware that Universitas Darma Persada , a university that was established primarily through the efforts of former exchange students, celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. I wish to express my heartfelt congratulations.

Among those in attendance today are people who studied at a variety of universities in Japan. You are all now contributing to a wide range of fields. I hope that all of you will make major contributions in the future as bridges linking Japan and Indonesia, linking the universities you graduated from and Indonesia, and linking the regions you studied in and Indonesia.”