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On August 1, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from the 57th group of junior reporters from Okinawa and the 35th group of junior reporters from Hakodate at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
The Prime Minister said in his address,
 
“Welcome to the Prime Minister’s Office today.
 
You kindly welcomed me with the song of Tinsagu nu Hana (“The Balsam Flowers”). I felt a sense of serenity as I listened to your performance. You presented us a stately dance performance in the beautiful traditional costumes, representing Okinawa. Thank you very much.
 
The junior reporters from Hakodate also sang the Hakodate Sanka (“Song in Praise of Hakodate”) in beautiful voices.
 
You are all here as junior reporters to gather news materials, and have already met with various people. Your representative has just made a dignified speech. As he stated, there are various types of people in the world with a diverse range of viewpoints, and it is through dialogue and interaction with these people that we ourselves grow over time. I believe that we broaden our viewpoints when we gain exposure to various ways of thinking, and discover that such ways of thinking do exist.
 
It is now very hot in Tokyo, but it is cool in Hokkaido, isn’t it? I first visited Hakodate on a school trip when I was in senior high school, and I believe that was in July. I still remember, even today, that it was really cold, and how cold it had felt at night. Although Japan is said to be a small country, extending from Hokkaido to Okinawa, It is a country that is blessed with a wonderful natural environment boasting great diversity, as well as tradition and culture.
 
Today, you have also performed a traditional dance. Each and every region has its own culture and traditions that it takes pride in. I hope that you will all feel proud of having been born in Hakodate and Okinawa respectively, learn as much as possible in your own ways about the culture and traditions of the local areas, take pride in the areas and towns that you were born in, and work hard to make your town an even better place. You spoke about becoming people who can serve others and such people are precisely the ones who will pave out the future for each region in Japan.
 
Going forward, you will all continue to work hard toward your own goals. I hope that you will never give up on your dreams, and that you will pioneer a new future for yourselves. I would like to close my remarks with these hopes for you all. Thank you very much.”